Thomas’s lawyer objected.
He said: Your Honor, memory is fallible. This was six months ago. The teller saw hundreds of customers.
Mrs. Wilkes said, without being asked: I remember her because of the ring.
The room was very quiet.
The judge said: tell me about the ring.
And Mrs. Wilkes told her.
She said: it was unusual. An emerald in an old setting with two small diamonds. I told her I loved it. She said it was her grandmother’s. I always remembered customers who wore beautiful old things.
She said: it came to my window four times on my shift. You remember a ring like that.
She said: when I read about the hearing in the paper. I saw Mrs. Brooks’ name and her age and her profession. And I thought about the ring.
She said: nurses wear practical jewelry. They don’t wear emerald rings to work. But I thought: maybe. Maybe it’s a different ring. Maybe I’m wrong.
