Chapter 50

  “THE PEOPLE CALL Mr. Travis Cook,” Yuki said.

  Heads swung toward the double doors at the back of the courtroom, and a young man about eighteen years old, wearing a gray prep school blazer with a crest¹ over the breast pocket, walked up the aisle², came through the gate.

  Cook’s bushy hair looked patted down rather than combed, and his shoes needed a polish. He looked uneasy as he swore to tell the whole truth and nothing but. Then he stepped up to the witness stand.

  Yuki said good morning to her witness and then asked, “How did you know Michael Campion?”

  “We went to Newkirk Prep together.”

  “And when did you meet Michael?”

  “I knew him in our freshman³ year, but, uh, we became better friends last year.”

  “In your opinion, what caused this friendship to grow?”

  “Uh, Michael didn’t have many friends, really,” Travis Cook said, meeting Yuki’s eyes briefly⁴, then looking down again at his hands. “People liked him, but they didn’t get too close to him ’cause he couldn’t play any sports or hang out or anything. Because of his heart condition.”

  “But you didn’t have the same problem becoming friends with Michael?”

  “I have severe asthma⁵.”

  “And how did that affect your friendship?”

  Travis Cook said, “What he had was worse, but I could relate. We talked about how bad it sucked living with these things hanging over us all the time.”

  “Now, did there come a time when you told Michael about the defendant⁶, Ms. Moon?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Travis, I realize this may be a little uncomfortable, but you’ve sworn to tell the truth.”

  “I know.”

  “Good. And what did you tell Michael about Ms. Moon?”

  “That I’d been with her,” he mumbled⁷.

  “Please speak up so the jury can hear you,” Yuki said.

  The boy started again. “I told Michael that I’d been with her. A lot of us had. She’s a nice girl for someone who . . . anyway. She’s not crude or anything, and so . . .” Travis sighed. “And so she’s a good person to break you in.”

  “Break you in?” Yuki asked, turning away from the witness, looking at the jurors. “I’m not sure what you mean.”

  “Do it for the first time. You’re not worried about what the girl’s going to think of you or anything. I mean, you get to be yourself, have fun, pay her, and leave.”

  “I see. And what did Michael Campion say when you told him about Ms. Moon?”

  “He said he didn’t want to die a virgin⁸.”

  “Travis, did you see Michael the day before he disappeared?”

  “I saw him on the lunch line.”

  “And how did he appear to you?”

  “Happy. He said he had a date that night with Junie.”

  “Thank you, Travis. Your witness,” Yuki said to L. Diana Davis.

  Davis was wearing a blue double-breasted suit with two rows of four large white pearl buttons and a triple strand⁹ of pearls at her throat. Her silver hair was crisp, almost sharp.

  She stood up and spoke¹⁰ from the defense¹¹ table, saying, “I only have one question, Mr. Cook.”

  The boy looked at her earnestly.

  “Did you see Michael Campion go into Junie Moon’s house?”

  “No, ma’am.”

  “That’s all we have, Your Honor,” Davis said, sitting down.

1 crest   

n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖

参考例句：

• The rooster bristled his crest.公鸡竖起了鸡冠。
• He reached the crest of the hill before dawn.他于黎明前到达山顶。

2 aisle   

n.（教堂、教室、戏院等里的）过道，通道

参考例句：

• The aisle was crammed with people.过道上挤满了人。
• The girl ushered me along the aisle to my seat.引座小姐带领我沿着通道到我的座位上去。

3 freshman   

n.大学一年级学生(可兼指男女)

参考例句：

• Jack decided to live in during his freshman year at college.杰克决定大一时住校。
• He is a freshman in the show business.他在演艺界是一名新手。

4 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

5 asthma   

n.气喘病，哮喘病

参考例句：

• I think he's having an asthma attack.我想他现在是哮喘病发作了。
• Its presence in allergic asthma is well known.它在过敏性气喘中的存在是大家很熟悉的。

6 defendant   

n.被告；adj.处于被告地位的

参考例句：

• The judge rejected a bribe from the defendant's family.法官拒收被告家属的贿赂。
• The defendant was borne down by the weight of evidence.有力的证据使被告认输了。

7 mumbled   

含糊地说某事，叽咕，咕哝( mumble的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He mumbled something to me which I did not quite catch. 他对我叽咕了几句话，可我没太听清楚。
• George mumbled incoherently to himself. 乔治语无伦次地喃喃自语。

8 virgin   

n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的

参考例句：

• Have you ever been to a virgin forest?你去过原始森林吗？
• There are vast expanses of virgin land in the remote regions.在边远地区有大片大片未开垦的土地。

9 strand   

vt.使（船）搁浅，使（某人）困于（某地）

参考例句：

• She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ears.她把一缕散发夹到了耳后。
• The climbers had been stranded by a storm.登山者被暴风雨困住了。

10 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

11 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。