14th Deadly Sin

CHAPTER 72

NATALIE FUTTERMAN PUSHED her tablet toward Yuki so that she could read the word Awesome in giant letters. Yuki smiled, then got to her feet and called Inspector William Brand.

Brand came in through the swinging doors at the back of the room, walked across the hardwood floor, and pushed through the bar to the witness stand. He put his hand on the Bible, said his name and that he agreed to tell the truth, then sat in the chair in the witness box.

Yuki approached him, seeing the anger coming off his square face, the tension in his muscular form, his collar denting the flesh around his neck.

She got right to it.

“Mr. Brand, were you familiar with Aaron-Rey Kordell before he was your suspect in the murders of three drug dealers?”

“Yes.”

“How did you know him?”

“I’ve seen him in that crack house at Turk and Dodge when we made busts there a couple of times.”

Yuki asked, “And did you ever search him for drugs or weapons?”

“Yes.”

“How many times?”

“Twice, I think.”

“And you never found drugs or weapons on his person, isn’t that right?”

“That’s right.”

“Was he belligerent?”

“No.”

“How would you characterize his personality?”

“He was a big dumb kid in a crack house. I didn’t give him a personality evaluation. And I didn’t think about him too much.”

“He had no criminal record prior to his arrest for carrying a weapon, isn’t that right?”

“Correct.”

“Was he belligerent when you interrogated him in conjunction with the shootings on February sixteenth of this year?”

“Not really.”

“Could you describe his demeanor in a few words?”

Brand sighed, shrugged, and then said, “He cried. He denied having anything to do with the crimes.”

Yuki said, “So just to make sure I understand this: You’d seen Mr. Kordell before. You didn’t know him to be a drug user or to carry a weapon, and he had no prior record, isn’t that right?”

“Right.”

“But in this instance, you pushed him to confess to a crime that he denied committing, isn’t that true?”

“He had the smoking gun, miss. Those guys were shot in the chest at close range. Only a dummy could get close enough with a gun to kill A. Biggy and his crew. Understand what I’m saying? They weren’t afraid of the shooter, of A-Rey. Anyone else, they woulda defended themselves.”

Brand had just told Yuki something she hadn’t heard before. If he had made a mistake, she might be able to capitalize on it and destroy his credibility.

On the other hand, she could be about to make a big mistake of her own.