“Ms. Parker, when did you first become aware of the defendant?”
“Detective Kelly pointed him out.”
“By name?”
“No, as the man he’d observed selling drugs. He told me to check him out.”
“What did that entail?”
“I was to get next to him, bump into him, apologize, and smile. The usual.”
“Let me ask you this. Were you there when Detective Kelly searched the defendant?”
“Yes, I was.”
“And did he remove an envelope from the defendant’s pocket?”
Parker shook her head. “He did not. The defendant reached in his pocket and took out that envelope.”
“Thank you. And you say Detective Kelly pointed the defendant out to you?”
“That’s right.”
“How long had you been at the party before he did so?”
“It was right after I arrived.”
“You weren’t there, staking out the party?”
“No. Detective Kelly called for backup.”
“So when you showed up, he had already spotted the defendant?”
“That’s right.”
“Did you witness any of the transactions Detective Kelly testified to? When the defendant and other students left the room?”
“No. I was just there for the bust.”
“Thank you. No further questions.”
The witness was stunned.
So was the judge. It took him a second to recover. “Any redirect, Mr. Grover?”
The prosecutor was also caught off guard. “Ah, no, Your Honor.”
“The witness is excused. Call your next witness.”
“Yes, Your Honor. If you will forgive me, I had expected cross-examination to take all afternoon.”
“Clearly, it didn’t,” Judge Buckingham said dryly. “Call your next witness.”
“Yes, Your Honor. The prosecution calls Felix Weintraub.”
No one came forward.
Grover glanced around nervously. “Ah, if I might have a brief recess. I believe he’s in the building.”
“Then find him. We’ll wait.”
ADA Grover dispatched a law clerk to fetch the witness. As the young man hurried up the aisle, Stone leaned over to whisper to Herbie, “Why didn’t you follow up with the lady cop?”
“I got what I wanted. She isn’t part of the frame-up. She’s cleared on several counts. She contradicts what Detective Kelly said about taking the envelope out of David’s pocket, she didn’t see any of the alleged transactions, and she doesn’t claim she was staking out the party.”
A bald, bespectacled man bustled through the back door and down the aisle.
ADA Grover’s face broke into a relieved smile. “Here’s Mr. Weintraub now, Your Honor.”
“Very well. Proceed.”
Felix Weintraub qualified himself as a fingerprint expert, and testified to finding the defendant’s fingerprints on the envelope containing the packets of cocaine.
When it was his turn, Herbie asked, “Did you find anyone else’s fingerprints besides the defendant’s on that envelope?”
“No. Just his.”
“That’s all.”
Grover called the chemist, for the quantitative analysis of the cocaine in the envelope.
Again, Herbie asked only the most perfunctory questions.
ADA Grover, having ripped through his case in record time, asked for a recess to decide if he wanted to put forth more evidence or rest his case.
Judge Buckingham was scowling as he left the bench.
90
Stone called Dino during recess.
“Herbie’s in court.”
“How does he seem? Like last night?”
“Sort of.”
“What do you mean, ‘sort of’?”
“If I didn’t know better, I’d think he spent the morning with a therapist. God knows he could use it.”
“Is he ripping into the witnesses again, or is he letting you handle them?”
“Neither one. He’s insisting on taking the witnesses, and he’s giving them the lightest cross-examination you ever heard. He asked the undercover cop what she was told to do. She testified to bumping into David, apologizing, and smiling at him. And he didn’t even ask a follow-up.”
“I imagine you’d have had some further questions.”
“Herbie didn’t. He let her go. He asked the fingerprint expert a couple of questions establishing that David’s fingerprints were on the contraband, and left it at that.”
“You’re kidding.”
“No. And when the chemist testified as to the purity of the cocaine, Herbie asked him if it was pretty good shit.”
“He didn’t.”
“Well, he didn’t use the word shit, but it was in that vein. I tell you, Herbie did a better job of making the prosecution’s case than they did.”
“You think Taperelli threatened him?”
“He’s certainly acting like it.”
“I bet that’s it. There’s a chance Taperelli’s men killed Yvette after all.”
“What? How is that possible?”
“The surveillance cameras in the back stairwell were out that night. Someone cut the feed to the whole circuit just before the murder. It was cut in the garage, and, apparently, it’s possible to get into the garage on foot without appearing on camera.”
“Is there any way to tell if anybody did?”
“We have surveillance video of two men entering the garage on foot shortly before eight o’clock on the night of the murder.”
“Can you identify them?”
“No, the angle’s bad. But they look big, like thugs, and they appear to be sneaking in. It’s clear from their posture they don’t belong.”
“What about the boyfriend, Dressler?”
“He might have come along after, found her dead, and robbed the place. It makes more sense than him killing his accomplice while she was still setting up the sting.”
“You think Taperelli killed Yvette, Herbie knows it, and that’s why he’s throwing the trial?”
“I don’t know, but I mean to find out. If that’s the case, Herbie could be in a lot of trouble.”
“How do you want to handle it?”
“I’m going to put a man on Herbie. Just because he’s doing what they told him doesn’t mean he’s safe.”
“I’ll feel better if you do. Something’s going on.”
When they returned from recess, ADA Grover announced that after due consideration, the prosecution was resting their case.
“Very well,” Judge Buckingham said. “The defense will put on theirs. It’s a little late in the day to begin, but we have made good progress today, so let’s adjourn until ten o’clock tomorrow morning. Jurors are reminded once again not to talk about the case. Mr. Fisher, please see me in chambers. Court is adjourned.”
“What’s up?” Stone said.
“He probably wants to congratulate me on my handling of the case.”
“You want me to wait? Grab some dinner?”
Herbie shook his head. “I’m beat. I’m going straight home. I’ll probably order takeout.”
Stone was glad to hear it. If Herbie stayed home, he’d be safe, and the man Dino had tailing him would have an easy time of it.
“Listen. I got a call from Dino. It turns out the surveillance cameras in the back stairwell of your building were out on the night of the murder. Anyone could have gotten in or out unseen from the garage. So it wasn’t necessarily the boyfriend. It might have been Taperelli’s men after all.”
Herbie’s jaw was set. “Is that right?”
“There’s video from a street camera of two thugs sneaking into the garage.”
Herbie took a deep breath and blew it out again.
“I don’t mean to upset you, but I thought you should know.”
“Dino’s been keeping this from me?”
“Don’t blame Dino. He just found out. Look, Herbie, don’t get any ideas about Taperelli. These guys play in a different league.”