The Crimson Trial: A Legal Thriller

by Freya Atwood

  Chapter 27

  The press were at the courthouse again the following morning. Kevin had called ahead, spoken to the Clerk of the Court and secured me entrance via the rear of the building. Nic bravely ran interference for me, going in through the front door to draw their attention. I was glad to reach the courtroom. I wore a dark suit today, partly because I had found that despite my efforts, I had managed to get blood on the gray suit I had worn the day before. I felt as though I had scrubbed my hands and face raw after cleaning the house, to rid myself of any residual stains.

  But in here, in this hallowed place of law, everything else fell away. I hadn’t pressed Bryan on where he had secured his drugs, or even if it had been him. His odd behavior around me being in his room was worrying me. Then there was the source of the stories being chased by the press. All of that fell away. This was my safe place. My island of comfort. Here the rules were clear. Here I was queen.

  The next witness called by the prosecution was the medical examiner. He was a white haired, well-tanned man in his fifties who wore a pastel yellow sweater with a blue open-necked shirt beneath. His accent was strongly Southern California. He read his report, confirming that Adil Khan had died as a result of a single gun shot wound which would have killed him almost instantly.

  There was nothing in the toxicology report to indicate he had been drinking or using drugs. There was nothing I wanted to question, the circumstances of Khan’s death were clear cut. Once the cause of death had been read into evidence he was dismissed and Halden called her next witness.

  That was Mike Kellag. He wore an ill-fitting suit and walked with a hunch, taking careful steps as though pained. His gray hair was slicked back which just highlighted how thin it was. He coughed as he swore his oath.

  “Mr. Kellag. It was you who called 911 on the night of May 5th.”

  “Yeah. I did.” Kellag croaked.

  “Can you tell the jury why you called 911? What prompted you to do that?” Halden asked solicitously.

  “At around ten minutes past ten, or ten fifteen maybe, I saw this guy walking along the street, Vale, coming up to the corner of Duke. I was smoking out of my window, see, just watching. I thought maybe he was going to the bar. But he turned down Duke and walked in the side door of the clinic. Then the light went on and there were three shots. And so I called 911.”

  “And do you see that man in this courtroom today, Mr. Kellag?”

  “Yeah, I see him. Right there.” Kellag pointed to Hunter, sitting beside me in his cheap suit.

  “You’re certain? It was night time. It must have been dark and you were some distance away, weren’t you?” Halden queried, looking perplexed.

  “I’m certain. I was trained to remember faces from just a short glance. And I’m not so far away, I still got good eyes. Rest of me is shot but my eyes are still good.”

  “Your training, Mr. Kellag? What training is that?” Halden again laid on the confused look pretty thick.

  “Cop training. I was a cop for almost twenty years. A detective. And I was a good one. I saw him and something made me keep looking at him. I got a hunch, see? So, I kept an eye on him and saw right where he went. Then came the shots. Then the cops turned up.”

  “Let the record show, exhibit Twenty-Three A, the permanent record of Detective Mike Kellag, Everwood Police Department.” Halden held up a sheaf of papers. “It shows an exemplary record with outstanding fitness reports from all of his Commanding Officers. Mr. Kellag was forced to take early retirement after a cancer diagnosis. No further questions, Your Honor.” Halden said, resuming her seat.

  Again Mike shifted, this time giving a grunt of pain.

  Judge Greene looked at him. “Mr. Kellag, are you in discomfort? Is there anything I can have brought to you to make you more comfortable?” He asked.

  “No, Your Honor. I can deal with it, been dealing with it for a while. As long as that young lady there doesn’t take too long.” He nodded towards me.

  I was now standing before the witness stand, waiting for the exchange to be over.

  “I sympathize, Mr. Kellag. I really do. Perhaps, your pain medication? What is it you take for the pain?”

  “Well, I don’t have any with me.”

  “I’m sure the court doctor can administer any prescription pain relief you may be on.” I persisted.

  “No, thanks. I’m OK. Just get on with it.” Kellag grumbled.

  “Objection!”

  Greene held up a hand. “Sustained.” He turned sharp, blue eyes to me. “Counselor, you know what the objection is for. What are you up to here?”

  “Mr. Kellag’s pain relief is directly relevant to his reliability as a witness, Your Honor.”

  He looked skeptical, glanced at Kellag who gave another wince. “OK, I’ll allow it. Cut to the chase.”

  “Your Honor! Please, this is a former police officer with…”

  Green waved the objection away. “Yes, yes. I know all of that. I said, I will allow it. Sit down.”

  “Mr. Kellag. Isn’t it true that you use marijuana as pain relief?” I said quietly.

  “No, no. That would be illegal.” Kellag said hastily.

  “You have just lied under oath. I was in your apartment and you admitted to me that you use marijuana as pain relief. Do you want to rethink your answer?” I persisted.

  Kellag licked his lips, gave a groan of pain. “OK, OK. I use it. It’s the only thing that helps.” He finished in mutters, but I caught the word bitch.

  “How often do you use it, Mr. Kellag?” I asked.

  “When I need it,” came the sullen reply.

  “Hourly? Daily? Weekly? Help me out here. The sooner you answer, the sooner you can get back home.”

  “Daily. But I hadn’t had any for hours when I saw Watson going into that clinic. And you can’t prove that I did!” Kellag shot back belligerently.

  “You just stated that you were at your window smoking when you saw him. Had you not been smoking, presumably you wouldn’t have been at the window in the first place.”

  “It was tobacco! OK!” Kellag shouted. “Prove otherwise!”

  “Calm down, Mr. Kellag.” Judge Greene warned. “Counselor, I believe you’ve made your point.”

  “I’m afraid I have more, Your Honor.”

  “Your honor, I don’t think I can continue without something for the pain.” Kellag coughed, a long rasping sound and then winced as he again shifted in his seat.

  Greene seemed to consider him for a moment, then came to a decision. “Yes, well. We can bring you back later if you so wish. Counselor, would you like an adjournment until Mr. Kellag is well enough to continue with cross examination?”

  “No, Your Honor. I don’t think we need to adjourn. My final question is very short, however. If I may?”

  Greene nodded his acquiescence.

  “Mr. Kellag. You heard, how many shots?”

  “Three.”

  “Then you called 911.”

  “Yes.”

  “And then the police went in.”

  “Yes.”

  “And then?”

  “Then what?”

  “How many shots did you hear then?” I said clearly and firmly.

  “Two. Like they said.”

  “What time was that?” I asked.

  “I don’t know. How do I know that?” Kellag exploded. “Jeez, how am I supposed to know? I was…” He visibly calmed himself. “I was at the window. I wasn’t looking at a clock. I don’t have a watch. But it wasn’t long after they went in.”

  “Then how do you know what time it was that you saw Hunter Watson on the street?” I asked pointedly.

  Kellag gaped. He couldn’t answer.

  “No further questions, Your Honor.” I walked back to my seat.

  The seeds were being sown. Two witnesses for the prosecution and I was confident I had undermined them both. And I hadn’t even brought out the big guns yet. I risked a glance at Halden. She was whispering furiously to one of her assista
nts. I smiled.

  Chapter 28

  Halden’s next witness was one of my biggest worries, because she was in a position to give reliable testimony about events which Hunter could not account for. It was the assault, earlier in the day, witnessed by one of Dr. Khan’s colleagues and captured on a security camera. Because Hunter couldn’t remember even carrying out the attack it was difficult for me to defend. All three of Dr. Khan’s colleagues had been present. All three had witnessed the attack.

  Halden intended to call all three. We had negotiated over that. I had asked that she limit her witnesses to just one, in exchange for which I would accept that the testimony of the other two would match. But Halden wanted the account of the assault to be drummed into the jury. To have it repeated from three people who were beyond reproach.

  And they were. Nic’s flirting had yielded some information from a female doctor but the other two had been close-mouthed. After a day of investigating their backgrounds in the smallest detail, Nic had exclaimed.

  “Jayzus! These people are in line for sainthood! God, I don’t think I’ve ever come across such a boring bunch of do-gooders in my life!”

  This could potentially erase any doubts the jurors had. I braced myself as the first of Dr. Khan’s colleagues took their place. Amy Kleinsatter was tall, athletic and blond. She looked like a Valkyrie. She had worked for Khan as a nurse and, when she wasn’t working, she was an Operating Room nurse at Everwood General. She was attractive, well-spoken and a dream witness.

  Halden began by asking her to recount the events leading up to the assault.

  “Well, I was helping Adil draw some blood and Hunter came in. There was a line of people waiting to see the doctor but he just came right in.”

  “Sorry to interrupt, Nurse Kleinsatter, but where were you and where is the waiting room? Just for clarity.” Halden asked smugly.

  “The treatment room is at the back of the old store. Just next to - ” Kleinsatter looked up, blinking away tears. “ - next to where Adil was shot. We had people wait out front before calling them through.”

  Halden nodded to one of her assistants and a diagram of the store came up on the screen. The treatment room had been circled.

  “Well, he just came through. Struck a man who tried to stop him. Pushed a woman who was in his way. I think he would have struck her too…”

  “Objection! That is conjecture. This witness cannot know what was in Hunter Watson’s mind, only what she saw him do.”

  “Sustained. If you could stick to the facts only, Miss Kleinsatter.” Greene nodded for her to continue.

  “OK.” Kleinsatter said slowly. “He came in demanding to speak to Adil. Adil got quite angry with him. Said there was nothing he could do for him. Told him he would get him help. And then…and then Hunter just jumped on him. Started hitting him, kicking him. Adil fell down and Hunter was on top of him like a wild animal. He went crazy. It took three men to get him off.”

  “And do you know why Hunter Watson launched this attack?”

  “It was about drugs. He had been pestering Adil for drugs. It pissed…sorry…it made Adil angry. He wouldn’t supply him but he was willing to help him into rehab or something. But that just made Hunter angry. He threatened to kill Adil and when he came back I thought that he would.”

  “I know this is difficult but just one more question. How did you know Hunter Watson was trying to obtain drugs from Dr. Khan, from Adil?”

  “I heard him ask for heroine. He said, I’ve heard I can score here.”

  “No further questions, Your Honor.”

  Kleinsatter looked confused. “Really? We talked about more…”

  “Thank you, Nurse Kleinsatter. I have no further questions.”

  I stood. “Nurse Kleinsatter. Why do you think Hunter Watson thought Adil Khan could supply him with drugs?”

  “Search me. He said he heard. Someone spreading rumors?” Kleinsatter shrugged, holding out her hands, the picture of innocence.

  “Do you have any reason to believe that Adil Khan was dealing drugs?”

  “No! Absolutely not!”

  “But the rumor started somewhere. No smoke without fire.”

  “Objection!”

  I was on a limb. The comment could be stricken from the record but not from the jury’s minds. It was a seed.

  “Withdrawn. Nurse Kleinsatter, it seems you had ceased working with Dr. Khan at the clinic. Why was that?”

  “It was a voluntary position. I got a job in Seattle; I couldn’t do both.”

  “There was no falling out between Dr. Khan and the other volunteers?”

  “Sometimes. We were working in close proximity and on top of our day jobs. Arguments happened.”

  “Why do you think the other two decided to quit?”

  “I have no idea. Why don’t you ask them?”

  “Objection!”

  I stopped, looking politely back at Halden and waiting patiently.

  “How is this relevant, Your Honor? I fail to see how the career choices of these medical professionals has any bearing. And I fear the defense is seeking to muck rake against the good name of Dr. Khan.”

  “Your Honor. Far from it. I wish the jury to have as complete a picture as possible of the work Dr. Khan was doing and the relationships he had. We are, after all, contending that someone else committed this crime.”

  “Do you have any evidence to bring that links the decision made by this young lady to leave the clinic to the murder of Dr. Khan?” Greene asked shrewdly.

  “Yes, your honor.”

  “Then please present it and demonstrate the relevance of this line of questioning. Objection overruled. For now.”

  I returned to my table and retrieved a sheaf of papers which I brought to Nurse Kleinsatter and presented to her.

  “I am presenting the witness with Exhibit 48a. Copies of a conversation retrieved from Dr. Khan’s Facebook account. They show public posts to Dr. Khan’s wall and subsequently deleted by him and direct messages between the two of you. Would you please read aloud the sections I have outlined on the page?”

  I took a copy of the pages handed to Kleinsatter and walked to Halden, offering them. The DA took the pages and put them on her desk without glancing at them. I nodded to Nic who projected a digital copy onto the screen for the benefit of the jury.

  “I…um…OK. I wrote. I can’t continue working with you Adil. You’re a fraud. How dare you attack my integrity after what you’ve done?!”

  “For the benefit of the court I can tell you that this message was only live for four and a half minutes before it was deleted by a user logged into Dr. Khan’s account and passing two-factor verification to do so. Facebook has confirmed they believe that user was the account holder. This seems a fair assertion. Nurse Kleinsatter, does this jog your memory?”

  “About what?”

  “Don’t.” I said sharply. “You know what I am referring to.”

  “OK, OK. Yes, there was something. Something we disagreed on and it changed my perception of him.”

  “And what was that?”

  Kleinsatter practically squirmed in her seat.

  “Jenner Franklin, that’s one of the other nurses. He found a large amount of cash in Adil’s office.”

  “Did you see this cash?”

  “Yeah. Jenner showed it to me. I was shocked.”

  “Why?”

  “Because we were supposed to be working as a nonprofit. These people who came to the clinic had nothing. And Adil had clearly been taking money from some of them!”

  That wasn’t the explanation I had wanted to hear.

  “Did he confirm that was the origin of the money?”

  “No, he told us to mind our own business. Said he had won it. Got really mad at us.”

  “And he never provided another explanation for the presence of the money?”

  “No. I wouldn’t have quit, but he was so cagey about it all. Jenner thought the same.”

  “I’ll be sure to ask him wh
en he takes the stand next.” I commented, drily. “No further questions, Your Honor.” I returned to my seat.

  Chapter 29

  Jenner Franklin was called next. He was tall and athletic in build, with short dark hair and a handsome face. As he took the oath I noticed more than one look cast in my direction and wondered if he was waiting to say something particular under my cross-examination. Halden approached with the air of a shark sensing blood in the water.