Page 96 of The First Gentleman

CHAPTER 92

I slide back into my seat in the courtroom just as the deputy attorney general calls his first witness, a state trooper named Steve Josephs.

Josephs is wearing a pristine uniform—green shirt, tan pants, both neatly pressed.

He looks calm and cool on the stand.

Bastinelli leads him through the events of the winter night when Josephs stopped a red Sentra weaving down a New Hampshire highway.

The trooper’s answers are brief and to the point.

Bastinelli takes him through his encounter with the inebriated driver, the arrival of the tow truck, and law enforcement’s decision to search the vehicle before it was taken away.

“And when you opened the trunk, what did you see?”

“I saw dirty blue cloth wrapped around a human skull.”

I hear a gasp from the jury box.

“Your Honor, this is State’s exhibit two A.” Bastinelli clicks his controller and the screen fills with an image of the Sentra’s open trunk.

A filthy blue bundle sits next to a spare tire.

And where the bundle has come loose, sure enough, a skull is peeking out.

Even though I knew it was coming, I’m not ready for it.

That beautiful girl, reduced to bones.

The courtroom is completely still.

I see some of the jury members lowering their eyes.

Cole Wright stares down at his legal pad.

Bastinelli lets the silence hang for a few seconds before continuing.

“Trooper Josephs, is this the trunk of the Sentra as you remember seeing it on that night?”

“Yes, sir, it is.”

Bastinelli takes Josephs quickly through the rest of his testimony.

The trooper describes the arrival of a detective from the Major Crimes Unit.

“And who was that detective?”

“Detective Sergeant Marie Gagnon.”

I sit up straight in my seat.

Marie Gagnon. The first time I saw her in a press conference, her name hit me right away.

She was the one I spoke to after I reburied Suzanne’s bracelet and called 911.

The bracelet was never mentioned in the news.

I’m still waiting to learn if my strategy paid off.

Now Josephs is explaining how the remains were eventually transferred by van to the medical examiner’s office.

Bastinelli walks back to his table.

“Thank you, Trooper. No further questions.”

Now it’s Tess Hardy’s turn.

She walks to the lectern and introduces herself to Josephs.

Seems calm and courteous.

And really curious.

“Trooper Josephs, when you made that traffic stop that night, how long had you worked?”

“That shift? About nine hours.”

“So nine hours until the point where you stopped the Sentra?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“And then you followed the tow truck with the Sentra to the impound lot and guarded the car until the remains were transferred to the medical examiner’s van, correct?”

“Correct.”

“How long were you there?”

Josephs has to think for a couple seconds.

“Around… five hours.”

“And this was the middle of the night—actually, the wee hours of the morning at this point, am I right?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Hardy tucks a strand of her neat blond hair behind her ear.

“So, after working fourteen hours, more or less, what were you doing while you were guarding the vehicle and waiting for the ME van to arrive?”

The trooper seems puzzled.

“I was just sitting. In my cruiser.”

“How long did you sleep?”

Josephs looks puzzled.

“Not at all.”

Hardy leaves the lectern and walks forward until she’s standing about four feet from Josephs.

He’s a big guy, but in this configuration, Hardy is looking down at him.

“Are you sure? Isn’t it possible that you dozed off and that, during that time, somebody might have tampered with the contents of the trunk? Removed or added something?”

“The trunk was locked, ma’am. I had the key in my pocket.”

“Was the Sentra alarmed?”

“No, ma’am. It wasn’t.”

“Trooper Josephs, how many vehicle break-ins have you investigated in your career as a law enforcement officer?”

Bastinelli jumps up.

“Objection! Relevance!”

Hardy turns to the judge.

“Your Honor, I think chain of custody with regard to human remains is extremely relevant.”

Dow nods.

“Overruled. I’ll allow it. But let’s not make this a long detour, Ms. Hardy.”

“Thank you, Your Honor. Trooper, do you need me to repeat the question?”

“If you don’t mind.”

“How many vehicle break-ins have you investigated?”

“I can’t say, ma’am. I’m not sure.”

“Less than fifty? More than fifty?”

“Probably more, but…” Josephs looks a bit rattled.

“So you know that professional thieves with the right tools can unlock a car door or a car trunk quickly and with very little noise. Am I right?”

“They can, yes.”

“And if you had dozed off, after fourteen straight hours of work, in the wee hours of the morning, you might not have seen it happen. You might not even have known it had happened. Isn’t that right?”

“But I wasn’t sleeping!” Josephs shifts in the witness chair.

“So you said, Trooper.” Hardy looks at the jury.

She raises her eyebrows slightly.

“No further questions.”

A seed of doubt, nicely sown.

Tess Hardy is very good.