Act Normal, A Stan Turner Mystery Vol 9

by William Manchee

starting to pile up."

  "It's all circumstantial. Garcia can't prove anything. No, I think the best thing to do is to ignore him and anybody who picks up on his story."

  Paula signed. "Okay. I'll tell Ramona you have no comment."

  "No, that sounds like we're hiding something. Tell her I think it’s all a bunch of garbage and not worth talking about. Tell her I'm surprised she'd believe anything printed in the Globe Enquirer."

  "Got it," Paula said. "I hope it works."

  I smiled. "It will. Don't worry."

  Paula looked at Tehra and then back at me. "Are you two coming back to the office," she asked, "or are you going to stay here together in the apartment all day?"

  "We'll be back after lunch," I said evenly.

  Paula looked over at Tehra again. Her eyes narrowed. "Tehra, are you gaining weight?"

  My heart sank. Was she already showing?

  "Ah, I suppose so. I’ve always had to watch my weight. I'm going to have to join a health club, I guess."

  After Paula had left I asked Tehra if she thought Paula might have figured out she was pregnant.

  "No. I don't think so. I've only gained three pounds. She couldn't possibly know."

  I raised my eyebrows. "I hope not. That would certainly complicate matters."

  When we got back to the office there were lots of stares but nobody said anything to us. On my desk was a stack of phone messages from reporters and producers from local TV stations. I ripped them up and threw them in the waste basket. It was time to get back to work. The last thing we needed right now was a major distraction.

 

  40

  The Brown Trial

  Paula Waters

  It wasn't long after we'd sent out our subpoenas to Stout and his security team that we received an angry telephone call. Since the Texas criminal court only had subpoena power for a hundred-mile radius of the courthouse, we had to wait for our witnesses to come to Dallas in order to serve them. We'd got wind that they were coming to town for a meeting with EDC, one of Almatech's vendors. As they got off the plane just two days before the trial, each of them had been served by a Dallas Sheriff's deputy.

  "Is this Paula Waters?" the voice asked curtly.

  "Yes, it is. Who's this?"

  "Carlton Stover’s. I'm general counsel for Almatech Life Systems, Inc."

  "Oh, yes. You must be calling about the subpoenas."

  "Indeed I am. What could you possibly want with Mr. Stout and his security personnel?"

  That was a fair question but I was afraid to answer it as it would telescope our trial strategy. If I didn't answer it, however, Stover’s would go straight to the DA and get him all curious about what we were up to. I had to come up with something plausible, yet not alarm them.

  "Well, I'm afraid I can't discuss that other than to say that each of these witnesses arrived in Dallas a day or two before the Brown murders. Since they travel in the same circles as Mr. Brown, we know their paths crossed. We believe they may have some relevant information about the murders."

  "You're going to detain them for several days hoping they might know something that would help your client?"

  "It's more than hope. We're pretty confident they do know something."

  "Why don't I make them available to you this afternoon? You'll see that they know nothing and they can be on their way."

  "That is very kind of you, but it's too close to trial to do that. I need every minute for to get ready."

  "Do you realize how much it will cost Almatech to have its chairman held up for a week?"

  "No, but I suspect Mr. Stout can conduct his business from his hotel room for a week without much trouble. If you will agree to produce him within 30 minutes of my phone call, I won't insist that he sit outside the courtroom for the duration of the trial."

  "I'm going to make some phone calls. This is ridiculous. Mr. Stout is not going to be held hostage here for a week."

  We expected jury selection to take just a few days and the prosecution's case in chief almost a week. That would mean Stout and his men would have been detained more than ten days before we could even call them for the trial. I knew by reputation Stout wasn't a patient man and I didn't want to have to fight a major battle with him before the real trial even began, so I offered a compromise.

  "Listen, I'll tell you what I'll agree to. If Mr. Stout and his men show up in court the first day, I'll have them sworn in and they can leave town as long as they agree to be back on 24 hours’ notice."

  Stovers didn't immediately reply, but after a moment he said, "Well, that's certainly a more reasonable proposal. I'll talk to Mr. Stout and see if he can live with it."

  "Good. If they get to court by 8:45 a.m. I'll have them out of there by nine."

  I wasn't worried about Stout and his men not showing up. Being a man who lived off of government contracts, he couldn't afford to have an arrest warrant out for him for contempt of court. But if he did decide to blow it off, it wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing. I could introduce all the evidence against Stout and Almatech and then point out that they decided to run rather than answer the charges. A jury might just draw some interesting conclusions from that.

  Before the November 11th trial was set to begin, we spent the weekend discussing prosecution witnesses, probing the weaknesses in the prosecution's case, preparing Stanley to testify, if need be, and going over every piece of evidence we knew would be tendered at trial. Paul and his men concentrated on making sure all of our witnesses had been served and would be in the courtroom by eight-thirty Monday morning. At eleven o'clock the night before the trial was to begin, I was still working on my trial outline. I couldn't decide in what order to call my witnesses. When Bart walked by on his way to the kitchen I asked him about it.

  "Do you think I should call Stanley first or last?"

  Bart thought a moment. "I don't know. I suppose you should get his testimony out of the way in the beginning. He can deny any involvement and then you can concentrate on our alternate theory."

  "But if Francis rips him a part in cross examination the jury may not listen to our alternate theory."

  "True. I suppose you could put on our other witnesses and see how it goes. If you feel confident that you've created reasonable doubt, then you won't need Stanley to testify."

  "Right," I said.

  "But if our theory doesn't go over that well, then you can call Stanley and hope he's convincing."

  "How will I know how well it's going? We can't talk to the jurors," I asked.

  "Maybe we should hire some mock jurors to sit in the gallery. We can question them at the end of each day to get their impressions on how your case is going."

  "That's a good idea. Will you take care of that for me?"

  "Sure, I'll get right on it."

  "Thanks."

  When I looked out my front window Monday morning, it was raining. The DJ on the radio indicated the temperature was 42 degrees. I hated cold weather as it was hard to dress for court. It would be cold on the drive in, but the courtroom would be warm once I got there. Bart brought me a cup of coffee and handed it to me as I was trying to decide what outfit to wear. A grey wool skirt and a fancy white blouse finally won out. Bart wore a grey suit and dark blue tie.

  A mob of reporters met us as we entered the courthouse from the parking garage. Bart led the way through the throng responding with a curt "no comment" to any questions that were thrown out. Soon we were in the elevator and ascending to the sixth floor.

  "Are you as nervous as I am?" I asked.

  "No," Bart replied. "Second chair's a piece cake compared to your job."

  I sighed. "Yeah, you've got that right."

  Walter Stanley was already seated at the defense table when we entered the courtroom. He greeted us with an enthusiastic smile. Richard Francis and his assistant were conversing with Detective Rhodes in front of the bench. I nodded when our eyes met. I looked around automatically looking for Stan, but I knew he wouldn't be the
re. It didn't make sense to have three attorneys tied up on one case, particularly when Stan had his own cases to get ready for trial. If I needed him, though, he said he'd be there in a heartbeat. I didn't think I would, but it was nice to know he was waiting in the wings if needed.

  At 8:30 a.m. the judge took the bench and we started the jury selection process. Richard Francis began by telling the jury panel about the case and then spent the entire day meticulously questioning each member about their lives, past experiences, prejudices, and knowledge of the case. It wasn't until afternoon on Tuesday that he finally turned the lectern over to me. As he had already done a thorough job, I didn't spend much time with any particular juror, but just chatted a while about the case, the burden of proof, and what was expected of the jury. My objective was simply to establish a little rapport with each juror, so when the testimony began they would listen attentively to what I had to say. It was around three on Tuesday afternoon after the permanent jury had been seated that Richard Francis began his opening statement.

  "Ladies and gentlemen of the jury. We are gathered here today because of a horrible tragedy that occurred on August 9th—a fire that took the lives of an entire family while they slept peacefully in their beds. Curtis Brown was a father, a husband, and an internationally renowned scientist for the Technology Institute. Gladys Brown, his devoted wife and his three young children also died in that same quickly spreading fire that we will show was deliberately set by the defendant, Walter Stanley.

  "Why would Mr. Stanley, a neighbor and fellow member of the Collin Common's