Stone Cold

Chapter Forty

Alex Stone sat between Claire and Lou Mason, waiting for Judge West to enter the courtroom and gavel everyone to order, the sharp crack reminding her of a starter’s gun, signaling the beginning of a race between incompatible versions of the truth. She’d lost that race more often than she’d won, but that was the nature of her work. Most of her clients were guilty. That didn’t kill the thrill of the race for her, because charging uphill for a good cause against long odds had been a challenge she couldn’t resist.

As long as it wasn’t her turn in the dock, her fate being decided by twelve people who neither knew nor cared about her, their verdict as likely to be based on the evidence and the law as on hidden agendas and secret bias. There was no thrill in that, only soul-crushing fear. She was wearing her standard courtroom black suit with a white blouse, but she felt like she was naked in the middle of Main Street.

The worst part for Alex was how completely helpless she felt. Though she’d done as much as Claire and Lou would allow her to do to help prepare for trial, they made it clear that she lacked their objectivity, reminding her of how well her insistence on not disqualifying Judge West had worked out. From this moment until the jury returned their verdict, she would sit in her chair, mute, listening to witnesses testify against her, afraid that she would slowly suffocate, her throat already beginning to constrict.

Kate Scranton sat behind her, ready to slice and dice every juror’s twitch and every witness’s tic. She had explained to Alex the facial-action coding system and how involuntary facial expressions could separate fact from fiction and belief from disbelief. It was black art as far as Alex was concerned, though she found herself avoiding Kate’s studied gaze, worried about the verdict Kate might render about her.

She let out a long sigh when Judge West entered the courtroom, flinching when he rapped his gavel on the bench. Mason steadied her, his hand gently pressed against her back, his touch reassuring. She turned toward him, nodding her thanks, his calm demeanor soothing her jangled nerves.

The lawyers played out the ritual of stating their appearances. Patrick Ortiz took his place at the podium in the middle of the courtroom and called his first witness. Hank Rossi made his way from the back of the courtroom to the witness stand.

“Please tell the jury who you are and what you do for a living,” Ortiz said.

“My name is Henry Rossi,” he said, looking first at the jury and then back to Ortiz. “People call me Hank. I’m a homicide detective for the Kansas City Police Department.”

After a series of background questions that allowed Rossi to tell the jury about his background, training, and experience in law enforcement and homicide investigations, Ortiz cranked it up.

“Detective Rossi, in the course of your duties as a homicide detective, did you come to know a man named Dwayne Reed?”

“I did.”

“Tell the jury how that came about.”

“I arrested him for murder.”

It was a slam-bang duet that made the jury sit up. Alex scribbled a one-word note on a Post-it pad, shoving it toward Claire, the note reading: relevance! Claire jotted her response-patience-without taking her eyes off Rossi.

“Whose murder?” Ortiz asked.

“A man named Wilfred Donaire.”

“Who represented Mr. Reed at his trial?”

Rossi looked at the defense table, pointing his finger at Alex. “The defendant, Alex Stone.”

Ortiz walked Rossi through Jameer Henderson’s testimony and Kyrie Chapman’s abrupt departure from the courtroom.

“What was the outcome of the trial?” Ortiz asked.

“Reed was acquitted.”

“When did you next have any interaction with Dwayne Reed?”

“Later that night when I questioned him about another murder.”

“And where did that questioning take place?”

“At police headquarters.”

“Did you see the defendant that night?”

“Yeah. Dwayne called her and she came down to the station. They left together.”

“What did you do after they left?”

“I left too.”

“Did you see Mr. Reed and the defendant after you left police headquarters?”

“I did. They were standing on the sidewalk when I got outside. They were talking. Then Mr. Reed walked away and the defendant got down on her knees and threw up in the street.”

“What did you do when you saw her get sick?”

Alex edged forward in her seat. She knew that Ortiz and Rossi would tell a sanitized version of what happened that night, leaving out anything that suggested Rossi had crossed the line, knowing that if Claire went after him on cross-examination, it would be a case of he said/she said, adding one more reason the jury would expect her to testify.

“I went over to her and asked her what happened and if she was okay.”

“What did she say?”

“That she must have eaten something that didn’t agree with her.”

“Did you observe anything about her that was inconsistent with that explanation?”

Claire rose. “Objection. Calls for speculation. Detective Rossi isn’t a mind reader.”

“Your Honor,” Ortiz said, “let me lay some additional foundation.”

“Do that,” Judge West said.

“Detective Rossi, as a homicide detective, is it important for you to assess whether a person’s statements are consistent with their appearance and behavior?”

“Yes.”

“Why is that?”

“To see if they match up. If they don’t, the witness may not be telling the truth, and that can impact how the investigation proceeds.”

“What experience do you have in evaluating whether someone’s behavior and demeanor is consistent with their statements?”

“I’ve been a cop for twenty years. I’ve interviewed thousands of people in all kinds of situations.”

“Are you telling the jury that you can tell when someone is lying?”

“That’s up to the jury to decide. All I can tell you is whether what a witness said was consistent with how they looked and acted.”

“And that takes me back to my original question. Was the defendant’s answer to your question consistent with what you observed about her demeanor and behavior?”

“Same objection,” Claire said.

“Overruled. You may answer,” the judge said.

“No, it wasn’t, not at all,” Rossi said. “She was trembling. Her eyes were bugged out. She was scared.”

“Are you saying she wasn’t sick?”

“No, I’m saying that whatever had happened between her and Dwayne Reed had made her sick and had scared her.”

“What did you say to her about what happened between her and Dwayne Reed?”

“Because of her getting sick and being so shook up, I asked her if Dwayne had confessed to her that he had killed Wilfred Donaire.”

“What made you think of that?”

“Well, for starters, I was sure he was guilty and I figured any lawyer who found out she’d helped a murderer get off would be pretty sick about it and pretty afraid of what might happen because of that.”

“What did the defendant say when you asked her if that’s what Mr. Reed had told her?”

“She said that whatever Dwayne told her was protected by the attorney-client privilege and that I’d never hear that from her.”

“Based on your background, training, and experience, what the defendant said, and your observation of her demeanor and behavior, did you form a conclusion about what Mr. Reed had told her?”

“I did. It was more of a working theory at that point.”

“Did your working theory become important in your investigation of Mr. Reed’s subsequent murder?”

“It did.”

“In what way?”

“It had to do with the defendant’s motive in killing Dwayne.”

“What conclusion did you reach?”

“Objection,” Claire said. “This is not an appropriate subject for expert testimony, and even if it was, Detective Rossi is not qualified as an expert witness to testify about such things, and even if he were, his opinion is not relevant and is highly prejudicial.”

“Overruled,” Judge West said before Ortiz could reply. “You may answer.”

Rossi nodded and turned toward the jury. “Given all the circumstances, I suspected that Reed had admitted to the defendant that he was guilty, that he’d murdered Wilfred Donaire.”

“Anything else?”

“Yes. Given how frightened the defendant looked, I also suspected that Reed had threatened her if she told anyone that he’d admitted killing Wilfred Donaire.”

“What did you mean when you said that a lawyer would be afraid of what might happen because she’d helped a guilty man go free?”

“That he’d do it again, kill someone else, and it would be on her head.”

“Were you worried about that as well?”

“Absolutely.”

“Was there anyone in particular whose safety you were worried about?”

“Kyrie Chapman, Jameer Henderson, and his family.”

“Why?”

“Dwayne was in a gang on the east side. So was Kyrie Chapman. Jameer Henderson lived in Dwayne’s neighborhood. When you’re in a gang, respect matters more than someone’s life. Kyrie and Jameer had disrespected Reed and he wouldn’t be able to show his face if he didn’t do something about that.”

Ortiz continued his questioning, taking Rossi through the events leading up to Dwayne Reed’s death. Rossi told the jury about seeing Alex patrolling the street where Jameer Henderson lived, about Alex’s discovery of the bodies of the Henderson family and his attempt to question Dwayne about the murders. He explained how Dwayne had threatened Bonnie Long at the hospital, why Dwayne had been arrested on a drug charge, and how he was released without bail. He described his investigation into the Henderson and Chapman murders and his conversation with Bonnie Long.

“Detective Rossi, what did you do after you finished talking to Dr. Long at Truman Medical Center?”

“I went looking for Dwayne Reed. I wanted to let him know that if anything happened to Dr. Long, I’d come looking for him. I thought I might find him at his mother’s house, so that’s where I went. When I got there, I saw the defendant’s car in the driveway. I was walking to the door when I heard shots fired from inside the house.”

“How many shots, Detective?”

“Three. Two quick shots and then a third one.”

“Did you notice anything else about the shots?”

“The first two made a popping sound, like they came from a small-caliber gun, and the third one was a lot louder, like from a bigger-caliber weapon.”

“What did you do when you heard the shots?”

“I drew my weapon and ran for the house. I kicked the door open and saw Dwayne lying on the floor. The defendant was standing nearby holding a gun. There was a gun next to Dwayne’s body. I told the defendant to put her gun down and she complied.”

“Did you determine what kinds of guns were involved in the shooting of Mr. Reed?”

“Yes. The defendant’s gun was a Ruger LCP.380. It’s a small gun, which makes it easy to conceal. Reed had a Glock.22, which is a.40-caliber weapon.”

“To whom was the Ruger registered?”

“The defendant. The registration records showed she bought the gun the day after Reed was acquitted in the Wilfred Donaire case.”

“And the Glock?”

“It wasn’t registered. The serial number was filed off.”

“Are you familiar with the sound that these guns make when fired?”

“I am. I’ve fired guns of the same caliber, probably hundreds of times, on the practice range. The.380 is a small-caliber gun and it makes the popping sound I mentioned before. The.40-caliber is bigger and has a much louder report. It’s easy for me to tell them apart.”

“Based on that, were you able to establish the sequence for the three shots you heard before you entered the house?”

“I was. The first two shots I heard came from the.380. The third came from the.40-caliber. The defendant fired first.”

“Did you observe anything else at the scene that supported your conclusion that the defendant shot Mr. Reed twice before he fired his gun?”

“Yes. We found the bullet from Reed’s gun in the ceiling. That told me that he was probably falling to the floor or already on the floor when he fired his gun.”

“Is there any other explanation for how the bullet from Mr. Reed’s weapon ended up in the ceiling?”

Rossi shifted in the witness chair, cocked his head to one side, and nodded. “There was a gap between the defendant’s second shot and when Reed’s gun was fired. The defendant could have raised Reed’s hand and fired the gun while he was still holding it or she could have fired it herself.”

Alex grabbed her Post-it pad, writing bullshit! and scooting the note toward Claire, who glanced at it without responding.

“Did you examine the defendant’s clothing while you were at the crime scene?”

“Just the jacket she was wearing.”

“Did you observe anything significant about the defendant’s jacket?”

“Yes. There was a bullet hole in the right-side pocket, indicating that she had fired the gun while it was still in her pocket.”

“What was the significance of that?”

“Given the sequence of shots fired-the first two by the defendant and the third by Reed-and given that Reed was probably falling to the floor or on the floor when he fired his gun and that the defendant kept her weapon hidden from Reed, he never had a chance to defend himself.”

“Was anyone else present in the living room besides Mr. Reed and the defendant when you entered the room?”

“Reed’s mother, Odyessy Shelburne. She was kneeling on the floor next to Reed.”

“Did Ms. Shelburne say anything to you?”

“She was crying, and she pointed to the defendant and she said, ‘She killed my baby.’ She kept saying it over and over.”

“No further questions.”