‘Do you mean you’ll walk away?’
‘No, I mean I’ll make sure she’s convicted. I won’t fight her case anymore, and I’ll do my best to destroy her defense without getting disbarred.’
Kate looked to the ceiling, ran her hands down her throat before she spoke.
‘My mom sacrificed everything so I could be a good lawyer, in a top firm. Now I’m being sued by that firm. I’ve put my life on the line for this case. Helping a murderer go free, or getting disbarred wasn’t part of my plan,’ she said.
‘I didn’t know you were being sued. You should have told me. Do you have a lawyer?’ I asked.
‘No, can’t afford one.’
‘Let’s get this trial out of the way. If you want, I might be able to help.’ I reached into my wallet, there was something there that I’d put away for a rainy day. I took it out and handed it to Kate.
‘What’s this?’
‘It’s a card I found in Levy’s wallet,’ I said. ‘I don’t know what it is, it’s not for any kind of service or company I’ve ever heard of. It’s kinda mysterious. It might be something, it might be nothing. Tell you the truth, since you took over the case I haven’t even looked into it. Thought I might need leverage on Levy someday and this seemed like it could be something.’
As Kate took the card, I said, ‘I sent an email last night to a friend. She’s an analyst in the FBI. I want her take on this. I’m going to call her later. If I get anything from her I’ll share it with you. This is beyond attorney-client privilege now. One of us is a pawn in a killer’s game.’
Kate nodded, turned the card over in her hands – examining it.
‘It’s weird. I’ve never seen a card like this before,’ she said.
‘I know. Guys like Levy have secrets. Maybe this is one. Maybe not. Just promise me one thing,’ I said.
‘What’s that?’
‘If it turns out to be a bullet for Levy, make sure you shoot it.’
THIRTY-NINE
KATE
Detective Tyler took his seat in the witness stand, and this time Kate was prepared. She stood, with a legal pad on the desk in front of her. Scanning her notes one last time, Kate looked up and made eye contact with Tyler. He had the same cocky look on his face that he’d worn yesterday. It was Kate’s job to change that look.
‘Detective Tyler, the victim’s home was searched following the murder?’
‘I believe so.’
‘And to your knowledge, no Haloperidol was found on the property?’
‘Correct.’
‘NYPD also searched my client’s apartment and no Haloperidol was found there either, correct?’
‘That’s correct.’
‘So there is no evidence linking my client to that drug?’
Tyler sniffed, blinked, and said, ‘We believe—’
Kate cut him off, ‘You’re not sitting as an expert witness here, detective. Your belief doesn’t matter. Please answer the question – there is no physical evidence linking my client to the drug found in the victim’s body, is there?’
‘There’s no physical evidence. However, your client had the opportunity to place that substance in the victim’s food.’
‘And did you find food laced with Haloperidol in the victim’s home?’ asked Kate, struggling to keep control of her voice. She didn’t know the answer to this question for sure, but she guessed that if the DA had found poisoned food, it would have appeared in a report before now and been served on her.
‘Not to my knowledge.’
‘So, again, there is no evidence linking my client to this drug?’
‘There’s no physical evidence, other than the symptoms Frank’s medical records discuss, and the drugs found in his system at the time of death,’ said Tyler.
‘And no forensic link between the drugs and my client?’
‘No,’ he said, reluctantly.
Kate nodded. She’d done her best. Kept Tyler on a short leash. She was tempted to keep going. One more question. She decided against it. One loose question now and she could undo all her hard work. Instead, Kate thanked the witness and sat down.
Alexandra whispered, ‘Thank you.’ Kate nodded. She didn’t know how to feel about Alexandra anymore. Was she thanking her because she was innocent? Or because Kate was doing a good job of helping her to get away with murder?
Kate shivered, and picked up her pen. She didn’t think Eddie would ask any questions, and indeed he didn’t. It was time to move on to the next witness.
Dreyer stood up and said, ‘The People call Professor Barry Shandler.’
Kate could breathe easily. Shandler was the hair-fiber expert, and he didn’t link anything to Alexandra. She’d read Shandler’s report, and was curious to see how Eddie would handle it. The doubts creeping into Kate’s mind seemed to fade away as she recalled the details of Shandler’s report. If Shandler was right, then Sofia was most likely guilty. And she couldn’t see how on earth anyone could challenge Shandler’s testimony, but this evidence was already out in the open. This wasn’t the get-out-of-jail-free card she’d discussed with Eddie that morning.
A hand brushed against her arm. Alexandra, staring at Shandler as he made his way to the witness stand. Kate smiled at her client, patted her hand.
She felt better about this case. She felt, for sure, she was on the right side.
Alexandra was innocent. She had to be.
FORTY
EDDIE
Professor Shandler was one of those guys who didn’t much look like a professor. At least no kind of professor that I’d ever seen. For a start, he wasn’t old. No wispy white hair. No bushy white eyebrows that looked like clouds. No cardigans, no corduroy, no wide leather shoes that a grandpa would wear.
He couldn’t have been older than fifty. Jet black wavy hair that looked as though he’d put some product in it. No beard or moustache. He had pale skin that looked like it would burn if he went south of the Mason–Dixon line, and a blue pin-striped suit in a modern cut over an expensive silk shirt – blue, and silk tie – purple. The expensive suit went well with his narrow chin, high cheekbones and walnut-brown eyes. He looked more like a model in a high-end fashion magazine.
Several of the female jurors sat up a little straighter when they saw Professor Shandler. He’d worked in the NYPD forensic science lab, and had since gone out on his own into private consultancy work, where the best money lay.
He took the oath, sat with the judge’s permission and Dreyer took him through his long history of qualifications and experience. At every question, Shandler gave a nod and a simple ‘yes.’ He had an air of authority about him. A deep voice tinged with a slight rasp that made every word sound like the gospel. Once Dreyer had impressed the jury with Shandler’s credentials, he cut right to it.
‘Professor, you were sent a number of hair fibers for analysis in this case, perhaps you would take us through the samples first of all, and then we’ll talk about your testing?’
‘Of course,’ said Shandler, angling his seat to get a better look at the jury. ‘I received three items for testing from the District Attorney’s office. One was a hair, with at least part of it buried in a wound on the victim. The second was a sample of hair from Alexandra Avellino, and the third a sample of hair from Sofia Avellino. I refer to the latter two samples as control samples, whose origins are known to me.’