Act Normal, A Stan Turner Mystery Vol 9

by William Manchee

word with you."

  He shook his head. "I don't have time right now. I've got to get to work."

  "Do you usually take a suitcase to work?"

  "I told you, I don't have anything to say."

  As he opened the door and slid in behind the steering wheel I motioned to Jeb.

  "Wait one minute," I said. "I've got something for you."

  Tim frowned and when he saw Jeb he tried to close the door, but I had a hand on it. Jeb thrust the subpoena into the car and dropped in on his lap. He glanced at it and grimaced.

  "What's this?"

  "You've been served," Jeb said. "You must appear tomorrow as a witness in the Walter Stanley murder case currently in session in the 199th District Court of Collin County, Texas."

  "Like hell I will," he said and started the engine. He tried again to close the door but I held it firmly.

  "I would take this subpoena seriously," I warned. "Failure to respond to it could result in a bench warrant being issued for your arrest."

  "Well, we'll see about that," he said and pulled one more time on the door. I let go and it slammed hard. He stomped down on the accelerator and took off with all his tires squealing.

  When we got back to the courthouse, Jeb filed his return of service with the clerk and I went upstairs to report to Paula. The trial was in recess and Paula and Bart were talking in the private hallway in front of the court clerk's office. I went up to them.

  "Well, Tim wouldn't talk to me, but we did get him served. I wouldn't count on him showing up, though. It looked like he was leaving town."

  "That's what we were hoping he'd do," Bart said. "Running makes it look like he's guilty."

  "Well, good. So, has Francis finished putting on his case?" I asked.

  "Yes, he just closed and I'm about to call my first witness."

  "Who's that going to be?" I asked.

  "The dispatcher at the Southwestern Bell service office," Paula replied. "Then we'll put on the waitress from the diner."

  "You're still putting on your Almatech defense?"

  "Yeah. Bart and I talked about it and there isn't any downside since we don't have to prove either theory. All we need to do is confuse the jury."

  "What about tomorrow?"

  "Tomorrow I'll call Tim but he won't show, of course. After that I guess it will be Stout and his men."

  "That should be interesting."

  "Yeah, I figured I'd let you cross-examine Stout," Paula said evenly.

  I looked her and laughed. "Yeah, right."

  She sighed. "Just a thought."

  "Hey. I heard you did a number on Ruth Willis?"

  "Well, not really. I just saw a crack in her story and hammered away at it."

  The door to the judge's chambers opened and the bailiff yelled, "All rise." The judge took the bench and asked everyone to be seated. "Call your first witness, Ms. Waters."

  "Yes, Your Honor, the defense calls Norman Rusk."

  The bailiff went out into the hallway and brought Norman Rusk to the stand. He testified that he was the maintenance supervisor for GTE. Paula asked him if there were any missing trucks on the day of the fire.

  "Not on the day of the fire, but the day before we had a missing service truck."

  "Could you describe it?"

  "It was a 1990 Chevrolet van."

  "What color?"

  "White and blue."

  "How did you find out it was missing?"

  "Two of our service men went into IHOP for coffee and when they returned for the vehicle it was gone."

  "Was it subsequently recovered?"

  "Yes, the following night someone returned it to the same parking lot."

  "Was there anything missing from the truck?"

  "No, and there was no damage. Apparently someone just wanted to borrow it for a day."

  After Norman Rusk stepped down, Paula called Martin Ramirez, the good-looking, blond leader of Stout's security team. He walked briskly to the witness stand exuding great confidence. Stout lawyers were sure to have thoroughly prepared him for his testimony, so I didn't expect Paula to get much out of him, but I was wrong. He turned out to be quite open and friendly. He even asked Paula to call him Marty. He must have known he couldn't hide his relationship to Stout so he'd better be straight and try to win over the jury with his charm.

  After asking about his background and training, Paula asked him how he was employed.

  "I own a security company, Tripact Security. We do contract work for the defense industry. Currently we have a contract with Almatech Life Systems, Inc."

  "I see. What services do you provide under this contract?"

  "General security for the CEO and board of directors."

  "What does that entail?"

  "Objection, Your Honor," Francis said. "I don't see the relevance of this witness."

  "Your Honor," Paula replied. "We need this witness to lay a foundation for our defense. The relevance of the witness will be apparent when we call our next witness."

  "Very well," the judge said. "Objection overruled. You may answer the question."

  "We have someone assigned to each board member 24/7 and two men on the CEO," Ramirez said. "We do advance work on their schedules, background checks on anyone they meet, screen mail, monitor and check security systems—that sort of thing."

  "Who is the CEO?"

  "T. Robert Stout."

  "In the course of your contract with Almatech were any members of your team in Dallas on August 8th or 9th of last year?"

  "Yes, one of the board members flew to Dallas on business and I sent two men with them."

  "Which two men?"

  "Actually it was a man and a woman—Rich Walls and Lisa Andretti."

  "Could you tell us about these two team members—their background and training?"

  "Sure, we got Colonel Walls when he retired from the Marine Corps. He spent the first nine years of his military service as an artillery officer and the last eleven in intelligence. Lisa Andretti was an ex-LAPD officer who spent seven years in their SWAT Division."

  "So both of these employees were knowledgeable and competent in armaments and explosives?"

  "Yes, they both had extensive training in all aspects of security and law enforcement. Armaments and explosives would have been part of their training."

  "Do you have any knowledge of what Walls and Andretti did in Dallas the two days they were here?"

  "Just what I read in their reports."

  "Do you have those reports with you?"

  "Yes."

  "Do the reports indicate that either Ms. Andretti or Colonel Walls visited the home of Chester Brown?"

  "No. According to the reports they were nowhere near Chester Brown's house on either of those two days."

  When it became time for Francis to cross-exam the witness he declined but reserved the right to cross-examine him at a later time. Paula next called the waitress at the IHOP, Blanche Reedy. The jurors watched the pretty brunette intently as she took the stand. Paula questioned her about the GTE truck that went missing and then handed her a photograph of Rich Walls.

  "Do you recognize this man?"

  She nodded. "Yes, he was in the restaurant that same night the GTE truck disappeared."

  "Are you sure about that?"

  "Oh, yes. He and I hit it off and I gave him my phone number. We were supposed to get together later that night."

  "Did you?"

  "No. He never called. You know men."

  "Right," Paula said. She took the photo back and showed her another one. "How about this lady—did you see her?"

  "Yes. She was with Colonel Walls but not as a couple. He said she was part of his team."

  "Did he tell you why they were in Dallas?"

  "Yes. He said he was babysitting some bigwig."

  "I see."

  "How far is the IHOP you work at from the Collin Commons Condominiums?"

  "Just a mile or so. We get a lot of business from there especially on the weekends."

/>   After Paula was through with Blanche, Francis took her on cross and got her to admit that she didn't know how Colonel Walls or Lisa Andretti had gotten to the IHOP nor did she see them take the GTE Truck. He tried to get her to say that the GTE Truck was stolen while Walls and Andretti were in the restaurant but luckily she remembered otherwise.

  "No, they both had left when the GTE crew came in. It was probably forty-five minutes later that the truck was discovered missing."

  "So, Colonel Walls and Lisa Andretti could have stolen the vehicle?"

  "Yes, I didn't see them take it, but they could have."

  "Thank you. No further questions."

  After Blanche stepped down the judge recessed the case for the day. I was glad because I was worried about Tehra and needed time to think. There had to be some way I could rescue her. There was no telling what Kulchz would do to her now that the civil war had reached Earth and she was the enemy. The only problem was how to get to her. I was but one man and she was in the custody of hundreds of Tarizonian soldiers and Seafolken slaves. The odds of my rescuing her were exceedingly remote. If I even tried, I'd likely get killed or captured. Nevertheless, I had to do something. I couldn’t just sit around and hope for the best.

 

  48

  Missing Witness

  Paula Waters

  As expected Tim Willis was a no show on Friday morning. In order to take advantage of his absence I had to make sure the jury knew about it, so when the judge asked me to call my next witness I said. "The defense calls Tim Willis."

  The judge looked at the bailiff. "Please bring in Mr. Willis," the judge said.

  The bailiff raised his bulky frame and waddled to the door. After a minute he came back. "Mr. Willis is not here, Your Honor."

  "Not here?" I exclaimed, "but I subpoenaed him. He was served last night. Did you search the hall for him?"

  The judge shook his head. "Check one more time. If he's not here, I'll issue a warrant for his arrest."

  "Thank you, Your