“Your Honor, Your Honor, there is evidence,” Dirkson protested. “The testimony of Officer Oliver, of the Crime Scene Unit, who examined the credit card of Jack Walsh.”
“Which doesn’t identify the body, Your Honor. From the testimony now in court, for all we know the decedent could be some derelict who happened to have stolen Jack Walsh’s wallet.”
“That’s utter nonsense, Your Honor,” Dirkson said. ‘That’s the wildest fantasy. You can’t prove that.”
“I don’t have to,” Steve said. “I don’t have to prove Jack Walsh is alive. You have to prove him dead.”
“I’ve proved him dead, Your Honor.”
“You’ve proved someone dead,” Steve said.
Dirkson took a breath. “Now, look here.”
Judge Grimes banged the gavel. “Gentlemen, that’s enough. I’ve heard enough to understand Mr. Winslow’s contention. Mr. Winslow, I must confess at first I thought your motion entirely without merit. But on reflection, I see that this is a matter that requires some consideration.”
Judge Grimes turned to the prosecutor. “Mr. Dirkson. In light of Mr. Winslow’s objection, I must ask you, do you have any evidence whatsoever that the body of the decedent was that of Jack Walsh?”
Dirkson took a breath, ‘Your Honor has seen the photographs.”
“Yes, I have.”
“Then you understand why I have not brought anyone forward to positively identify the body.”
“I understand that. It still does not obviate you of the necessity.”
Dirkson ran his hand over his head. ‘I understand.”
“What about fingerprints?” Judge Grimes said. “Were you able to get fingerprints from the deceased?”
Dirkson grimaced and shook his head. “No, Your Honor. The hands were too badly burned.”
“What about the teeth? Have you attempted to match dental records?”
“We have, Your Honor. And there we have some corroboration, though it is inconclusive.”
Judge Grimes’s eyes narrowed. “Why is it inconclusive?”
Dirkson held up his hands. “No, no, Your Honor. There is no inconsistency. The fact is, the records match absolutely. They’re just not of that much help. The dental record of Jack Walsh shows that he wore dentures. He had no teeth. The burned body found in the subway station also had no teeth. So the dental records are absolutely consistent. Unfortunately, that’s not as conclusive as if the man had some teeth on which work had been done, so we’d be able to show several points of similarity. As it is, we have only one point of similarity, the lack of teeth. However, in the face of the preponderance of the other evidence in the case, I would think that should be sufficient.”
“Sufficient for what? To prove a certainty, or indicate a likelihood?” Steve said. ‘You could also reason this way: Jack Walsh was a man, the decedent was a man, therefore the decedent was Jack Walsh.”
Judge Grimes’s gavel cut off Dirkson’s angry retort. “That will do. Mr. Dirkson, do you have any other evidence that the body of the decedent was that of Jack Walsh?”
“Not at the present time, Your Honor. I had not anticipated this problem would arise. I need time to look into the matter, to confer with my associates. At this point, I’d like to request a continuance.”
“Any objection on the part of the defense?”
“None, Your Honor.”
“Very well,” Judge Grimes said. “That would seem to be the proper course of action. I must confess, I myself need time to look into the aspects of the defense attorney’s motion.” Judge Grimes banged the gavel. “Court is adjourned until ten o’clock tomorrow morning.”
33
Tracy Garvin pushed the hair out of her eyes, leaned forward in her chair and said, “Is it true?”
Steve Winslow was slumped back in his desk chair. After court he’d had a long and frustrating session with Jeremy Dawson, yielding practically nothing new. Jeremy remembered vaguely that there’d been a bum sleeping on the platform when Uncle Jack had written the will, but he had no idea at all whether the clean, spruced up gentleman he’d seen in court was actually the grubby man he’d seen there. Not, Steve realized, that knowing the answer would have done him any particular good-he simply wanted to know.
Nor had Jeremy Dawson been of any help on any of the other points Steve raised. Jeremy’s answers had all been so typically teenage punk, that as usual, had it not been for the wire mesh screen, Steve would have had a hard time restraining himself from giving him a good, swift kick in the butt.
Steve had returned to the office in a foul mood, pushed past Tracy Garvin, gone into his office and collapsed in his chair to try to think.
Tracy Garvin wasn’t about to let him. She’d followed him right in, pulled up a chair determinedly and popped the question.
Steve Winslow opened his eyes to find Tracy Garvin glaring at him. “Is what true?”
Tracy snatched off her glasses, folded them up. “Dammit, you know what. Jack Walsh. The body. Is it him?”
Steve sighed. “How the hell should I know?”
Tracy glared at him. “I know you don’t know. I mean what do you think? What you said in court-was it all bullshit? Or do you think it might be true? I mean, I know what you’re doing. You’re stalling because you don’t want to cross-examine the witness. But is that all it is, or do you think there’s some truth to it?”
Steve shrugged. “You’re right on both counts. Yeah, I don’t wanna cross-examine the witness. And do I think the body could be someone else? Yeah, I think it’s a good shot.”
“Why?”
“Because of Jack Walsh.”
Tracy frowned. “Don’t get cryptic on me, say what you mean.”
Steve tipped his chair forward, leaned in on the desk. “All right, look. We know Jack Walsh. We know what kind of a man he was. He was a nut, but he was a clever nut. There was a method to his madness. And I look at this murder, and the whole thing is so typically Jack Walsh.”
“How so?”
“O.K., take the will. He gets the kid out of school, takes the kid down in the subway and writes the will. Presumably leaves everything to the kid. Just the sort of thing that will drive the rest of the relatives bananas. Not twenty-four hours later he’s dead, the kid’s got the will, and the relatives do go bananas. And the will is drawn without a final signature so it may or may not be legal, and even if it is, the kid may not be able to inherit because he may be found guilty of murdering Jack Walsh. From the point of view of a vindictive madman who wanted to get back at his relatives, it couldn’t be better.”
“But that would have to mean-”
Steve nodded. “That he did it himself. Exactly. This is what I’ve been looking for all along. Someone who could have done this crime besides Jeremy Dawson. Someone with motive, method and opportunity. Well, the motive is clear. Method and opportunity? Well, the big stumbling block is Jeremy Dawson’s gun which was in Jeremy’s locker. But if somehow Jack Walsh had the combination to that locker-which isn’t that farfetched a premise-well, Jesus Christ, here he was on the day of the murder hanging out in the hallway of Jeremy Dawson’s school.”
“You mean he could have taken the gun?”
“Sure he could. I’ve been pounding Jeremy Dawson over the head all afternoon, trying to get him to remember if he saw the gun in the locker before he left with his uncle that afternoon.
And wouldn’t you know it, the fucking kid can’t remember. Yes, he opened the locker before he left with his uncle. No, he can’t remember for sure whether he saw the gun.”