"No further questions, Your Honor."
Betsy smiled at Page, but he did not smile back. He looked grim and sat stiffly, back straight, with his hands folded in his lap.
"Mr. Page, there was a lengthy investigation in Hunter's Point, wasn't there?"
"That's what Detective Gordon said. "I assume you've read the police reports from that investigation."
"No, I haven't", Page answered, shifting uncomfortably on his seat.
"Why is that?"
"I don't have them."
"Have you ordered them from Hunter's Point?"
"No."
Betsy's brow furrowed. "If you're planning on having Detective Gordon testify, you'll have to produce her reports."
"I know that."
"Is there a reason you haven't ordered them?"
Page colored. "They've been misplaced."
"Excuse me?"
"The Hunter's Point police are looking for them. The reports were supposed to be in a storage area, but they aren't. We think Detective Gordon may know where they are, because she gave me some items-including Peter lake's fingerprint card-we assume came from the file."
Betsy decided to switch to another topic.
"On direct examination, you repeatedly said, "The task force members believed Have you talked to these task force members?"
"No, other than Detective Gordon."
"Do you even know where they are?"
"I just learned that Frank Grimsbo is the head of security at Marlin Steel."
"Where is his office located?"
"Albany, New York."
Betsy made a note.
"You haven't talked to Grimsbo?"
"No."
"What are the names of the other detectives?"
"Besides Gordon and Grimsl)o, there was a criminalist named Glen Michaels and another detective named Wayne Turner."
Betsy wrote down the names. When she looked up Page was stone-faced.
"Mr. Page, isn't it true that you have no support for the story your mysterious visitor told you?"
"Other than what the detective said, no."
"What detective?"
"Nancy Gordon."
"This was the first time you saw this woman, correct?"
Page nodded.
"Have you ever seen a photograph of Nancy Gordon?"
"No."
"So you can't say that the person who introduced herself as Detective Nancy Gordon is really Nancy Gordon, can you?"
"A Nancy Gordon works for the Hunter's Point Police Department."
"I don't doubt that. But we don't know that she is the person who visited you, do we?"
"No."
"There's also no proof that this woman is dead or even a victim of foul play, is there?"
"She's missing."
"Was there blood found in her room?"
"No."
"Or signs of a struggle?"
"No," Page answered grudgingly.
"Were there any witnesses to the murders of Melody and Sandra Lake?"
"Your client may have witnessed the killings," Page answered defiantly.
"You have nothing but theories propounded by your mystery woman to support that position."
"That's true."
"Isn't it also true that the chief of police and the mayor of Hunter's Point officially declared Henry Waters to be the murderer of all the women?"
"Yes."
"That would include Sandra and Melody Lake?"
"Yes."
"Which would make Mr. lake-Mr. Darius-a victim, wouldn't it?"
Page did not answer and Betsy did not force him to.
"Mr. Page, there were six victims in Hunter's Point, including a six-year-old girl. Can you think of any reason why a responsible public official would close a case like that and publicly declare an individual to be the killer, if there was any possibility that the murderer was still at large?"
"Maybe the officials wanted to allay the fears of the community."
"You mean the public announcement might be part of a ruse to make the killer lower his guard while the investigation continued?"
"Exactly."
"But the investigation didn't continue, did it?"
"Not according to Detective Gordon."
"And the murders stopped after Mr. Waters was killed, didn't they?"
"Yes."
Betsy paused and looked directly at judge Norwood.
"No further questions, Your Honor."
"Mr. Highsmith?" judge Norwood asked.
"I have nothing further of Mr. Page."
"You can step down, Mr. Page."
Page stood slowly. Betsy thought he looked tired and defeated. She took satisfaction in this. Betsy did not enjoy humiliating Page-he seemed a decent sort-but Page deserved any pain she inflicted. It was clear he had arrested Martin Darius on the flimsiest evidence, made him spend several days in jail and slandered him. A public defeat was a small price to pay for that kind of callous disregard of his public duty.
"Any other witnesses?" the judge asked.
"Yes, Your Honor. Two, both brief," Highsmith answered.
"Proceed."
"The State calls Ira White."
A chubby man in an ill-fitting brown suit hurried forward from the back of the courtroom. He smiled nervously as he was sworn. Betsy guessed he was in his early thirties.
"Mr. White, what do you do for a living?" Randy Highsmith asked.
"I'm a salesman for Finletter Tools."
"Where is your home office?"
"Phoenix, Arizona, but my territory is Oregon, Montana, Washington, Idaho and parts of Northern California, near the Oregon border." Where were you at two p.m. on October eleventh of this year?"
The date rang a bell. Betsy checked the police reports. Victoria Miller was reported missing that evening.
"In my room at the Hacienda Motel," White said.
"Where is that motel located?"
"It's in Vancouver, Washington."
"Why were you in your room?"
"I just checked in. I had a meeting scheduled for three and I wanted to unpack, take a shower and change out of my traveling clothes."
"Do you remember your room number?"
"Well, you showed me a copy of the ledger, if that's what you mean."
Highsmith nodded.
"It was 102."
"Where is that located in relation to the manager's office?"
"Right next to it on the ground floor."
"Mr. White, at approximately two p.m. did you hear anything in the room next to yours "Yeah. There was a woman yelling and crying."
"Tell the judge about that."
"okay," white said, shifting so he could look up at judge Norwood. "I didn't hear anything until I got out of the shower. That's because the water was running. As soon as I turned it off, I beard a shriek, like someone was in pain. It startled me. The walls in that motel aren't thick. The woman was begging not to be hurt and she was crying, sobbing.
It was hard to hear the words, but I'd catch a few. I could hear her crying, though."
"How long did this go on?"
"Not long."
"Did you ever see the man or the woman in the next room?"
"I saw the woman. I was thinking of calling the manager, but everything quieted down. Like I said, it didn't last long. Anyway, I dressed for my appointment and I left around two-thirty. She was coming out at the same time."
"The woman in the next room?"
White nodded.
"Do you remember what she looked like?"
"Oh, yeah. Very attractive. Blonde. Good figure."
Highsmith crossed over to the witness and showed him a photograph.
"Does this woman look familiar?"
White looked at the photograph. "That's her."
"How certain of that are you?"
"Absolutely positive."
"Your Honor," Highsmith said, "I offer State's exhibit thirty-five, a photograph of Victoria Miller."
"No objection," Betsy said.
"No further questions," Highsmith said.
"I don't have any questions for Mr. White," Betsy told the judge."
You're excused, Mr. White," judge Norwood told the witness.
"State calls Ramon Gutierrez."
A neatly-dressed, dark-skinned young man with a pencil-thin mustache took the stand.
"Where do you work, sir?" Randy Highsmith asked.
"The Hacienda Motel."
"That's in Vancouver?"
"Yes."
"What's your job there?"