The Fifth Witness - Michael Connelly [93]
“So Lisa Trammel’s time and geographic proximity to the murder was key to your thinking at this point?”
“Yes, because proximity could mean access. It appeared from the crime scene that someone had been waiting for the victim. He had an assigned parking space with his name on the wall. There was a large support column next to the space. Our initial theory was that the killer had hidden behind the column and waited for Mr. Bondurant to pull in and park. It appeared that he was struck the first time from behind, just as he left his car.”
“Thank you, Detective.”
Freeman led her witness through a few more of the steps taken at the crime scene before bringing the focus back to Lisa Trammel.
“Did your partner return to the crime scene at some point to report back about her interview with the bank employee who claimed to have seen Lisa Trammel near the bank?”
“Yes, she did. My partner and I felt that the identification made by the witness was solid. We then discussed Lisa Trammel and the need for us to speak to her quickly.”
“But, Detective, you had a crime scene investigation under way and a file full of the names of people who had made threats against the bank or its employees. Why the urgency involving Lisa Trammel?”
Kurlen leaned back in his witness chair and adopted the pose of a wise and wily old veteran.
“Well, there were a couple things that gave us a sense of urgency in regard to Ms. Trammel. First of all, her dispute with the bank was over the foreclosure of her property. That put her dispute specifically in the home loan division. The victim, Mr. Bondurant, was a senior vice president directly in charge of the home loan division. So we were looking at that connection. Additionally, and more importantly—”
“Let me interrupt you there, Detective. You called that a connection. Did you know if the victim and Lisa Trammel knew each other?”
“Not at that point, no. What we knew was that Ms. Trammel had a history of protesting the foreclosure of her home and that the foreclosure action was initiated by Mr. Bondurant, the victim. But we did not know at that time whether these two people knew each other or had ever even met.”
It was a smooth move, bringing out the deficiencies in her case to the jury before I did. It made it harder for the defense to make its case.
“Okay, Detective,” Freeman said. “I interrupted you when you were going to tell us a second reason for having some urgency in regard to Ms. Trammel.”
“What I wanted to explain is that a murder investigation is a fluid situation. You must move carefully and cautiously, but at the same time you must go where the case takes you. If you don’t, then evidence could be at risk—and possibly other victims. We felt there was a need to make contact with Lisa Trammel at this point in the investigation. We couldn’t wait. We could not give her time to destroy evidence or harm other persons. We had to move.”
I checked the jury. Kurlen was giving one of his best performances ever. He held every eye in the jury box. If Clegg McReynolds ever made a movie, maybe Kurlen should play himself.
“So what did you do, Detective?”
“We ran a check on Lisa Trammel’s driver’s license, got her address in Woodland Hills and proceeded to her home.”
“Who was left at the crime scene?”
“Several people. Our coordinator and all the SID techs and the coroner’s people. They still had a lot to do and we were waiting on them anyway. Going to Lisa Trammel’s house in no way compromised the scene or the investigation.”
“Your coordinator? Who’s that?”
“The detective-three in charge of the homicide unit. Jack Newsome. He was the supervisor on scene.”
“I see. So what happened when you got to Ms. Trammel’s home? Was she there?”
“Yes, she was. We knocked and she answered.”
“Can you take us through what happened next?