Chapter 14 - The Little Liar

“My name is Sebastien Faivre, I’m twenty-one years old. I’m a forklift operator.”

He’d been living with his “live-in partner for a year,” he said.

So this was what Lisa’s first teenage love looked like, Alice thought. This thickset guy standing squarely facing the court and chewing gum.

Maud Vigier allowed a few seconds’ pause.

“You’ll be given a Kleenex to spit out your gum, Mr. Faivre. And you can use the opportunity to take your hands out of your pockets …”

The bank employee juror and the care assistant next to him pursed their lips at each other in amusement. Sebastien Faivre now couldn’t work out how to stand. He swayed from one foot to the other, crossed and uncrossed his arms, and ended up letting them hang by his sides. The inquiry hadn’t probed very far with the boys. Only Sebastien and Jérémie had been interviewed. Alice didn’t understand why Ryan had slipped through the net. They hadn’t proved very talkative, just saying that they sometimes “hung out” with Lisa, “that’s all.” Marco Lange had already been charged with rape, the police officer had been sure he had the culprit and he hadn’t dug any deeper.

The judge invited Alice to cross-examine the witness first. She got to her feet and came to stand just in front of him.

“Do you know why you’re here?”

“Not really. I’ve been questioned once, but it was a long time ago.”

“Did you like Lisa?”

“Uh, yeah. She was a nice girl.”

“Well, I think she liked you very much at the time.”

“Maybe.”

“And she did whatever you asked her …”

He stiffened.

“Ask her what?”

“I’m sure you remember, Mr. Faivre …”

“We were going out together, that’s all. Like anybody else that age …”

“Were you alone, just the two of you?”

“Yes. Well, not always. We were in a group, we hung out with the guys.”

“And what did the guys do? Did they look away?”

“I dunno. We were a gang …”

“And everyone in the gang made the most of having Lisa around, is that it?”

“She was okay with it,” he mumbled.

“No!” Lisa screamed so loudly that the courtroom froze. Sebastien Faivre rubbed his hands up and down his thighs.

“Did you hear that?”

“I can’t see why she’s saying that now …”

“Did you ask how she felt?”

“You know, girls in high school were less … they were more cool about it than these days …”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Well, it was easier …”

“’Easier,’” Alice repeated. “Is that your last word?”

She came and sat back down next to Lisa while they waited for Jérémie Cazes to arrive. He was doing temp work, and single. He wore a T-shirt with a heavy metal band on the front, and his arms were tattooed right up to the shoulder. He stood firmly in the witness box, with his feet wide apart.

“I was a year behind in high school, I kind of played the big shot.”

Did he remember Lisa Charvet? Alice asked.

“Yes. We had a blast together. She always came along with us.”

“And what did you do with her?”

“We wandered around. We went to the park and the activities center.”

“Is that all?”

“We did what everybody that age does. Nothing nasty. You know, in those days, us guys had our dicks in our heads …”

Marco Lange laughed. A sort of chuckle that his mic, which was on, picked up. The judge shot him a furious look.

“Do you find that amusing, Mr. Lange?”

Théry had leaped to his feet.

“My client has every right to speak, to remain silent, and, yes, to laugh too. He hasn’t laughed much these last few years.”

Jérémie Cazes was so uncouth that Alice had given up. She saved her anger for Ryan. The handsome, brilliant, irreproachable, and impressive Ryan Ernold. The one who’d humiliated Lisa with an ice-cold stare when she’d knelt before him to do for him what she’d done for the other two. The one who’d taken the most precious things she had in that moment, her self-respect and self-esteem.

He introduced himself as a student.

“A student of what?”

He gave the pretentious name of a business school.

“Do you remember the blindfold game?”

“Erm. No, I don’t see what you mean.”

Alice’s voice grew hard, incisive.

“Are you sure?”

“I was fifteen … It was all a long time ago. I’ve forgotten.”

“You’re lucky you’ve forgotten. Let me remind you.” Lisa had told Alice about the Wednesday afternoon when they’d met up in Sebastien’s bedroom. The boys had suggested this “blindfold game” to her, which they must have seen in the porn they binged on. She’d protested, they’d jeered at her, Sebastien had said it was just for fun, and she’d eventually let them persuade her. It was on that day, Lisa later discovered, that Ryan had filmed her.

“It only happened once …”

“Who was holding the cell phone?”

“I don’t remember … it may have been me.”

“Yes, Mr. Ernold, it was you. You who filmed Lisa. You who then showed the video to your inseparable friends. Oh, how the three of you must have laughed! It was so funny holding a girl’s reputation on the tip of your thumb. Just one click and the whole school would know. And tell me, what did you do with the video when you heard that Lisa had said she’d been raped?”

“I think I erased it.”

“You think or you’re sure?”

Her voice was so aggressive that the judge called her to order: “Ms. Keridreux, Mr. Ernold is just a witness!”

Alice asked her question again: “What did you do with the video?”

“I erased it.”

“Right. I wish you all the best in your career, Mr. Ernold.”

Ryan Ernold walked away from the witness box so quickly that he almost bumped into a bench. A large sweat patch stood out on his beautiful white shirt. Lisa had had her revenge. But the hardest part was still to come.

Maud Vigier had just turned toward the dock.

“Please stand, Mr. Lange.”

Alice sprang to her feet.

“I would ask for my client to be heard first.”

“Do I need to remind you that I’m running this trial, Ms. Keridreux?” the judge retorted tartly.

“What Lisa Charvet has to say can’t wait. You’ll understand if you read this letter.”

Alice approached the bench and handed three copies of Lisa’s handwritten letter to the usher. One for the court, one for the district attorney, and one for Théry. The silence was leaden. Alice clenched her fingers so tightly her joints clicked.

“Indeed …” the judge almost whispered.

She cleared her throat.

“Ladies and gentlemen of the court, I must read you this letter.”

Lisa’s words reverberated around the courtroom: “Marco Lange is innocent. I made up a story because I was in a difficult place at school. I didn’t think of all the consequences it would have. I’m prepared to explain myself before the court. I ask forgiveness of Marco Lange and everyone else who believed me.”

Alice had asked Lisa to add “who believed me.” She wanted to protect Lisa’s mother, who had been the first to accuse Lange.

The jurors were stunned, glancing in astonishment from one end of the courtroom to the other. Théry was still holding the letter. Behind him, Lange froze for a few seconds, his mouth hanging open. Then he snapped back tall and thumped the dock.

“I always said so!” he yelled. “I never raped her, I never raped that girl.”

The two guards tensed as one.

“Get me out of here!” Lange cried.

“Mr. Lange, I must ask you to remain calm. You will be given an opportunity to speak. But first, I must question Miss Charvet.”

Alice was impressed by Maud Vigier’s composure.

“Miss Charvet, please approach the bench. Can you confirm that you wrote this letter?”

“Yes.”

“Alone?”

“Yes.”

“You spoke to no one about it?”

“Only my lawyer. And then my parents.”

“Can you confirm that what you wrote is true?”

“Yes.”

“So you would have been wrongfully accusing Marco Lange?”

Alice noticed her use of the conditional. Lisa had heard it too. Her voice faltered.

“It … it was a whole chain of events. I’ll try to explain. You have to believe me, I’m telling the truth now.”

“We’ll see about that in good time. The court is adjourned. We will reconvene in thirty minutes.”

The district attorney stood up, furious. Théry had turned toward the dock and put a hand on his client’s shoulder, and with his face right up against Lange’s he was talking to him quietly. Lange gradually seemed to calm down, nodding his head as he listened. Théry stepped aside and indicated to the guards that they could lead Lange away.

The courtroom had emptied. Lisa’s parents were with her, and Alice decided to leave the three of them alone for a while. She went out, found Théry waiting for her by the door, and walked over to the coffee machine with him.

“How long have you known? Why didn’t you tell me? That’s not fair play.”

Alice glared at him fiercely.

“I don’t need any lectures. Not from anyone.”

They were standing facing each other, both equally taut and mistrustful.

“You should be saying you’re relieved! My client’s damn brave!”

“Brave? For doing what? For sending a guy who didn’t lay a finger on her to prison? Where’s the bravery in that? I told you this case didn’t hold up. I was always convinced Lange was innocent.”

Alice shook her head. The hypocrisy! No … he was just a lawyer.

“Well, I can tell you they’re going to hear what I have to say! I’m going to throw it all out. The ‘sacred truth spoken by women and children,’ and the whole shebang. Victims who are so pure that you’re the worst kind of asshole if you dare to contradict them. And the legal system prostrating itself before them because it’s so desperate to keep up with public opinion. And do you know what I really like about the whole thing? That it’s you, Keridreux, who’s giving me a chance to say all this stuff …”