10th Anniversary - James Patterson [69]
“And after that, we can discuss the future of this trial.”
Chapter 93
YUKI WAS in Len Parisi’s office when her phone buzzed.
“Here we go,” she said to her boss. She read the text out loud: “‘Judge LaVan is ready for you in chambers.’ What’s your bottom-line advice, Len?”
Parisi hauled his bulk out of his chair, then opened the blinds on the Bryant Street side of the building. The light was translucent. Yuki couldn’t see anything through the fog.
“You want to cross-examine the witness,” Red Dog said. “It’s the best and only thing you can do.”
“What if she’s telling the truth?”
“Is she telling the truth? What do you really think?”
“I think she’s throwing herself under the bus. She’s eleven. It’s heroic, like in the movies. But it’s a lie. I can shake her on the stand, but I don’t know if I can do that and keep the jury on our side.”
“It will be like walking a tightrope with diarrhea. But I have faith that you can do it.”
Yuki walked out of Parisi’s office and down the hall on autopilot. Phil Hoffman stood when she entered the judge’s chambers, and after she took the seat she’d occupied only a couple of hours ago, he sat down.
LaVan had removed his robes and his tie and rolled up his shirtsleeves and was standing behind his desk. Yuki thought he was going to pace, but instead he reached down, picked up the metal trash can at his feet, two feet tall and eighteen inches in diameter. He raised it over his head and hurled it toward the far wall.
The trash can ricocheted against the edge of the liquor cabinet before taking out a framed picture of the judge with the governor.
After the explosion of glass and the echo of the racket died down, LaVan threw open the liquor cabinet doors and said, “Who wants a drink? I’m buying.”
Hoffman said, “Scotch works for me.”
“I’m fine,” Yuki said, but she was not fine. Nothing in her experience had prepared her for a case that slid sideways every twenty minutes. Was she winning or losing? She had no idea.
The judge poured shots for himself and Hoffman, then retook his seat behind his desk.
“Phil, do you know the difference between a lie and the truth?”
“Yes, Your Honor. You are not the president of the United States.”
“Did you have anything to do with shaping Caitlin Martin’s testimony?”
“No. As I said, she talked to me at eight-forty-five this morning. She told me what happened. I bumped another witness I’d prepared who was suddenly irrelevant and decided I had to put Caitlin on the stand.”
“I want to cross-examine her,” Yuki said. “I have to discredit her testimony.”
The judge said, “Hang on, Yuki. Let me tell you what Caitlin said in the half hour I just spent with her. This is for your benefit.”
“Your Honor?”
“Caitlin told me that her father had been molesting her. She was explicit. And I mean convincingly so. She knew where the gun was hidden. She saw an opportunity and she shot him.”
“You believe her?” Yuki asked.
“I couldn’t trip her up — and I tried. According to Caitlin, her mother heard the shots, found the girl holding the gun, and told her to wash up, go to her room, and never tell anyone what happened. Then, still according to Caitlin, her mother fired the gun outside the front door and called the police.”
“Huh. Good story,” said Yuki. “So, what made Caitlin decide to talk?”
“She said she wanted to tell the truth.”
Hoffman leaned forward in his chair.
“Byron. Your Honor,” he said. “We have an admission exonerating my client,” he said. “I move to dismiss.”
Chapter 94
YUKI STARED THROUGH the judge, her thoughts swirling in something that was pretty close to panic.
She didn’t want a dismissal, not after all that she’d been through on this case, not when she believed she had the killer on trial. Dammit. If the judge dismissed the case, what then?
Was she going to go after the little girl? Would she really try to prosecute an eleven-year-old who was claiming incest and rape?
If so, based on what?
The only evidence against Caitlin was her testimony. No one had seen her shoot the gun. And even if Candace