Practice to Deceive

him?”
    “Coupeville High School.”
    “When were you married?”
    “June 1994.”
    “Do you have children?”
    “Two. Jack and Hannah.”
    “What was your marital status in December 2003?”
    “Separated—but married.”
    Banks moved closer to the more interesting facts. Brenna explained that she had been doing hair since 1989, and she and Russ bought Just B’s and opened their salon in January 2003. It had four chairs and three were rented to other stylists.
    Banks held out a photo of Peggy Sue Thomas, and Brenna identified her. She explained that Peggy rented a chair at Just B’s, and when she moved to Las Vegas, Brenna and Russ Douglas had rented her house in Langley.
    “Did you keep in touch with her after she moved?”
    “By phone, we did.”
    “Have you ever visited Las Vegas?”
    “Once.”
    Brenna agreed that she had discussed her separation from Russ with Peggy Sue, who was separating from Kelvin Thomas at about the same time.
    “Do you know Jim Huden?”
    “I met him once. I didn’t really know him.”
    Asked to identify the defendant in the courtroom, Brenna pointed to Jim at the defense table.
    Banks asked her about the Christmas holiday nine years before. Would Brenna paint her late husband with as black a brush as she had to detectives? No. She spoke cautiously and with no apparent vitriol. She testified that she had known Russ was involved with someone who lived off-island.
    “But he did come over to spend time with his family?”
    “Yes.”
    “Did he pay child support?”
    “Yes, he did.”
    As she recalled, Russ had stayed at their family home in Langley—Peggy Sue’s house—from December 23 to December 26. They had had a traditional Christmas with family and guests coming over, presents, and holiday food. The morning after Christmas, Russ told her that he needed to run some errands.
    Brenna looked at the picture of a yellow GEO Tracker, and identified it as Russ’s vehicle.
    “When did he return? Did he return?”
    “He never came back. I didn’t know what to think. I thought our reconciliation was working well . . . I was worried, angry, confused . . .”
    Brenna said that when Russ didn’t come home as the night wore on, she grew angry. “And then the detectives knocked on my door in the middle of the night to tell me what had happened.”
    Banks changed the subject. “Did you see Peggy Thomas over the holidays?”
    “She worked a couple of days in the salon.”
    “Regarding Russel, prior to your separation, you had a restraining order against him,” Banks pressed. “What was the situation at home?”
    “Well, he had a girlfriend on the side, and there was physical and verbal abuse toward me and our kids.”
    “What happened to that restraining order?”
    “It was withdrawn.”
    “You did discuss the situation with Russel with Peggy Thomas, didn’t you?”
    “Yes—we did talk about it.”
    Matt Montoya cross-examined Brenna.
    “Did you receive a gift of money from Peggy?”
    “Yes.”
    “And you discussed Russel’s abuse with Peggy and with others?”
    “Yes.”
    “While separated from Russel in April or May of 2003, how was their relationship?”
    “It was amicable.”
    The defense attorney often repeated the same questions that prosecutor Banks had asked, and it seemed counterproductive to Jim Huden’s case. Montoya’s cross-examinations thus far had lasted no more than five minutes.
    “Do you recall what your husband was wearing on the morning of December 26?”
    “Shorts—and some kind of top.”
    “Witness excused,” Montoya said.
    Next to testify were the residents who lived along Wahl Road and had seen the yellow car parked for so long with its door open in the cold rain, and those who finally saw the body and called the sheriff. And then there was the usual parade of the officers who responded to the crime scene, the coroner, and a number of criminologists from the Washington State Patrol who explained ballistics, DNA testing, and fingerprints that had helped to build the case against Jim Huden.
    Greg Banks, Mark Plumberg, and the rest of the sheriff’s investigative team had worked so hard for so long to bring some kind of justice to Russel Douglas, now long dead. Banks was building a strong foundation, one he hoped would be so solid that nothing could tear it down.
    With each day of trial, the testimony grew in intensity and one got the feeling that the strongest witnesses were yet to come.
    July is almost always one month when