Court was called into session. Judge LaVan called on Yuki, asking her to put on her next witness. She was ready.
“The People call Felix Ashton.”
A fortyish man with black hair and mustache, wearing an expensive-looking gray jacket and dark pants, was sworn in.
Yuki asked him to state his name, then his profession. “Real-estate broker. High-end residential properties,” Ashton said.
Yuki paced in the well and said, “How well do you know Candace Martin?”
“We’ve been seeing each other for about a year.”
“By ‘seeing each other,’ you mean romantically?”
“Yes.”
“And how did you meet her?”
“Dennis Martin asked me to appraise the house that he and Candace owned together. She contacted me after I did the appraisal and asked me to give her the information.”
“I see,” Yuki said. She glanced at her notes, looked back up at the witness.
“And what was the value of the house?”
“In that neighborhood and in that excellent condition, no less than three-point-five million. Some would go as high as five.”
“Did you have occasion to meet Dennis Martin more than once?”
“Yes.”
“Under what circumstances?”
“Every couple of weeks, he’d show up in the restaurant where Candace and I were having dinner and take a table near us. He sat next to us at the movie theater a couple of times. He followed Candace to antagonize her. He used those occasions to have sarcastic buddy-buddy talks with me.”
“So he was stalking her. Did that make Candace angry?”
“Objection,” Hoffman said. “Leading the witness.”
“I’ll allow it. Answer the question, Mr. Ashton.”
Ashton said, “Dennis Martin needled Candace all the time. He bragged to her and to me that he was seeing a lot of different women. He told me that he’d divorce Candace in a flash, if she gave him what he wanted — the house and alimony and the kids. He said he wanted it all. And so he was trying to torment her until she gave in.”
“And did Candace ever tell you that she was going to agree to his terms?”
“No.”
“Do you love Dr. Martin?” Yuki asked.
“Yes, I do.”
“And has she told you that she loves you?”
“Yes.”
“But she wouldn’t give her husband a divorce.”
“He was a mean guy. If he hadn’t insisted on custody of the kids, she would have cut him loose. But she didn’t want to give him joint custody.”
“Nice of her.”