“Oh, shit,” Taylor said.
“So, you’re right. Your info’s a kick in the head. You got anything else?”
“No. I’m working on Macklin, but he’s a tough nut to crack. I can’t go at him directly, and the guy has few friends. All I’m getting is gossip.”
“Nothing wrong with gossip. What’s the word?”
“Man likes to play the ponies.”
“Oh?”
“Goes to the track whenever he can, and when he can’t, OTB.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah. I don’t know what it’s worth. But with a compulsive gambler it’s sort of like drugs. When there’s a case where there’s money missing, it’s worthy of note.”
“It certainly is.”
“Only problem,” Taylor said, “is the info I get is the guy usually wins.”
“Uh huh,” Steve said. “What about Lowery?”
“Even worse,” Taylor said. “Respectable family man. Quiet home life. Only vices appear to be fishing and golf.”
“Hard to smear a man with that,” Steve said. “Okay, keep digging. The man must have some faults.”
“Fine,” Taylor said, without enthusiasm. “Anything else?”
“Yeah. The boyfriend. Larry Cunningham.”
“What about him?”
“Frankly, I wish he’d get hit by a truck. The guy’s so eager to give her an alibi, his story isn’t worth shit. Worse than that, he’ll prejudice the jury against her, because he’s so clearly lying.”
“I’ll buy that,” Taylor said. “What do you expect me to do about it?”
“Check him out. Bad as he is, see if he’s worse. Anything about him the prosecution’s going to hit me with, I want to know about it before they do. Get his story up and down and get it nailed. Check with the guy he had the meeting with. Find out when he got there. Check with the waiters in the restaurant, find out when he left. Give me enough to show this guy what he’s up against before he gets on the stand and says something he can’t prove. Or rather, something Dirkson can disprove. Anyway, run a check on him and find out what makes him tick.
“While you’re at it, check out Oliver Branstein.”
“Who?”
“The guy from the music store.”
“Why?” Taylor said. “We know the story on him. He’s a highly uncredible witness. Dirkson’s gonna try to build him up. We know that for sure, ’cause the guy’s in his hip pocket and won’t give us the time of day. There’s nothing much I can do.”
“I know, Mark. But check the guy out.”
“Why?”
“Let’s not overlook the obvious. The guy runs the music store downstairs. He and Frank Fletcher were neighbors. How well did they know each other? Did they get along?”
Mark Taylor’s eyes widened. “You mean check him out as a suspect?”
“Just check him out, Mark. If he knew Fletcher, I want to know.”
34
When court reconvened, Judge Wylie said, “With regard to the defense counsel’s motion-upon reviewing the testimony I find no further arguments are necessary. I find the objection goes to the weight of the testimony rather than to its admissibility. The motion to strike is therefore denied.”
“However,” Judge Wylie continued, turning to Dirkson, “I would suggest the prosecution make some effort to establish the chain of custody before offering the exhibit into evidence.”
“Yes, Your Honor.”
“Return the witness to the stand and bring in the jury.”
When the jurors had been brought in and seated, Judge Wylie said, “When we left off, Dr. Stanton was on the stand and Mr. Winslow was in the middle of his cross-examination. The motion to strike portions of the testimony has been denied. The doctor’s testimony will stand. Mr. Winslow, you may resume your cross-examination.”
“I have no further questions, Your Honor.”
“Any redirect, Mr. Dirkson?”
“None, Your Honor.”
“Very well. The witness is excused.”
“Call Sergeant Stams.”
Stams took the stand, testified to responding to a reported homicide at F. L. Jewelry on West 47th Street.
“And what did you find when you got there?”
“The defendant, Amy Dearborn, was already in the office.”
“She met you at the door?”
“That’s right.”
“Can you tell us what happened then?”
“Yes. I asked her if she was the one who reported the homicide. She said she was. I asked her where the body was, and she showed me.”
“And where was that?”
“An inner office, which I understand was the office of the deceased.”
“And where was the body when she showed it to you?”
“Lying face down on the floor.”
“I see. And what did you do then?”
“I instructed the crime scene unit to process the office and notify the medical examiner. Then I questioned the defendant.”
“Where did you conduct this questioning?”
“In another inner office, which I understand was the office of the other partner, Marvin Lowery.”
“You took the defendant there to question her?”
“That’s right.”
“Why did you do that?”
“I wanted to get her away from the body. So it wouldn’t upset her and distract her. And to get her out of the way of the crime scene unit.”
“You chose this office because it was out of the way?”
“That’s right.”
“When you questioned the defendant, what did she tell you?”
“She said she was a former employee. That she’d been employed at the office up until a month ago, when she’d been fired for stealing. That she’d been tried for the crime and acquitted. That she had therefore come to the office that evening to clean out her desk.”
“Did she tell you how she intended to get in?”
“Yes. She said she had a key from when she had previously worked there.”
“She retained this key when she fired?”
“That’s right.”
“Did she show you this key?”
“Yes, she did.”
Dirkson took another plastic bag from the prosecution table. “I ask that this be marked for identification as People’s Exhibit Two.” When that had been done, Dirkson handed it to the witness, said, “Sergeant, I hand you a plastic evidence bag marked for identification as People’s Exhibit Two, and ask you if you recognize it.”
“Yes, I do. It is a plastic bag containing the key I referred to. The one the defendant showed me at that time.”
“How do you recognize it?”
“I have written my name on the bag. As well as the date, and a description of the contents.”
“The bag is sealed?”
“That is correct.”
“You say this is the key the defendant showed you at that time?”
“Yes, it is.”
“Did you do anything to verify this is indeed the key to the office?”
“Yes. As a matter of fact, I tried it myself.”
“It opened the outer door?”
“Yes, it did.”
“Thank you, Sergeant,” Dirkson said. He took the plastic bag, returned it to the court reporter’s desk.
“Now then, Sergeant. Going back to your interrogation of the defendant on the night in question-”
“Objection to the word interrogation. As I understand it, the police were there at Miss Dearborn’s request.”
“Sustained. Rephrase the question.”
“Going back to the time you questioned the defendant at the scene of the crime-I believe you stated she intended to get into the office with her key, is that right?”
“That’s right.”
“Did she in fact use a key to get in?”
“She says she didn’t. According to her, she arrived and found the door open.”
“The front door to the office?”
“That’s right.”
“The door the key People’s Exhibit Two fits?”
“Yes, sir. That door was open.”
“That’s what she told you at the time?”
“That’s right.”
“This is when you questioned her in the office of the partner, Marvin Lowery, on the night you were summoned to the crime scene?”
“That’s right.”
“She said the door was open?”