The Underground Man

29

District Attorney Harry Dirkson began his opening statement with the punch line. “Ladies and gentlemen of the jury. We expect to prove that on the 26th of February the defendant, Jeremy Dawson, killed the decedent, Jack Walsh, by shooting him in the head with a loaded gun.”

Dirkson paused to let that statement sink in. “We shall prove it beyond a shadow of a doubt. We shall prove it by eyewitness evidence, by circumstantial evidence, and by ballistics evidence. By eyewitness evidence we shall prove that Jeremy Dawson was seen with the decedent, Jack Walsh, in the very spot where he was murdered. By circumstantial evidence we shall prove that Jeremy Dawson was the only one who could have killed Jack Walsh. By ballistics evidence we shall prove that the shot which killed Jack Walsh came from Jeremy Dawson’s gun.

“Why did Jeremy Dawson kill Jack Walsh? For money. The motive was money. In fact, millions of dollars.

“Here is the situation. Here are the facts, as we shall lay them out for you. And they require a bit of explanation, because they are somewhat extraordinary.

“Within the last year the decedent, Jack Walsh, had sold his house and gone to live on the subway system. Why? That is the question you must answer. One logical explanation would seem to be that the man was insane. That was the conclusion reached by his nearest living relatives, Rose Tindel, Pat Grayson, Claire Chesterton and Carl Jenson. They, fearing Jack Walsh had taken leave of his faculties, and hoping to conserve his estate, had him committed to Bellevue. If so, you might ask, why is he not there now? The answer is simple. You see, Jack Walsh had another relative.”

Dirkson paused, wheeled his bulk ponderously around, and raised his arm dramatically to point at Jeremy Dawson. “Him. The defendant. Jeremy Dawson. The young man sitting before you.”

Dirkson paused, ran his hand over his bald head, wheeled back to look at the jury. “Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, we expect to show that Jeremy Dawson, with the aid of his attorney, Steve Winslow, connived to have Jack Walsh released from Bellevue. Why did he do so? You can draw your conclusions from what happened next.

“Now, some of this is conjecture, but this much we know. The following day, February 26th, the day of the murder, Jack Walsh was spotted in the corridor of Jeremy Dawson’s high school. He was seen by several students and one teacher. At least two students saw Jeremy Dawson and Jack Walsh together. We haven’t been able to find anyone who saw the two of them leave together, but the following facts are known. From that point on, the point at which he was seen with Jack Walsh, Jeremy Dawson cut all the rest of his classes and was not seen anywhere on the high school premises for the rest of the day.

“He was seen, however, later that day, with Jack Walsh in the very subway station where Walsh was killed.

“What else do we know? We know that Jack Walsh was shot in the head, and the body set on fire.”

Dirkson paused and looked at the jury again, let them see the horror and repugnance he felt at the very thought. “That’s right, ladies and gentlemen. Set on fire.

“Why was that done? Well, once again, you must answer that question for yourselves. But to aid you, I must point out that the burning of the body effectively disguised the entrance wound of the fatal bullet, and had it not been for the thoroughness of the medical examiner in performing the autopsy on the corpse, the bullet lodged in the brain might have been totally overlooked, in which case the murder might have been written off as a thrill-kill, a random crime against the homeless, a wilding incident.

“But the bullet was discovered. And where did that bullet come from? The ballistics expert will testify beyond a shadow of a doubt that that bullet came from a particular gun. We have that gun, and we shall introduce it here in evidence. And where did the police recover that gun which we shall prove to be the murder weapon? They recovered it on February 27th, the day after the murder, from the school locker of the defendant, Jeremy Dawson. The locker to which only he had the combination.”

Dirkson paused, smiled at the jury. He shrugged his shoulders in an apologetic way. “But I have digressed. I was talking about motive. What motive would Jeremy Dawson have had for killing Jack Walsh? Well, when Jeremy Dawson was arrested by police officers on the afternoon of February 27th, he had in his possession a piece of paper. We have that piece of paper, and shall introduce it in evidence here in court. And what is that piece of paper? It is a document, which a handwriting expert shall testify is entirely in the handwriting of the decedent, Jack Walsh. And what type of document is it? It is a will. A will written by Jack Walsh. A will dated February 26th, the very day he was murdered. A will leaving the bulk of his estate-an estate which can be valued in the millions of dollars-to none other than the defendant, Jeremy Dawson.”

Dirkson paused, smiled again. “Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I’m not going to insult your intelligence by belaboring these facts. They are simple, straightforward and self-evident. I shall lay them before you, prove each and every one of them by competent evidence, and expect a verdict of guilty at your hands.”

Dirkson smiled one last time, bowed, and with a flourish, walked back to his chair and sat down.

Judge Grimes, slight, pale, relatively young, but already with a reputation for ruling his courtroom with an iron hand, turned to Steve Winslow. As he had during jury selection, Judge Grimes restrained himself from frowning at the young attorney who had seen fit to show up in his courtroom in a corduroy jacket, blue jeans and long hair.

“Does the defense wish to make an opening statement?” Grimes inquired.

Steve Winslow paused. He glanced at Jeremy Dawson sitting next to him. Jeremy looked pretty good in a suit and tie. His hair had grown in just enough to look like a very short crewcut rather than just a skinhead.

Steve glanced at the jury, found that they were looking at Jeremy too.

Which was a very bad sign. The jurors were not looking at him, the attorney, to see what argument he was about to make. No, they were looking at the defendant. Which, Steve well knew, was an indication of how well Dirkson had scored. Dirkson’s argument had been convincing, and the jurors had made up their minds. And now their interest was entirely on Jeremy Dawson. Because Dirkson had sold them on the concept, and human nature being what it was, they couldn’t help being fascinated.

They were looking at a murderer.

Steve knew he should do something. Break the mood. Try to win the jury back. But in the light of Dirkson’s overwhelming argument, for the moment he couldn’t think of anything to say. And he knew better than to flounder around, to do something inadequate or ineffectual. Better to let it go.

He smiled confidently, and, as if it had been his plan all along, said, smoothly, “We will reserve our opening argument until we begin putting on our case, Your Honor.”

Judge Grimes nodded. “Very well. Mr. Dirkson. You may proceed. Call you first witness.”

“Thank you, Your Honor.”

Dirkson rose. He glanced down at the papers on the prosecution table, as if looking for the name of the witness, though actually he knew perfectly well who he wished to call. As he did, he turned and looked over at the defense table. Steve Winslow was, of course, looking at him, and their eyes met. When they did, Dirkson smiled, a smug winner’s smile.

There was no mistaking the meaning of Dirkson’s look.

“Gotcha,” was what it said.