Page 51 of Two Kinds of Stranger (Eddie Flynn #9)

Kate

NYPD Officer Bud Deakins had had his uniform dry-cleaned for this court appearance.

Kate could tell.

Some of the thin, plastic dry-cleaning bag was still visible. A torn piece had been pinned to his shirt beneath the badge on his breast pocket. As if he’d ripped the plastic covering off in a hurry to get into his uniform, maybe late for court, and hadn’t noticed some shreds remained behind.

The thumbnail of toilet paper, complete with bloody dot in the center, that clung to his throat confirmed he had gotten ready for his court appearance in some haste and had cut himself shaving.

Good , thought Kate.

Officer Deakins looked to be in his early twenties, a rookie who had a routine encounter with Arthur Cross, never expecting it to lead to an appearance as a key prosecution witness in a murder trial.

Deakins would have some limited court experience, but this would no doubt be his most important day on the job so far. Maybe ever.

Hence the shaving cut, the dry-cleaned uniform and the look of fear in his eyes as he took the witness stand. His hand shook as he placed it on the Bible and took the oath to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

Castro would have spent some time preparing him for today. Peppering him with fast, awkward, even insulting questions – toughening up the kid so that he could better face the evil defense attorneys.

Castro began leading him through the easy questions, his rank, time on the job (only six months out of probation, so still a rookie), his precinct and did he remember attending the home of Arthur Cross in relation to a complaint of assault that Mr. Cross had made.

Officer Bud Deakins answered quickly with a tremorous voice, as if he was standing on a vibrating plate.

‘What kind of a name is Bud, anyway?’ whispered Harry.

‘I have no idea. I thought it was a nickname,’ said Kate, then turned her attention back to the witness.

‘What happened when you attended Mr. Cross’s home?’ asked Castro.

‘I identified myself as an officer, informed Mr. Cross that I was there to get a report of his complaint and—’

‘Just a moment, Officer, can you describe Mr. Cross as you saw him that day?’

‘Yes, sir, he was wearing a cast on his arm, and it was held in a sling across his chest. I think he was wearing—’

‘That’s fine. Just tell us what Mr. Cross told you.’

‘He informed me that the previous evening, around ten p.m., he opened the front door and two guys rushed the door, got him onto the ground. They told him to stay away from the lawyer and his family, and then one of them, a very large and powerful man, assaulted him by breaking his arm.’

Kate tutted. Cross couldn’t admit that a woman had knocked him to the ground and broken his arm.

That would be . . . unmanly for a twisted asshole like Cross.

And he wasn’t reporting Bloch to the cops because he wanted his friend, Bruno Mont, to take his own particular kind of revenge on her and didn’t want that attack to be linked back to him.

What he did want was to make things as difficult as possible for Kevin and Christine. His entire reason for existing was to make their lives a misery, and more, until his thirst for revenge had been satisfied. Kate knew that satisfaction would only have come from something dark, bloody and violent.

‘I see, Officer Deakins, and did you establish who the lawyer mentioned by Mr. Cross was?’

‘Yes, sir. He said it was Kevin Pollock and his wife Christine White. That they must have arranged this assault.’

‘What did you do to progress this assault investigation?’

‘I visited the home of the alleged organizers of the attack and arrested them, brought them back to the precinct for questioning.’

‘And who were those individuals?’

‘The defendants, Kevin Pollock and Christine White.’

‘What did they tell you during your interrogation?’

‘They made me aware that Mr. Cross had been stalking their home, following an outcome from a court case that didn’t go in Mr. Cross’s favor. They had obtained a restraining order against the victim. But they flat out denied any involvement in the attack on Mr. Cross.’

‘What happened next?’

‘I provided a statement to the court, in support of Mr. Cross’s motion for a restraining order against the defendants, which was successful.

It is a much lower evidential bar to obtain a restraining order than it is to get a conviction in a criminal court.

I recommended no charges against the defendants considering lack of corroborating evidence of their involvement. ’

‘Thank you, Officer,’ said Castro.

Officer Deakins made to leave the witness stand, but Judge Ross told him to wait there.

Kate and Harry had debated which of them should handle Deakins. Kate decided Harry’s approach was more likely to get results.

‘Officer Deakins,’ began Harry, rising and moving into the well of the court. Harry Ford used to be a senior judge, and he brought his experience and respect with him.

‘I have a few questions for you, I know you’re nervous and keen to get off the stand, but this won’t take very long,’ said Harry warmly. He had the indefatigable ability to destroy somebody and make it look like he was very generously doing them a favor. There was nothing to do but admire it.

‘Officer Deakins,’ he continued, ‘you haven’t been on the force for very long, have you?’

‘I passed my probation a while ago. I have extensive training and mentoring with—’

‘That’s not necessary, Officer. I’m sure you were very well trained, and that mentorship only served to enhance your natural abilities for the job.

Tell me if this is accurate, Officer, from the sounds of it.

Mr. Cross wasn’t able to give you much of a description of the two men who assaulted him, was he? ’

Deakins first looked to Castro. When no help was forthcoming, he looked back at Harry.

The thing with inexperienced witnesses, or those holding a large and potentially career-ending secret, is that they do not want to be the one to mess up the case.

In the end, the witness stand is the loneliest place on earth for the dishonest man.

‘He did give a description. He said one was very large and the other was smaller,’ said Deakins.

‘Well, that narrows down the list of suspects considerably, doesn’t it? I’m surprised you weren’t able to make immediate arrests,’ said Harry.

The jury smiled.

About five minutes , thought Kate. That’s how long it takes to fall in love with Harry Ford.

‘Your Honor, this is a murder trial,’ said Castro. ‘I’d appreciate it if Mr. Ford could take this matter more seriously.’

Before Judge Ross could say anything, Harry smacked Castro’s fastball into the bleachers as if it was an underarm throw.

‘I’m taking it as seriously as this officer took Mr. Cross’s assault complaint,’ said Harry.

Judge Ross suppressed a smile and said, ‘It’s your witness, Mr. Ford. Some questions from you might be helpful.’

‘Thank you, Your Honor,’ said Harry. ‘Officer Deakins, given your extensive police training and mentoring, which you alluded to earlier, I take it that you thought it was suspicious that Mr. Cross couldn’t give you a more thorough description of his attackers?’

‘How do you mean suspicious?’ asked Deakins, welcoming the praise, but unsure how to claim it for himself.

‘One of them broke his arm. They didn’t do that from a distance in a dark alley.

They were in Mr. Cross’s home. It would have taken some time.

They spoke to him. Threatened him. He would have had ample opportunity to view these two men.

Indeed, one might say the faces of the men who put the victim through his terrifying ordeal should be emblazoned on his memory forever? ’

‘I don’t know about that. Maybe. I did think he was holding back a little.’

‘He wasn’t telling you the truth about the attack, was he?’

‘Probably not. He did have a broken arm, but maybe he wasn’t telling me everything. Maybe he was withholding the truth?’ said Officer Deakins, relaxing a little on the stand. Kate thought the officer was enjoying the praise.

‘Withholding truth? You mean he was lying?’

‘Maybe,’ said Deakins, nodding, even smiling a little. Blissfully unaware of the brick wall to which he had been expertly and blindly led.

‘You agree he was probably not telling the truth, Officer Deakins, so it’s entirely possible that he was lying when he said that the attack had been orchestrated by the defendants?’

Suddenly, that wall appeared in front of Officer Bud Deakins.

‘Ehhh . . . ’

‘Yes? He was lying to you. You’ve said as much. So, he could have been lying when he said these mysterious, partially invisible men threatened him and told him to stay away from the defendants, while they were breaking his arm ?’

‘Ehhh . . . yeah.’

‘Yeah?’ asked Harry. ‘You mean, yes , don’t you, Officer? That’s how you were trained to answer in court, wasn’t it?’

‘I mean, my apologies, yes , sir. The victim could have been lying about the whole thing.’

Harry strode back to this seat and every pair of eyes in that courtroom followed him there like he was Paul goddamn Newman. Except one pair, belonging to District Attorney Castro.

Kevin leaned over and patted Harry on the arm, a small gesture to say good job.

In a low voice, Harry said, ‘Don’t do that, Kevin. It doesn’t look good. Also, we just won an opening skirmish. Castro has the murder weapon at the crime scene, and it’s registered to you and has Christine’s and your fingerprints all over it. This thing is far from over.’

Castro was on his feet, calling his next witness before Officer Deakins realized he’d been dismissed.

‘The People call Detective Alison Withers,’ said Castro.

Withers was the investigating officer. The jury was about to hear all about the gun and the forensics.

Kate leaned over to Christine and Kevin, said, ‘Buckle up. We’re now on a long, hard road. This case is about to become very difficult.’