Home Invasion - J. A. Johnstone [38]
He stopped in front of Alex and said, “Good morning, Chief Bonner. How are you this morning?”
“I’ve been better,” Alex said, not bothering to keep the curt annoyance out of her voice.
“I’m sorry to hear that. Just for the record, you are the chief of police in the city of Home, Texas, is that correct?”
“Yes,” Alex said.
“And also for the record, you understand that I have called you to testify for the plaintiff as a hostile witness.”
“Yes.” She was definitely hostile, and she didn’t care who knew it.
“Now, I believe that on the night of June eighth of this year, you were at your residence when you received a call from the night dispatcher at the police department?”
“That’s right.”
“In your own words and to the best of your recollection, please tell us what was said during that call and what you did afterward.”
This was simple, straightforward testimony, and Alex went through it as quickly as she could. She expected Cochrum to try to slant things with his questions, but surprisingly, he didn’t. He was just as matter of fact as she was.
Somehow, that worried her even more. Cochrum was setting them up for something, she thought, and he wouldn’t be doing that unless he was confident that he had a pretty powerful secret weapon on his side.
“Now, this weapon you say was lying on the floor near Mr. Navarre,” Cochrum said. “Did you ever see it in his hand?”
“No, I didn’t,” Alex said. “But a subsequent test showed that his fingerprints were on it.”
“Had it been fired?”
“There was no way I could be sure of that, one way or the other.”
“But you’re an experienced police officer, Chief,” Cochrum said. “In your professional opinion, did it appear to have been fired recently? Did it smell like it had been fired?”
“The whole room still smelled like guns had been fired there,” Alex said. “I didn’t bother smelling Mr. Navarre’s gun in particular because I knew the crime scene technicians from the sheriff’s department would test it and make the determination of whether or not it had been fired.”
“And did they make those tests?”
“They did.”
“What was the determination?”
Alex didn’t want to say it, but she didn’t have any choice. “The tests showed that Mr. Navarre’s weapon had not been fired on the night in question.”
Cochrum smiled. “And since that’s the only time we’re concerned with here, that proves my client could not have shot anyone that night.”
“That’s not a question, but if it was, I’d have to answer no, that doesn’t prove any such thing.”
Alex spoke quickly, so she could get it in before Cochrum had a chance to shut her up. She was rewarded by a momentary flash of anger in his eyes. So he was human enough to get mad, anyway.
“What do you mean by that?”
“It proves that your client didn’t shoot anybody that night. But the fact that his fingerprints were on the weapon prove that he could have. He had the potential to—”
“You’ve answered the question, Chief Bonner.”
“You asked me what I meant by it. I was just telling you.”
That brought some laughter from the spectators. Judge Carson glared at them, but didn’t issue a warning.
“All right, Chief, I have no further questions.” Cochrum swung around and went back to the table.
The judge looked at the defense table. Everett Hobson stood up and said, “No questions at this time, Your Honor, but the defense reserves the right to call Chief Bonner as a witness on our behalf.”
“Noted,” Judge Carson said. “You may step down, Ms. Bonner.”
She didn’t correct him on the title. She just got out of there.
It hadn’t been too bad, Alex mused as she took her seat in the hall again. The little skirmish with Cochrum hadn’t amounted to much, and she thought she had held her own against him. She didn’t really understand his strategy, but she remained convinced that he was going to pull something underhanded before the trial was over.
She had been sitting there for only a few minutes when an uproar suddenly erupted inside the courtroom. It was loud enough for Alex to hear it clearly,