Chapter 6: Reputation Management

The prosecutor rose from behind the table. “The prosecution would again like to call Joan Paige, formerly Joan Coswell, to the stand.”

Joan rose and came forward. “Miss Paige, I remind you that you are still under oath to tell the truth, whole truth, and nothing but the truth to this court.”

“Yes, sir.” She said as she sat in the witness chair beside the judge.

Brad James was gentle with her, “Miss Paige, yesterday you stated that you kept a diary. Would you describe that document?” He gestured to two notebooks on the prosecutor’s table.

“OBJECTION. The prosecutor is introducing into evidence material that the defense did not know about and has not had an opportunity to examine.”

Brad looked innocently at the judge, “Your Honor, only yesterday afternoon, the witness told the defense counsel of this diary in his direct examination of her. He brought forth this information on his own. We seek to clarify exactly what that document is and its relevant contents.”

“Overruled,” Judge Hernandez stated. “Proceed.”

Joan looked at the prosecutor, “After a couple of years of feeling bad about my marriage, I read an article that talked about having a diary or private journal to record events and one’s thought about them. The article said it helped one cope with a bad situation. I didn’t write in it everyday, but when I did it was often immediately after some noteworthy event. I’d note the date and day, what happened briefly, and then what I thought about it. I had the notebooks with me in Texas when I went through therapy because I thought they’d be important, and it turned out they were. I got help in dealing with a lot of what the therapists called the luggage I’d been carrying from past events where negative things were said to me in caustic ways.”

Brad handed one notebook to Joan open to a particular page. “Could you validate that you wrote what I am showing you and read the page?”

“Yes, I wrote this on September 9 of last year. I remember this. I wrote, ‘Brian and I attended a party at the home of David Prentiss, only it was really at the shared facilities of ten homes. There were about sixty people there. We mixed, ate dinner, and then talked. Alice Prentiss described their lifestyle in the cohousing project we were in. It is based on love, support, optimism, openness, and sharing between all the residents. There is no jealousy, friction, sense of inequality, or ill will between the parties. The love between the residents is palpable. I want that for Brian and me, again. I don’t know why we lost it. I wish he’d help me fix it. I even asked about counseling again, but he told me ‘Absolutely not’. He said the marriage was something I had to fix, not him.”

Brad James handed her the other diary open to a page near the end. “And validate and read this page please.”

“Yes, this is mine, dated August 19, 2016, Friday. Brian sent me several text messages during the day. Every one was a downer and made me feel badly about myself. ‘Why are you even living you are so worthless?’ ‘How can you stand to be around other people? Don’t you know they’re laughing at you behind your back?’ ‘Since we got married you’ve done nothing but change for the worse.’ ‘You exist. Is that the best you can do? Wouldn’t the world be a better place without you?’ At home that night, he went on a rant about how I never remembered what he liked for dinners or drinks, and that I was always fucking up. He said similar things to me the day before, too; one I remember especially, ‘Your dying will make the world a better place’. What a terrible thing to say to someone, let alone your wife. I wonder why he thinks so little of me. Maybe he’s right and I am becoming worthless.”

Brad stepped forward and flipped to another page in that volume. “Do the same with this entry.”

Joan spoke, “I wrote this on January 21, 2016. ‘I finally worked up courage to raise the issue about having children again. What triggered it was some special on the news about how some underprivileged children had celebrated the holidays. I really want children. I asked Brian when he would ever be ready to have children. I’m getting old, almost too old to have kids. As it is, I might be in my late fifties when they’re teenagers. // Brian looked shocked. He told me that I was nuts – totally crazy. He told me he’d always wanted children and that I’d told him for years about how I did want them. That’s just not true and never has been. I love children. I seek them out at gatherings if they’re there. He ranted and raved about how I was losing my mind and not remembering things straight. If it wasn’t for the many entries in this journal where I’ve talked about wanting children, I might have believed him because he was so forceful. Several times I feared he was going to strike me, but he didn’t. Instead, he yelled at me about how useless I was, how crazy I was, how his wife was nuts, and how everyone would benefit if I disappeared. Do you suppose that’s true?’”

“Thank you, Miss Paige. Now, for the record could you describe in more detail your current living accommodations and lifestyle.”

Joan was not put off by this question. She agreed with Brad James that he should raise this rather than the defense so she could put the right spin on it. They could tear into it on Redirect, but for now it would put several stakes in the ground that would be hard to move.

Joan spoke, “As I mentioned, I have a townhouse just off Circle Drive in a private community called the Circle. I am one of about twenty-five women and fourteen men, and then we have a number of children and babies. We have a shared social space we call the ‘Core’ where we gather at the end of each business day or on the weekends to be neighborly and to talk. There is a lot of sharing and much volunteering of support for one another. The woman that was instrumental in my getting treatment is part of the community. Owen Bennett is also a member.”

At the mention of the billionaire’s name, a buzz went through the courtroom.

James asked, “And do you have a rich social life in that setting?”

Joan frowned, “Yes.” There was uncertainty in her remark.

“Did you socialize with that group or have sex with anybody in the group prior to your divorce?”

“Good grief, no. I was faithful to my marriage vows to the very end – even for months after the divorce.”

“Do you now?”

Joan looked put off by the question and even looked to the judge for relief. “I have a healthy set of full-spectrum relationships. I would prefer not to have my sex life aired in this court setting.”

“What are the precepts of the Circle, the philosophical underpinnings of the group?”

“I think I understand the question. They believe that instead of a dog-eat-dog world full of win-lose situations, that one can live a life full of love and support for each other that is full of win-win situations for those involved. We believe that you can love more than one person, and that love is not a zero-sum game, meaning if I share my love with another person that you get less. Instead we see that love multiply and become a multifaceted set of emotions that expand and evolve for each of us. We believe that there should be a spiritual component to each relationship and not just a social or physical relationship. Sometimes we talk about the mutual divinity of two people coming together in mind, body, and spirit on different levels. There is a strong influence of eastern thinking in our mindset about each other.”

“is the group religious?”

“Oh, no. We have some recovering Catholics and evangelicals in our group, but to my knowledge no one attends any church regularly. We talk about being spiritual but not religious. Once in a while, someone will lead a discussion about some spiritually inclined book they read. A group of us discussed the Power of Now by Eckart Tolle. If I had to describe us, I’d say besides being spiritual, we are agnostics. We are searching for the answers to the great questions facing mankind about why we’re here and how we behave, often so badly to one another. I do think, as many of the Masters have indicated, that love is the way to find the right path to evolution and growth.”

“Thank you, Miss Paige. My last question deals with your relationship with Mr. David Prentiss. Could you describe that for us?”

“David is a good friend and I love him dearly. He was a direct report to my husband at the utility, but that situation became complex when a mutual friend determined how I was badly abused. She came to several others in the Circle for help and I was rescued. He recused himself from further participation in the situation at that time because of his conflict of interest.”

“Did you husband have a good relationship with Mr. Prentiss?”

“I can’t say for sure. I rarely heard his name come up, unlike some of the other people at the utility – Brian’s other direct reports.”

“Did you know much about your husband’s work?”

“Not really. He’s an electrical engineer working for the electric utility and worries about power lines, the grid, and the network. Beyond that he’d never share information with me, even though I asked.”

There was a commotion at the back of the courtroom, and the sheriff connected with the case brought in a number of pages and put them on the prosecutor’s table. The detective connected with the case motioned to the pages as well.

Brad James walked over and glanced at the pages. He picked them up, scanned them briefly, and then took them to the witness box.

“Miss Paige, do you recognize what these are?”

Joan perused the pages, “Yes. Yes, I do. These are emails I received from my husband going back, good lord, going back over five years.”

“Would you read one or two of the emails that have been highlighted, please.”

Joan started, “Joan. I was thinking today about our marriage and what a waste it has been. I wish you would think about how to put some spark and vitality back into it. You seem to be a dark force sabotaging our relationship.”

“When was that?”

“May 6, 2015. I remember that because I suggested that we go to a marriage counselor.”

“What did your husband say to that?”

“I remember this well. I suggested that when we stood in our living room after coming home from work. He screamed at me that this was my fault and that I should fix it without outside intervention. He picked up a vase that I loved and had brought into our marriage. It was precious to me and he knew it. He looked at me, grinned like a Cheshire cat, and then hurled it against the wall. It shattered into a million pieces. He told me that was our marriage and that I should fix it, and then walked away.”

Brad had Joan read several other emails, that were just as damning.

He ended by asking, “Do you know Amanda Tyler?”

“I have met her once the evening we accompanied the sheriff to her apartment to have him served divorce papers and a restraining order. She was there. I’d never seen her before or heard about her until a few weeks earlier. My friends in the Circle had hired a private investigator to see what was going on in Brian’s life that would make him come at me the way he was. They easily discovered his affair, and it was communicated to me while I was in rehab in Texas. Judging from seeing her that one time, I will say she was as used by the man as I was. I was sorry to see such a nice woman taken advantage of.”