The Baxter Trust

38

Mark Taylor pushed his way through the crowd in the courtroom.

“Steve!” he called out.

Steve turned and saw him coming through the gate.

“What is it, Mark?”

“I just heard from our correspondent in California.”

“And?”

“There’s no record of a marriage license issued to an Alice Baxter and Samuel Benton. There is no record of a death certificate on Samuel Benton. And there is no record of a birth certificate issued for Sheila Benton or a Sheila Baxter.”

Steve stroked his chin. “So maybe she was illegitimate.”

“Maybe. And maybe this Samuel Benton didn’t die after all.” Taylor smiled. “That’s assuming he ever existed in the first place.”

“Let’s assume he did. Try finding him, Mark. Give him top priority. I don’t care about anything else in the case, but I want that man.”

“I’ve got men working on it now. Listen, what’s this about the knife not being the fatal weapon?”

Steve waved it away. “Forget it. That’s bullshit.”

“You mean it is the fatal weapon?”

“Of course it is. The prosecution will connect it up as soon as the recess is over.”

“Then why make such a fuss about it?”

“Just misdirection.”

“Misdirection?”

“Yeah. You know, like the way a magician fools his audience by focusing their attention on his right hand while he’s doing something with his left. The important part of the coroner’s testimony isn’t the murder weapon, it’s the time element. The D.A. laid a trap for me by only asking the doctor when Greely was killed, and not asking his reasons. He wanted me to cross-examine him as to how he determined the time of death. Then the doctor would come out with volumes of medical testimony, all of which would have pointed up the fact that Greely was killed at just the time Sheila was in the apartment. Every question I asked would only prejudice the jury against her. So I’m ignoring the time element and concentrating on the murder weapon.”

“Great. But when the prosecution connects it up, won’t it look as if you’ve lost a point?”

Steve smiled grimly. “Listen,” he said. “I’m going to lose a lot more of them before this is over.”