“So,” Fitzpatrick said, “you’re telling me we’re fucked before we start.”
“No, I’m not,” Steve said. “I’m telling you what Dirkson has in mind. The way I see it, Dirkson has certain expectations. If we fulfill those expectations, we’re playing right into his hands.”
“So?”
“So, we can’t do that. We can’t play this conservative and conventional. This is a situation that calls for heroic measures. We gotta throw the game plan away. We’ve got to get off the defensive and on the attack. The hell with what Dirkson expects. Let’s rock the son of a bitch in his sockets. Hit him where he least expects it, get the jury interested, and then give ’em a show.”
Fitzpatrick frowned. “I don’t know how to do that.”
“I do.”
37
Judge Graves said, “Is the defense ready?”
Fitzpatrick rose. “We are, Your Honor.”
“Does the defense wish to make an opening statement?”
“We do.”
“Very well. Proceed.”
Fitzpatrick glanced dubiously down at Steve Winslow who was seated beside him at the defense table.
Steve gave him the thumbs up sign and grinned. “Give ’em hell,” he murmured.
Fitzpatrick managed a twisted smile. He straightened up, set his jaw, and strode out into the center of the courtroom.
“Your Honor,” Fitzpatrick said. “Ladies and gentlemen of the jury. We expect to prove that the defendant, Marilyn Harding, is the victim of a conspiracy. An insidious conspiracy by person or persons unknown. Or I should say, by persons unknown at the present time. We expect to prove that this conspiracy against Marilyn Harding is based only upon the accident of her birth. Marilyn Harding was born into a wealthy family. She is a wealthy woman. As such, she is a target for certain unscrupulous individuals. And she has been used as a target in this case.
“Moreover, we expect to prove that this conspiracy is not limited to Marilyn Harding, but extends to the entire Harding family.”
Fitzpatrick raised his voice. “We expect to show by competent evidence, that Phillip Harding, father of Marilyn Harding, was murdered on the thirteenth of last month!”
There were gasps from the spectators in the courtroom.
Dirkson, startled, rose to his feet. His mouth was open, so great was his surprise. He blinked twice, and slowly sat down again.
“We shall prove this,” Fitzpatrick went on, “not by inference or innuendo, but by the autopsy report prepared by the medical examiner himself. We shall prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that Marilyn Harding’s father, Phillip Harding, was cold-bloodedly and ruthlessly murdered.
“After proving that, we shall then show how the conspiracy against the Harding family shifted from Phillip Harding to Marilyn Harding, his principal heir. You have heard, from the lips of the prosecution’s own witnesses, how Marilyn Harding was being followed by private detectives. Now, has the prosecution attempted to show you who hired those private detectives? Or to show why those private detectives were hired? You know the answer. And the answer is, no they have not.
“But the defense expects to answer those questions. The defense expects to show that those private detectives were hired to follow Marilyn Harding as part of an ongoing conspiracy against the Harding family in general and against Marilyn Harding in particular. We expect to show that Marilyn Harding was cleverly and insidiously manipulated into the position in which she finds herself today. That she was systematically framed for a murder. That she has been tricked into a position that would seem on the surface, indefensible.
“Well, ladies and gentlemen. The defense intends to dig beneath the surface. We intend to fill in the gaps in the story left by the prosecution. We intend to show how a web of lies and deceit has framed this defendant for a crime that she did not commit.
“We shall show all of this by competent evidence and we shall expect a verdict of not guilty at your hands.”
As Fitzpatrick bowed to the jury and sat down, the courtroom burst into an uproar, judge Graves banged the gavel furiously, but nothing he could do was going to stop the stampede of reporters who were running for the exit.
38
It made the front page of every paper in the city, even the New York Times. Fitzpatrick’s opening statement was a smash, a stunning reversal, a dramatic bit of courtroom strategy, boldly conceding the very point the prosecution had sought to establish. It was fresh, new, and exciting, and it raised great expectations.
It was all downhill from there.
Dirkson played it smart. He didn’t make the big mistake of fighting Fitzpatrick, of objecting to what he was trying to do. That would have put Dirkson in the embarrassing position of arguing against the stance he himself had taken at the opening of the trial. Instead, he sat on his hands and raised no objection when Fitzpatrick called the Nassau County medical examiner to the stand to testify that Phillip Harding died from arsenic poisoning. Dirkson neither objected nor cross-examined. He merely sat at the prosecution table looking slightly bored. His attitude seemed to say that the defense was bringing out points with which the prosecution was well familiar, and unless Fitzpatrick came up with something to connect those points with his wild, fanciful theories of a conspiracy, Dirkson couldn’t be bothered. And since Fitzpatrick had no such connection to make, the Phillip Harding bombshell fizzled. Dirkson’s attitude prevailed. That attitude was, “So what?”
The next witness was a little better.
“Your name is Charles Miltner?” Fitzpatrick asked. “That’s right.”
“You’re the head of the Miltner Detective Agency?”
“I am.
“How many people do you employ?”
“It varies. I would say from twelve to fifteen.”
“And is one of those a Mr. Jason Fisher?”
“Yes, he is.”
“Then let me ask you this. Has your agency ever been employed in any case involving the defendant, Marilyn Harding?”
“Yes, sir.”
“What were you employed to do?”
“Place Marilyn Harding under surveillance.”
“Were you given any specific instructions regarding that surveillance?”
“No, sir.”
“Nothing in particular you were supposed to watch for?”
“No, sir.”
“What were your instructions?”
“Merely to place her under surveillance and report what she did.”
“And when did the surveillance begin?”
“On Tuesday, the eighth.”
“At what time?”
“At 8:00 a.m.”
“And when did it end?”
“Wednesday evening around 9:00 p.m.”
“You had Marilyn Harding under surveillance from Tuesday, the eighth, at 8:00 a.m. until Wednesday, the ninth, at 9:00 p.m.?”
“No, sir.”
“No? I thought you said you did?”
“No, sir. The surveillance was not continuous. We had her under surveillance during part of that time.”
“Which part?”
“From 8:00 am. till midnight on Tuesday, and from 8:00 am. till 9:00 p.m. on Wednesday.”
“Was that in accordance with your instructions?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Could you elaborate?”
“Yes, sir. The surveillance on Marilyn Harding was to be sixteen hours a day. Two eight hour shifts. The first shift from 8:00 a.m. till 4:00 p.m., the second shift from 4:00 p.m. till midnight. From midnight till 8:00 am. she was on her own.”
“You contracted to do two eight hour shifts?”
“That’s right.”
“How many men per shift?”
“Two.”
“And Jason Fisher, in your employ, was assigned to one of those shifts?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Which one?”