to remove their empty dishes, Diana ordered iced tea refills as an excuse to keep squatter’s rights on their table. “A trial is basically the telling of two conflicting stories,” she said after the waiter had gone. “The story that seems to be the clearest and most believable to the jury given the supporting evidence will be the one they accept. I have to make Connie’s story the one the jury will believe.”
“How can I help?”
She liked the way he’d phrased that. Not, what is my job? Not, what do you want me to do? But, how can I help?
With every passing minute, Diana became more convinced that Jack really wanted to help.
“First,” she said, “you’re going to have to put Bruce Weaton in that car at the scene of Amy’s hit-and-run five years ago, establish an unbreakable link between him and the locket Connie found hidden in his garage, have every piece of physical evidence analyzed and authenticated by an outside forensic lab and do it without Staker knowing.”
“Oh, is that all,” Jack said, with good-natured sarcasm.
“No, that’s only step one of three.”
The waiter refilled their glasses, and Jack squeezed a slice of lemon over his iced tea. “Why an outside forensic lab?”
“One of our strongest weapons will be surprise. Staker and Sheriff Riker have been buddies since high school. What Sheriff Riker knows, Staker knows. We have to maintain complete secrecy about Connie’s story until she takes the stand.”
“So Staker can’t try to twist the facts the way he did in your other case.”
“And nearly every other case he’s prosecuted. I’ve watched him at several major trials. His strength lies in knowing exactly what to expect from the defense and putting his own spin on the facts. He can’t deal with surprises, which is why he mustn’t know that Connie is going to testify, much less what she’s going to say.”
“If you don’t present the evidence of Bruce’s involvement in the hit-and-run until after Connie has testified,” Jack said, “what will you say in the opening statement?”
“I’m not giving an opening statement. Judge Gimbrere’s a firm believer that a jury should base their decision on the evidence, not on a lawyer’s interpretation of that evidence, which is what he considers both opening and closing statements by trial attorneys to be. He’d restricted us to one statement to the jury. Staker chose an opening statement. I opted for a closing.”
“Staker will run the show at the onset of the trial,” Jack said. “Won’t overcoming the jury’s early conclusions be difficult?”
“Very,” Diana agreed. “The judge will caution the jury not to form an opinion until all the evidence is in, but many will do so anyway. The people who have investigated the psychology of juries say that members place the most weight on what they hear first and last. By the time I’m through, I’m going to shift that weight to Connie’s side.”
Despite the confidence Diana put into her words, she knew that her chances were slim. She had an incredibly complex case and was up against the most ruthless and feared prosecutor in the county. And she hadn’t even told Jack the most difficult part yet.
“Has Connie given you a description of the car that hit Amy?”
“Not a very good one,” Diana admitted. “She doesn’t know much about cars and everything happened so quickly. All she could remember was that the headlights were round and close together. There was a vertical grill on the front and the fenders were high above the tires.”
“Color?”
“Just an impression of gray as it sped toward the porch.”
“Age?”
“I showed her a book of old cars. She didn’t recognize any.”
“Maybe we’re talking about a classic or sports car as opposed to an old one.”
“Quite possibly,” Diana agreed. “The fact that Connie found Amy’s locket in Bruce’s garage tells me he parked the car there after killing her child. At some point the locket must have fallen off the car and ended up unnoticed in the corner. What we have to do is get a crime scene unit to scour the place for more forensic evidence without Staker knowing.”
“Who owns the property now?”
“According to the county assessor’s office, Donald and Joyce Epstein, formerly of Plainfield, New Jersey. The sale included all personal items—furniture, appliances, dishes, flatware, even towels.”
“Which implies that the Weaton family didn’t remove much, if anything, before putting the property on the market.”
“That’s the way I read it,” Diana agreed.
“When did escrow close?”
“Last week. I drove by the place yesterday. No one has moved in yet. If the Weatons or Epsteins haven’t cleaned out the garage, there might be some evidence left.”
Jack repositioned the Rolex on his wrist. “Being able to tie Bruce to Amy’s hit-and-run will blow Staker’s supposed jealousy motive right out of the water.”
“Yes, and that’s important. The jury needs to understand that Connie is not the kind of woman who would fly into a jealous rage. If she had discovered Bruce cheated on her, quietly fading away would have been far more in character for her.”
“Speaking of character, the villain I played in Seattle was brought to trial on a first-degree murder charge. As I remember, there was a scene where my attorney had to disclose to the prosecutor who he was going to call as witnesses.”
“The writers on your series did their homework,” Diana said. “I do have to give Staker a list of potential defense witnesses.”
“Then how are you going to keep him from knowing who you’re going to call to the stand?”
“My initial witness list will have close to sixty names—few of whom I actually plan to call on to testify. Each week I’ll add more names.”
“How does that help?”
“All those extra names will camouflage who I’m really going to have testify. Staker won’t have a chance to check out all the witnesses. Knowing him, he probably won’t bother to check out any since he thinks he’s got an airtight case.”
“If he sees the names of private forensic lab personnel, he’s bound to know that something is up,” Jack pointed out.
Diana liked the questions Jack was asking. They told her he had a good mind and was thinking carefully about the case. Despite his lack of experience, he was hitting on some key points.
“I’ll be requesting that a lot of the physical evidence evaluated by the sheriff’s department be reevaluated at an outside lab,” she said. “When I put the names of the lab personnel on my list, Staker will assume they’re a smoke screen. Chances are he won’t bother deposing them.”
“Give him a forest so he won’t see the trees,” Jack said with a smile. “I’ve always liked clever women.”
