Mercy

Cam takes the stand the next day as a witness for the prosecution. Audra’s questioning establishes that Cam believes Maggie was killed willfully, with deliberation and premeditation by Jamie—conditions required to establish Murder One. During the short recess that follows, Allie apologizes to Jamie about not having been present the previous day and tells him everything that happened. Jamie remembers how intently Cam was looking at Allie throughout his time on the witness stand, believing Allie has managed to shift the balance of love between herself and Cam.

During Graham’s cross-examination of Cam, he establishes that Jamie was not entirely in a clear state of mind when he confessed to Cam about killing Maggie. The cross-questioning also reveals the family connections between Cam and Jamie; when Graham asks what this says about Cam’s character itself, the latter admits that “there are extenuating circumstances you have to consider […] anytime you judge a man” (330).

In the recess that follows Cam’s cross-examination, Jamie confronts him angrily for what he did to Allie. Cam asks Jamie how he managed to let Maggie go, and Jamie realizes that Cam is still deeply in love with Mia. Cam admits he didn’t give Jamie enough credit, and Jamie claims he gave Cam too much. Elsewhere, Ellen apologizes to Allie for not saying anything. When Allie is not looking, she slips an herb that purportedly remedies grief, anger, and disappointment into Allie’s coffee.

At the end of the day’s session, Cam tries to talk to Allie, but she angrily rebuffs him, saying she will meet him later at home. It begins to rain, and Cam remembers how it rained on their honeymoon, asking Allie not to throw out everything about their marriage; Allie retaliates that this is what Cam did.

Cam buys Allie flowers in every color, but they only remind her of Mia. She asks Cam if he knows where Mia is; he admits that he doesn’t and it wouldn’t matter anyway, but Allie doesn’t disbelieve him. Later, she goes through his wallet to see if there is any evidence still linking Cam to Mia but is disgusted with herself and the lack of trust she feels.

As is standard practice, Graham files motions for dismissal, and all are dismissed, as he expected. In the 10-minute recess that follows, the judge is forced to leave due to a family emergency, and court is adjourned until the next day. Allie takes Jamie back to Angus’s; on the way, they discuss how she and Cam are not getting along. For the first time, Jamie admits to feeling remorse about killing Maggie and advises Allie to take Cam back.

After dropping Jamie off, Allie heads to the flower shop and burns laurel leaves in keeping with a belief that it would win back a straying lover. A vine of morning glory gets caught in the fire, forewarning the death of someone close. Back at home, she asks Cam if he still thinks about Mia, and he admits that he does, but not as much. He wonders why Allie didn’t sell the stained-glass panel, and she admits that she should have; she rushes up and breaks it before Cam can stop her.

Angus, who has been having visions of Carrymuir all day, dreams of the battle again; a man dressed in Scottish blue holds out his sword hilt to Angus, who takes it, smiling. Angus passes away in his sleep.

Graham requests a temporary adjournment until after Angus’s funeral, and the judge grants it to him. When the trial reopens, Watchell Spitlick is his first witness. Watchell recounts the incident with Maggie being taken away in the middle of the night by an ambulance, as well as her conversations with him when his sister fell ill. Graham manages to plant the idea of euthanasia in the jury’s mind without mentioning the word “mercy.” However, in Audra’s cross-examination, she effectively questions whether Maggie’s wish to die if she were ever in Watchell’s sister’s situation was in fact a rhetorical one.

Dr. Wharton is the next witness, and he describes Maggie’s cancer and the poor prognosis, describing how, throughout her illness, Jamie had remained a devoted and optimistic husband. However, Maggie had been particularly subdued after her last appointment when Dr. Wharton made it clear that death was inevitable. Audra questions the probability that Maggie would have died of cancer on the day she was killed by Jamie; Graham counters, with Dr. Wharton admitting that her quality of life would have never been the same, either.

Pauline takes the stand and describes her friendship with Maggie, Maggie’s deteriorating condition owing to the cancer, how in love Jamie and Maggie were, and Maggie confessing she would ask Jamie to kill her. Pauline doesn’t think Jamie would have killed Maggie unless he believed it was better than the pain Maggie was feeling. Audra tries to insinuate that Pauline’s lack of anger toward Jamie is because she wished her best friend dead and hypothesizes how Pauline would have felt if a cure for cancer were developed soon. Pauline sharply points out that this hasn’t happened yet, and Audra is bested.

Jamie contemplates how, unlike how he felt right after Maggie’s death, he no longer wants to be locked up. As Jamie takes the stand, Allie notices that for the first time since Cam has been attending the trial, he is sitting on the defendant’s side, in support of his cousin.

In response to Graham’s questioning, Jamie describes his work in virtual reality, how he met Maggie for the first time, what their relationship was like, and her struggles with cancer. He reveals that she had asked him to kill her months before the last appointment, when they first realized that she would never recover from the cancer. Jamie had dismissed her concerns, not realizing things were going to get much worse for her.

During the lunch break, Allie agrees to have lunch with Cam, to his surprise. They discuss the case, and then the conversation turns to Mia. Cam reassures Allie that the two of them never laughed at her, and for the first time since things came to a head, Allie doesn’t pull away when he takes her hand.

After lunch, Jamie recounts a series of events beginning with Maggie asking her to kill him after the last appointment. He refused initially, even asking her to take her pills instead, promising he wouldn’t call 911. Maggie insisted that he be touching her when she went and suggested the pillow; Jamie finally acquiesced on the condition that they spend the weekend together and he choose the time and place. They picnicked, watched a movie, ate an expensive dinner, and crashed a wedding before leaving for Wheelock on Monday, falling back into bed one last time that morning. On the way, Jamie reconfirmed Cam’s address, sure that his cousin would take care of him.

Jamie and Maggie spent all of Monday in their room at the inn; they made love one last time, and on Tuesday morning, after Maggie said goodbye, Jamie killed her using his pillow. To Graham’s question of why he didn’t stop when Maggie struggled, Jamie asserts that Maggie had asked him earlier not to.

Later that night, Allie dreams of the time she lost her virginity. She wakes up and invites Cam back into bed. Cam lies and says that he and Mia didn’t sleep together in their bed. Allie reaches out to him, and Cam eagerly responds; they sleep together, even as he tearfully and repeatedly apologizes for what he did.

In Audra’s cross-examination the next day, she needles Jamie into an outburst, repeatedly questioning why he decided to kill his wife. He finally retorts that the decision was Maggie’s and that he didn’t stop even when she struggled because he had made a promise to her. Audra points out that he made a similar promise in his wedding vows to stick with her in sickness and health, before ending her questioning.

Despite having slept with Allie, Cam wakes up to the conflicting feeling of knowing he will both love Mia forever and live with Allie forever. He discovers that Allie has uncharacteristically left the house without leaving a note and is unsettled by this new, confident version of Allie.

Graham calls Dr. Harding to the stand, who describes his examination of Jamie, and posits that Jamie had built a fusion fantasy wherein he felt Maggie’s distress as his own, as well as suffered from a “temporary psychotic reaction brought about by prolonged stress” (379). This led him to carry out an act without full comprehension of its consequences. In Audra’s cross-examination, she brings up Dr. Harding’s stance on euthanasia and posits that he is biased, using Jamie’s actions to justify his own beliefs. The defense rests, and as Cam approaches Allie outside the courtroom after, asking if she has any regrets, she processes that she loves him but still doesn’t like him very much.

Audra brings Roanoke Martin, who establishes that he believes Jamie was sane when he killed Maggie. In Graham’s cross-examination, he highlights the extremely short amount of time Roanoke spent examining Jamie—18 minutes—underlining that Roanoke made a judgment about Jamie’s mental condition based solely on how he appeared on the day of the examination.

The jury is dismissed until summations begin on Monday, after the weekend. Outside the courthouse, Jamie runs into Ellen, who asks him what he plans to do after everything is over. Allowing himself to dream for the first time, Jamie lists idea after idea for his future, talking for almost an hour.

Graham and Audra present closing statements on Monday. Graham highlights the depth of Jamie’s love for Maggie and how the grief about her condition, and her own request, led him to act uncharacteristically and kill her. Audra underlines how, irrespective of the context, the fact remains that Jamie broke the law when he killed his wife.

An unnamed writer wonders what it would be like to meet the addressee again; would the writer show the addressee pictures of his children in his wallet, and would the addressee be wearing a wedding band? The writer reflects on how, despite the addressee’s leaving, he still thinks of her as his, and so she will always belong to him.

The judge addresses the jury one final time, clarifying legal terms and urging them to do their civic duty by arriving at a fair verdict. Graham and Jamie exit the courtroom together as the jurors convene, and even as the two of them nervously await the verdict, Jamie tells Graham that he did a good job. Jamie absent-mindedly wanders the courthouse, peeping into different rooms curiously, until he comes across Maggie’s ghost in one of them. She smiles at him, and he sits down next to her.

Allie and Cam wait together for the jury to return a verdict, Cam chattering away to distract Allie from thinking about what will happen. He suggests they extend the lease on Angus’s place, which they had been renting for the old man, for a little longer so that Jamie can stay in Wheelock a little longer if he’d like to. Allie thinks it’s a wonderful idea, and the two lean in to kiss but are interrupted by the bailiff announcing that the jury has come back with a verdict.

The jury finds Jamie not guilty of either murder or manslaughter in the first degree; their decision is based on Jamie’s “insanity” in the moment, but they do not think the insanity continues. Jamie hugs Graham in relief and joy as the courtroom erupts; after the commotion subsides, Jamie walks out to a fruit tree in the back where Maggie is waiting.

Allie and Cam go home together. Cam falls asleep while Allie drives, and he dreams of Mia. She is standing outside the house, while Allie arrives at his side and calls to him. Cam closes the door, which is made of glass in the dream; he can see through it, but it distorts his vision of Mia. Satisfied with this, he follows Allie out of the room.

As they reach home, Allie suddenly feels unsure about what will happen with her and Cam now that the trial is over. Inside the house, she deliberately picks a fight, irritated by Cam having left a glass of grape juice on the kitchen counter, which stained the white countertop. She furiously rubs at it and tries to get the stain out. Cam calmly covers her hand with his in a way that the stain is no longer visible, insisting it is gone. Cam says “So,” and “to Allie, the word sound[s] like a beginning” (400).