“What’s a stipulation?” Jake whispered.
“Dad had these witnesses, and the DA was nice enough to agree that he and Dad would just tell the judge what they would say so they wouldn’t have to take time away from work to testify,” Madison explained. “They’ll testify in person when there’s a jury.”
“It is also stipulated that it takes approximately four and a half to five hours to drive from Portland to the resort,” the DA told the judge. “Attached to the stipulation is a map of Oregon showing the route Mr. Shelby took to get to the resort from his house.”
“Do you agree to the stipulation, Mr. Kincaid?” The judge turned to look at Madison’s father.
“Yes, Your Honor.”
“Then call your next witness, Mr. Payne.”
“The State calls Officer Barry Jensen, Your Honor,” the DA said.
“Your dad sure made Miss Bauer look ridiculous,” Jake said.
“Dad may have more trouble with this witness,” Madison answered, her voice heavy with concern.
As Officer Jensen walked up to take the stand, the old lady with blue hair shushed them again.
“Who are all these people?” Jake asked, lowering his voice and looking around the packed room.
“Most of them are ‘court watchers,’ retired people who watch court cases for entertainment. See those three women over there?” Madison pointed discreetly behind her to a group of elderly women. “They show up every time Dad has a case. They’re his fan club. And the younger people with notepads are reporters.”
Madison was about to turn back toward the front of the courtroom when she noticed a slender woman with curly blond hair who was sitting in the farthest corner of the spectator benches. Her hair reminded Madison of Ann, but it was the fact that the woman wasn’t taking notes like the reporters and was too young to be retired that kept Madison looking her way.
Officer Jensen began telling the judge what he had found when he arrived at the Shelbys’ house in response to the 911 call. Madison returned her attention to the front of the courtroom.
“Once you found the crime scene . . . ?” the DA started to ask.
“Objection!” Hamilton said, rising to his feet. “The prosecution has yet to establish that a crime has been committed.”
“Your Honor,” the DA said, “there was blood all over the kitchen, including on the blade of a large knife, and Mrs. Shelby is missing.”
“If a crime occurred every time blood was found on a kitchen knife, the police would be at my house every time I tried to cut a bagel.”
A few of the court watchers chuckled. Judge Young was not amused. She slammed down her gavel and glared at the spectators, but she upheld Hamilton’s objection.
“What did you do after you found the knife and blood?” the DA continued.
“I put out an all-points bulletin for Mark Shelby’s car. When he showed up a few days later, I arrested him.”
“What did Mr. Shelby say when you told him his wife was missing?”
“He acted surprised,” replied Officer Jensen.
“Did he have an explanation for why she might be missing?”
“No.”
“Did he have an explanation for the way the kitchen looked?” the DA asked.
“Yes, he admitted that he’d had an argument with his wife because he had planned to play golf with his friends and he’d forgotten their anniversary. He said that Mrs. Shelby threw the coffee pot at him and he left in a huff. He said he put his golf clubs in the car, not a body. He also had no idea how Mrs. Shelby’s blood got on the knife, the refrigerator door, or the floor of the kitchen.”
“Now, Mr. Kincaid and I have stipulated that if they were here in court, the defendant’s friends would testify that they played golf with him at a resort in southern Oregon and that it takes about four and a half to five hours to drive there from the defendant’s house. Did I tell you about that stipulation a few days ago?” the DA asked.
“Yes.”
“Attached to that stipulation is a map showing the route the defendant claims to have taken when he drove to the golf course. Have you seen it?”
“I have,” Officer Jensen said.
“After I told you about the stipulation, did I ask you to do something?”
“Yes.”
“What did I ask you to do?”
“You wanted me to drive from the defendant’s house to the resort and see if there was any place along the way where someone could get rid of a body.”
“Did you drive the route?”
“I did.”
“Tell the judge the places along the way where the defendant could have gotten rid of his wife’s corpse.”
Officer Jensen looked at the DA uncertainly. “That’s going to take a while, Mr. Payne. There were an awful lot of them.”
“Instead of listing each one, why don’t you summarize what you found?”
Officer Jensen turned to the judge. “I drove through mountains with turnoffs for logging roads and campgrounds. There were farmers’ fields and the road goes along the coast, so you could toss a body off a cliff or hide it in a cave.” Jensen shrugged. “If I wanted to ditch a corpse so no one would find it, there were plenty of places along the defendant’s route I could have done it and still made my tee time.”
“Your witness, Mr. Kincaid,” the DA said.
Jake looked worried, but Madison knew her dad could handle anything.
“Thank you,” Madison’s father said, rising. “Officer Jensen, did Mr. Shelby appear to know why you were at his home?”
“No, sir. He acted surprised.”
“How did he react when you told him his wife was missing?”
“He did seem shocked.”
“Did you search Mr. Shelby’s car?”
“Yes.”
“What did you find in the trunk?”
“His golf clubs, a pair of golf shoes, other golf paraphernalia, and a suitcase.”
“Was the trunk tested for blood?”
“None was found.”
“Now, did Mr. Shelby tell you that Mrs. Shelby also had a car?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Was it in the garage?”
“No, sir. A tan 2004 Camry registered to Mrs. Shelby is also missing.”
“When you searched the house, did you find that anything else belonging to Mrs. Shelby was missing?”
“Mr. Shelby pointed out that some of Mrs. Shelby’s clothes were missing from the closet in the master bedroom.”
“So it is possible that Mrs. Shelby, after getting into an argument with her husband, just packed up and left?”
“Yes, sir, that’s possible.”
“No further questions.”
“Any more questions, Mr. Payne?” the judge asked.
“Yes, Your Honor. Officer, did you do anything to try to find out if Mrs. Shelby went on a vacation?”
“We checked airlines, cruise ships, buses, etc. There’s no record of Mrs. Shelby traveling. We also checked the local hospitals.”
“This case has been all over the news,” the DA went on. “To your knowledge, has Ruth Shelby called anyone to let them know she’s okay?”
“No, sir.”
“Did she show up at her job? Call for a substitute?”
“No.”
“So, Mr. Shelby could have taken his wife’s clothing to make it look like she was on a trip in order to hide the fact that he’d murdered her?”
“Objection!” Hamilton said, springing to his feet.
“Sustained.”
The DA smiled. His point had been made. “No further questions. The State rests.”
All this talk about a missing woman made Madison start thinking about Ann again. Maybe she should just call the police so an officer like Officer Jensen could investigate.