Page 57 of Two Kinds of Stranger (Eddie Flynn #9)

Kate

As Detective Alison Withers testified, Kate took notes.

She studied the witness.

Detective Withers wore black pants, a pale blue blouse and a dark jacket.

She was in her forties but looked older.

The lines around her eyes were deeper than most women her age.

Kate wondered if working homicide did that to people, whether the daily horrors of the job took their toll on the body, and the skin, and the eyes, just as much as they stained and weathered the soul.

While she took notes, Kate occasionally glanced at the jury. They were paying attention. This was important.

The testimony was detailed, accurate and indisputable.

Detective Withers was telling the simple truth, and her words were hitting her clients hard.

Kevin had slid down into his seat, his head bowed.

Christine, the more experienced trial lawyer in the marriage, was watching the jury.

She was smart enough to see the extent of the damage being done.

‘Detective Withers, let’s just recap for the jury,’ said DA Castro.

‘You testified that once on scene you formed the theory that Mr. Cross was shot once through the forehead with a low caliber weapon, and you asked the other officers on the scene to conduct house to house enquiries with neighbors. What happened next?’

‘The lawn on either side of the path leading to the victim’s home was overgrown. The grass was maybe a foot and a half tall. I was scanning it with my flashlight to see if there was any other potential evidence at the scene—’

‘What kind of evidence were you looking for?’

‘I was looking for the shell casing, initially, from the fatal shot fired at Mr. Cross. But I was keeping my eye open for other important pieces of evidence such as shoe or boot impressions, or any trace of the assailant that they may have left behind.’

‘And did you find anything?’

‘Yes, we found a Smith and Wesson revolver.’

Castro took the exhibit in his hand, the revolver inside a plastic evidence bag. He had it logged into evidence and handed the weapon to Detective Withers.

‘Is this the revolver you found?’

‘Yes, I discovered it approximately ten feet from the porch. It was all but invisible in the tall grass. I opened the chamber of the weapon and found that one of the five rounds had been fired and the empty shell casing was still in the chamber.’

Holding aloft another evidence bag, this time containing the spent shell, Castro had it logged with the court as prosecution evidence.

‘Is this the spent shell casing you found in the revolver?’

‘Correct.’

‘The defense has reserved their right to call their own firearms expert, but I wanted to ask if you had an expert conduct an examination of the weapon and the shell casing.’

‘Yes, an NYPD forensic technician was able to match the caliber of the round which killed Mr. Cross to this weapon. Forensic firearms testimony shall be given by my colleague, but we believe that this is the murder weapon.’

‘Was anything else revealed by an examination of this weapon.’

‘Yes, the revolver has a serial number to allow us to trace the registered owner. The defendant, Kevin Pollock, is the registered owner.’

‘Were any other forensic tests carried out on the murder weapon?’

‘Objection,’ said Kate, ‘draws a conclusion. It has not been established as fact that this is the murder weapon.’

Swiping his fingers through his dyed hair, Judge Ross gave Castro an admonishing look and said, ‘Sustained.’

‘Apologies, Your Honor, I’ll rephrase. Detective, were any other forensic tests carried out on the weapon, registered to the defendant Kevin Pollock, which was found at the crime scene?’

‘Yes, fingerprint analysis was conducted and both defendants’ fingerprints were found on the weapon.’

‘Thank you. Are you aware of any potential motive for this cold-blooded murder?’

‘The defendants and the victim were known to each other, and each of them had taken out mutual restraining orders. Specifically, in the last few days of his life, Mr. Cross claimed he was assaulted by men acting for the defendants and had obtained a restraining order against the defendants, fearing for his life and personal safety.’

‘What happened after you made these enquiries?’

‘Given the evidence found at the scene, the gun, specifically, and the apparent motive, I formed the strong belief that the defendants were responsible for Mr. Cross’s homicide. They were arrested and charged with first-degree murder.’

‘Thank you, Detective. I think that’s all the jury needs to hear.’

Kate quietly shook her head in disgust – Castro couldn’t resist getting in his little jabs whenever he could – anything to help sway a jury toward a guilty verdict.

Kate stood.

Took a breath. Let that air flow through her lungs, filling her chest. She held it, then let it out slow and laid the groundwork for the defense with her opening question.

‘Detective Withers, you’ve painted a detailed picture of the crime scene with your testimony. However, there are some important details missing, isn’t that right?’

‘I don’t know what you mean?’ said the witness.

‘You found blood on the victim’s porch consistent with this location being the scene of the murder, correct?’

‘Correct.’

‘You are asking this jury to believe that on the night of the murder, the defendants were at the victim’s property, and they shot him in the head on his front porch, dropped the murder weapon and then went home, correct?’

Withers swallowed, took a sip of water. She’d been prepped well by Castro. She knew this line of questioning was coming.

‘We have not been able to establish the mode of transport used by the defendants to get to the crime scene, no. But that kind of detail is not significant considering the evidence found at the scene.’

‘Your forensic technicians impounded and examined both of the defendants’ family vehicles, correct?’

‘Correct, the GPS units in both vehicles did not show any movement on the night of the murder.’

‘So how did they get from their home to the victim’s property?’

‘As I said, we have not yet established their mode of transport—’

Kate cut off the detective, said, ‘Don’t you really mean to say that, even on your case, you can’t prove that the defendants even left their home on the night of the murder?’

Withers opened her mouth, drew breath, hesitated and stared hard at Kate. She wanted to fight back, but understood, being an experienced witness, this was not a battle she could win.

‘We do not yet have the evidence to prove that, no.’

Kate glanced down at Harry. He nodded. There was a lot in that small nod. Reassurance and confidence. You’ve made that point. Won it. Move on.

‘Let’s turn to the security technician’s report obtained by the defense,’ said Kate, taking a document from the defense table.

The report was entered into evidence without objection from Castro.

He was busying himself with reading over his notes, nonchalantly.

She had prepared a legal argument for this moment, but since there was no objection there was no need to argue the law.

Castro was not the type of man to let anything slide, particularly when it helped the defense.

Suddenly, the general nervous anxiety Kate felt when she was on her feet cross-examining kicked itself up a notch.

She could feel heat at her throat. Her cheeks were beginning to burn, but she had no choice but to go forward.

Perhaps more cautiously.

‘You’ve had the opportunity to read this report, Detective?’ asked Kate.

‘I have,’ said Withers.

‘This report details an examination of all video recordings and data logged on the defendants’ home-security system for the night of the murder, correct?’

‘Yes.’

‘The report prepared by the defense’s engineer confirms that the video doorbell recorded footage of the defendants and their daughter entering the property at approximately six thirty in the evening, correct?’

‘That’s what that footage records, yes.’

‘And the next time the motion sensor video recording kicks in is at eight in the morning, the following day. Isn’t that right?’

‘Yes.’

Kate heard Harry’s chair creaking. She was aware of him leaning forward and placing his elbows on the defense table. They had not been expecting to get such an easy ride from this witness. Something was up. She had no choice but to keep going now.

‘So the footage corroborates the defendants’ version of events, that they were at home on the night of the murder, doesn’t it?’

Detective Withers paused again. She was considering her answer. If something was going to pop up and bite the defense on the ass, now was the time.

‘On the surface, yes,’ said the detective.

Kate could have doubled down. She was wary now. And moved on.

‘The report also details an outage in the security system in the early hours of the morning. A period of eleven minutes, where the Wi-Fi and radio signals that the system uses were offline, correct?’

‘I read that in the report.’

Kate took a second and looked over her notes. All her questions had led to this point. She knew what she had to ask next. But she was anxious. There was something she wasn’t seeing.

She bent down and lifted their first physical piece of evidence, the gun lockbox, and had it logged as a defense exhibit.

‘Detective, this is the lockbox used by the defendants to store the gun which was found on the victim’s property.

This has been examined by defense experts: a fingerprint analyst and a DNA expert.

Those reports have been agreed and submitted to the court in evidence.

Those reports show that there are no fingerprints, nor any trace DNA found on this box, not even on the keypad. Do you dispute that?’

‘I can’t dispute that.’

‘It is the defendants’ case that, on the night of the murder, someone jammed the transmitter signals to their home-security system, snuck into their home and stole the Smith and Wesson revolver belonging to the defendant Kevin .

. . wiped any trace of their theft from the lockbox and used this weapon to shoot and kill the victim, Mr. Cross.

Wishing to shift the blame for the victim’s murder onto the defendants, this person left that weapon at the crime scene in the full knowledge that it could be traced back to the defendants. ’

‘No,’ said Detective Withers, ‘I do not agree. It is my belief that the defendants deliberately killed the security system so they could leave their home undetected, perpetuate a false alibi, murder the victim and return home where they gained access through the rear of the property without triggering the camera system with their arrival.’

Kate felt those words like a knife.

They cut deep.

A glance at the jury. Some of them were covering their mouths. Some just let their jaws fall wide open. It was the same look that people wore when they’d just seen a car crash.

She was bleeding out. She needed to staunch the wound. Right now.

‘So let me get this straight,’ said Kate.

‘The prosecution’s case is that the defendants took great care to wipe their own fingerprints and DNA from their gun lockbox, temporarily disable their own home-security system, get to the victim’s home somehow, but not using their own vehicles, shoot the defendant, leave their own gun with their fingerprints on it at the crime scene and get back to their house and get inside again, without the home-security system logging their re-entry? ’

‘Every murderer makes mistakes. They panic, adrenalin is high and their plans go astray,’ said the detective.

‘This seems to have been a mix of meticulous planning and absolute stupidity. They seem to have taken great pains to hide their participation in this crime apart from leaving their own gun at the crime scene. On your case, they may as well have left their driver’s licenses behind?’

‘It’s more plausible than a mystery man breaking into their home undetected and stealing their gun,’ said Withers.

Kate reserved the right to recall this witness for further questioning, and sat down.

Harry had his phone tucked underneath the desk.

She guessed he was keeping Eddie informed.

She wondered if he’d told him that they just got their ass handed to them.

Harry leaned over, whispered, ‘The security system was a double-edged sword. It did us just as much bad as it did good. Don’t sweat it. This happens. We pick up and move on.’

Kate silently cursed. She should have seen this coming.

She didn’t. Probably because she was too worried about what she might have to do to win this case. Flynn had a plan.

A plan that would compromise everything Kate stood for.

A plan that she wasn’t sure she could be a part of.