Actually, I was wondering . . . I just got the mail 26
you forwarded, and there was a letter, something without a return 27
address. It must have been dropped off. Anyway, I was trying to 28
figure out who it was from.”
29
A pause. “Oh. Yeah. Someone dropped it off in reception. I 30
don’t have a name, though. If you want, I can check to see if they 31
have a record down there.”
32
“Great. That would be great.” Diane heard phones ringing in 33
the background, someone calling down a hallway. “One more 34
thing. Do you know when it came in?”
S 35
“Sure, let’s see.” A flipping of pages. “We got it yesterday.”
R 36
3 9
2nd PASS PAGES
13713_01_i-vi_001-344_r4jn.qxd 4/21/03 8:03 AM Page 40
A M Y G U T M A N
1
After she hung up, Diane grabbed a Polartec jacket and headed 2
outside for her daily run. Every day her route was the same. Up 3
Harbor Road, the main island thoroughfare, then off toward Car-4
son’s Cove. Down a spruce-shaded dirt path, past Fischer’s aban-5
doned boatyard, then onto the rocky promontory that ran along 6
the water.
7
She always felt better once she started to run, and today was no 8
exception. The wind rustled in the tall old trees; empty sky arced 9
above. It was easy to lose perspective, to forget how lucky she 10
was. She found herself thinking about Nashville, the place where 11
it all began. Remembering the chance meeting from which every-12
thing had followed. From the vantage point of where she sat, it 13
could seem inevitable. But when she was honest, she had to ad-14
mit how much she owed to luck.
15
Her first job was at Nashville’s morning paper, general assign-16
ment reporting. Weather stories and car crashes. Filling in at school 17
board meetings. Tedious in retrospect but exciting at the time. Of 18
course, she hadn’t stood a chance of covering the Gage trial.
19
That plum had gone to Bryce Watkins, the paper’s veteran court 20
reporter. But like readers everywhere, she’d been riveted by the 21
story, mesmerized by the drama unfolding in the Davidson County 22
Courthouse. She read every word she could get her hands on, 23
pumped Watkins for information. A couple of times, she played 24
hooky from work to watch parts of the trial.
25
Still, she would have stayed on the sidelines if it hadn’t been 26
for Laura Seton. They met at an AA meeting at a church in 27
downtown Nashville. Because she was seated at the side of the 28
room, she saw Laura walk in, watched her slip quietly into a seat 29
in the very last row of chairs. Despite the dark glasses and hat, Di-30
ane recognized her. She lost all track of what was being said as 31
she concentrated on Laura, wondering how she might approach 32
without scaring her off. She had a brief tussle in her mind about 33
the ethics of this maneuver, knowing that she’d be taking advan-34
tage of Laura’s vulnerability. But even as she argued with herself, 35 S
she knew what she had to do. Gage’s former girlfriend was the 36 R
4 0
2nd PASS PAGES
13713_01_i-vi_001-344_r4jn.qxd 4/21/03 8:03 AM Page 41
T H E A N N I V E R S A R Y
prosecution’s star witness. An exclusive interview with Laura Se-1
ton would be the story of a lifetime.
2
At the end of the meeting, she rushed forward, caught Laura 3
on the steps of the church. “You looked upset,” she babbled. “I 4
wanted to give you my number. If you ever want to talk, call me 5
anytime.” She handed Laura a piece of paper with her home 6
number scribbled on it.
7
Laura was looking down. “Thanks,” she muttered softly. She 8
stuffed the paper into a pocket and quickly turned away. After 9
that, weeks passed, but Laura didn’t return. Not that Diane was 10
really surprised; it happened all the time. A newcomer checked 11
out a meeting or two, then went back to drinking.
12
Steven Gage’s trial continued.
13
The night after he was sentenced, Diane awoke to a ringing 14
phone
you forwarded, and there was a letter, something without a return 27
address. It must have been dropped off. Anyway, I was trying to 28
figure out who it was from.”
29
A pause. “Oh. Yeah. Someone dropped it off in reception. I 30
don’t have a name, though. If you want, I can check to see if they 31
have a record down there.”
32
“Great. That would be great.” Diane heard phones ringing in 33
the background, someone calling down a hallway. “One more 34
thing. Do you know when it came in?”
S 35
“Sure, let’s see.” A flipping of pages. “We got it yesterday.”
R 36
3 9
2nd PASS PAGES
13713_01_i-vi_001-344_r4jn.qxd 4/21/03 8:03 AM Page 40
A M Y G U T M A N
1
After she hung up, Diane grabbed a Polartec jacket and headed 2
outside for her daily run. Every day her route was the same. Up 3
Harbor Road, the main island thoroughfare, then off toward Car-4
son’s Cove. Down a spruce-shaded dirt path, past Fischer’s aban-5
doned boatyard, then onto the rocky promontory that ran along 6
the water.
7
She always felt better once she started to run, and today was no 8
exception. The wind rustled in the tall old trees; empty sky arced 9
above. It was easy to lose perspective, to forget how lucky she 10
was. She found herself thinking about Nashville, the place where 11
it all began. Remembering the chance meeting from which every-12
thing had followed. From the vantage point of where she sat, it 13
could seem inevitable. But when she was honest, she had to ad-14
mit how much she owed to luck.
15
Her first job was at Nashville’s morning paper, general assign-16
ment reporting. Weather stories and car crashes. Filling in at school 17
board meetings. Tedious in retrospect but exciting at the time. Of 18
course, she hadn’t stood a chance of covering the Gage trial.
19
That plum had gone to Bryce Watkins, the paper’s veteran court 20
reporter. But like readers everywhere, she’d been riveted by the 21
story, mesmerized by the drama unfolding in the Davidson County 22
Courthouse. She read every word she could get her hands on, 23
pumped Watkins for information. A couple of times, she played 24
hooky from work to watch parts of the trial.
25
Still, she would have stayed on the sidelines if it hadn’t been 26
for Laura Seton. They met at an AA meeting at a church in 27
downtown Nashville. Because she was seated at the side of the 28
room, she saw Laura walk in, watched her slip quietly into a seat 29
in the very last row of chairs. Despite the dark glasses and hat, Di-30
ane recognized her. She lost all track of what was being said as 31
she concentrated on Laura, wondering how she might approach 32
without scaring her off. She had a brief tussle in her mind about 33
the ethics of this maneuver, knowing that she’d be taking advan-34
tage of Laura’s vulnerability. But even as she argued with herself, 35 S
she knew what she had to do. Gage’s former girlfriend was the 36 R
4 0
2nd PASS PAGES
13713_01_i-vi_001-344_r4jn.qxd 4/21/03 8:03 AM Page 41
T H E A N N I V E R S A R Y
prosecution’s star witness. An exclusive interview with Laura Se-1
ton would be the story of a lifetime.
2
At the end of the meeting, she rushed forward, caught Laura 3
on the steps of the church. “You looked upset,” she babbled. “I 4
wanted to give you my number. If you ever want to talk, call me 5
anytime.” She handed Laura a piece of paper with her home 6
number scribbled on it.
7
Laura was looking down. “Thanks,” she muttered softly. She 8
stuffed the paper into a pocket and quickly turned away. After 9
that, weeks passed, but Laura didn’t return. Not that Diane was 10
really surprised; it happened all the time. A newcomer checked 11
out a meeting or two, then went back to drinking.
12
Steven Gage’s trial continued.
13
The night after he was sentenced, Diane awoke to a ringing 14
phone
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