Guilty as Sin (65 page)

"Well . . . ," she faltered. "Well, no. Just a glimpse, I guess."

"You knew it was his car."

"Yes. It's the only one like it in the neighborhood."

"So it seems reasonable that you expected him to be the one driving," Ellen said equably. "But could you say with certainty it was?"

Annette Fabrino looked anything but certain. She glanced left to right across the courtroom, looking for reassurance from someone. She tried to settle her gaze on Costello. Ellen moved into her line of vision, not wanting to allow Costello a second to imply through his body language that his witness was betraying him.

"I thought it was him," she said hesitantly.

"But could you swear it?"

"No."

"No further questions," Ellen said with a pleasant smile. "Thank you your cooperation, Mrs. Fabrino."

The defense calls Todd Childs."

The bailiff opened the door to the jury room and Todd Childs emerged. Costello had somehow managed the trick of secreting Childs to the courthouse over the lunch break. And that wasn't the only magic had performed. He had taken Grunge Man and so transformed him Ellen had to stare for a long moment to be sure this was in fact Todd Childs. The ponytail had been clipped off at the nape, the flannel traded for a button-down oxford with a tie. Clean-shaven and clear-eyed, Todd Childs took the stand and the oath.

He was polite under direct examination. Yes, sir. No, sir. Not a hint of bligerence. Costello painted him as a candidate for the Young Republicans. Trustworthy, reliable, a scholarship student who earned pocket money as a tutor. The profile and the appearance bore no resemblance to the young man Ellen had spoken with at the Pack Rat. Costello had obviously been putting him up somewhere, having him groomed and coached, and was likely paying him for his trouble.

"Todd, were you with Dr. Wright on the evening of the twelfth?"

"Yeah, I was." He glanced down, pretending to pick lint off his new slacks. "Downstairs in the Cray building. We were going through some data we compiled in the study last year, and looking for correlations in past studies."

"In your statement to the police made on January twenty-fourth you said you were at the movies that night."

Childs glanced up at Costello, over at Wright, and down again. "I was staken. I went, but it was the late show, not the early one."

"What theater did you go to?"

"The mall in Burnsville."

"Had you heard anything about the abduction of Josh Kirkwood?"

"No."

"On Saturday, the twenty-second, Agent O'Malley stopped by Professor Priest's office while you were there, didn't she?"

"Yeah."

"After she left, did Dr. Wright seem upset or excited?"

"No."

"Did he talk about going after her or going to Christopher Priest's home?"

"No."

"Did he say anything about Josh Kirkwood's abduction?"

Todd bobbed his head down between his shoulders. "Yeah. He said it was a shame, 'cause they were such a nice family."

Costello turned around with a gracious gesture. "Your witness, Ms. North."

Ellen walked toward the witness stand with her hands clasped in front of her, as if in prayer, her expression pensive. "Todd, you've known Dr. Wright for a long time, haven't you? Ever since you began taking classes at Harris—isn't that right?"

He looked at her out the corner of his eye, suspicious. "Yeah."

"You declared your major early on. You always wanted to go into psychology."

"Yeah."

"And Dr. Wright wasn't just a teacher for you, was he? He was your adviser, your mentor."

"Yes."

"Your friend?"

He gave her a hard look. "I respect him very much."

"That's admirable, Todd."

"He's an admirable man."

Ellen tipped her head. "Very few admirable men stand accused of kidnapping and assault."

"Your Honor!" Costello whined.

"Ms. North, don't make me warn you again," Grabko said coldly.

"I'm sorry, Your Honor," she said, remorseless, her attention never leaving the witness. "You respect and admire Dr. Wright. How much? Enough to lie for him?"

"No!"

"Objection!"

"Sustained."

"Where did you go to the movies that night, Todd?" she asked without slowing a beat.

"I said—Burnsville."

She feigned puzzlement. "Burnsville? You drove all the way to Burnsville to go to a late movie on a Wednesday night and that slipped your mind when you were talking to the police?"

"I told them I was at the movies."

"I see. Then it was the fact that you had been with Dr. Wright at the time of the kidnapping that slipped your mind? Or was it the fact that you claim to have been at the movies in Burnsville that slipped your mind, because there is no mention of Burnsville in your original statement."

"It didn't seem important."

"Until the police tried to check out your story at the Deer Lake theaters," Ellen said sharply. "You've got a 3.85 GPA at Harris, don't ., Todd?"

"Yes."

"Then I should think it's safe to assume you know the meaning and ramifications of perjury—"

Costello threw up his arms. "Your Honor, this is badgering."

"Change your tone, Ms. North."

"Yes, Your Honor," she said automatically, never looking away from Childs. "Todd, where have you been staying the last few days?"

"Objection."

"Sustained."

"Were you aware the Deer Lake police were looking—"

"Objection. Relevance," Costello argued, getting to his feet.

"It's relevant to the credibility of the witness, Your Honor. If Mr. Childs has been hiding out, avoiding—"

Grabko cracked his gavel, his cheeks tinting pink above his beard. "Ms.North, do not persist in this."

She spread her hands. "I'm sorry, Your Honor, but the witness has given conflicting statements to the police and to this court. He is extremely biased toward the defendant and—"

"You've made your point, Ms. North," Grabko said.

She nodded her understanding and stepped back from the witness stand. "No further questions."

Childs climbed down from the box and was met on the other side of gallery gate by Mitch Holt and a uniformed officer. "What the fuck—?" he snapped, jerking his arm back from the officer's grasp.

Costello shot to his feet. "Your Honor, this is an outrage!" The crowd broke their silence as the scuffle in the aisle continued and reporters jumped up on their chairs for a better view. The bailiff hurried through the gate as Mitch and Officer Stevens took hold of Childs, and herded the lot of them toward the door, with Grabko destroying another gavel behind them.

The judge ordered the attorneys to the bench once again. Ellen took her place beside Costello, feeling the anger roll off him in waves as he accused her of turning the hearing into a circus sideshow.

"Really, Mr. Costello," she said calmly, "don't you think you're being a little paranoid? The police have been looking for Todd Childs for days to question him on that break-in. Since they've had no luck and received no cooperation in finding him, I'm sure they felt they had to grab him when they could."

"In front of the court?" he bellowed, his temper boiling up.

"I don't appreciate the theatrics either, Ms. North," Grabko said sternly. "I'll be speaking with Chief Holt about this."

"He should be taken off the case entirely," Costello fumed. "The conflict of interest is obvious."

"The issue is not germane to this hearing, Mr. Costello," Ellen said.

"For the last time, Ms. North," Grabko said through his teeth, "refrain from doing my job for me. Now, go back to your places and we will resume this hearing in a civilized manner. Call your next witness, Mr. Costello."

As they returned to their tables, the door at the back of the courtroom opened, and a neatly turned-out middle-aged man with slicked-back dark hair strode purposefully down the center aisle with a small manila envelope in one gloved hand. He leaned over the rail and handed the envelope to Dorman. Gravely murmured words were exchanged. Something bright and feral flashed in Costello's eyes as he turned back toward the court.

"The defense calls Karen Wright."

Karen Wright settled herself in the witness chair. Ellen wondered if the thin veil of calm about her was drug induced. Her dark eyes were wide, unblinking. She fixed her gaze on Costello and waited for him to begin. He took his place at the corner of the stand, not wanting to obstruct anyone's view of her—pretty in pink, her ash-blond pageboy sleek and silky, her mouth slightly trembling.

"Karen, I want to thank you for testifying here today," he began gently. "I know this is difficult for you. This entire ordeal has been very hard on you, hasn't it?"

"You can't know." She lifted a lace-edged handkerchief to catch a tear that had yet to fall. "It's been terrible. All of it. I never would have thought—" She cut herself off and closed her eyes for a moment. "It's terrible. I hate it."

"Karen, how long have you and Dr. Wright been married?"

A nostalgic little smile tugged at one corner of her mouth. "It seems like forever. Sixteen years."

"And in all that time, has Garrett ever been in trouble with the law?"

"No." She shook her head, twisting her hankie in her lap. "Garrett has never even had a traffic ticket. He's a very careful man. He shouldn't have been arrested. None of this should ever have happened."

"Has he ever spoken ill of the Kirkwoods?"

"No. Never."

"And you?"

"I considered them friends," she said, dropping her gaze and her volume.

"In fact, you helped them out while Josh was missing, didn't you, Karen?"

"I sat with Lily." A pair of tears skittered down her cheeks. "Such a little sweetheart. I love babies," she admitted. "Garrett and I can't have children," she added, dropping her gaze to her lap again, as if the fact carried shame with it.

"Karen, where were you the evening of the twelfth?" Costello asked abruptly, steering her away from potentially dangerous waters.

"At work. I do secretarial work part-time for Halvorsen's State Farm Insurance in the Omni Complex."

"Do you often work in the evening?"

"I—no." She closed her eyes again and drew in a hitching, shallow breath.

"Karen, were you working that night?"

A strange keening sound came up the back of her throat, and she began to rock herself forward and back. Even with her arms wrapped around herself, she was clearly shaking. The tears spilled over her lashes.

"It's not fair," she whimpered. "It's not fair. . . ."

"Karen," Costello murmured. "Please answer the question. It's very important. You were at the Omni Complex that night. Were you working?"

She looked at him, her pretty face twisting with torment. Her eyes scanned the crowd, resting on someone in the gallery, then moving to her husband, who stared back at her blankly.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered, dropping her gaze to her lap. "I'm so, so sorry. Please don't . . ."

"Karen," Costello prompted. "You have to answer the question."

She dropped her bomb with a voice so soft everyone in the courtroom was straining to hear.

"I stayed late because ... I was having an affair with Paul Kirk-wood."

The admission hit Ellen like a sonic blast. Behind the bar the courtroom erupted, Paul Kirkwood's voice rising above the others.

"That's a lie! Goddamn you, Wright! You put her up to this! You'll pay, you son of a bitch!"