7th Heaven - James Patterson [65]
“The prosecution is trying to convince us that a person confesses to a crime and the police have her in custody and they don’t record her confession — and that doesn’t mean anything? They say that there’s no blood evidence and no body — and that doesn’t mean anything either?
“I’m sorry, folks, but something is wrong here,” Davis said, her hands on the railing of the jury box.
“Something is very wrong.
“Dr. Paige, a distinguished psychiatrist, got on the stand and said that in her opinion, Junie Moon falsely confessed because her self-esteem is so low it’s off the charts, and that Ms. Moon wanted to please the police. She also said that in her opinion, Ms. Moon feels guilty about being a prostitute and so she confessed to discharge some of that guilt.
“Ladies and gentlemen, let me tell you the dirty little secret about false confessions. Every time a major crime is committed, false confessions pour into the hotlines. Hundreds of people confessed to the Lindbergh baby kidnapping. Dozens of people told police they killed the Black Dahlia. Maybe you remember when John Mark Karr caused an international brouhaha by confessing to the murder of JonBenet Ramsey ten years after her death.
“He didn’t do it.
“People confess to crimes when they’ve been cleared by DNA evidence. Go figure. People confess for reasons you and I would find hard to understand, but it’s the role of a good investigator to separate false confessions from real ones.
“Junie Moon’s confession was false.
“The absence of evidence in this case is remarkable. If the name of the so-called victim was Joe Blow, there probably wouldn’t have been an indictment, let alone a trial. But Michael Campion is a political celebrity and Ms. Moon is at the bottom of the social totem pole.
“It’s showtime!
“But this isn’t Showbiz Tonight, ladies and gentlemen. This is a court of lawwww,” Davis trumpeted. “So we’re asking you to use your common sense as well as the facts in evidence. If you do that, you can only find Junie Moon not guilty of the charges against her, period.”
Chapter 88
IT WAS AFTER SEVEN when I got to Susie’s. The patrons at the bar had achieved a high degree of merriment. I didn’t recognize the plinky tune the steel band was playing, but it was all about sun and the sparkly Caribbean Sea.
Made me want to move to Jamaica and open a dive shop with Joe. Drink passion fruit mai tais and grill fish on the beach.
I reached our table in the back room as Lorraine was clearing away a plate of chicken bones. She took my order for a Corona and dropped off the menu. Claire was taking up one side of our booth, what she called “sitting for two,” while Cindy and Yuki sat across from her — Yuki pressed up against the wall as if she’d been smushed there like a bug.
It looked like she’d lost a fight.
I dragged up a chair, said, “What’d I miss?”
“Yuki gave a great closing argument,” Cindy said, and then Yuki broke in.
“But Davis obliterated it!”
“You are nuts. You got the final damned word, Yuki,” Cindy said. “You nailed it.”
I didn’t have to beg. As soon as we ordered dinner, Yuki launched into her impeccable L. Diana Davis impression, screaming, “Where’s the beef? Where’s the beef?”
When Yuki paused for breath, Cindy said, “Do your rebuttal, Yuki. Do it like you mean it.”
Yuki laughed a little hysterically, wiped tears from her eyes with a napkin, downed her margarita — a drink she could barely handle on a good day. And then she belched.
“I hate waiting for a verdict,” she said.
We all laughed, Cindy egging Yuki on until she said, “Okay.” And then she was into it, eyes glistening, hands gesturing, the whole Yuki deal.
“I said, ‘Was a crime committed? Well, ladies and gentlemen, there’s a reason the defendant is here. She was indicted by a grand jury and not because of her relative social standing to the deceased. The police didn’t throw a dart at a phone book.
“ ‘Junie Moon didn’t