The Burning Man (25 page)

"Did you know about this and keep it from Peter?"

Donna asked her husband.

Mancini turned on Donna. "I can handle this, thank you. Bring us some coffee. Come on, Pete. Let's discuss this calmly."

"It's hard to be calm when I'm busting my ass day and night only to find out that you fucked up on the single most important issue in the case."

"Peter .. ." Donna started, but her husband barked, "The coffee, please."

When Steve turned back to Peter he looked concerned, but calm.

"I can see why you're upset. I'm upset too. Especially if you think I may have screwed up Gary's case. Come on. Let's sit down and talk this out."

The anger drained out of Peter in the face of Man cini's calm demeanor. He walked into the living room and sat down on the couch.

"I just don't understand this, Steve. Can you explain it to me? Even Bosco saw the problem. He called me tonight because he could not figure out why you didn't ask him about the trance state at the hearing. I can't believe you didn't see the significance of what Bosco told you.l "It's the truth. I didn't know about the statute. I thought thelssues were whether Downes gave Gary his Miranda rights and whether he coerced him into talking."

"Can't you reopen the hearing?" Donna asked as she lowered a serving tray onto the coffee table.

"I'll try, but Becky has a very legitimate ground for objecting."

"What's that?" Donna asked.

"Steve was Gary's lawyer. He knew all about this evidence at the time of the suppression hearing."

"But I didn't understand the significance of what Bosco told me," Mancini protested.

"That doesn't matter. You should have known it was important. That's the point. I wish there was some way to sugarcoat this, but there isn't."

"Isn't there anything you can do?" Donna asked.

"There might be," Peter said cautiously. "I read a little about confessions for this case before Steve said he would handle the motion to suppress. A defendant can always argue to a jury that they should not accept a defendant's statements because they are involuntary. The problem is that there's no appeal from a jury's decision like there is from a pretrial decision by a judge, because appellate courts won't review the factual finding of a jury.

"If Gary was hypnotized, he wouldn't be responsible for what he told Downes!" Mancini said. "That's great thinking, Pete."

"Yeah, but I've got to convince the jury that Gary was hypnotized. That may mean hiring experts and that's expensive." Peter looked at Donna. "Can your folks afford it?"

"Don't worry about the money, Peter," Donna said.

"if my folks can't do it, Steve and I will pay."

Peter did not see Mancini's sudden anger, but Donna did. She was shocked by its intensity and she remembered what happened the last time he was angry with her.

"I think you've come up with a potential solution," Mancini said quickly, "and I also think we should all get some rest. Don't forget, you have to be in court tomorrow."

Peter suddenly realized how much today's court session and this evening's events had taken out of him.

"You're right," he said as he stood up. "Sorry I came down on you so hard."

"I understand completely. I deserve it if I screwed up as badly as it seems."

As soon as the door closed, Mancini returned to the living room. Donna was bent over the coffee table gathering up the coffee cups and the creamer.

"What was that about our paying for Gary's experts?" Mancini demanded angrily.

Donna straightened up with the tray in her hands.

"If Gary needs our help.. .

"Gary made his own mess. We cannot afford to bail him out. Didn't you understand a thing I said about Mountain View? I'll bet you haven't even talked to your father about helping with it."

"I haven't had the chance," Donna answered, feeling guilty about letting down her husband.

"That's great. You can't take the time to help your own husband and you expect me to spend my money on some Portland shrink."

"The experts can't be that expensive,"

"They could be dirt cheap, Donna. I've got to work like a slave at my practice just to keep our heads above water. What are we going to pay them with?"

"Gary is my brother."

"That's right, Donna. He's your brother. Not mine."

Steve's cold and cruel reply shocked Donna. She had always believed that her husband liked Gary.

"We wouldn't need the money for experts if you hadn't made a mistake," Donna said angrily.

The open-hand slap spun Donna's head to the right and the tray went flying.

Donna watched the cups and spraying cream sail away in slow motion as Steve grabbed the lapels of her robe and used them to fling her to the ground.

"You cunt!" Steve screamed as she hit the floor.

Donna tried to crawl away, but the pain from two strong kicks to her ribs stopped her. Another kick landed on her leg and she straightened in pain. Then, as swiftly as it started, the assault stopped. When s e are to look up, Mancini was pacing back and forth. Donna started to crawl across the floor toward the hall. Steve saw her and dropped next to her on the floor.

Donna curled into a ball with her hands protecting her head.

"No, baby, no. You don't have to be afraid. I'm sorry.

Please. I'm sorry."

Donna looked up and Mancini saw the blood. The blow to Donna's face had split her lip.

"Oh, God! What have I done?"

Mancini jumped up and sprinted to the bathroom. He ran cold water over a towel. When he returned to the living room, the front door was open. Donna was gone.

Mancini threw the towel on the floor and raced out of the house. The car was parked in front. He looked right and left. Where was she? He couldn't call out. He could not let anyone know what had happened. Mancini ran down the street and st o ped on the corner. Where had p she gone? He had to find her. Without the car, she couldn't get far. He ran inside and grabbed the car keys.

He would find her. He had to find her.

Donna waited for the car to drive away before pulling herself to her feet by hanging on to the bushes behind J which she had been hiding. A sharp pain in her rib bled her over. She gritted her teeth and eased i standing position. Tears and blood mixed on her She loved Steve, but how could he beat her if he really loved her?

Donna wanted to change into her clothes, but she was afraid to go back to the house. Hervarents' house was too far to walk. Besides, they were worrying so much about Gary that she could not let them know that her marriage was failing.

Then she thought of Peter. He lived nearby. She could keep to backyards and Steve would not see her from his car. Donna checked the street for any sign of her husband, then she crossed the road and hobbled behind a house. She wanted to run, but the pain in her ribs was so intense that she had to walk hunched over.

A dog barked and Donna's stomach tightened. She kept moving, gasping for air when a sudden bolt of pain knifed through her. Donna waited for the pain to pass before going on. The next street was Elm and cars drove by frequently. Donna waited for a break and crossed the street as quickly as she could manage, paying in pain for speed. "Just a few more blocks," she repeated over and over unt 11, moments later, she was ringing Peter's doorbell.

Headlights turned onto Peter's street justas his porch light came on. When Peter opened his door, Donna was crouched down, looking over her shoulder with terrified eyes.

"Please, let me in," Donna begged.

Peter took one look at her tearstained and bleeding face and he had her through the door.

"What happened to you?" he asked. Then Donna was sobbing in his arms and Peter was too startled to say anything. Peter led her to the living room. She clung to him. As he lowered her to the couch, she spasmed and gripped her side.

"Are you hurt?" he asked stupidly.

"He hit me, Peter. He hit me."

"Who hit you? Is Steve all right?" Peter asked, confused by Donna's sudden, dramatic appearance and thinking that the couple had been attacked.

Donna shook her head. "You don't understand. It was Steve. Steve hit me."

"Steve?" Peter repeated inanely. Donna dissolved into tears and pressed herself against Peter's chest.

"Has ... has he done this before?" Peter asked.

Donna managed a nod. She got her crying under control and wiped an arm across her eyes.

"How long has this been going on?"

Donna did not answer right away and Peter touched her shoulder.

"I want to help. You and Steve are my friends."

Donna looked at the rug.

"I know this is hard for you, but you have to talk about it. If Steve is doing this ... You can't let him keep hurting you, Donna."

"It's been a nightmare, Peter." She started to cry again. "I never know what will set him off. He's so kind to me, so loving. Then, all of a sudden .. . I can't take it anymore."

Donna was too exhausted to go on. Peter stared at her. Her hair was in disarray and her robe was open.

She was wearing a short nightgown because of the heat.

Peter could not hell noticing her slim, tanned legs and p the swell of her breasts as she breathed deeply. Peter raised his eyes to Donna's face, embarrassed.

"How badly are you hurt?" he asked.

"He kicked me in the ribs. He ... It was a hard kick.

It really hurts if I move quickly."

"I'll drive you to a hospital."

"No! No hospital. They'd have to report Steve."

Peter thought-for a moment. Then he got an idea.

"I have a friend. A nurse. Rhonda Kates. She works at the hospital. Let me call her. I'll explain what happened.

Maybe she can check you out to make sure you don't have any internal injuries. If there's a problem, we'll make up a story and I'll drive you to the nearest hospital outside of Whitaker."

Peter made the call and Rhonda told him to bring Donna to her place immediately. She even said that Donna could spend the night with her. While Peter talked on the phone, Donna tried to find a comfortable position on the couch and closed -her eyes. She was so ashamed that her marriage was a failure and she felt she must be partly to blame, but she could not figure out what she had done wrong. She wanted to talk to someone but the Harmons were not a family that discussed their domestic troubles.

"Let's get going," Peter said, as soon as he hung up.

"Thank you, Peter. You're a good friend."

Chapter TWENTY.

"Mr. Hale," judge Kuffel said, addressing Peter formally because they were in court and on the record, your former co-counsel, Mr. Mancini conducted the hearing on the motion to suppress Mr. Harmon's statements. You've conceded that he was fully aware at the time of the hearing of the evidence you argue is grounds for reopening. Now, there is no question that Mr. Bosco's evidence favors the defense, but Mr. Mancini made a decision not to use it. I have no idea why he made that choice, but it doesn't really matter. Since he was aware of the evidence at the time of the hearing, I have to deny your motion to reopen the motion to suppress."

If Peter were the judge, he would have ruled exactly the way judge Kuffel ruled, but his failure to win his hastily fashioned motion still depressed him. Peter closed his eyes briefly while he tried to regain his composure.

This was a mistake. Suddenly he was half asleep and it took all his willpower to raise his eyelids and return to full consciousness.

It had been two-thirty in the morning when Peter had returned home after leaving Donna with Rhonda Kates.

He was totally exhausted, but Don Bosco's revelation and Donna's dramatic appearance filled his head with so many disturbing thoughts that he had as much of a chance of dozing off in the privacy of his room as he had of sleeping at a rock concert. Peter had moved through the morning in court in a sleep-deprived fog.

"I've given a lot of thought to the matter of testimony about the peeping incident, the pornographic magazines found in Mr. Harmon's bedroom and evidence concerning the other two murders," judge Kuffel continued.

"I will permit the state to introduce evidence concerning the peeping incident on the Whitaker campus and the pornographic magazines. This evidence may make Mr. Harmon look bad to the jury, but it is relevant to the state's theory that Mr. Harmon had a sexual obsession with women with physical characteristics very similar to the victim."

Peter sat forward to hear the judge's ruling on the other murders. He had battled very hard to keep any reference to them out of the trial.

"Miss O'Shay, you have made a very persuasive argument that the murder of Sandra Whiley is part of a series of murders, but I am not going to permit you to put that theory to the jury. A few factors led me to this decision.

"First, there is no evidence connecting Mr. Harmon to the other killings. Second, there are substantial differences between the murder of Miss Whiley and the other murders. The other women were sexuallyassaulted and blood tests revealed the presence of cocaine in their systems, whereas Miss Whiley's blood did not reveal the presence of cocaine and the autopsy found no evidence of sexual assault ..

"Your Honor," Becky interrupted, "Wishing Well Park is a public place. We believe Mr. Harmon was frightened away by other individuals in the park before he could have sex with Miss Whiley."

"Your theory may be correct, but I have to make my ruling based on the evidence."

"There's the hatchet," O'Shay argued. "The weapon is a trademark of this killer. It is very unusual."

"Not in a farming community, Ms. O'Shay. Without something more I have no choice but to bar you from mentioning the other murders. Introduction of that evidence would lead to speculation by the jury and deprive Mr. Harmon of a fair trial."

The judge's ruling snapped Peter out of his funk. He was concerned about the introduction of evidence about the peeping incident and the magazines, but he had been scared to death that judge Kuffel would admit evidence about the other murders. If the judge had let O'Shay argue that Gary was a serial killer, there was no way Peter could have won an acquittal.