"One reason would be to frame Mr. Deems."
"Objection," Reynolds said, standing. "That is pure speculation."
"Sustained," Judge Baldwin said, turning toward the jury.
"You jurors will disregard that last remark."
"Officer Torino, you did say that the defendant knew about the unusual notch in the end of Exhibit 357"
"Yes, sir. I pointed it out to her during the investigation of the Hollins murders."
"Thank you. Now, Officer Torino, on the evening that Justice Griffen was killed, were you called to another location to search for explosive devices?"
"I was."
"Where did you go?"
"To a home the defendant was renting. District Attorney Stamm was concerned that the same person who killed the judge might have rigged a bomb at Mrs. Griffen's house."
"In the course of your search did you look in Mrs. Griffen's garage?"
"Yes, sir."
"Describe it."
"It was a typical two-car garage with a work area in one corner. The work area consisted of a workbench and table with a vise. Tools were hanging from hooks on the wall."
Geddes handed Torino a photograph. "Can you identify State's Exhibit 52 for the jury?"
"That's a shot of the garage." Torino held up the photograph so the jury could see it and pointed to the left side of the picture.
"You can see the workbench over here."
Geddes took the photograph and handed Torino the last plastic bag. It contained a clean strip of metal. It was not charred or twisted. One end was flat and obviously shaped by a machine.
The other end came to a point. The point was jagged and appeared to have been cut by hand.
"This is State's Exhibit 37. Can you tell the jury what it is?"
Torino took Exhibit 36 in one hand and Exhibit 37 in the other and fit the jagged point from Exhibit 37 into the notch at the end of Exhibit "Exhibit 37 appears to be the other part of the longer strip from which Exhibit 36 was cut. They don't fit exactly because Exhibit 36 was mangled in the explosion."
Geddes paused and turned toward Abigail Griffen.
"Did you find Exhibit 37, Officer Torino?"
"Yes, sir."
"Where did you find it?"
"Under the workbench in Abigail Griffen's garage. You can see the strip in the bottom right corner of Exhibit 52. We also have a close-up in another photo."
Tracy suddenly felt sick. Torino's testimony was devastating.
She glanced quickly at the jurors. Every one of them was leaning forward and several were writing furiously on their notepads.
Then she looked at Matthew. If he was feeling any stress as a result of Torino's testimony, Tracy could not see it.
"Officer Torino, there are what appear to be metal shavings in the plastic bag that we've been using to hold Exhibit 37. Where did they come from?"
"They were found on the floor under the vise."
Geddes went back to counsel table and pulled a plastic Clorox bottle from a shopping bag.
"Can you tell the jury where State's Exhibit 42 was found?"
"It was also found in Mrs. Griffen's garage."
Tracy glanced at Reynolds. He still appeared to be unconcerned.
"Your Honor, at this time I move to introduce State's Exhibits 35, 36, 37, 42 and 52," Geddes said. "Any objection, Mr. Reynolds?"
"May I see 42, please," Reynolds said calmly as he climbed to his feet.
Tracy could not believe how well he concealed the shock he had to be experiencing. Geddes handed Reynolds the Clorox bottle.
"May I ask a question in aid of objection, Your Honor?"
"Go ahead."
"Officer Torino, this Clorox bottle is in one piece, is it not?"
"Yes."
"Then it could not be the bottle from which was cut the plastic strip used in the detonating device?"
"That's true."
Matthew turned toward the bench. "I object to the admission of State's Exhibit 42. It has no relevance."
"Mr. Geddes?" the judge said.
"It is relevant," Geddes answered. "This is obviously not the bottle from which the strip was cut, but it proves that the defendant uses the brand."
"I'll let it in. It has limited relevance, but as long as it has some, it meets the evidentiary threshold for admissibility."
"I have no further questions of this witness, Your Honor. Mr. Reynolds may examine."
"Mr. Reynolds?" Judge Baldwin asked.
"May I have a moment, Your Honor?"
Baldwin nodded. Matthew turned to Abbie. His features were composed, but Tracy could tell that he was very upset.
"What was that metal strip doing in your garage?" he asked in a tone low enough to keep the jurors or Geddes from hearing what was said.
"I swear, I don't know," Abbie answered in a whisper. "My God, Matthew, if I made that bomb in the garage, don't you think I'd have the brains to get rid of anything that could connect me to it?"
"Yes, I do. But we're stuck with the fact that the strip was found in the garage of the house you were renting together with metal shavings that would be created when it was sawed off the rest of the strip. When was the last time you remember being around the worktable?"
"I put the car in the garage every evening. The people I'm renting from own the workshop furniture and the tools. I've never used them. Deems planted the strip and the shavings. Don't you see that? I'm being framed."
"This is very bad," Matthew said. "Now I understand why Stamm felt he had to get off the case."
Reynolds turned to Tracy. "Do you remember seeing the three strips when we examined the physical evidence?"
"Of course, but I didn't think anything about them. They weren't together, I'm sure of that. If I recall, they were scattered among the other pieces of metal from the bomb and there were a lot of metal chunks on the table."
"Geddes did that on purpose," Matthew muttered. "He set us up."
"What are we going to do?"
Reynolds thought for a moment, then addressed the judge.
"Before I cross-examine, I have a matter I would like to take up with the court."
Judge Baldwin looked up at the clock. Then he turned to the jurors.
"Ladies and gentlemen, this is a good time to take our morning recess.
Let's reconvene at ten forty-five."
As the jurors filed out, Barry came through the bar of the court and stood next to Tracy.
"As soon as we break for the day," Reynolds told them, "I want you two to look at all of the physical evidence again, to make certain there aren't any more surprises."
The door to the jury room closed and Judge Baldwin said, "Mr. Reynolds?"
"Your Honor, I would like to reserve my cross-examination of Officer Torino. His testimony, and this exhibit, are a complete surprise to the defense."
"Will you explain that to me? Didn't Mr. Geddes let you know that he was introducing it?"
"There are no written reports about the metal strips that were used in the bombs and the strip found in Mrs. Griffen's garage . . ."
Chuck Geddes leaped to his feet. He was fighting hard to suppress a smile of satisfaction.
"Exhibits 35, 36 and 37 were listed on evidence reports supplied to the defense, Your Honor. We also made all of the physical evidence available to the defense for viewing."
"Is that so, Mr. Reynolds?"
Matthew cast a withering glance at Geddes, whose lips twisted into a smirk.
"Mr. Geddes may have listed the exhibits, Your Honor, but no report furnished to the defense explained the significance of the items. If I remember correctly, the strips Were noted on the evidence list simply as pieces of metal and the three metal strips were scattered among the remnants of the bomb that killed Justice Griffen, giving the impression that all three strips were unconnected and found at the crime scene."
"What do you have to say about that, Mr. Geddes?"
"The discovery rules require me to list all the witnesses and exhibits I intend to introduce at trial. They do not require me to explain what I intend to do with the exhibits or what my witnesses have to say about them. I did what was required by law. If Mr. Reynolds was unable to understand the significance of the exhibits, that's his problem."