Silent Witness (26 page)

''Then what
were
you willing to do for Tim?'' she asked.

''I was there while Lexi was alive, for God's sake,'' Archer barked, frustrated that Josie, who knew him so well, could not understand this.

Josie leaned over the table, not wanting to understand. Josie put her hand in front of him and tapped twice.

''It's not enough, Archer. We are about to walk into court and listen to Ruth Alcott make a case against you for murdering Tim Wren. I need to impeach her witnesses. To do that, I need to know what you were willing to do for that boy
after
Lexi died.'' Josie sat back and lowered her voice. It was flat and commanding. ''I need to hear you say something that isn't so selfish, so self-centered and so righteous it sounds like you can't understand why people don't feel sorry for you when two really good people are dead.''

Archer colored. His eyes registered anger, shame, and confusion as Josie pushed him to the breaking point. The tactic was ugly and unjust if he was innocent. . .

No, it was ugly because he
was
innocent. In these minutes, before she was due in court Josie couldn't afford to think otherwise.

''I promised to pay the bills,'' Archer said righteously. ''I promised to check and make sure Tim was okay. If there were medical problems, I would find doctors to take care of it. When he died, I'd bury him. But I wasn't going to pretend to be his father. They're not going to hang me because I wouldn't pretend to be his father.''

''They might, Archer,'' Josie answered.

''Then you better make them see my situation for what it was.'' Archer tried to stand up but the chains rattled to remind him that freedom lay beyond this door and only the woman across the table could secure it for him. He stayed where he was and put a big hand on the table in front of her.

''Listen, Jo, there's a lot you don't know about me because we were just starting to find out about each other. You didn't know I believed in heaven, did you? And I believe in hell, too. And I believe that if I lied to Lexi, she would know that I didn't do spit for that kid after she was dead. So why don't you make that judge understand that I was trying to do what was right when I strapped him onto that piece of machinery.''

''And what will I say,'' she asked evenly, ''when they put Carol Schmidt on the stand and she testifies that she heard you say Tim would be better off dead? Or when she testifies that she saw you lay Lexi up against the wall in a fit of rage. You know, Lexi - the woman you loved? The woman you were so concerned about?''

Josie cut him no slack. She asked what Ruth would ask if she had him on the stand and she saw what Ruth would love to see: surprise and caution were in Archer's dark eyes but he covered quickly.

''You'll say that no one saw Lexi getting hysterical in that room except me. She was afraid to die. She was afraid for Tim and she blamed me for not fixing it all. Nobody saw that. Everybody saw her being perfect and brave but I saw her when she was scared shitless and crazy.'' Archer lowered her voice even further, making his directive seem almost like a threat. ''And you'll say no one heard us apologize – both of us - because it was a private moment between my wife and me. You'll make the doctors at Greenwood testify that Tim wasn't the loveable retarded kid everybody wants to make him out. He hit another patient and gave him a black eye. He tired to hit me. I had to control him.''

''And the other people will say you were hurting him,'' Josie countered.

''I was doing what a cop would do when faced with an out of control mental patient. That is what it boils down to: Lexi and those people at Greenwood never acknowledged that Tim was mental!''

Archer slapped at the table with both hands. His chains rattled and his face mottled with indignation. He didn't care who Josie had been to him, right now she was an enemy.

''Okay, Archer!'' Josie hollered. She put the knuckles of one hand to her lips and took a minute. Time was precious and they were wasting it. She pulled her legal pad in front of her. ''We're off track. What happened after you got back to your place?''

''Lexi packed her bag.'' Archer sniffed. He licked his lips. ''I carried it to the car. I was a necessary evil that day so I drove and paid for things and carried stuff. It was Lexi's day with Tim. Maybe that's why I get so upset when I think about this. I was doing everything I could to make it a good day, Jo.''

''Tell me if you touched him, Archer. Or if he touched you,'' Josie went on, riding roughshod over him.

Archer's head dipped. He flipped the cuffs dangling from the chains like he was tossing coins and knew he would never get head's up.

''Here's the truth, Josie, then I'm not going to talk about it anymore. The accident happened way too fast. Maybe Tim moved the wrong way and I thought he needed help. Maybe I put out my hand. Maybe my hand hit that harness the wrong way. It was like pulling your gun in a dark alley. You just do it when you sense it needs to happen. I reached for him and that's what you saw on the tape. Did I touch that harness and unlatch it? Did I try to catch him because he did it himself? I don't know, and I don't want to know. It would be tough knowing I did anything to cause that kid's death. But, if I did, there was no malice, there was no premeditation and that means there was no murder.''

Josie took all this in like a professional, but her heart swelled with sympathy and understanding, and honest belief in Archer's innocent. In the next instant all that hope and faith was drained from her as surely as if Archer had lanced her wounded heart.

''Make sure they know that, Josie. Make sure you do your fucking job.''

CHAPTER 26

Ruth Alcott started the show off with a bang. Eric Stevens, ride operator on the fateful day Timothy Wren died, testified to things Josie already knew.

He noticed Timothy Wren.

Retarded people made me nervous.

Yeah, he recognized Archer.

The person almost killed me a couple of weeks ago.

''We're talking about the day Tim Wren died, Mr. Stevens.'' Ruth rerouted her witness easily. ''Tell us all about it. . .''

Hot day. . .

Kid was crazy, but calmed down when he got to the platform. . .

Defendant pushed me away. Wouldn't let me do my job. He strapped the kid in. . .

He did it and the kid fell . . .

The kid died. . .

Ruth smiled. She passed the witness to Josie who managed to get Eric to admit that once, during a hazing, a safety latch had been released and the rider had not fallen to his death. He had been scared to death, but he had not fallen. Josie made Eric admit that Lexi had not seemed concerned that her husband was strapping Tim into his seat. Josie picked at Eric's recollections of that day until, finally, he testified that all he knew was that Archer had put the harness on Timothy Wren and checked it twice.
That, certainly, was not damaging testimony. What came next was a little more worrisome.

''Doctor Weber, could you describe your relationship to the deceased, Tim Wren?''

Ruth Alcott addressed her second witness. Doctor Weber was in his early sixties, a strawberry birthmark covered one side of his forehead and he touched it as if that would help him think.

''I was Greenwood's physician for some time. I saw Tim Wren intermittently for three years. I am both a pediatric psychiatrist and pediatrician. I specialize in dealing with children like Tim Wren.''

Ruth clasped her hands and gave him a glowing smile as if thrilled that her star pupil was performing so well.

''And what was your assessment of Tim Wren?''

''If you mean would he ever progress past the mental capacity of a five year old, the answer is no. If you mean was he a well-adjusted five year old in a teenager's body, the answer is still no. He was discouraged by his physical limitations. His mother coddled him so there was bit of the spoiled child about Tim. That isn't unusual in situations such as this.''

''What were the limitations that frustrated Tim?'' Ruth asked.

''Specifically his motor skills. He needed help dressing. He couldn't tie shoe laces. He could feed himself with a fork if the food was properly cut but he couldn't use a spoon or a knife effectively.''

''So, it would be hard to imagine Tim actually opening his own harness buckle, would it not?''

''In my estimation, that would have been very surprising if not close to impossible,'' he assured her.

With a 'your witness' thrown at Josie, Ruth she took her seat, snapping her elastic pants as she settled in. The doctor waited for Josie, seemingly unimpressed by her height the athletic grace with which she approached the witness stand or her straightforward manner.

''Tim could fasten and unfasten the Velcro on his tennis shoes, could he not?''

''Yes, I believe he had mastered that.''

''He was able to unbuckle his belt and that he was working on learning how to buckle it again, was he not?''

''That is also true,'' the doctor acknowledged but he didn't stop there. ''You must understand that Tim learned those things by trial and error over the course of time. He had the help of patient people who understood the steps necessary to teach him what to do.''

Josie let Doctor Weber talk on. Obviously, he was not a seasoned expert witness. He had opened a door that Josie thought she would have to knock on a long time before it even cracked.

''So Tim learned by repetition,'' she mused. ''Doctor, did you know that Tim, by conservative estimates, had been on the Shock & Drop at least twelve times in the course of his life.''

''No, I did not.'' He rotated his head and touched his collar then drummed two fingers briefly against that birthmark.

''Would Tim have understood how the buckle on the harness worked if he had seen someone fasten and unfasten it twelve times?'' Josie asked.

''Objection, calls for speculation,'' Ruth called.

''Overruled,'' the judge intoned. ''This witness is expert and his opinion is acceptable in this matter. Doctor, you may answer the question.''

''It is possible, but not probable. If the person fastening the harness did not. . .''

''But it is possible,'' Josie insisted, interrupting now that she had the answer she wanted.

''Yes, it is,'' Weber agreed but still he refused to be limited in his response. ''However, I doubt anyone suggested Tim take his harness off while the ride was moving. Tim had to concentrate very hard in order to accomplish anything. I doubt he could have concentrated while that ride was going.''

''Then let me ask this'' Josie rerouted the questioning. ''Did Tim understand death?''

''Yes. Tim had a roommate who died and he often asked about him.''

''Did he understand that his mother was dying?'' Josie asked.

''Yes,'' the doctor answered.

''How did Tim react to that?''

''He was intermittently upset then curious. The loss of his mother's hair upset Tim a great deal. Sometimes he ignored me when I tried to discuss the matter with him.''

''Would you characterize his attitude as one of depression?''

''Yes, that would be appropriate at times,'' the doctor agreed.

''Did Tim want to go with his mother when she died?'' Josie raised her voice, separating the words in the next question so there would be no mistake. ''Could Tim have wanted to take his own life?''

''You are presupposing Tim's understanding of how death came about,'' the doctor answered coolly. ''In reality, Tim would not have understood that opening his safety restraint would result in his death. The concept of suicide, or how it was accomplished, were too complex for Tim Wren.''

''Do you have any more questions for this witness, Ms. Bates?'' The judge asked, tiring of this line of questioning.

Josie shook her head and the witness was dismissed. She had accomplished nothing. The judge raised a finger to Ruth who called Carol Schmidt to the stand.

Ruth didn't need to prod, cajole or threaten. Carol Schmidt told the story of Lexi and Tim in a modulated voice, holding her hands clasped loosely in her lap, doing what she had told Josie she would do – her duty. Carol Schmidt was the perfect witness and Ruth Alcott led her through her testimony with skill and cunning that provided shadings Carol never intended. By the time Ruth was done, it sounded as if Archer had attacked Lexi with intent to kill, as if he hated Tim, as if he would have walked over hot coals rather than care for Lexi's son after her death. And, in all this, Carol Schmidt seemed a reluctant but honest witness, a saint among women, a responsible citizen. Carol Schmidt was the standard by which a jury would judge Archer's attitudes and behavior.

Thank God there was no jury.

A jury would hate Josie for what she was about to do.

''Mrs. Schmidt, do you remember speaking to me at the Greenwood home on the evening of October twenty-eighth?''

''I do,'' she answered a smile of recognition faltering on her lips as Josie addressed her.

''During that conversation you told me you considered killing your husband, is that correct?''

Josie asked this without preface and she felt dirty as she watched Carol Schmidt's expression melted into one of indescribable pain. Her beautiful face paled to the cold color of marble. Her eyes fell deep into shadows that hadn't been there before. If Josie had not surprised her, wounding her so deeply, Carol Schmidt might have defended herself. But the injury was deliberate and she only had breath enough to whisper:

''Yes.''

''And did you also tell me that you considered killing yourself?''

A tremor gripped Carol Schmidt. Josie was close enough to see it crawl up the woman's neck and take root in her jaw.

''Yes,'' she answered.

Still Josie didn't move. She would cut quarter. Josie's compassion for this woman was secondary to her loyalty to Archer.

''Did you kill your husband, Mrs. Schmidt?'' Josie demanded.

''Your honor,'' Ruth called in disgust.

Josie asked again when Ruth made no specific objection.

''Did you kill your husband, Mrs. Schmidt?''

''No, I did not,'' she said, her voice so small.

''And you are still living, are you not?''