Like a robot on automatic, the words came from Porter’s mouth in a near mono-tone. “Alred gave KM-2 back to Stratford University.” His white face laced with a thin layer of liquid glaze, his thin lips quivering, all his visible emotions shouted the ghastly reality. Alred would sense it. Clusser would notice. The jury…the judge…the Prosecuting Attorney…
Porter had no idea what had really happened to KM-2.
3:56 p.m. PST
“Ms. Alred, allow me first to acknowledge that no charges are being brought upon you. However, you are under oath to tell the absolute truth. To do otherwise will result in grievous consequences.”
“Do you expect me to lie, Mr. Prosecutor?” Alred said with raised eyebrows and a strong face. She looked relaxed in her gray suit but sat with statue-like posture, looking over the courtroom from the witness stand for the second time. She could smell the judge’s Afta lotion.
Comer smiled at the ground and waited as if reconsidering his approach. “Ms. Alred…how long have you worked with John D. Porter.”
“Approximately one month.”
“And you both used the foreign document termed KM-2.”
Alred lifted her chin. “Correct,” she said, though Porter had dominated the handling of the manuscript from the beginning.
“How would you describe Porter’s attachment to the document,” said Comer.
Alred took a long breath through her petite nose. Her green eyes shimmered without emotion. “Porter has been…highly intrigued with KM-2. Perhaps-”
“Obsessive?” said the attorney.
With a sharp gaze, Alred answered his question, while silently making it clear that she would not allow herself to be cut off again. Her voice picked up in volume, but not in pitch. “Anyone who knows Porter’s eccentric attitude toward his studies might deem him obsessive about anything in which he involves himself.”
Turning away, Comer said the words in a calm voice, “Intrigued! Eccentric! Obsessive!” so they would be noted and run through the judge’s mind again.
“He had good reason for excessive enthusiasm concerning KM-2,” said Alred.
Comer looked up with fake intrigue emanating from his face. “Tell us why.”
“Stratford University offered Porter an ultimatum: Complete a doctoral dissertation by May 21 or fail out of the University. Only a few weeks ago, the aforementioned deadline was moved to May 5; today. Obsessive, yes. Porter has worked as hard as I have, if not more so, in order to make the due date. Now, because of this legal run-around, neither of us will get our Ph. D’s. All the work for nothing. When we could have proven to be Stratford’s best doct-”
“Ms. Alred, did you give Stratford University the document, KM-2, at Porter’s behest?” said Comer, looking at the ground. The Prosecuting Attorney likewise would not allow this Federal Court to be treated rudely.
Her mouth still open, Alred shifted her thoughts to answer the question. “I took the codex from Porter’s office as soon as the board asked for it.”
“You mean Mr. Porter didn’t keep KM-2 in a safe, glass cabinet, or locked drawer someplace? An important relic like that, which could make or lay waste both of your doctoral theses? Or did you both have keys to a common lock?”
Alred surely must have realized her answer could be the bite on a hook Comer would use to reel her into the same cage Porter now found himself. But in this case, the truth would prove to be the best shield. “Porter stored the codex in an air vent so it couldn’t be stolen.”
“Why,” said Comer, his hands again in his pockets.
Alred’s quick words sounded yanked from the middle of a lecture she may have given to a freshman class. “Perfect hiding place. The dry air wouldn’t hurt-”
“No, why did Porter hide KM-2 in a vent? Why did you go and fetch it when…the University called for it?” The end of Comer’s sentence sounded like playful words of appeasement rather than acknowledgment of the event.
Alred let a myriad of thoughts spin noticeably in her head as she waited for her mind to bring forth the best reply. The facts were plain enough, she thought, and the trial shouldn’t be focused at all on KM-2. It was as if the Prosecutor had an agenda unrelated to the possibility that Porter was engaged in some form of theft or illegal possession. But she chose to dart away from the subject in order to steer the congregates from realizing the existence of KM-3. “After all of the sacrifices we’ve made to complete our time at Stratford, I knew that what the board required-the return of Ulman’s codex-would be emotionally trying for Porter. I made the decision for him.”
Comer cocked his head to the side, went to his desk, lifted a clip board, read a note, dropped it, turned back to Alred, and said, “Who is on this board?”
“Five people called me to work with John Porter on Ulman’s find. Four of those professors were…present when I returned the codex,” said Alred.
“Who.”
“Masterson, Goldstien, Kinnard,” Alred took a breath, “and Arnott.”
“Why do you think they requested the return of KM-2?” said Comer, glancing to his desk to be sure his assistant scrawled the names on a legal pad.
Alred lifted herself again, balancing her shoulders before speaking. She chose her words carefully. “I assumed they came to the realization that the University had not procured the codex through proper means. If so, Stratford students should not have been dealing with KM-2, and they had been treated unfairly. Also-”
“What-” said Comer, thinking without listening to Alred’s words. He quickly amended his minor show of amateur behavior. “No, go ahead.”
“Also,” said Alred, irritation clear in her powerful voice, “it seemed to me that some of the professors may have been wary about certain deaths possibly connected with the aforementioned codex.”
“Whose deaths?” said Comer, making up for stepping on this would-be attorney’s small feet.
“In his office, Dr. Wilkinson was found with his own letter opener protruding from his back. He was one of the five on the board, but dead before the meeting in question. Dr. Christopher Ulman would never make a name for himself as a hidden archaeologist selling stolen goods from one of the world’s greatest finds. He found it. Now he’s disappeared and the only explanation is his death. Whether in North America or outside of the States must be based on future investigation. Dr. Albright of Ohio State University, who coined the term KM while in Guatemala…is also dead.”
Comer waited, regearing his thoughts. “How do we know you gave this ancient document to this board, Ms. Alred. Stratford University pressed the issue this morning that Porter still has KM-2. Porter had other figurines in his car,” Comer said as if his last sentence ended the debate.
Calmly, Alred set her hard eyes on the attorney. “Someone is obviously lying. I recommend interviewing the four men I mentioned who were present when I returned the codex.”
The prosecutor pulled back and smiled at Alred’s strength. He turned away and focused on his attack plan. “How would you describe your relationship with Porter.”
Alred thought for a moment. Such an interesting question. She would have answered it differently after each week since she’d met Porter. Had Comer asked three weeks ago, Alred would have done her best to make sure Porter would hang. Now…how exactly did she feel? “We…get along,” she said. “We are friends. We worked together with different agendas regarding Ulman’s find. I suppose I found myself mostly at odds with Porter. But I respect him…as a scholar.”
Comer touched the fingertip of his right index to his lips. He removed it to say, “Do you think he is capable of murder?”
Alred seriously considered the question as the Defense Attorney jumped with the words “Objection! My client’s not on trial for murder.”
Then she said, “No I do not.”
May 6
3:06 p.m. PST