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"It's a bill of sale for that Uzi.”

"Objection, Your Honor!" Lowell said.

"I've heard nothing about this until this very moment.

My demand for discovery specifically asked for any physical evidence the defense planned to ...”

"Your Honor, the document was recovered only yesterday from an out-of-state gun-shop owner. I regret this surprise ...”

"It's a surprise, all right," Lowell said sourly.

"Let's see it," Di Pasco said. "Come up here, both of you.”

Addison carried the document to the bench and handed it up to Di Pasco, who read it silently and then passed it on to Lowell.

"Your Honor," Lowell said, "I cannot believe this turned up only yesterday.”

“I'm prepared to provide a witness who ...”

"He's always prepared to provide a witness, Your Honor, but ...”

"What witness?" Di Pasco asked.

"The private detective who visited the gun shop in Memphis and found this copy of ...”

"Oh, it's a copy," Lowell said. "We don't even have the original here.”

"The original went to Whittaker at the time of the sale.”

"How'd you know where this gun shop was?" Di Pasco asked.

"Your Honor, excuse me, but this is a copy of a document we've never seen ...”

"Well, it looks like a good copy to me,”

Di Pasco said. "How'd you get hold of it?”

he asked Addison, obviously impressed.

"Whittaker told my client he'd purchased the gun in Memphis. It was a matter of elimination, sir. Which is why it took such a long time to find it.”

"Well, I admire your tenacity, but I must tell you I look askance at this kind of last-minute evidence.”

"Your Honor, I would have provided it sooner, believe me, but the search was a long and difficult one.”

"Are you asking that it be moved into evidence?”

"I am, Your Honor.”

"Your Honor," Lowell said, "this document should have been listed on the defense response to my demand for discovery.”

"We didn't have the document at that time, Your Honor. The search has been an ongoing one.”

"In any event," Lowell said, "lacking the testimony of the private investigator-and for that matter, the gun-shop owner as well-there's insufficient foundation to admit.”

"Well, here we go again," Di Pasco said.

"I'm sure Mr. Addison can call both those people if you insist, but do you honestly doubt the authenticity of this paper? Do we really want a costly adjournment?”

Lowell looked at him.

"It looks genuine enough to me," Di Pasco said. "Doesn't it to you?”

"It looks genuine, Your Honor, yes, but ...”

"I'm prepared to call both the shop owner and the private investigator, Your Honor," Addison said. "The investigator lives here in this city. The shop is in Memphis, of course, but I'm sure we could expedite ...”

"What do you say, Mr. Lowell?”

"I'll withdraw my objection," Lowell said, "provided we can verify that the document was not altered and that it was, in truth, uncovered only yesterday.”

"How do you plan to do that, Mr. Lowell?”

"I'll have a detective in our office telephone the gun-shop owner at once.”

"May we proceed while verification is pending?”

"If Your Honor wishes.”

"Let's move it along then," Di Pasco said.

Lowell walked back to his table, where he leaned over and whispered something to his assistant.

The assistant nodded gravely. Carella glanced at his mother to see if she'd noticed this.

She had not. But Angela had. Their eyes met.

There were questions in her eyes that he could not answer.

At the table, Lowell and his assistant sat stone-faced and silent as Addison elicited from his witness testimony regarding the bill of sale for an Uzi assault pistol legitimately purchased back in June, shortly after Desmond Whittaker was released from prison in Louisiana, Addison asking if this was the bill of sale Whittaker had shown him, and then asking Cole to read the serial numbers out loud, and then showing him the gun again and asking him to read the serial numbers on it, again out loud, which seemed to constitute incontrovertible proof that the pistol that had shot and killed Carella's father had belonged to Cole's partner and not to Cole himself. What they were trying to do was show that since the gun was owned by Whittaker, and since Cole was nowhere near the bakery on the night of the murder, then it had to be Whittaker who'd done the shooting. A man now dead, a man who could not possibly be questioned, had killed Carella's father. He felt Angela's eyes on him again. He did not turn to meet them this time.

"No further questions," Addison said.

Lowell approached the witness stand.

"So you were in Virginia that night of the murder, huh?" he said. "Yes, sir.”

"You didn't happen to save your bus ticket, did you?”

"No, sir.”

"Threw it away, did you?”

"Yes, sir.”

"Did you get a receipt for it when you bought it?”

"No, sir, I bought it right at the depot.

Nobody gave me a receipt.”

"How much did you pay for it?”

"A hundred twenty-three dollars and seventy-five cents.”

"Give your name to anybody?”

"No, sir, I wasn't asked to.”

"Meet anyone you knew in the depot?”

"No, sir.”

"Or on the bus?”

"No, sir.”

"What were you doing down there in Greenville?”

"Just passing through.”

"Passing through from where?”

"I was down in Florida for a while.”

"Where'd you stay while you were in Florida?”

"I slept on the beach.”

"Uh-huh. Did you sleep on the beach in Greenville, too?”

"I was only in Greenville that one day. I caught a bus out that night.”

"Is there a beach in Greenville, would you know?”

"No, I wouldn't.”

"Can you tell me anything at all about Greenville?”

"Just that it seemed like a nice city.”

"Can you tell me the names of any of the streets there?”

"No, I can't.”

"Any of the hotels?”

"No, sir. I didn't stay at any hotel. I just walked around.”

"Walked around, uh-huh. Can you tell me where the bus depot was?”

"No, I'm sorry.”

"You just walked around and wandered into this depot, is that right?”

"No, sir. I knew where it was 'cause I'd come up from Miami by bus.”

"I don't suppose you have that Miami ticket, either, do you?”

“No, sir.”

"Miami-Greenville, you don't have that ticket.”

"No, sir.”

"Mr. Cole, do you have any proof at all that you were on a bus coming from Greenville the night Anthony Carella was murdered?”

"I'm sure people saw me on that bus, but I wouldn't know who they were.”

"Did you talk to anyone on the bus?”

"No, sir.”

"So we have just your word that you were on that bus that night.”

"Maybe there's a record of the ticket someplace.”

"Yes, maybe there is, but you don't have such a record, do you?”

"No, I don't.”

“So we don't really know for sure, do we, that you took the bus that night and not the night before? Or two nights before? Or a week before? We have just your word for it, isn't that correct?”

"My word is good," Cole said, and suddenly there was a look of fierce pride on his face.

"A man of your word, are you?" Lowell asked.

"Yes, sir.”

"Isn't it a fact, Mr. Cole, that you killed ...?was "Objection!”

"Overruled. But I must warn the jury at this time ...”

"Thank you, Your Honor.”

"... to consider the defendant's prior conviction only as it impacts on his credibility. It should not be taken as a propensity to commit this particular crime." He turned back to Lowell, and nodded to him to continue.