Chapter Twenty-four.
The door to the jail interview room opened and Darius walked in. He was dressed in the shirt and suit pants he had been wearing when he was arrested. His eyes were bloodshot and he seemed less self-assured than he looked during their other meetings.
"I knew you'd be here, Tannenbaum," Darius said, trying to appear calm but sounding a little desperate.
"I don't want to be. I'm required to represent you until another attorney relieves me of my obligation."
"You can't leave me in the lurch."
"I haven't changed my mind, Martin. I meant everything I said the other day."
"Even though you know I'm innocent?"
"I don't know that for certain. And even if you are innocent, it doesn't change what you did in Hunter's Point."
Darius leaned forward slightly and locked his eyes on hers.
"You do know I'm innocent, unless you think I'm stupid enough to murder my wife in my basement, then call Alan Page and tell him where to find the corpse."
Darius was right, of course. The case against him was too pat and the timing of this new killing too opportune. Doubts had kept Betsy up for most of the night, but they had not changed the way she felt about Darius.
"We'll be going up to court in a few minutes. Page will arraign you on a complaint charging you with Lisa's murder. He'll ask for a no-bail hold and ask Norwood to revoke your bail on the other charges. I can't see any way of convincing the judge to let you out on bail."
"Tell the judge what we know about Gordon. Tell him I'm being framed."
"We have no proof of that."
"So this is how it's going to be. I guess I figured you wrong, Tannenbaum. What happened to your high-blown sense of ethics? Your oath as an attorney? You're going to throw this one, aren't you, because you can't stand me?"
Betsy flushed with anger. "I'm not throwing a goddamn thing. I shouldn't even be here. What I am doing is letting you know the facts of life. judge Norwood took a big chance letting you out. When he sees the pictures of Lisa spread-eagled in your basement with her guts pulled through her abdominal wall, he is not going to feel like letting you out again."
"The State calls Victor Ryder, Your Honor," Alan Page said, turning toward the rear of the room to watch the courtly justice walk past the spectators and through the bar of the court. Ryder was six feet three with a full head of snow-white hair. He walked with a slight limp from a wound he had received in World War Two. Ryder kept his back rigid, scrupulously avoiding eye contact with Martin Darius, as if he was afraid of the rage that might overpower him if he set eyes on the man.
"For the record," Page said as soon as Ryder was sworn, "You are a justice of the Oregon Supreme Court and the father of Lisa Darius?"
"Yes," Ryder answered, his voice cracking slightly.
"Your (daughter was married to the defendant, was she not?"
"Yes, sir."
"When Mr. Darius was arrested, did your daughter move in with you?"
"She did."
"While Lisa was staying at your home, did her husband phone her?"
"Repeatedly, Mr. Page. He phoned for her several times each evening."
"Is it true that inmates can only make collect calls?"
"Yes. All his calls were collect."
"Did your daughter accept the calls?"
"She instructed me to refuse them."
"To the best of your knowledge, did your daughter speak to the defendant while he was incarcerated?"
"She may have, once or twice immediately after his arrest. Once she moved in with me, she stopped."
"What was your daughter's attitude toward her husband?"
"She was scared to death of him."
"Did this fear increase or decrease when Mr. Darius was released on bail?"
"It increased. She was terrified he would come for her."
"Did the defendant phone Lisa Darius after his release on bail?"
"Yes, sir. The first evening."
"Did you hear the conversation?"
"Snatches of it."
"Did you hear the defendant make any threats?"
"I believe he told her she would not be safe in Portland."
"When you say you believe he said this, what do you mean?"
"Lisa told me he said it. I was standing at Lisa's shoulder and could hear something of what he said."
"Do you know if Mrs. Darius believed the defendant meant this as a threat?"
"She was confused. She told me she wasn't certain what he meant. He seemed to be implying Lisa was in danger from someone else, but that didn't make sense. I took it that he was threatening her indirectly, so no blame could be placed on him."
"justice Ryder, when was the last time you saw your daughter alive?"
For a brief moment the judge lost his composure. He sipped from a cup of water before answering.
"we had breakfast together between seven and seven-thirty a.m. Then I drove to Salem."
"When did you return home?"
"Around six in the evening."
"Was your daughter home?"
"No."
"Did you see anything in the house that alarmed you?"
"The television was on, but no one was home. The sound was high enough so Lisa should have heard it and turned it off before she left."
"Was there evidence that she'd had a visitor?"
"There were two coffee cups in the kitchen and some coffee cake was out, as if she'd been talking to someone.
"Did your daughter leave a note telling where she was going?"
"No."
"Nothing further."
"Your witness, Mrs. Tannenbaum," judge Norwood said.
"He's lying," Darius whispered. "I never threatened Lisa. I was warning her."
"He's not lying, Martin. He's saying what he honestly believes happened.
If I push him, he'll just harden his position."
"Bullshit. I've seen you take witnesses apart. Ryder is a pompous asshole. You can make him look like a fool."
Betsy took a deep breath, because she did not want to lose her temper.
Then she leaned over to Darius and spoke quietly.
"Do you want me to push justice Ryder until he breaks down Martin? Do you really think it will help you get bail if I cause One of the most respected judges in the state, and the father of a young woman who has been brutally murdered, to crack up in open court in front of one of his colleagues?"
Darius started to say something, then shut up and turned away from Betsy.
"No questions, Your Honor," Betsy said.
"Our next witness is Detective Richard Kassel," Page told the judge.
Richard Kassel sauntered down the aisle. He was dressed in a brown tweed sports coat, tan slacks, a white shirt and a bright yellow print tie.
His shoes were polished and his black hair was styled. He had the smug look of a person who took himself too seriously.
"Detective Kassel, how are you employed?"
"I'm a detective with the Portland Police Bureau."
"Did you arrest the defendant yesterday evening?"
"Yes, sir."
"Tell the judge how that came about."
Kassel swiveled toward the judge.
"Detective Rittner and I received a call over the police radio. Based on that communication, I entered the grounds. The door to the defendant's house was locked.
We identified ourselves as police and demanded that the defendant open the door. He complied. Detective Rittner and I secured the defendant and waited for the other cars to arrive, as we had been ordered to do."
"Did other officers arrive soon after?"
Kassel nodded. "About fifteen minutes after we arrived, you and Detective Barrow arrived, followed by several others."
Betsy's brow furrowed. She checked something she had written during justice Ryder's testimony. Then she made some notes on her pad.
"Did you discover the body?" Page asked.
"No, sir. Our instructions were to stay with the defendant. The body was discovered by other officers."
"Did you give Mr. Darius his Miranda warnings?"
"Yes, sir."