The Burning Man (23 page)

Maddox and a buddy were on a spree for over a year, running around the country knocking off banks and killing people. He's already serving three consecutive life terms in Tennessee, he's got a consecutive federal bank robbery for a job in Idaho, he's facing the death penalty for a robbery-murder in Stark and there are four other states waiting in line to get their hands on him."

"Why did he do it, then?"

Ketchell shrugged. "He's got a wife and family , in Washington State. I hear he loves his kid. Maybe someone promised to take care of them."

"Who "I've got no idea. I know you want Gary Harmon to be involved. The feds would love to hear that it was someone in the organization that Rafael Vargas works for. But I've got to tell you that there's no evidence connecting anyone other than Maddox to this right now."

"Someone smuggled in the lighter fluid and the matches."

"Oh, yeah. But Maddox could have set Booth on fire for his own amusement or for some real or imagined slight."

"How did he get the lighter fluid, matches and shiv into the security block? What kind of security do they have in Stark?" O'Shay asked.

.4 "Human security."

Ridgely sighed. "I guess finding out who gave Maddox the stuff would help."

"And we're looking into it. There are only a few guards who could have done it, and a few prisoners, but we haven't cracked anyone yet."

"How is Booth doing?" Ridgely asked.

Ketchell consulted a small notebook before answering.

"He was flown to the burn center in Portland as soon as possible. I talked to Dr. Leonard Farber, who's treating Booth. Farber says he's in critical condition with burns over thirty-five percent of his body. Seventy-five percent of the burns are full thickness, which means he'll need skin grafts. Additionally, Booth's bedding caught on fire and he suffered minor smoke inhalation injuries."

"Will he be able to testify?" Becky asked.

"Farber thinks he might be up to it, but not right away. Booth will be operated on about three times in the first three to four days. They use as much of his skin as they can for the grafts and pigskin for the rest. Two weeks later, they'll use more of his skin to replace the pigskin. He can't be moved back to Whitaker for at least four weeks because they're afraid of losing the grafts."

"Damn," O'Shay swore angrily. "I need Booth. He's my key witness."

"You can always ask for a continuance," Ridgely suggested.

"I know I can, but I don't want to if there's any chance Booth can testify now. Think of the sympathy he'll evoke in his condition."

Ridgely was taken aback by O'Shay's callousness, but she did not notice because she was lost in thought.

"Frank," she said, "as I understand it, Booth can't he moved back to Whitaker because they're afraid of endangering the skin grafts."

"Right."

"Call Dr. Farber for me and ask him how soon Booth could testify if we held court in Portland."

Peter was at the office on Sunday afternoon when he heard the front door open. He walked into the corridor and saw Steve Mancini checking his messages at the reception desk.

"Am I glad to see you," Peter said.

For a moment, Mancini looked as if he was not happy to see Peter. Then, his face changed rapidly and he smiled.

"How's the trial going?"

"We've got our jury and Becky's putting on her first witness on Monday."

"Donna called and told me about Booth."

"Then you know what's going on. Can we talk?"

Mancini looked at his watch. "I'm really pressed for time. I haven't even been home yet. I drove right here from Salem."

"Please, Steve. I'm afraid I'm getting in over my head and I need your advice."

Mancini clapped Peter on the back and started for his office. "You have any coffee up?" he asked.

During the next half hour, Peter brought Mancini up to speed on the torching of Kevin Booth and the discovery of the hatchet. When he finished, Mancini said, "There's no way Gary was involved with setting Booth on fire. He doesn't have the brains to think up a scheme like that. This sounds more like something Rafael Vargas would do. What did Becky say about that?"

Peter flushed. "She didn't say much. In fact, she's been really hostile since Booth was attacked."

"ohr Peter hesitated before speaking again, but he decided it was best for his friend to hear about his real rtason for leaving Portland from him. It was bad enough that he had misrepresented his reason for moving to Whitaker. If Steve heard about the Elliot case from someone else, he might decide not to go through with the partnership.

"There's another reason why Becky is upset. 1, uh, haven't been straight'with you about why I left Portland. When we met that night at the Stallion ... Well, I hadn't seen you for years and, uh This is a little embarrassing..

"Are you going to tell me about that personal injury case you tried for Hale, Greaves?"

Peter was stunned. "You know about that?"

"No one gives up a job with Hale, Greaves to go to work for Amos Geary. I was suspicious from the start."

"Who told you what happened?"

"Becky."

"When did she tell you?" Peter asked, wondering how long Becky had known about his disgrace.

"I don't remember exactly, but it's been a few weeks.

It was sometime after the arraignment. I figured you'd get around to telling me when you decided you wanted me to know."

Peter suddenly realized something. "You knew about Elliot and you still wanted me to go into partnership with you."

"Everyone fucks up, Pete. I'm not going to judge you by one case. You're a sharp guy and we get along. That's what's important."

Peter felt an immense rush of gratitude. After so much disapproval, Steve's words were lifesavers.

"Thanks. You don't know how much I appreciate the vote of confidence."

"Hey, I say what I mean. Now, let's get back to Gary's case. Have you talked to Becky about a plea?"

"A plea? No."

"You should look into it after these new developments."

"You don't think Gary is guilty, do you?"

"I don't know what to think. I wouldn't have believed he was a Peeping Tom, either. And look at the way he jumped on that girl in the Stallion. Gary doesn't think the way we do. He's impulsive."

"Gee, Steve, I don't know.. .

"I'm not saying you should plead him out. I'm suggesting you explore the possibility with Becky. From what you tell me, the case isn't going all that well. You don't want to see Gary executed, do you?"

"I've got to think about this."

"Of course. I don't expect you to decide this minute," Mancini said as he hoisted his briefcase onto the desk.

Peter stood up. "Thanks for talking to me. And thanks for being in my corner."

"Get out of here," Mancini answered with a laugh.

"Oh, one other thing. This investigator, Barney Pullen, is he any good?"

"Why do you ask?"

"He doesn't seem to be doing anything. Whenever I've been able to get him on the phone, which isn't often, he says he's investigating, but I've only received a few reports, and they weren't worth much. I'm getting worried."

"If you're dissatisfied, why don't you fire him and hire one of the other guys I told you about?"

"They're not available. The one who works for the Sissler firm said he's been working for them exclusively since February."

"I didn't know that."

"Yeah. And the other one..

"Mike Com ton?"

p "Right. He moved to Pendleton."

"No kidding?"

"It's too late to switch investigators, anyway. It would take someone new too long to get familiar with the case.

By the time he was up to speed, the trial would be over."

"You're right. Look, why don't you let me give Barney a call."

"That would be great."

Peter shut Steve's door and went back to his office.

He was depressed about Gary's chances, but he was not going to approach Becky about a plea just yet. If things got much worse though, he might have to consider the possibility.

Chapter NINETEEN.

Each morning, the guards waited to take Gary out of the holding cell until all- of the jurors were in the jury room, so they would not see him in manacles. The Harmons had purchased a conservative blue suit and a conservative gray suit for their son and he looked very handsome in them. Lawyer and client had fallen into a routine. As soon as Gary was seated, Peter would tell him how good he looked in the suit. Gary would beam and Peter would ask Gary how he was feeling. Gary would answer that he was feeling good. Finally, Peter would remind Gary about sitting up straight, listening to the witnesses and taking notes and Gary would grow very serious and turn his yellow pad to a blank page.

Becky O'Shay was presenting her case in chronological order. On the first day of testimony, she led off with Karen Nix, who told the jury about Gary's attack and his threat to kill her. Several people who were present at the Stallion that night corroborated Nix's version of the events. Marjorie Dooling testified that Sandra Whiley had been at the Stallion on the evening of the fight. After Dooling described how Whiley was dressed, the bloodstained clothing was introduced into evidence. A photograph of the jeans and the Whitaker State tee shirt Nix was wearing was shown to the jurors so they could compare the similarities between her clothing and the victim's.

Arnie Block gave his account of the fight and told about Gary's flight from the bar. Dave Thorne established that Sandra Whiley left the Stallion around eleven-twenty, about twenty minutes after Gary ran outside.

On the second day of Gary's trial, Oscar Watts told the jury about discovering Whiley's body. Then, several police officers and forensic technicians described the crime scene investigation and the gathering of evidence.

On the morning of the trial's third day, Becky O'Shay called Harold Guisti's name. The hall door opened to admit the doctor and Peter turned toward the back of the courtroom. His attention was momentarily diverted from the witness by Christopher Mammon, who was watching the proceedings from a seat near the back wall. Peter could not imagine why the gargantuan drug dealer would be interested enough in Gary's case to spend his morning in the tightly packed and overheated courtroom. But Peter did not have much time to spend worrying about Mammon because Dr. Guisti had been sworn and was about to begin his testimony.

After establishing the doctor's credentials, O'Shay asked him, "In your official capacity as a pathologist did you perform an autopsy on Sandra Whiley?"

Dr. Guistl turned to the jurors and answered the question as if they had asked it.

"Yes I did."

"When was this?"

"Around 5 P.m. on the day Miss Whiley was murdered."

"Why did you wait so long?"

"We held off until the body was identified. That was between three and four in the afternoon, if I remember correctly."

"Where did the autopsy take place?"

"Parson's Mortuary."

"Please describe what you found when you performed your autopsy on Sandra Whiley."

"I found several bruises on the left side of the jaw and above the left cheekbone. More important, there were eight cutting or chopping types of wounds on the body.

Seven of them were located on the head. The eighth was located on the top of the left hand and was consistent with a defensive wound."

"What is a defensive wound?"

"That is a wound inflicted when the victim interposes her hand defensively between the weapon wielded by the killer and the object of the murderer's attack."

"Please describe the head wounds."

"Five produced skull fractures. Of these five, three were severe enough to produce injuries to the underlying brain. There was another wound which was in the region of the right eye that also produced extensive fracturing of the bones between the eyes and a considerable amount of bleeding with the blood present in the air passages as well as swallowed blood in the stomach. The remaining wounds produced a variable amount of softtissue injury or injury to the skin or muscles that did not fracture bone or involve the brain."

"Do you have an opinion, Dr. Guisti, after looking at these injuries and conducting your investigation, as to the type of instrument that might have been used to inflict these wounds?"

do.

"What is that opinion?"

"Either an ax or a hatchet would cause the type of wounds inflicted on the deceased."

Becky O'Shay bent down and reached into a large cardboard box containing many items, most of which were enclosed in plastic evidence bags. She rummaged around in the box until she found what she wanted.

O'Shay carried the item to the witness.

"Dr. Guisti, I hand you what has been marked as State's Exhibit 23 and I ask you if the wounds on the victim could have been inflicted with this exhibit?"

Dr. Guisti opened the plastic bag. It contained a small hatchet. He turned it around a few times, all for show since he had examined the hatchet on several occasions.

"The blows could have been inflicted by this weapon."

"Thank you," O'Shay said, taking the hatchet from the doctor and slowly returning it to the plastic bag while standing directly in front of the jury.

She placed the hatchet on the rail of the jury box and turned back to the witness. Several jurors had trouble moving their eyes away from the weapon.

"Dr. Guisti, do you have an opinion as to the'cause of death of Sandra Whiley?"

"Yes. I think the eventual cause of death was hemorrhaging caused by the wounds I have described."

"In other words, Sandra Whiley bled to death through the hatchet wounds inflicted by her killer?"

"That is correct."

"Dr. Guisti, do you have an opinion as to the direction in which the deadly hatchet blows were struck?"

"Yes, but only as to the blow to the top of the skull. I believe that blow was struck in an up-to-down direction because of the way the wound slants. As to the others, I cannot say."

"Do you have an opinion as to whether the blow to the top of the skull was the first blow struck to the head?"

"In my opinion it was."

O'Shay checked her notes then turned the witness over to Peter.

"Dr. Guisti, what side of the head were the wounds on.

"As I said, one was to the top of the head. It's difficult to say right or left side because the wound is midway.

One blow was to the right eye. The rest were delivered to the left side of the victim's head."

"Thank you, Doctor. I have no further questions."

LA The red paint on the gas tanks in front of Art's Garage was barely holding its own against the ravages of rust and wind and the old wooden garage was not doing much better. The elements had eaten away at an advertisement for Coca-Cola that covered one outer wall and the once blue garage now looked a weathered gray. Barney Pullen was bent under the hood of an old Buick when Peter entered the garage during the lunch recess.

Peter called out twice before he got Pullen's attention.

When Pullen turned around, he looked annoyed, then his features morphed into a brownnosing smile when he remembered that Peter was the one who paid him for investigating the Harmon case.

"Afternoon, Mr. Hale," Pullen said, wiping his hands on a greasy rag.