A Fool for a Client (30 page)

Then an idea hit him.
The parts of the gun could be glued onto the chain of his key-ring with super-glue and then removed with glue solvent.
If they stopped and searched him, it would like an ordinary key-ring with an unusual metal tag.
Swiftly recognizing the potential of this scheme, he went out and bought a kit containing
a tube of cyanocrylate and its solvent.

*     *

Half an hour later he arrived at the Hall of Justice and walked through the metal detector at the entrance with the barrel of the gun attached to his key ring.
It set off no alarm and as he reached the elevator he knew that he was home and dry.
If he could get the gun barrel through the metal detector he would have no trouble with the other parts.

He made his way to the toilet on the same level as Courtroom Number 1, where the Levy trial was taking place.
Once inside the toilet booth, he quickly closed the toilet cover and sat down. In short order he proceeded to dissolve the glue holding the gun barrel onto the key chain and placed the barrel in a plastic bag that he had brought with him.
Next, he hastily unscrewed and removed the top of the toilet tank.

The plastic bag had a wide piece of tape stuck partly to it and extending partly from it.
The extension was folded over double and stuck to itself, except for a cardboard tab.
He pulled at the tab, opened out the extension of the tape and stuck it to the inside top of the toilet tank.
He realized that the bag would dangle into the water and might be jerked loose by the emptying of the tank during a flush or the refilling thereafter.
He regretted not having brought along a second piece

Declan felt a twinge of nervousness when he stepped out of the courthouse.
It was not the prospect of killing that frightened him.
He had had killed before.
Nor was it the fear of IRA retribution.
After this he would probably disappear to
South America
with the money that he had brought for operational expenses from INLA
’
s bank robbery funded war chest.
It would be too hot to go back to
Ireland
.
When the heat died down he
’
d probably go back to the Republic. But it might be two years or more before he could go back to the North.

“My next witness,” said Daniel Abrams, “Is Nancy Cullen.”

As she walked into the courtroom she gave Justine a quick, nervous apologetic look and then she looked away.
In Justine
’
s eyes there was no look of anger, no sign of resentment.
Even the granite-like hardness that normally graced Justine
’
s face seemed to have mellowed as she watched
Nancy
walk nervously up to the witness stand and take the oath.
It was almost as if Justine felt sorry for her.

But she was avoiding Justine
’
s eyes.

She sat down after swearing the oath and the clerk withdrew.
She met Parker
’
s eyes briefly, and she seemed to be trying to say “I
’
m sorry.”

But whatever she wanted to say was lost as Abrams rose and walked towards her.

“Miss Cullen, would you tell the jury about your relationship with the defendant.”

“We studied together...” There was hesitation in her voice.
“We
’
re also... friends.”

Justine gave her an encouraging look.

“Would you tell us please about the events of September the fifth of last year?”

“Well it was a pretty usual sort of day.
I mean I studied as usual, so did Justine.
I think it was surface anatomy in the morning
–
”

“Your Honour,” interrupted Abrams, “this witness had to be subpoenaed.
In view of this and in view of her friendship with the defendant I ask The Court
’
s permission to treat her as hostile.”

“Any objection from the defence?”

“No Your Honour,” said Justine.
“As long as he doesn
’
t use it as a pretext to badger his own witness.”
There was nothing else she could say.
But she gave
Nancy
another encouraging look when
Nancy
appeared to take it badly.

“So ordered.”

“Miss Cullen,” Abrams continued, “did you see Justine taking or removing anything from the premises of the medical school when she left that day?”

“Well she had some books with her... and a notebook.
I mean yes she took things with her...sure.”

“Anything else?”

“Like what?”

“Come on now Miss Cullen, stop playing games!”

Now Justine was on her feet, and looking angry.

“Your Honour, for an experienced lawyer Mr. Abrams has some very strange ideas about what it means to treat a witness as hostile.
The fact the witness is hostile merely entitles the prosecutor to ask her leading questions.
It doesn
’
t entitle him to intimidate the witness.”

“Your Honour the witness is a friend of the defendant and she was being particularly evasive
–
”

“Strike that,” said the judge. “The jury will disregard the prosecutor
’
s last remark.”
The judge turned to
Nancy
.
“You must understand Miss Cullen that the prosecutor
’
s has the right to ask these questions and you are obliged to answer them fully and truthfully.
Now without putting any interpretation on your motives, you were forcing the prosecutor to go to unnecessarily great lengths to clarify his questions.
In the end all the relevant evidence
will be heard
.
It will save us all a lot of time if you would answer the questions without requiring the prosecutor to dot the I
’
s and cross the T
’
s.”

He turned to Abrams and nodded for him to continue.

“Well Miss Cullen?”

“I saw her removing a rotovapour and putting it into
–
”

“Just a moment Miss Cullen
What exactly is a rotovapour?”

“It
’
s a piece of laboratory equipment.”

“What is it used for?”

“It
’
s used to extract a substrate from a solution by means of a combination of creating a vacuum above the solution, immersing the flask with the solvent in a warm bath and agitating the flask containing the substrate in order to increase the surface to volume ratio of the solution.”

“And what does that mean in layman
’
s terms?”

“I
’
m not good at putting things in layman
’
s terms.”

“Could it be used to separate pyrethrum from insecticide?”

She sighed and hesitated.
She looked over at Justine, again with that apologetic look.
It was only when Justine gave her another encouraging nod that
Nancy
finally broke her silence.

“Yes.”

A gasp went through the courtroom.
It was another of those quiet gasps that seemed to mark a milestone in the People
’
s case.

“No further questions.”

“No questions,” said Justine.

The judge looked over at the clock.

“As I see that the hour is drawing close for the lunchtime adjournment, I
’
ll adjourn now.
This court will reconvene at two thirty.”

When the court reconvened after lunch Abrams called his final witness:
Sergeant
Kent
.
He was the leader of the police team that had conducted the search of Justine
’
s home.
He wasn
’
t altogether sure why he was being called considering that the search had failed turn up anything of substance, or at least no poison substance.

But Abrams had chosen to call him and he must have had his reasons.

“Did you, on the morning of September the eighth, conduct a search of the home of the defendant Justine Levy?”

“I did.”

“Did you have a search warrant?”

“Yes sir, I did.”

Abrams produced a document.

“I am now going to show you an item marked Exhibit 7 for the State and ask you if you recognize it.”

He handed the search
warrant
over to the clerk of the court, who in turn handed it over to Sergeant
Kent
.
The police officer perused if for a moment.

“Do you recognize it sergeant?” asked Abrams.

“Yes,” replied
Kent
.

“And does it authorize you to remove anything from the premises?”

Kent
smiled as if he was about to burst out laughing at the inanity of it all.
He pulled out a handkerchief and coughed into it in a not particularly successful attempt to conceal his amusement.

“Yes sir it did.”

“Could you tell the jury
what
it authorized you to remove?” asked Abrams, exasperated by
Kent
’
s minimalistic response to his question.

“I was authorized to remove any poisons or suspected poisons that might be on the premises.”

One of the spectators who had been sitting in the front row had been very disconcerted to find that the place where he had been sitting was now occupied by a man who, to the best of his knowledge, had previously been sitting in the back row.
But he didn
’
t want to argue.
The man looked angry, and not the sort to pick a fight with.

“Mr. Abrams I must confess that I
’
m somewhat confused. If this witness didn
’
t find anything then for what purpose has he been called?”

“I wish to show that while he was conducting the search he saw the rotovapour in Justine
’
s home.”

Parker was looking furious.
He started arguing frantically with Justine, begging, pleading, badgering.
But the judge was way ahead of him on this one.

“That seems rather like an attempt to introduce evidence not listed in the search warrant by the back door doesn
’
t it Mr. Abrams.”

“Well Your Honour what the witness saw is relevant and I know of no formal rule that excludes it.”

“This is a matter that should have been dealt with at the pre-trial hearing.
But if it
’
s going to be dealt with now then I
’
ll have to hear it in the absence of the jury.”

The jurors were led out and Abrams was invited to speak.

“Your Honour,” the
ADA
explained, “although this witness didn
’
t find any poison he did see a device that could have been used to extract pyrethrum from insecticide.
Furthermore we have already heard evidence that the defendant bought the insecticide.
There is clear foundation for these questions and their relevance is obvious.”

“Miss Levy, do you have any arguments to present on this point?”

“No Your Honour.”

Parker was on his feet.

“Your Honour I know that a hybrid defence isn
’
t normally allowed.
But as the defendant has no preference one way or the other and as this is in the absence of the jury I would like to ask the Court
’
s permission to present a legal counter-argument.”

“You didn
’
t bother to ask the court
’
s permission
last
time you assumed the role of acting defence counsel.
However, as there was no objection then or now and in the light of the sensitivity of the point at issue, that would be desirable.”