Mike testifies before Durgin

Mike testifies before Durgin in a deposition that puts his rescue of Kyra Devore under adversarial scrutiny. Durgin tries to turn Mike’s intervention on the Fourth of July into a basis for doubt about Mattie Devore, while Mike limits what he will concede and makes his priority plain: helping Kyra. The testimony ends not with a resolution, but with Durgin abandoning a line of questioning that Mike will not help him pursue.

Setting and Stakes

The examination begins with formal questions for the record, including Mike’s name. Durgin then directs the deposition toward Mike’s first meeting with Kyra and Mattie on the morning of the Fourth of July. He has a folder brought by George Footman and a typed sheet in front of him, suggesting that the questioning is guided by prepared material rather than casual recollection.

The stakes are bound up with the custody dispute. Mike’s account of how he encountered Kyra and brought her to safety could support his role as a witness for Mattie; Durgin instead tries to cast the incident in a way that could implicate her. His questions repeatedly invite Mike to move beyond what he knows and speculate about what might have happened.

Reconstructing the Rescue

After Mike tells the story of meeting Kyra and Mattie, Durgin asks whether Mike could have run Kyra over. Mike answers firmly that he could not: he was driving thirty-five miles per hour, the posted speed limit, and saw her with enough time to stop. Durgin follows by asking whether Mike would still have seen Kyra in time if he had been driving north rather than south, shifting the focus from the actual encounter to a hypothetical one.

Durgin also asks how many cars passed between the moment Mike picked Kyra up and carried her to safety and the time he and the Devores parted. Mike says he does not know for sure. He dislikes Durgin’s framing of the rescue, but cannot deny what he did: he carried Kyra out of danger. The questioning makes that concrete act sound like a point to be tested rather than a straightforward act of care.

Pressure on Mattie’s Driving

Durgin’s questioning turns toward Mattie’s speed. Mike recognizes the direction of the inquiry when he is asked whether the driver of a Scout was below, at, or above the speed limit as she passed the place where he stood holding Kyra. He does not give Durgin the certainty he seeks, saying he cannot be sure.

Durgin then cites two witnesses, Richard Brooks, Junior, the owner of Dick’s All-Purpose Garage, and Royce Merrill, a retired carpenter, who claim Mattie was going well over thirty-five miles per hour. He also invokes skid marks measured by Deputy Footman as evidence that the vehicle was traveling at least fifty miles per hour. Mike objects that, at that speed, Mattie would have skidded sideways and ended up upside down in the ditch. Durgin’s more consequential question is whether Mattie might have run over Kyra if Mike had not carried the child to the side of the road. Mike refuses to claim knowledge of that imagined outcome.

The Cassette and Mike’s Refusal

Durgin tries to extend the deposition beyond the road incident by raising Mike’s telephone conversation with Maxwell Devore, held the night of the Fourth while Mike watched the fireworks. He produces a cassette and asks whether the conversation concerned that morning’s adventure. Mike says he does not recall. He understands that Devore taped the call, but judges that Durgin is bluffing about what the cassette contains; rather than confirm the conversation, he stays with his denial of recollection.

Durgin challenges the claim, suggesting that a writer should be able to remember a conversation from only a week earlier. Mike remains colorless and unhelpful, answering that Devore began by saying hello. When Durgin asks whether Mike wants to help him do his job, Mike draws the distinction that governs the scene: he wants to help Kyra. Durgin asks again what Mike and Devore discussed. Mike says he cannot recall and invites Durgin to refresh his recollection, forcing a pause without producing the desired account.

Ending and Narrative Function

Durgin eventually pushes the cassette player aside and returns to questions about the morning of the Fourth. He does not ask about Mike’s dinner with Mattie and Kyra, nor does he return to the call with Devore. Mike continues answering questions until eleven-thirty, but understands that the examination has already reached its real end when the tape player is moved away; he believes Durgin understands it too.

The deposition’s pressure comes from the difference between an observed act and the hypothetical stories built around it. Mike can state that he was driving within the limit and that he carried Kyra to safety, but he cannot establish what Mattie would have done in an imagined emergency. By withholding cooperation where the questions demand speculation or disclosure of the private call, he protects the limits of his own knowledge while keeping Kyra, rather than Durgin’s investigation, at the center of his stated purpose.