A Darkness More Than Night - Michael Connelly [130]
She didn’t finish. She grabbed tissues out of the box and started a full force cry. Langwiser told the judge she was finished with her examination. Fowkkes said there would be a cross-examination but suggested that it should follow a break during which time the defendant could compose herself. Judge Houghton said that was a good idea and called a fifteen-minute break.
Bosch stayed in the courtroom watching over Annabelle Crowe as she went through the box of tissues. When she was done her face was no longer as beautiful. It was distorted and red, her eye sockets swollen. Bosch thought she had been convincing but he knew she hadn’t faced Fowkkes yet. How she fared during the cross would determine whether the jury believed anything she had said on direct.
When Langwiser came back in she told Bosch there was someone at the outer door of the courtroom who wanted to speak to him.
“Who is it?”
“I didn’t ask. I just overheard him talking to the deputies as I went in. They wouldn’t let him in.”
“Was he in a suit? A black guy?”
“No, street clothes. A windbreaker.”
“Keep an eye on Annabelle. And you better find another box of tissues.”
He got up and went to the courtroom doors, working his way past all of the people coming back in at the end of the break. At one point he came face-to-face with Rudy Tafero. Bosch moved to his right to go around him but Tafero moved to his left. They danced back and forth a couple times and Tafero smiled broadly. Bosch finally stopped and didn’t move until Tafero pushed by him.
In the hall he looked around but didn’t see anyone he recognized. Then Terry McCaleb walked out of the men’s room and they nodded to each other. Bosch walked over to the railing in front of one of the floor-to-ceiling windows that looked out on the plaza below. McCaleb walked up.
“I’ve got about two minutes, then I’ve got to get back in there.”
“I just want to know if we can talk after court today. Things are happening and I need some time with you.”
“I know things are happening. Two agents showed up here today.”
“What did you tell them?”
“To fuck off. It made them mad.”
“Federal agents don’t take that sort of language that well, you should know that, Bosch.”
“Yeah, well, I’m a slow learner.”
“What about after?”
“I’ll be around. Unless Fowkkes creams this wit. Then I don’t know, my team might have to retreat somewhere to lick our wounds.”
“All right, then I’ll hang out, watch it on TV.”
“Later.”
Bosch went back into the courtroom, wondering what McCaleb had come up with so quickly. The jury was back and the judge was giving Fowkkes the go-ahead. The defense attorney waited politely as Bosch moved by him to get to the prosecution table. Then he began.
“Now Ms. Crowe, is acting your full-time occupation?”
“Yes.”
“Have you been acting here today?”
Langwiser immediately objected, angrily accusing Fowkkes of harassing the witness. Bosch thought her reaction was a bit extreme but knew she was sending a message to Fowkkes that she was going to defend her witness tooth and nail. The judge overruled the objection, saying Fowkkes was within bounds in cross-examining a witness hostile to his client.
“No, I am not acting,” Crowe answered forcefully.
Fowkkes nodded.
“You testified that you have been in Hollywood three years.”
“Yes.”
“I counted five paying jobs you spoke of. Anything else?”
“Not yet.”
Fowkkes nodded.
“Good to be hopeful. It’s very difficult to break in, isn’t it?”
“Yes, very difficult, very discouraging.”
“But you are on TV right now, aren’t you?”
She hesitated a moment, the realization that she had walked into a trap showing on her face.
“And so are you,” she said.
Bosch almost smiled. It was the best answer she could have given.
“Let’s talk about this . . . event that allegedly took place between you and Mr. Storey,” Fowkkes said. “This event is, in fact, something you concocted from newspaper stories following David Storey’s arrest, correct?”
“No, not correct. He tried to kill me.”
“So you say.”
Langwiser stood up