by Parnell Hall
“Tell me, lieutenant. When did you mark your initials on the guns.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“When did you do it? Relative to the time you found the guns. When did you mark your initials?”
“I did it there at the scene of the crime.”
“The scene of the crime?”
“That’s right.”
Steve smiled. “But the gun, People’s Exhibit Four, wasn’t found at the scene of the crime. At least, according to your testimony.”
“By the scene of the crime I am referring to the Timberlaine mansion.”
“I see,” Steve said. “Well, that alters the time frame, lieutenant. You were at the Timberlaine mansion most of the night. I’m wondering when you marked your initials on the guns. By your testimony, it could have been as late as six A.M. the morning after the murder.”
“It was not,” Lieutenant Sanders said. “It was early in the evening, shortly after I arrived at the mansion.”
“Shortly after? And how short might that be?”
“Within a reasonable amount of time.”
“Our definitions of reasonable may differ, lieutenant. Let’s be specific. Referring to the gun, People’s Exhibit Three. How soon after you found that gun did you mark your initials on it?”
“I can’t give it to you in minutes.”
“I didn’t think you could, lieutenant. But let’s get at it another way. I notice you marked this gun, L.S. dash one. Is that right?”
“Yes, I did.”
“Well, obviously there would be no need to do that, lieutenant, unless there was an L.S. dash two. Am I correct in assuming you did not mark the gun, People’s Exhibit Three, until after you had found the gun, People’s Exhibit Four?”
Lieutenant Sanders took a breath. “That is correct.”
“Really? And why is that, lieutenant?”
“It was only after the second gun came into the picture that marking the first gun became particularly important. Also, it was not possible to mark the first gun, People’s Exhibit Three, until after the Crime Scene Unit had finished examining it for fingerprints.”
“I see,” Steve said. “So it was after you had taken possession of the second gun that you returned and marked your initials on the first gun. Is that right?”
“Yes, it is.”
“You marked the second gun first?”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Well, lieutenant. It was after you found the second gun that you decided to mark the first. I wonder if before you returned to mark the first gun that the Crime Scene Unit was processing for fingerprints, you first marked the initials L.S. dash two on the second gun that you had recovered?”
“No, I did not.”
“You did not?”
“No.”
“And why is that?”
“For one thing, the second gun had to be processed for fingerprints.”
“I see. So what did you do with it?”
“I placed it in an evidence bag, marked and labeled it and turned it over to the Crime Scene Unit.”
“The same Crime Scene Unit that processed the first gun?”
“That’s right.”
“It was this Crime Scene Unit that returned to you a gun that you subsequently marked L.S. dash one?”
“That is correct.”
Steve smiled. “Well, lieutenant. If I understand your testimony correctly, you turned two guns over to the Crime Scene Unit, they gave one of them back to you and you marked that L.S. dash one?”
“Objection.”
“Sustained.”
Steve smiled again. “Lieutenant, how many guns did you give to the Crime Scene Unit?”
“Two.”
“Did the Crime Scene Unit give one of those guns back to you?”
“They gave both of them back to me.”
“At the same time?”
“No.”
“They gave one gun back to you first?”
“That’s correct.”
“Was this after you had given them both guns?”
Lieutenant Sanders took a breath. “It was at approximately the same time. In other words, I delivered to the Crime Scene Unit the second weapon, which I had recovered from Russ Timberlaine’s bedroom. I gave it to them in a sealed evidence bag with my name on it. At the same time I got back from them the first weapon that I had given them—the gun that was found next to the body.”
“You say at the same time, but the fact is you gave them the second weapon first?”
“As I recall, I gave them the second weapon first. But it was within a matter of minutes.”
“Minutes, seconds or days, the fact is you gave it to them first?”
“Yes, I did.”
“Thank you, lieutenant. Now let me ask you this: when the Crime Scene Unit gave you this gun—the one that you have marked with the initials L.S. dash one—how did you know it was the same gun that you had given them earlier that evening, the gun that you had found next to the body of the deceased Jack Potter?”
Lieutenant Sanders took a breath. “If you insist that we reconstruct the chain of custody with regard to that gun, I am sure it can be done. I am testifying to the best of my ability and my testimony is based on allegation and belief. The gun appeared in every aspect to be the gun that I gave to the Crime Scene Unit, down to the filed off serial number and the R carved in the handle.”
“How do you distinguish it from the other gun, the one you found on Russ Timberlaine’s bedside table, the other gun you had given to the Crime Scene Unit?”
“I had just given them that gun. It was still in the bag. They had not even begun to process it for fingerprints yet.”
“I understand your contention, lieutenant. But if the Crime Scene Unit had made a mistake and given you back the wrong gun, you would have no way to tell the difference, would you?”
“Objection, Your Honor.”
“Overruled.”
“Would you, lieutenant?”
Lieutenant Sanders took a breath, blew it out again. “No, I would not.”
Steve smiled. “Thank you, lieutenant. That’s all.” There was no redirect, and Lieutenant Sanders left the stand. As he did, Steve smiled in satisfaction and under his breath he murmured, “Keep your eyes on the gun.”
29.
WHEN COURT RECONVENED AFTER lunch, Vaulding called Philip Manning, a ballistics expert with fifteen years experience on the force. Vaulding took his time qualifying him as an expert, taking pains to lay out the man’s credentials, which were impressive. When he was finally finished, he turned to the exhibits.
“Now, Mr. Manning,” Vaulding said. “I hand you a gun marked People’s Exhibit Four and ask you if you’ve ever seen it before?”
“Yes, I have.”
“And how do you recognize it?”
“By the initials L.S. dash two scratched on the handle.”
“What kind of a gun is it?”
“It is a Colt .45 revolver. The initial R has been carved in the handle and the serial number has been filed off.”
“Thank you. Tell me, Mr. Manning, did you ever fire test bullets through this gun?”
“Yes, I did.”
“I hand you a bullet marked for identification People’s Exhibit One and ask you if you recognize it?”
“Yes, I do.”
“What do you recognize it to be?”
“That is a bullet with which I compared test bullets that I fired from this gun.”
“You compared the bullet, People’s Exhibit One, with bullets fired from the gun, People’s Exhibit Four?”
“Yes, I did.”
“With what result?”
“The bullets matched.”
“Can you tell us what you mean by matched?”
“Yes. By that I mean in my professional opinion as a ballistics expert, the bullets came from the same gun.”
“It is your professional opinion that the gun, People’s Exhibit Four, fired the bullet, People’s Exhibit
One?”
“Yes. That is correct.”
Vaulding smiled. “Thank you. No further questions.”
Steve Winslow frowned. As he stood up to cross-examine, he was aware of Vaulding’s eyes on him. He hesitated a moment.
“Does the defense wish to cross-examine?” Judge Hendrick prompted.
Steve Winslow took a breath. “Frankly, Your Honor, I’m not sure.”
That produced a murmur of surprise in the courtroom.
Judge Hendrick frowned. “Mr. Winslow?”
“I’m sorry, Your Honor,” Steve said. “But the fact is, the trial has progressed rather rapidly to this point. Some of the testimony that we have taken today I have not yet sorted out in my mind. For that reason, with regard to Mr. Manning’s ballistics testimony I am not certain that I am fully prepared to cross-examine at this moment. I would like some time to think it over and prepare. I am therefore requesting an adjournment until tomorrow.”
“I see,” Judge Hendrick said. “That is a frank statement, and the trial has progressed rapidly. I’d be inclined to grant that request. Unless the prosecutor has some objection. Mr. Vaulding?”
As Vaulding hesitated, his dilemma was clear. An adjournment clearly did not fit in with his plans, but with Judge Hendrick deeming the request reasonable, Vaulding didn’t want to seem unreasonable in objecting to it. Instead, he smiled and put on a good face. “No objection, Your Honor,” he said. “I quite understand counsel’s need to prepare.”
“Very well,” Judge Hendrick said. “Court’s adjourned until tomorrow morning at ten o’clock.”
30.
“DOUBLE-THINK.”
“What?”
Steve and Tracy had driven back to the office to pick up the mail and check the answering machine. At least, ostensively to do that. Actually the answering-machine messages could be picked up from any touch-tone phone and there was never any mail. Steve just needed to touch base. He was sitting tilted back in his desk chair with his feet up and his eyes closed, a position he often assumed during a case when he needed to think something out.
“Double-think,” he repeated. He opened his eyes, shook his head. “That’s the problem with this damn case. I keep second-guessing myself.”
“Why?”
“Vaulding. Vaulding, of course. He’s young, he’s smart, he’s aggressive. He’s not going to make any stupid moves.”
“So?”
“So everything he does I’m second-guessing him. Which means I’m second-guessing myself. And the result is I drive myself crazy.”
“Be specific,” Tracy said. She was having a hard time containing herself. Steve had refused to discuss anything during the car ride, and she was bursting to know what was up.
“O.K.,” Steve said. “Take the witness. Manning. The ballistics expert. I stood up in court and said I didn’t know if I wanted to cross-examine him. Did you think that was a ploy?”
“I didn’t know what to think.”
“That’s the problem. Neither do I. It’s no ploy. It’s the straight goods. Frankly, I don’t know.”
“Why?”
“I told you why. Vaulding. Now, Dirkson I could handle. I know him, and I know what to expect. But this guy. I don’t know what his game is and I don’t know what’s what.”
Tracy nodded. “The thing with the doctor got you spooked.”
Steve looked at her, then nodded too. “A little. I make a big stink, recall the doctor, get him to bring his photographs. What do I prove? Nothing. The jury gets an eyeful of gore and yours truly strikes out. I got to admit, that got me rattled.
“The kicker is Vaulding. I don’t know if he did it on purpose. If he’s really that good. I don’t know if he said to himself, ‘I’m not gonna have the doctor introduce the pictures, I’ll make Winslow ask for ’em so he’s the one who brings ’em out and hangs his own client.’”
“You think he did?”
“I don’t know. It’s double-think. First I think that, then I think, no. He left out the pictures because he didn’t want me to see the blow on the head.”
“But was the blow that important?”
Steve threw up his hands. “That’s the thing. This doctor says it isn’t. Vaulding acts as if it isn’t. How the hell should I know? Is Vaulding playing it straight or not? On the other hand, is Vaulding double-thinking me? Is he saying, ‘This blow to the head is totally unimportant, but let that son of a bitch Winslow get a hold of it, he’ll blow it out of all proportion and make a federal case out of it. So I gotta keep the pictures out.’” Steve looked at Tracy, shook his head. “You see what I mean? I think the thing around in a big circle and come back to where I started.”
“Right,” Tracy said. “So the ballistics expert?”
“Same thing. Vaulding doesn’t bring out the evidence. All he does is have the guy give his opinion as an expert that the bullet came from that gun. He leaves it to me to bring out the evidence. And I have to ask why? Is it because the evidence is conclusive so he wants me to bring it out so I’ll crucify my own client? Or is it because there’s a defect in the evidence that he wants to cover up? Or if not a defect, at least a side issue, something he thinks I’ll pick up on and make a big deal about like the blow on the head.”
“And there again, is it because he thinks it’s important, or because he thinks I’ll try to make it important?”
Tracy shook her head. “Jesus Christ.”
“Yeah, and it gets worse. There’s this goddamned file. That’s the other pitfall here. The minute I start cross-examining this guy on his identification of the bullet, he’s going to tell me how hard it was to get a match because someone had tampered with the gun barrel. There I’ll be, schmuck-of-the-month again, because as soon as that happens, for his next witness Vaulding will call the police officer who searched Timberlaine’s room and found the file.”
“Right,” Tracy said. “But you know that’s going to happen sooner or later.”
“Yeah, but in the eyes of the jury it hurts us ten times worse if I’m the one who brings it out.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah. So that’s what’s hanging me up,” Steve said. “The simple fact is, I don’t know how to play it.”
There was a pause.
“Bullshit,” Tracy said.
Steve’s head snapped up. He turned, looked at her.
Tracy had taken off her large round-framed glasses and folded them up. She stood there, tapping them into her other hand. She shook her head. “Sorry,” she said, “but I can’t buy it. The way I see it, the simple fact is you hate to lose.”
“What?”
“Come on,” Tracy said. “Give me a break. All this double-think, and should you cross-examine this guy or not, and what’s Vaulding pulling on you, and does Vaulding want you to do it or not, and the bottom line is who gives a shit? The simple fact is, you don’t like to lose. You stood up in court this morning and you took a beating. You had the doctor bring in his pictures and that should have been a victory for you, but it wasn’t, it was a defeat. And you sit back and rationalize and try to figure out why that happened, and then you say it’s because it wasn’t Dirkson it was Vaulding and you’re not sure what Vaulding’s doing so you don’t know how to play it. But the simple fact is you lost one, and you hate to lose. What’s more you’re not used to losing. So you start second-guessing yourself and the whole bit.”
Steve looked at Tracy a moment. Then he smiled. “Wow,” he said. “Do I really do all that?”
“It’s not funny,” Tracy said. “You got a duty to your client. Now you may think all this agonizing you’re going through is trying to figure out what your duty to your client is, but it’s not. It’s counterproductive.”
“Say you’re right,” Steve said. “So what should I do?”
“First off, stop second-guessing Vaulding. The hell with him. Who the hell cares what Vaulding wants you to do?”
“That’s the first thing? What’s the second?”
“This balli
stics expert?”
“Yeah. What about him?”
“Rip his can off.”
31.
JUDGE HENDRICK PEERED DOWN from the bench. “Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, when we left off yesterday the witness, Mr. Manning, was on the stand and had just completed his direct examination. We adjourned so the defense could consider if it wished to cross-examine. Mr. Winslow, are you prepared to proceed?”
“Yes, Your Honor.”
“Do you intend to cross-examine the witness?”
“I have one or two questions, Your Honor,” Steve said. He approached the witness stand. “Mr. Manning, you testified yesterday that the bullet, People’s Exhibit One, came from the gun, People’s Exhibit Four, is that correct?”
“Yes, it is.”
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but you reached that opinion by comparing the bullet, People’s Exhibit One, with test bullets fired from the gun, People’s Exhibit Four?”
“That is correct.”
“Could you describe that procedure for us?”
“Certainly,” Manning said. “I examined the bullets under a comparison microscope.”
“For the benefit of the jurors, just what is that?”
“It is a microscope on which two bullets can be magnified and compared at the same time.”
Steve smiled. “As one might expect, Mr. Manning. Can you give us a bit more information than that? For instance, just what is it that you are comparing on these bullets?”
“The rifling marks.”
“Rifling marks?”
“Yes. The scratches on the bullet made from the barrel of the gun.”
“Now we’re coming to it, Mr. Manning. Would you tell us please about these rifling marks?”
“Certainly.” Manning turned to the jury. “The barrel of each gun has its own individual scratches and imperfections. As the bullet travels through the gun barrel, these markings are etched onto the surface of the bullet. And each barrel is unique—that is to say, the markings on no two gun barrels are exactly the same. So by observing the markings on a bullet, it is possible to tell what gun it was fired from.”