The Pact (42 page)

“Yes,” Detective Marrone said firmly. “Christopher Harte murdered her.”

“How did you come up with that?”

Anne-Marie began to speak, weaving a picture that hung in the courtroom like a tapestry, rich in detail and impossible to ignore. “Emily was a happy kid that no one-not teachers, not parents, not friends-considered depressed in any way. She was pretty, popular, had a great relationship with her parents-a model daughter. She was eleven weeks pregnant with her boyfriend's child. And Chris was a senior in high school, about to go off to college, already applying-he was certainly at a point where he didn't need a baby in his life, or a girlfriend who was clinging to him.” Jordan considered objecting-this was all speculative-but realized that would only hurt him, and make the detective's testimony take on more importance than he wanted it to. He sighed loudly, hoping to convey to the jury how ludicrous he found Marrone's theory.

The detective lowered her voice, and the jury strained forward to listen. “So he arranged to go to the carousel for some kind of romantic rendezvous. He gave her something to drink, trying to get her intoxicated so that she wouldn't fight him when he pulled out the gun. They had sex, they got dressed, he pulled her into an embrace, and before she knew what was happening, there was a gun pressed to her head.” Anne-Marie raised her own hand to her temple, then brought it down. “She fought him, but he was a lot bigger and stronger than she was, and he shot her. That,” she said, sighing, “is how I see it.”

Barrie headed back to her table, almost ready to relinquish her witness. “Thank you, Detective. Oh, one last question. Was there anything else important that came out of your interview with Christopher Harte at the police station?”

Anne-Marie nodded. “He had to sign a paper to agree to the interview, it's standard procedure. And he picked up the pen with his left hand. So I asked him about it, and he told me that he was indeed a lefty.”

“And why was that significant, Detective?”

“Because we know from the path of the bullet and the pattern of the blood spatter that someone else was there, facing Emily. And if that person shot her in the right temple, he had to have done it with his left hand.”

“Thank you,” Barrie said. “Nothing further.”

When Jordan stood UP for his first cross-examination, he smiled at Anne-Marie Marrone.

“Detective,” he said, “we all heard you tell Ms. Delaney that you've been with the police force for ten years. Ten years.” He whistled. “That's a long time to be in the public service.” Anne-Marie nodded, too smart and too practiced at this to relax, as Jordan intended. “I like what I do, Mr. McAfee.”

“Yeah?” Jordan said, grinning widely. “Me, too.” In the jury box, someone snickered. “In ten years, Detective, how many homicides have you worked on?”

“Two.”

“Two,” Jordan repeated. “Two homicides.” He wrinkled his brow. “This is the second?”

“Correct.”

“So you've only worked on one before this?”

“Yes.”

“Well, then, why did they pick you to be in charge of this investigation?” High color rose in Anne-Marie's cheeks. “It's a small department,” she said, “and I'm the head detective. It falls to me.”

“So. It's your second murder,” he said, stressing the utter lack of this expert's expertise. “And you started off by looking at the gun. Is that right?”

“Yes.”

“And you found two sets of fingerprints on it.”

“Yes.”

“And you found two bullets.”

“Yes.”

“But if someone was going to shoot you at very close range, he wouldn't need two bullets, would he?”

“That depends,” the detective said.

“I realize this is somewhat new to you, Detective,” Jordan said, “but yes or no will do.” He saw Anne-Marie set her jaw. “No,” she gritted out.

“On the other hand,” Jordan continued breezily, “wouldn't it make sense that if you and a friend were planning to commit a double suicide, you'd need two bullets?”

“Yes.”

“And Chris's fingerprints were on those bullets?”

“Yes.”

“Is it consistent with a double suicide that Chris's fingerprints be the only ones on the bullets if, by Chris's own admission, it was his father's gun and he brought that gun?”

“Yes.”

“In fact, wouldn't it be unusual to see Emily's fingerprints on the bullets loaded into the chamber since she had no experience with guns at all?”

“I guess so.”

“Wonderful. You also told Ms. Delaney you did some testing on that gun.”

“That's correct.”

“You found Emily's fingerprints on the gun, along with Chris's, didn't you?”

“Yes.”

“Isn't it true that you found additional fingerprints on the gun?”

“Yes. Some that matched up with James Harte, the defendant's father.”

“Really. But he wasn't under suspicion during your investigation.” Anne-Marie sighed. “That's because his fingerprints were the only evidence that placed him at the scene of the crime.”

“So you can't only rely on fingerprint evidence, can you? Just because someone's fingerprints are on a gun doesn't mean they happened to be touching it that particular night?”

“That's correct.”

“Ah. You found Emily's fingerprints on the top of the gun,” Jordan said, walking over toward the display of evidence. “Any objection to me picking this up?” he asked, gesturing to the Colt. He lifted it in his hand gingerly. “And you found Chris's fingerprints around here, on the bottom.”

“That's right.”

“But you found no conclusive fingerprints on the actual trigger of the gun.”

“No, we did not.”

Jordan nodded thoughtfully. “Is it true that you need only a quarter inch of a fingerprint, a very small area indeed, to make a conclusive match?”

“Well, yes,” Anne-Marie said, “but it has to be the right quarter inch. A particular spot.”

“So fingerprints aren't as easy to pick up as it looks in the movies?”

“No, they're not.”

“Can they get smudged by newer fingerprints?”

“Yes.”

“In fact, Detective, testing for fingerprints is far from an exact science, wouldn't you say?”

“Yes.”

“If I pick up this gun and fire, and then you pick it up and fire, is it possible that my fingerprints would not show up on that trigger?”

“Maybe not,” Anne-Marie conceded.

“So is it possible that Emily pulled the trigger, and then when Chris picked up the gun he erased, if you will, her original fingerprints?”

“It's possible.”

“Let me recap: Even though Emily's fingerprints were not identified on the trigger during your testing, Detective Marrone, can you say without a doubt that she never touched that trigger?”

“No-but then again Chris could have touched it too, without it showing up.” She smiled neatly at Jordan.

Jordan drew in his breath. “Let's talk about the Luminol,” he said. “You said that the blood spatter pattern on the carousel indicated a spot where the defendant was bleeding.”

“I assume so. He was bleeding from a scalp wound when officers arrived.”

“Yet you say it's not proof that Chris fainted. So are you telling me,” he said scornfully, “that Chris lay down on the carousel floor, smacked his head on the edge, and then lay there for several minutes to let a pool of blood form?”

Anne-Marie looked down her nose at him. “It's been done before.”

“Really?” Jordan asked, with true surprise. “I assume that was during your one previous murder case?”

“Objection!” Barrie said.

“Sustained.” Puckett glared at Jordan. “I don't have to warn you, Mr. McAfee.” Jordan walked to the exhibit table. “Is this the transcript of your interview with Chris Harte?”

“Yes.”

“Can you read this line .. . right here?” He brought the papers to the detective and pointed. Anne-Marie cleared her throat. “ 'We were going to kill ourselves together.' ”

“That's a direct quote of something that Chris Harte said to you.”

“Yes.”

“He told you outright that this was a double suicide.”

“Yes, he did.”

“And can you tell me what this says, on page three?”

The detective glanced at Barrie Delaney. “There was a pause in the tape.”

“Hmm. Why?”

“I had to shut the recorder off because the subject was crying.”

“Chris was crying? How come?”

Anne-Marie sighed. “We were talking about Emily, and he got very upset.”

“In your expert opinion, is that consistent with geniune grieving?”

“Objection,” Barrie said. “My witness is not an expert on grief.”

“I'll allow it,” said the judge.

The detective shrugged. “I suppose so,” she said.

“So let me get this straight. In the middle of this interview, an interview where Chris Harte waived his right to have me present and said, flat-out, that he and Emily were going to commit suicide together, he started crying so hard that you had to actually stop the tape?”

“Yes,” Anne-Marie said pointedly. “But we didn't have a lie detector hooked up, either.” If Jordan heard her, he showed no sign of it. “You mentioned that in your theory, Chris was trying to get Emily drunk.”

“Yes, I believe that.”

“The idea being that she would be submissive,” Jordan clarified.

“Correct.”

"Did you, by any chance, have the coroner check Emily's blood/alcohol level?

“They do that automatically,” the detective said.

“Did you find out what it was?”

“Yes,” she said grudgingly. “.02.”

“Which would be consistent with what, Detective?”

Anne-Marie coughed. “One drink. Maybe one shot for a small girl.”

“She had one shot of alcohol out of that whole bottle.”

“Apparently, yes.”

“And the legal level for driving in this state is what, Detective?”

“.08.”

“What was Emily's, again?”

“I told you,” Anne Marie said. “.02.”

“Considerably less than the legal limit for driving while intoxicated. Would you say that she was drunk, then?”

“Probably not.”

“You mentioned evidence of gunpowder on both Emily's and Chris's clothes,” Jordan said. “Isn't it true that if you find gunpowder on the shirt all it really proves is that the fabric was in close contact when the gun was fired?”

“That's correct.”

“Can you determine from gunpowder residue on clothing who actually shot the gun?”

“Not conclusively. But we didn't find any gunpowder residue on the victim's hands either. And the perpetrator of a suicide would have had some sort of trace of powder on her skin.” Jordan seized on that. “Is it consistent with a murder invesitgation to immediately bag the hands of the victim?”

“Ordinarily yes, but-”

“When was the gunpowder test performed on the corpse?”

Anne-Marie looked at her lap. “November ninth.”

“You're saying you didn't test Emily's hands at the scene of the crime, and you didn't test her on the way to the hospital, and you didn't even test her in the morgue until two days after she'd died? Is it possible that during that block of time, someone had tampered with Emily's hands?”

“Well, I-”

“Yes or no?”

“It's possible,” Anne-Marie said.

“Could someone have touched Emily's hands during the trip from the crime scene to the hospital?”

“Yes.”

“Such as medics, or uniformed officers?”

“Either would be possible.”

“In the emergency room of the hospital, might someone have touched her hands?”

“Yes.”

“For example, maybe nurses or doctors?”

“I suppose so.”

“In the emergency room might she have been swabbed down, since there were no instructions otherwise?”

“Yes,” the detective said.

“So any number of people might have tampered with important evidence before you got around to collecting it from Emily's hands?” Jordan summarized.

“Yes,” Marrone admitted.

“Wouldn't it also be consistent with a murder investigation to immediately test the hands of the perpetrator for gunpowder residue?”

“That's standard procedure.”

“When you first saw Chris at the scene of the crime, did you test his hands for gunpowder residue?”

“Well, no. But he wasn't under direct suspicion then.”

Jordan's eyes widened. “Really, Detective Marrone? He wasn't a suspect when the police got to the scene of the crime?”

“No.”

“So when did it dawn on you that he was a suspect?”

“Objection!” Barrie called.

“Counselor, why don't you rephrase that question,” Puckett said dryly.

“I'll move on. Did you test him at the hospital?” Jordan hammered.

“No.”

“Did you test him the next day, when you went to gather more information?”

“No.”

“Did you test Chris the day he came into the police station for that interview?”

“No.”

Jordan snorted. “So he was never tested for gunpowder residue-not at first when he was not a suspect and not later, when you decided he was a murderer?”

“He was never tested.”

“Isn't it possible that if you had managed to test Emily's hands before someone tampered with them, you might have found gunpowder residue on them?”

“That's possible.”

“And that would have indicated that she'd fired the gun.”

“Yes, it would,” Anne-Marie said.

“And if you had tested Chris for gunpowder residue right at the scene of the crime, you might not have found any on his hands, either?”

“That's right.”

“And that would have indicated that he hadn't fired the gun?”

“Correct.”

And then none of us would have to be here. Jordan did not have to say the words. He walked to the jury box, standing at the end as if he was one of its members. “Okay, Detective. Your theory is that Chris was at the scene of the crime. He put two bullets in the gun in case he missed the first time from an eighth of an inch away. He unsuccessfully tried to get Emily drunk, had sex with her, went for the gun. Emily saw him going for the gun, they wrestled, and then he shot her. You absolutely believe this is what happened?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Not a single doubt in your mind?”

“None.”

Jordan moved closer to the witness stand. “Couldn't the fact that there were two bullets in the gun that night have meant that there was going to be a double suicide?”