Stone Cold

Chapter Forty-One

Claire waited a moment before beginning her cross-examination, watching the jury’s reaction to Rossi. They’d listened, straight backed and wide-eyed, his nothing-but-the-facts testimony resonating with them. She had to walk a fine line between trying to undermine his credibility and using it to her advantage.

She had learned early in her adult life how to convert her height and build into an image of power and authority at a time when men rarely saw either in a woman. What had once been practiced was now ingrained, her silver hair adding the wisdom of years to her arsenal.

Rising slowly to draw the jury’s attention away from Rossi and toward her, Claire walked toward the witness stand, stopping in front of the podium, creating a triangle composed of Rossi, the jury and her, knowing she was its apex.

“When you entered Odyessy Shelburne’s house, one of the first things you did was to tell Alex Stone to put her gun down on the floor, isn’t that true?”

“I did.”

“And I assume you immediately secured her gun.”

Rossi took a deep breath, letting it out, knowing what was coming and that he couldn’t avoid it. “No, I didn’t.”

“Odyessy Shelburne was distraught when you saw her on the floor next to her son, correct?”

“Yes. Very much so.”

“The last time you were at her house she threatened to shoot you, isn’t that correct?”

“It is.”

“So you knew she had a history of threatening to shoot people, including you, and you knew she was very upset about her son’s death, and yet you left Alex Stone’s gun unsecured and lying on the floor. True?”

“Yes.”

“And what was the next thing that happened with that gun?”

“Odyessy Shelburne grabbed it and shot the defendant.”

Claire paused, starring at Rossi, giving the jury time to absorb his testimony, hoping it made the jury question his competence and that it made Alex more sympathetic.

“You told Mr. Ortiz that it was possible that Alex Stone had fired Dwayne Reed’s gun.”

“I did.”

“You’re not telling this jury that’s what happened, are you?”

“No. It’s just a possibility.”

“You’re aware that gunpowder residue was found on Mr. Reed’s hand, indicating that he had recently fired his gun?”

“I am.”

“And you said that it appeared to you that Mr. Reed didn’t have a chance to defend himself because Alex fired her gun while it was in her coat pocket.”

“That’s correct.”

“Now, Mr. Reed also had a gun, didn’t he?”

“He did.”

“And you don’t know whether Mr. Reed had threatened Alex with his gun before she fired, do you?”

“According to the eyewitness-”

“I’m not asking about the eyewitness, Detective. Your testimony is based on what you observed at the scene, and you didn’t observe anything that proves that Mr. Reed hadn’t threatened Alex with his gun before she fired. Is that the truth?”

Rossi clenched his jaw, answering reluctantly. “Yes.”

“Thank you, Detective. Now, Dwayne Reed was a dangerous man, wasn’t he?”

“You could say that.”

“You did say that, didn’t you, Detective?”

“I imagine I did, in so many words.”

“Because you believed it to be true, yes?”

“Yes.”

“What exactly was he accused of doing to Wilfred Donaire?”

“He was accused of killing him, if that’s what you mean.”

“Well, that’s certainly bad enough, but you were much more graphic at Dwayne Reed’s trial. Tell this jury what you told that jury about what Mr. Reed was accused of saying and doing. I’ve got a copy of the transcript of your testimony if you’d like to review it.”

Rossi clenched his jaw for an instant and then let it go, deciding it was better to play along than start a fight he couldn’t win.

“He threatened to cut off Wilfred Donaire’s dick and shove it down his throat. And that’s what he did. And then he stabbed him to death.”

Claire let that sink in as several jurors covered their mouths while others grimaced.

“That would make him a dangerous man in anyone’s book, wouldn’t it?”

“Yes, ma’am. It would.”

“In fact, you warned Alex Stone to stay away from the Hendersons because if Dwayne found out she was keeping an eye on them, he might-and I believe these were your words-terminate their attorney-client relationship permanently. Were those your words?”

Rossi leaned back in his chair, nodding and crossing his arms over his middle. “I told her that.”

“And that was your way of telling Alex that if Dwayne became upset with her, he might kill her, isn’t that so?”

“Yes.”

“And you also thought that Dwayne would rape Bonnie Long if he got the chance. Isn’t that so?”

Rossi sighed. “It is.”

“That’s why you went to Truman Medical Center, to warn Dr. Long and to tell her not to leave the hospital without you as her guardian and escort. Isn’t that so?”

“I told her to wait for me, yes.”

“And you asked Dr. Long if she knew where Alex was.”

“Yes.”

“Because you were worried that Alex was going to talk to Dwayne about him threatening Bonnie.”

“In part.”

“And the other part was that you were worried about what Dwayne would do if he found out about the relationship between Bonnie and Alex.”

“I guess so, yes.”

“And you were worried about that because if Dwayne couldn’t get to Bonnie, he might settle for taking his anger out on Alex. Isn’t that so?”

“That was a consideration.”

“Well, it was more than a consideration, wasn’t it, Detective?”

“I don’t know what you mean, Counselor.”

“I mean that when you saw Alex’s car in the driveway and heard those shots fired, you were more concerned about her safety than Mr. Reed’s. Isn’t that so?”

Rossi licked his lips and nodded. “Yes.”

“And that’s because you didn’t think Alex Stone could defend herself against Dwayne Reed. Isn’t that so?”

He shook his head. “No, I didn’t think she could.”

“Well, you were wrong about that, weren’t you, Detective Rossi?”

“Objection!” Ortiz said. “Assumes facts not in evidence.”

“Withdrawn,” Claire said. “No further questions.”

Ortiz stood at his counsel table. “Just a couple of follow-up questions, Detective. Was the defendant treated for her gunshot wound at the scene?”

“Yes. A paramedic patched her up.”

“Did you overhear any conversation between the paramedic and the defendant?”

“Yeah. The paramedic said-”

“Objection,” Claire said. “Hearsay.”

“Sustained.”

“Detective,” Ortiz said, “what was the subject matter of their conversation?”

“How the amount of blood made the defendant’s wound look a lot worse than it was.”

“And what did the defendant say on that subject?”

“She pointed to Reed’s body and said, ‘Try telling that to him,’ like it was all a big joke.”

“That’s all I have,” Ortiz said.