“The defendant also denied being in the theater during rehearsals. A security guard will testify that he saw Mr. Turner inside the Imperial during a rehearsal.
“Figuring out how to murder a person in front of an audience during a magic illusion is something that a magician would know how to do. The defendant is a master magician who performs a magic act regularly in a Las Vegas casino, so he would have been able to figure out how the illusion was done.”
“Did the defendant have a motive for killing Mr. Chesterfield?”
“He had several. First, he is living with the deceased’s wife, who was being sued by Mr. Chesterfield for divorce. If the couple divorced, Ms. Madison would have to have given Mr. Chesterfield a lot of her money and maybe some of her property. With Mr. Chesterfield dead, that’s no longer a problem.
“Furthermore, the defendant hated Mr. Chesterfield for revealing the secret to his Las Vegas casino finale on television several years ago. This almost killed the defendant’s career.
“In summation, Your Honor, the defendant had several motives to kill Mr. Chesterfield, the means and skills to accomplish the task, and the opportunity to commit the murder. He also lied about being in his seat during the performance of the Chamber of Death and not being in the Imperial during a rehearsal. We concluded that this provided probable cause to arrest.”
“I have no further questions, Your Honor,” Ragland said.
“Do you have any questions for Detective Anders?” the judge asked Robin.
Jeff was sitting in the spectator section directly behind Robin. While Detective Anders was testifying, Stanley Cloud moved beside him and whispered in Jeff’s ear. Jeff reached over the bar of the court and tapped Robin on the shoulder.
“Ask for a recess,” he said when she turned around. “Stanley has something important to show you.”
“Miss Lockwood?” the judge asked.
“Can we take a brief recess, Your Honor?” Robin asked.
Judge Washington didn’t like taking a recess so early in the proceedings, but she had recognized Stanley Cloud. “Will fifteen minutes be sufficient?” the judge asked.
“It should be.”
Robin hurried into the hall as soon as the judge left the bench. She found Stanley waiting for her at the end of the corridor that ran in front of the courtroom.
“What’s so important?”
Stanley handed Robin the police report that set out Titus Atkinson’s statement. A yellow Post-it was glued to it. The message on the Post-it read: NO TIME!!!
“What does this mean?” Robin asked.
“I asked Regina. She wrote it when she was reading the discovery, but she can’t remember why. She’s very upset because she obviously thought it was very important. She reread the report but drew a blank.”
Robin concentrated on Atkinson’s statement, but she couldn’t see anything important enough to warrant three exclamation points. Had Regina’s dementia made her see something that wasn’t there?
“Did you read this?” she asked Stanley.
“I didn’t see anything.”
“Okay. I’ve got to—” Robin stopped dead and reread the interview. Then she broke into a grin. “The boss is still the Sorceress. You tell her that for me,” Robin said before racing back to the courtroom.
* * *
“Detective Anders, before the Chamber of Death finale, wasn’t Mr. Chesterfield onstage by himself performing card tricks?”
“Yes.”
“And before the card tricks, Mr. Chesterfield made Sheila Monroe, one of his assistants, levitate and float above the stage?”
“Yes.”
“During that illusion, Nancy Porter and Maria Rodriguez, the other assistants, were also onstage, weren’t they?”
“Yes.”
“And all three assistants were dressed in costumes that they did not wear during the finale?”
“Yes.”
“Did Miss Porter tell you that she put the inhaler on her dressing table before going onstage for the levitation act?”
“Yes.”
“But she couldn’t find it when she came back during the card trick routine to change for the Chamber of Death?”
“Yes.”
“So the killer must have moved the inhaler during the levitation illusion?”
“That sounds right.”
“Okay. Now, Titus Atkinson was sitting directly behind Mr. Turner, wasn’t he?”
“Yes.”
“And he saw Mr. Turner leave his seat?”
“Yes.”
“Isn’t it true that Mr. Atkinson told you that Mr. Turner was in front of him during the show up until Mr. Chesterfield began to demonstrate the card tricks in the act preceding the finale?”
“Yes.”
“If I have this right, the scenario you’ve put forth to explain how Mr. Turner murdered Mr. Chesterfield requires Mr. Turner to go backstage while no one is in the assistants’ dressing room so he can hide Miss Porter’s inhaler. Then he had to wait until the other assistants left the dressing room in their robes so he could knock out Miss Porter with the ether and take her place.”
“That’s correct.”
“That means Mr. Turner had to hide the inhaler during the levitation trick, because the assistants returned to the dressing room while Chesterfield was performing the card tricks. But that creates a problem for the State’s case, doesn’t it? In order for Mr. Turner to fit into your scenario, he could not have stayed in his seat until Mr. Chesterfield started performing the card tricks. If Mr. Turner didn’t leave his seat until Mr. Chesterfield began to perform the card tricks, how would he have been able to hide the inhaler? The assistants would be in the dressing room changing.”
Anders started to speak. Then she closed her mouth.
“Can you explain to Judge Washington how Mr. Turner would have time to hide the inhaler if he didn’t leave his seat until the card tricks started?” Robin pressed.
“I … We didn’t think of that.”
“That’s obvious,” Robin said. “What’s also obvious, Your Honor, is that Mr. Turner did not have time to hide the inhaler. That means that someone else did. And that person murdered Mr. Chesterfield.”
Ragland jumped to his feet. “An accomplice!” he shouted. “Turner had an accomplice. That’s who hid the inhaler.”
“Who is the accomplice?” Judge Washington asked.
“I … We … That has to be how he did it.”
Judge Washington shook her head. “You seem to be grasping at straws, Mr. Ragland. And until you can grab that straw real hard and show it to me, I’ve got to conclude that you haven’t made your case for denying this man bail.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Judge Washington and the attorneys discussed the terms of David Turner’s release. Peter Ragland insisted on a high bail, house arrest, and an electronic monitor. The judge sided with Robin, who argued that the State’s case wasn’t strong enough to warrant such stringent conditions.
Ragland maintained his composure until he finished answering the questions the reporters fired at him when he left the courtroom, but he was seething when he ran up the steps to the district attorney’s office with Anders and Dillon in tow.