A Killing in the Valley

by JF Freedman

  Tyler nodded nervously. “It’s what I told you, that’s right.” He looked off again, toward Steven. “But it wasn’t what happened.”

  “What wasn’t what happened?” Alex asked menacingly. He looked like he was going to strangle his own witness.

  “The gate,” Tyler answered. “I was confused about it.”

  “Confused?” Alex practically shouted at him. “What were you confused about?”

  “About the sequence of the gate being locked and unlocked,” Tyler said defensively. “What happened was, when the detectives were questioning us, I was thinking about the gate, and how it was when we got there, which was locked, and I got that confused with later on, when we left.”

  “You were confused,” Alex said icily.

  “At the sequence.”

  Alex left the podium and strode toward Tyler, until he was standing practically nose to nose in front of him. “Three separate times you told the detectives the gate had been locked. Not once, not twice, but three times. How could you have been confused every one of those times?” he demanded.

  “It was a hostile environment in there,” Tyler erupted. “Steven and I came to help them out, and as soon as we walked into the station they treated us like we’d done something wrong. Like we had something to do with that girl being killed, just because we were where the body was found. Those detectives weren’t friendly with us, they were pushing us, hard. I started to get nervous, so I said something off the top of my head that wasn’t true.” He sat up straight in the chair and looked behind him, at Judge Martindale. “I’ve been going over and over this in my head. And I finally remembered what the truth was.” He turned back to Alex, who was holding onto the sides of the podium, looking like he’d been poleaxed. “The gate was open when we left, and it was open when we returned.”

  Alex pulled himself together and finished his interrogation. He badgered Tyler into admitting that they had smoked marijuana when they got back to the house. Then he brought up the murder weapon, and Steven’s account of how his fingerprints had gotten on it. On this point, Tyler was more helpful; or at least, less destructive. It had been dark inside the house when they returned. He hadn’t seen a gun, so he could not have seen Steven pick it up and put it in the gun case. They had slept outside, and hadn’t noticed anyone coming or going that night or the following morning.

  Luke practically floated to the podium. “I only have a few questions for this witness,” he told Judge Martindale. Turning to Tyler, he asked, “You spent the night sleeping outside the old ranch house?”

  Tyler nodded. “Yes.”

  “No more than a quarter mile from where the murdered girl was later found,” Luke reminded the courtroom. “Did Steven exhibit any anxiety that night while you were camped out? Any nervousness?” The implication being that a man who killed someone and dumped her body practically right next to them would not be calm and placid.

  “No,” Tyler answered. “He was easy and relaxed. His usual self.”

  Luke nodded. “Going back earlier. When you returned to the ranch that night, was the security gate locked, or open?”

  “It was open.”

  “There’s no doubt in your mind.”

  “No,” Tyler answered firmly. “None at all. It was open.”

  “No further questions.”

  Luke turned and walked back to the defense table. For the first time since the trial had begun, Steven was smiling. Before he sat down, he looked past Steven to the family. The parents seemed less anxious than they normally were, but they were still tense. Juanita, sitting next to her son, was beaming.

  Kate was both ecstatic and bewildered. “Where the hell did that come from?”

  “Who knows?” Luke replied. He had been as surprised as anyone. “Maybe it’s like Tyler said it was. He felt he was under pressure and told them what he thought they wanted to hear. Or he made an honest mistake and figured it out.” He twirled his pencil between his fingers. “I could give a shit less,” he said happily. “It was a coup of humongous proportions, that’s what matters.”

  They were in his office. Court was adjourned for the day. Steven had gone off with his grandmother and his parents to have dinner. It wouldn’t be a celebratory meal—it was too early for that—but the food would taste damn good, of that Luke was sure.

  Kate flopped down on his couch. She shook her head as if she was suffering from tinnitus. “But look,” she said. “Months later, I went out to see Tyler in Tucson. When I was interviewing all those people.”

  “Right.” He waited. “So?”

  “He wasn’t in a hostile environment with me—we’re on Steven’s side. I asked him, again. Was the gate open, or locked. And he couldn’t swear it was open, which he wanted to do, believe me! He wanted to protect Steven, but his conscience wouldn’t let him. He told me that his best recollection was that it was locked.” She stared at Luke. “Why would he say that then, and change his mind now, at the eleventh hour and fifty-ninth minute?” She shook her head again. “It doesn’t feel right to me, Luke.”

  He knew she was right. Now that the euphoria had blown off, he could see there was something wrong about this. He hadn’t been there when Kate talked to Tyler, so he had to go by what she told him, but that was golden, as far as he was concerned.

  “What do you want me to do about it?” he asked her. “Do you think he lied?”

  “To help Steven?” she conjectured. “Could be. They are best of friends. And he wasn’t certain, either way.” She hesitated. “But my clear memory was that he was leaning toward locked, and let Steven convince him it was open.”

  Luke tossed the pencil onto his desk. “If it turns out there’s a problem, it’ll be Alex’s, not ours. He was their witness, thank God.”

  “The witness from Hell,” Kate said.

  Luke smiled. “Or from Heaven, depending on where you’re sitting.”

  33

  OVER THE WEEKEND THE rains moved on, and the skies cleared. Monday sailed in crisp and clear.

  Luke got to the courthouse an hour early. The courtroom, located on the second floor, was empty. He sat at the defense table, waiting to begin presenting his case. He loved being here. This was his church, his shrine. Except for being with his family, he was more at home here, more centered, more invigorated, than anywhere else on earth.

  On Friday, the day after Tyler threw his Molotov cocktail into the proceedings, Alex had brought in more forensic experts to try to counter the damage Tyler had done to their case. They had hit hard on Steven McCoy’s fingerprints being on the murder weapon. And on that note the prosecution had rested, pending rebuttal.

  Now it was his turn. He was primed, ready to go. A few early arrivals straggled into the room. He got up and walked into the hallway. When Steven arrived they would go off together by themselves. Luke would deliver a pep talk, and instruct Steven on his courtroom demeanor. Then they would enter the arena together.

  Kate Blanchard came up the wide tile stairway and walked toward him. Sophia was with her. She looked like a woman today, not a girl. The change comes fast, Luke thought. Sophia was ahead of schedule—it usually didn’t kick in until college, when the parental ties were cut. But he knew the history of the Blanchard women. Sophia had been self-reliant for long time.

  Kate was proud of her daughter, it radiated from her whenever the two were together. And she was scared shitless of her daughter’s sudden maturity; that, too, was obvious. In a few months Sophia would be off to college, and Kate would be on her own again. He wondered if she’d be lonely. Some of the time, probably; everyone in her situation was. She was so independent, that was the problem. She had never learned you can be independent and still be in a deep and loving relationship. Some people could never build that bridge. He hoped, as a friend, that she wasn’t one of them.

  “It’s a beautiful morning,” Kate sang out. “Ready to take names and kick ass?”

  “Gonna try.” He smiled at Sophia. “How come you’re here?” he asked pleasantl
y.

  “We’re off school for three days of teachers’ conferences, so I decided to come and watch,” she answered. “Is that all right?”

  “It’s fine. I’m sure Steven will be happy to see you. The more supporters in his corner, the stronger he’ll feel.”

  Sophia colored. “He won’t even notice me.”

  Like hell he won’t, Luke thought. He could practically smell the pheromones coming off her. How could Kate not know?

  Or maybe she does, was his next thought. Either way, it was none of his business, other than how it affected the trial. Once it was over (assuming they won), the two of them could do whatever they wanted. He would be finished with Steven, and Sophia would be Kate’s problem.

  The elevator doors opened at the other end of the corridor. Juanita, looking jaunty, came out first, followed by Steven’s parents, and then the star attraction himself. He had gotten his hair cut over the weekend and was wearing a conservative suit, shirt, and tie that Riva had picked out for him at the Men’s Wearhouse in the mall. They walked down the long hallway toward Luke and the Blanchard women.

  Luke nudged Kate. “You and Sophia go inside and grab good seats. I need a few minutes alone with Steven.”

  She nodded. “Come on,” she said to Sophia.

  Sophia was looking off, toward Steven. He had been talking to his grandmother, their heads huddled together. When he looked up and saw her, he stopped. Juanita looked off, also. She gave them all a big smile. Then she turned and said something to her grandson, who nodded distractedly.

  “Go inside,” Luke urged Kate.

  Kate nodded. “Follow me,” she told her daughter, who was rooted to the floor. Kate took her by the arm and gently but forcefully led her away.

  Luke approached the McCoys. “Go get your seats,” he told Steven’s parents. “Steven and I need some private time.”

  Juanita leaned up and kissed Steven on the cheek. “Good luck,” she said cheerfully. She was on the defense witness list, so she couldn’t be in court during this part of the trial until after she testified. “I’ll see you over lunch.” She turned and walked away. Steven’s mother and father pushed in through the heavy door.

  “What’s Sophia doing here?” Steven asked Luke, once they were alone.

  “She’s off school, so she came to see the trial. Is that a problem?”

  “I thought you didn’t want me seeing her. Us seeing each other.”

  “You know what I meant. This is different. It’s public.”

  Steven cocked an eyebrow. “I hope she behaves herself.”

  Luke gave him a dark look. “She’s not the one who’s on trial for her life. It’s you I’m worried about.”

  “I’ll take care of me,” Steven assured Luke. “I promised you I’d stay away from her until this was over.” He gave Luke a flat stare. “I keep my promises.”

  Luke stood at the podium. He gave Tina a reassuring smile. “Please state your name, for the record.”

  “Tina Ayala.”

  “How old are you, Tina?”

  “Eighteen,” she answered quietly.

  Judge Martindale leaned over. “You’ll have to speak up, so the court reporter and the jurors can hear you clearly.”

  She nodded and cleared her throat. “Eighteen,” she said, raising her voice a notch.

  Tina’s citizenship status had been rendered a nonissue. When Luke had turned over his witness list he’d told Alex and Elise that one of his potentials was undocumented. If that was going to be a problem, they should let him know now and he’d drop her, even at the risk of weakening his case—he didn’t want to put her at jeopardy. Alex, to his credit, had given his word that the matter wouldn’t come up as long as she wasn’t on the Justice Department’s watch list, and as long as she was truthful. Luke assured him she was clean, had no gang ties, no vendettas to settle.

  Even with this reassurance, convincing Tina to come forward publicly had been a hard sell. Luke explained to her and her parents that she could be subpoenaed as a hostile witness and compelled to testify, but that would make things worse for them. He would have to tell the judge why she was a hostile witness, and then the INS might find out. If she came forward voluntarily, she would be protected.

  They had no choice, and besides, her father wanted her to testify. It was what a real American would do.

  Still, she was painfully nervous. She had never been in a courtroom, much less testified in a trial. All her fears of the police roiled in her mind.

  Calmly, Luke led her through the sequence of her time together with Maria Estrada: how Maria had met two college boys over lunch, had asked Tina to be the fourth, so they’d be matched up, boy-girl, how Maria had snuck off so she wouldn’t be seen with the boys, who were unknown to her friends.

  “We drove up to Franceschi Park, on the Riviera,” Tina recalled. “I was paired off with one of the boys. Maria went ahead of us with the other one.”

  Luke crossed the front of the room to the evidence table, picked up two eight-by-ten photographs, and brought them over to Tina.

  “Defense exhibits eleven and twelve,” he stated.

  Judge Martindale nodded and looked through his evidence book. Alex and Elise, at their table, did the same.

  Luke handed the pictures to Tina. “Do you recognize either of these men?” he asked.

  She looked at them. “Yes.”

  “Are these the two boys you were with?”

  Another “Yes.”

  “You have no doubts about that.”

  “No,” she said without hesitation. “It’s them.”

  Luke stepped back. “I want you to look over at the defense table,” he told Tina. Turning to Steven, he called, “Would you please rise, Mr. McCoy?”

  Steven got up, buttoning the middle button of his new suit coat. He looked toward Tina. Luke paused momentarily, so the room could feel the weight of witness and defendant looking at each other. Then he asked Tina, “Is the defendant in this case either of the two men who were with you and Maria Estrada that day?”

  She shook her head. “No.”

  “Are you positive?”

  “Yes,” she answered firmly. “He wasn’t with us.”

  “Until this morning, had you ever seen this man before?”

  “I saw his picture in the paper,” Tina said.

  “Have you ever seen him in person?”

  “No,” she told him. “I haven’t.”

  “Thank you.” Luke looked at Steven. “You may be seated, Mr. McCoy.”

  Steven sat down. Luke handed the photographs up to Martindale. “The names of these two men are Jeremy Musgrove and Peter Baumgartner, as noted on the record. They’re on our witness list.”

  He had given his witness list to the prosecution a month ago, the latest he could turn it in. He assumed Alex’s office had done background checks, but he didn’t think they had known of the specific connection between the boys and Maria Estrada. Although Peter and Angela Baumgartner would have to be subpoenaed as hostile witnesses, Jeremy was testifying voluntarily, and Luke had had numerous sessions with him. Jeremy hadn’t been formally approached by anyone from the prosecution side, so Luke hoped that was the case with Peter and Angela as well.

  He turned back to Tina. “At any time when you were with Maria Estrada, did she indicate that she was willing to engage in sexual activity with either of the men who drove with you to Franceschi Park?”

  Alex jumped up. “Objection, your honor. Calls for speculation.”

  “Sustained,” Martindale agreed. “Rephrase your question, counselor.”

  Luke looked at the jurors, then back at Tina again. “Did you hear her say that she was willing to have sex with both or either of these men you identified in the photos, and if she did, what was it she said, as best as you can recall.”

  Tina flushed red. “She said…” She stopped.

  “Finish your answer,” Martindale instructed her. “Use the exact words that were said, no matter how graphic. We understand th
ey won’t be your words, that you’re repeating what you heard.”

  She swallowed and licked her lips, which were bone-dry. In a small voice, she quoted, “‘If the shit is as good as you say it is, I’ll give you the best blow job you’ve ever had.’” Her face turned a darker shade of red. She ducked her head.

  “By shit, did she mean marijuana?”

  “Yes,” Tina peeped.

  “She said this to the boy she was with? The one who called himself Tom?”

  Tina nodded. She kept her head down. Judge Martindale leaned toward her. “You’ll have to speak your answer,” he told her sympathetically. “I know it’s difficult, but you have to say these things, for the record.”

  Tina, looking miserable, nodded. “Yes,” she answered. “That boy.”

  “Was there anything else?”

  Another tortured nod. “Later, when we got up there, they were going to have sex. She told him to put on a rubber, so she wouldn’t have a baby.”

  “That was her reason?” Luke asked. “So she wouldn’t have a baby?”

  “Yes. She said she’d already had to get rid of one, she didn’t want to have to do that again. That they had to use protection, because it was the wrong time of the month for her to have unprotected sex.”

  A low buzz hummed in the courtroom. Luke let it build for a moment before he continued. “Then what happened?”

  “He had left them in his car, so he went to get one. That’s when I decided I had to get out of there.”

  “Because you were too embarrassed?”

  “Yes, and because I couldn’t do that with the one I was with.”

  “The other man whose picture I showed you.”

  “Yes.” She looked up at the judge. “I didn’t want to do anything, your honor. Not just the sex part, but the drugs, too. I don’t do those things.”

  “That’s good to hear,” Martindale told her. “Keep going,” he instructed Luke as he stared at Tina.

  “Then what happened?” Luke asked.

  “They drove us back into town.”

  “They drove you straight back into town? No stops along the way?”