A Darkness More Than Night - Michael Connelly [66]
“However, that was not the way the body was found, correct?”
“That is correct. The body was found in the supine position — lying on the back.”
“What did you conclude from this?”
“That the body had been moved after death. That the woman had been positioned on her back as part of the setup to make her death look like an autoerotic asphyxiation.”
“What did you think was the cause of death?”
“At that point I wasn’t sure. I just didn’t think it was as presented. The bruising on the neck beneath the ligature led me to believe we were looking at a strangulation — just not at her own hands.”
“At what point did your partners arrive on the scene?”
“While I was making the initial observations of the body and crime scene.”
“Did they come to the same conclusions as you?”
Fowkkes objected, saying the question called for an answer that would be hearsay. The judge sustained the objection. Bosch knew it was a minor point. If Langwiser wanted the conclusions of Edgar and Rider on the record, she could just call them to testify.
“Did you attend the autopsy of Jody Krementz’s body?”
“Yes, I did.” He flipped through the binder until he found the autopsy protocol. “On October seventeenth. It was conducted by Dr. Teresa Corazón, chief of the medical examiner’s office.”
“Was a cause of death determined by Dr. Corazón during autopsy?”
“Yes, the cause of death was asphyxiation. She was strangled.”
“By ligature?”
“Yes.”
“Now doesn’t this contradict your theory that the death was not caused by autoerotic asphyxiation?”
“No, it confirmed it. The pose of autoerotic asphyxiation was used to cover the strangulation murder of the victim. The interior damage to both carotid arteries, to the muscular tissue of the neck and the hyoid bone, which was crushed, led Dr. Corazón to confirm that death was at the hand of another. The damage was too great to be knowingly self-inflicted.”
Bosch realized he was holding a hand to his neck as he described the injuries. He dropped it back down to his lap.
“Did the medical examiner find any independent evidence of homicide?”
He nodded.
“Yes, examination of the victim’s mouth determined that there was a deep laceration caused by biting on the tongue. Such injury is common in cases of strangulation.”
Langwiser flipped a page over on her tablet.
“Okay, Detective Bosch, let’s go back to the crime scene. Did you or your partners interview Jane Gilley?”
“Yes, I did. Along with Detective Rider.”
“From that interview were you able to ascertain where the victim had been in the twenty-four hours prior to the discovery of her death?”
“Yes, we first determined that she had met the defendant several days earlier at a coffee shop. He invited her to attend a premiere of a movie as his date on the night of October twelfth at the Chinese Theater in Hollywood. He picked her up between seven and seven-thirty that night. Ms. Gilley watched from a window in the house and identified the defendant.”
“Did Ms. Gilley know when Ms. Krementz returned that night?”
“No. Ms. Gilley left the house shortly after Ms. Krementz went on her date and spent the night elsewhere. Consequently, she did not know when her roommate returned home. It was when Ms. Gilley returned to the house at eleven A.M. on October thirteenth that she discovered Ms. Krementz’s body.”
“What was the name of the movie which was premiered the night before?”
“It was called Dead Point.”
“And who directed it?”
“David Storey.”
Langwiser waited through a long pause before looking at her watch and then up at the judge.
“Your Honor,” she said, “I am going to move into a new line of questioning now with Detective Bosch. If appropriate, this might be the best time to break for the day.”
Houghton pulled back the baggy black sleeve of his robe and looked at his watch. Bosch looked at his. It was a quarter to four.
“Okay, Ms. Langwiser, we’ll adjourn until nine o’clock tomorrow morning.”
Houghton told Bosch he could step