in. But there was nothing I could do, and I was left watching Lopez go
to work.
"Ms. Maher, I'm showing you a document I've marked Defense Exhibit
One. What is it?"
Maher responded, seemingly as oblivious as I was about where this was
going. "It's a letter from Staffpower notifying me of the individuals
they hired to conduct our inventory last October, with the amounts to
be paid to each of them for their work. We pay the lump total to
Staffpower to distribute and do wage withholding, but this acts as a
sort of itemization of the amount."
Lopez continued. "Please read for the jury the sixth name on the
list."
There it was. Even Geraldine Maher was surprised. "Oh, it's Frank
Derringer, or at least according to this."
"And do you have any reason to doubt the accuracy of that list?"
"No, I do not. If it says that a Frank Derringer worked on our
inventory, then I suppose he did."
"And, to be clear, an inventory requires the person doing the counting
to handle the merchandise, is that right?"
"Yes, generally. They'd need to move stock around to count it
properly."
That was enough for Lisa. "No further questions."
Lopez had just managed to defuse my most compelling piece of evidence,
Derringer's fingerprint on Kendra's purse. Renshaw had already
testified that Derringer had worked various jobs, including
inventories, through temp agencies. And now Geraldine Maher's
testimony gave a plausible explanation for how Derringer's fingerprint
ended up on
Kendra's purse, if the jury believed that Andrea either bought or stole
the purse from Dress You Up.
Judge Lesh denied my request for a recess, so I tried my best to
control the damage. "You testified, Ms. Maher, that the handbag
marked as State's Exhibit Three is a popular style of handbag, is that
right?"
"That's correct."
"Where would I go if I wanted to buy a handbag just like that one?" I
asked.
"Oh, any number of stores. Like I said, we've got a few left, but so
would most of the major department stores and other women's boutiques
that carry that brand of purse. It wouldn't be hard to find one."
"So Dress You Up is the not the exclusive seller of that purse in the
Portland area, is that right?" I asked.
"Far from it." Good.
"Can you tell from looking at State's Exhibit Three whether it
originated in your store or in any one of the many other retailers who
stock it?"
"No, I cannot."
"And you never actually saw Andrea Martin steal anything from your
store, let alone this purse, did you?"
"No, I did not."
"So the purse marked as State's Exhibit Three could have come from any
number of stores other than Dress You Up?" She agreed. There wasn't
much more I could do for now.
During the break, I called MCT from my office. Ray Johnson picked up.
It took me awhile to explain the connection that Lopez was trying to
draw between Derringer and Kendra's purse.
Ray wanted to make sure he got it right. "So one of Derringer's temp
jobs was doing inventory at Dress You Up?"
"Right."
"And Lopez was able to show at least a possibility that Kendra's purse
came from there?" he asked.
"Right," I said. "A possibility. We know that the store carried the
purse and that Andrea gave it to Kendra. Lopez was able to show that
Andrea was in the store a month before Christmas, and there's at least
a possibility that she stole something the size of a purse when she was
there."
"So what you need," he said, "is something showing that the purse came
from another shop."
"That's the idea," I said.
He clicked his tongue while he thought. "Alright. Walker and I are
still tied up on this Zimmerman letter, so I'll check with Forbes and
Calabrese. Someone will do it, though, and we'll let you know what we
find out."
When I got off the phone, I noticed Tim O'Donnell waiting for me in my
doorway. He looked annoyed that I hadn't noticed him during my phone
call.
"Hey, Kincaid, how's that trial going?"
I didn't see any point in lying. "Pretty crappy, actually. My best
evidence was this guy's print on the vic's purse. Turns out he had a
temp job doing inventory, so he's claiming an alternative explanation
for the evidence."
"Bummer," he said. "Anything new about the Zimmerman connection?"
I couldn't tell whether O'Donnell actually gave a rip about my case or
if he was faking it to find out if there was anything he needed to know
for his investigation into the anonymous letter.
"I've got until tomorrow morning to file papers to exclude any evidence
relating to the Zimmerman case."
O'Donnell looked concerned. "Have you talked to the boss about making
that motion?"
"No," I said. It hadn't dawned on me to consult the District Attorney
himself about my trial. In our large office, it was rare that we had
any direct contact with the boss, let alone on individual cases.
"Well," he said, "this is something Duncan would want to know about.
He's feeling the heat on this Zimmerman thing. The last thing he needs
is for one of his deputies out there trying to prevent a court from
hearing evidence supposedly exonerating Landry and Taylor."
"But, Tim," I said, "Lopez isn't trying to exonerate Landry and Taylor.
She's trying to get Derringer off by confusing the jury and trashing
MCT. That evidence has nothing to do with my case."
"Sam, I'm trying to help you out. How about joining the rest of us in
the real world? I don't get it. You're so fucking smart, but you're
acting like some rube on misdemeanor row who can't see the politics
here."
I knew the politics, but I hadn't connected them to my case. Duncan
Griffith ran for DA as an opponent of the death penalty who'd make sure
that the law was at least enforced even handedly against the truly
reprehensible. In short, he got it both ways. The libs liked him
because he talked the talk against the death penalty, but no one came
after him on it, because he said he'd enforce the law.
O'Donnell had more advice. "Jesse Taylor is the first scheduled
execution this state has seen in decades. And we put him on death row,
Sam. This is the center of the storm.
If he turns out to be innocent, Duncan's got well, he's got a major
problem. The only way he's going to make it through is if he's one of
the good guys making sure we know who killed Zimmerman. If one of his