Good Morning, Killer - April Smith [104]
Upstairs, I put my forehead against the marble wall of the corridor, imploring Devon, “Why did you do that?”
“I came very close to firing you,” he said.
“The feeling was mutual.”
“Take it easy,” he said, echoing my own words to Lynn the first day of the kidnapping: “We’re only at the beginning.”
It was like a doctor telling you there are only five rounds of chemotherapy ahead.
“This morning was pure hell, Devon.”
“I know.”
“And now I get to be beat up by that poser Kelsey Owen. She’s nothing.” I felt weak and close to tears as I thought of Juliana and her mother, already on the freeway, driving away in the silent depths of the limo, “Nothing.”
“Owen? Your friend from the Bureau? She wasn’t called.”
I rolled my head off the wall. “She wasn’t?”
“No.”
“Then who is their final witness?”
It was Margaret Forrester, and she had dressed for the occasion, in a tight-waisted black suit, black sheer hose and heels. The suit was not new, it had wide shoulder pads, but she looked intriguingly attractive, thick brown hair framing her cheekbones and one of her more dramatic creations—a choker of pink shells and purple stones—breaking up the black. Her nails were red. She sat up straight. She was the Thunder Queen.
Andrew did not return to the courtroom after the break so he did not hear her testimony, although he certainly would know what she was going to say.
Transcript of Proceedings page 205
FORRESTER: My job entails a lot of responsibility. I’m the widow of a police officer, and I have two small children at home, so I have to be thinking about a lot of things all day long. You have to be a “people person” and know a lot of rules and procedures and the way a police station operates.
RAUCH: In your job as police liaison with the FBI you worked with Special Agent Grey on the Santa Monica kidnapping. What was your experience?
FORRESTER: Difficult.
RAUCH: Difficult, how?
FORRESTER: She was demanding. Always wanting to do things her way. She had no understanding of how hard it is to do my job.
RAUCH: You’ve worked with FBI agents before.
FORRESTER: Yes.
RAUCH: Was Ana Grey any different?
FORRESTER: No offense to the nice people I’ve met at the Bureau, but Miss Grey had a chip on her shoulder. She thought she was better than you.
page 215
RAUCH: Was it common knowledge at the police station that Ana Grey and Andrew Berringer were dating?
FORRESTER: I was shocked, but I wasn’t surprised.
JUDGE: He’s asking you if other people knew, not your personal reaction.
FORRESTER: Yes, Your Honor, it’s a fishbowl, everybody knows everything in a police department. I said I was shocked because Detective Berringer is such a quiet guy, a guy’s guy, and usually goes out with quiet women, but I wasn’t surprised because I’d seen Miss Grey get her fingers into anything she wanted.
Cross-Examination page 249
COUNTY: Mrs. Forrester, your late husband and Detective Berringer were good friends, correct?
FORRESTER: Best of buddies. They did everything together.
COUNTY: How was your husband killed, Mrs. Forrester?
FORRESTER: He was attacked by a gang.
COUNTY: And did you receive any payments on his death?
FORRESTER: He had life insurance.
COUNTY: What about his pension?
FORRESTER: We were denied any pension my husband accrued after eighteen years of service.
COUNTY: Why is that?
FORRESTER: They ruled that he did not die in the line of duty.
RAUCH: What is the purpose of this line of questioning?
COUNTY: The relationship between Detective Forrester and Detective Berringer goes to the attitude of this witness. Mrs. Forrester, did you have a sexual relationship with Detective Berringer?
FORRESTER: No! Of course not!
COUNTY: After your husband died?
FORRESTER: No.
JUDGE: Take it easy, Mrs. Forrester.
COUNTY: It would be understandable that you would seek comfort with someone who knew you well, almost as well as your husband.
RAUCH: He is berating this witness.
JUDGE: Go on.
COUNTY: Do you recall an incident in the parking lot of the police station during