Unlucky in Law

The jurors appeared flummoxed.

Excellent. As the trial progressed, somebody would have to come up with a coherent theory about Stefan Wyatt and that duffel bag full of bones, and it better be Jaime. Thank goodness that wasn’t her job. The burden of proof was on the prosecution. Sometimes the defense’s main job was to sow confusion, and that was the one thing she felt absolutely qualified to do in this case.

“Now, you will also be presented with blood evidence, ladies and gentlemen,” Nina said. “A forensic technician will testify for the prosecution that some small amount of blood found in the victim’s apartment turned out, after all kinds of newfangled DNA testing, to be similar to Mr. Wyatt’s blood. It’s always tempting to accept what a scientist tells you about a test that’s very hard to understand. I ask you not to do that uncritically.

“Instead, I ask you to listen with discerning ears to the testimony of the defense expert, Dr. Ginger Hirabayashi, a top forensic pathologist, who will tell you that-that mistakes can be made.” It was weak, but she had to say something about the blood. Actually, the blood evidence would convict Stefan if Ginger didn’t come up with an alternative explanation, and she hadn’t been able to do that right up to this moment, so…

Forget about Ginger. There was something else about the blood she wanted to say, something helpful. She turned toward Klaus, hoping he would be able to mouth some crucial word at her to help her remember, but Klaus simply waved, the king approving of his resourceful lackey.

“Right,” Nina said. Someone stifled a yawn in the back, which set the tip of her tongue to tickling. The blood, and oh, yes, where there was blood there had to be…

“Mr. Wyatt was arrested the day after this murder, booked, searched, and examined, but please note: here’s the evidence. He didn’t have a single cut or bruise on his body. He was not wounded. So how could he have bled at Christina Zhukovsky’s apartment late the previous night?

“Where did that blood come from?”

Nina put her hand on the railing and asked them the question she had been punishing herself with for the past two weeks. “How could blood possibly come from Mr. Wyatt when he had not bled?” She heard Ms. Frey’s jaw click as she processed the question. Nina didn’t move, holding them in that moment, Stefan’s chance.

Finally, Ms. Frey looked away. The other jurors cleared their throats and stabilized themselves in their chairs. Nina stepped back. “Thank you for your time.”

“We’ll take the mid-morning recess.” Judge Salas rapped his gavel.

Nina recovered from the haze of her thoughts to face the bald glare of the courtroom, smelling the sweat of people too long confined and the ordeal of their thinking. She felt worn out, as if she had run a long way on a boiling hot day. Gulping for breath, dry-throated and unable to speak further, she left the courtroom ahead of Klaus, who stayed behind to talk with Stefan. Her mouth tasted of burnt pudding, cinders, dust. Today stood out among the worst days of her life. She had winged an opening statement in a homicide case. She felt angry, relieved, used, and plain confused.

Making the curve outside the courtroom door in record time, she headed for the ladies’ room, hoping the reporter A

She washed her face and hands, got out her brush, bent over so her hair hung toward the floor, and started brushing her hair from the roots up. This ritual blood-stirring always calmed her.

The door opened. A

6

Tuesday 9/16

“STATE YOUR FULL NAME FOR THE RECORD.” TUESDAY WAS A NEW day, and the courtroom smelled of smuggled coffee. The high windows let in a flood of marine light, reminding Nina that the Pacific Ocean, even in inland Salinas, was only fifteen miles away.

The young police officer, a new father whose eyes sagged with lack of sleep, said, “Jay Arthur Millman.”

“You may be seated.”

Millman, in full uniform except for his weapon, which had been checked, sat in the witness box and looked around curiously, as if unsure where the questions would come from. Jaime didn’t get up, but, marshaling his files and his papers, he let his witness know where he was.

Beside Nina, Klaus sat in his black suit, starched white shirt with gold studs, and a blue-on-red tie. Right on time and su

From the report Officer Millman had filed, they already knew what he had to say. Nina took rapid notes as Jaime whisked the witness through his graduation from the Police Academy and his two years as a patrolman on the City of Monterey police force. Talking about these familiar topics, Millman relaxed. He was shockingly young, twenty-three years old, thin-shouldered under his uniform jacket, his chin scraped clean.

“Now, directing your attention to the early morning of April thirteenth, were you on duty that night?”

“Yes, sir, third watch, twelve to eight A.M.”

“What were your duties on that particular night?”

“Patrol the downtown Monterey area, check the patrons at the nightclub on Alvarado when the club closed to make sure they weren’t driving away intoxicated, respond to any incident calls at the hotels or burglar alarms going off at any of the downtown businesses. Make traffic stops as needed. Keep an eye out,” Millman said. Ms. Frey nodded, apparently liking this fresh-faced young man.

“You were patrolling with a partner?”

“Officer Kyle Graydon. He joined the force last year.”

“Did your patrol area include the city cemetery?”

“Yes, and the Catholic cemetery right next to it. The cemeteries are located about a mile from downtown, along Lake El Estero, just across from De

“And during the first two hours of your shift did you pass by the cemetery? The city cemetery?”

“Yes, sir, once on the Fremont Avenue side and once on the Pearl Street side, where the park is.”

“Did you observe anything unusual during those drive-bys?”

Millman thought, then shook his head. “It was a quiet night. Occasionally, we get teenagers climbing the fence into the park to get onto the locomotive at the kids’ playground or just to party on the grounds there. Right across from the cemetery there’s a parking lot, and a grassy area with picnic tables where people come to feed the ducks in the daytime. Late at night, some come to make drug deals or sit in their cars. But that lot was empty on Saturday evening, April twelfth, and going on into Sunday. Like I say, it was a quiet night.”

“What about the parking lot for the city cemetery?”

“There isn’t one. You just drive through the gates-which are closed at sundown, by the way-drive through and park along the paved ways by the grave you want to visit. Or there are a couple of spots at the manager’s shack in the middle of the cemetery. But we don’t ordinarily patrol inside there at night, since the gates are closed.”

“Is the lot by De

“There are always a few cars there, day or night. I think park perso

“Did you observe cars in that lot during your shift during the early morning of April thirteenth?”

“Yes, sir. Officer Graydon and I were driving by and we saw an old Honda Civic pull out of the lot onto Pearl. We were just turning onto Pearl off El Estero, and we began to follow the vehicle.”