Missing Witness (44 page)

“Your Honor,” Will began, straining to speak in a calm and reasoned tone, “this case is about the innocence or guilt of Isaac Joppa. History, and the artifacts of history, are the most important evidence we have. And now, Dr. Rosetti has just discovered what I believe to be the most important piece of evidence in this case. It bears directly on the question of whether Isaac Joppa was imprisoned by Blackbeard or not…whether he was lying or not…whether his contention of innocence was credible or not. We were just as surprised by this evidence as Mr. MacPherson here. And if the court
wants to inquire of Dr. Rosetti to prove there's been no conspiracy or collaboration between him and me to keep this discovery hidden until the trial, the court is free to do so.”

“It's your intention to introduce this object, whatever it is, into evidence?”

“It certainly is,” Will answered.

Judge Gadwell's eyes narrowed. After a moment of reflection, he ruled.

“Mr. Chambers, here's my ruling. The object itself—this antiquity you referred to—is, according to you, intended to be introduced as an exhibit in this case. Yet I warned all counsel I didn't want any last-minute arguments, either just before the trial or during the trial itself, over newly discovered evidence. Both sides have had ample time for discovery. I understand that Dr. Rosetti's recovery of this object from the site of the
Bold Venture
was probably beyond anyone's control…in terms of when he discovered it. But nevertheless, my ruling is that you may not affirmatively introduce this object as a marked and received exhibit.”

A noise came from behind Will's counsel table. It was Dr. Rosetti throwing his hands up in the air and muttering some indecipherable expression of frustration.

“And Dr. Rosetti,” Judge Gadwell said, pointing a finger at the ocean archaeologist, “you will restrain yourself from any comments about the rulings of this court. Do you understand me? Any outburst from you will result in a finding of contempt of court. And believe me, sir, you don't want to challenge me. Because I will be more than happy to cite you with contempt…”

As Will walked slowly back to his table, he glanced back to the far corner of the courtroom. Blackjack Morgan was leaning back confidently, his arms stretched out on the back of the bench, smiling as he watched the proceedings.

Will sat down pensively.

Judge Gadwell then ordered the clerk to bring the jury back into the courtroom. Dr. Rosetti seated himself in the witness stand, throwing an annoyed look at the judge.

Jonathan Joppa leaned forward to Will.

“Will, what's the secret? What's in the metal box?” Joppa was staring at the container just inches away from his face.

“Jonathan,” Will said calmly, “that's what I'd like you, the court, and the jury to find out in a matter of minutes.”

Boggs Beckford leaned forward and joined in the hushed conference.

“Okay, Master Trial Lawyer…” he began with a wry smile, “exactly how are you planning on achieving that? The judge said you couldn't introduce whatever is in that box into evidence…”

Will paused and considered the dilemma. He always thought best when he considered complex litigation as a form of military combat. This was no exception.

“Let's just put it this way, Boggs,” Will continued confidently. “I thought I had the high ground, but now the island is surrounded and the enemy is charging the hill…”

“And?” Jonathan Joppa chimed in expectantly.

“Let's just say I have one last bullet left in the chamber.”

Beckford's acerbic sense of humor got the best of him.

“Oh…I get it. Suicide?” he said with a smirk.

“No, not even close. More like one final, precisely placed sniper shot.”

And Will tapped the aluminum case with his index finger.

63

F
ROM THE WITNESS STAND
Dr. Steve Rosetti was responding to Will's questions about his professional qualifications and background, with short, snappy answers. He began with his undergraduate degree from Stanford, followed by his dual master's degrees in history and biology from Harvard, and finally, his PhD in ocean archaeology.

Then Will focused his examination on Rosetti's current salvage project at the site of the
Bold Venture
. He described the preliminary information that had led him to believe that the sinking of the
Bold Venture
might have taken place at the current exploration site.

“Under federal law regarding the salvaging of ancient vessels in United States navigable waters, were you required to apply for court approval to commence salvage operations?”

“Absolutely. I filed a petition to be recognized by the federal court as having salvor-in-possession status. In technical language, the ship would be the salvage. And the person recovering the salvage would be the salvor. Thus, what I was asking the court to do was to give its approval for our oceanographic institute—and for myself, as its director—to have sole and exclusive rights to locate the sunken vessel, perform any feasible retrieval of its structure and any antiquities in or about the vessel, and then safely preserve as much of the vessel as possible together with those antiquities. The court granted my request.”

“And were there other persons or groups vying for permission to engage in this exploration of the
Bold Venture
in addition to your institute?”

“Yes, there certainly were,” Rosetti answered. As he did, he stared at Blackjack Morgan, who, with arms crossed, was glaring back at him.

After refocusing the examination on the progress of Rosetti's exploration at the site and some of the preliminary mapping, tentative measurements, and photographs that were done, Will then targeted his questions on the artifacts recovered.

“Dr. Rosetti, have you located artifacts that you believe were once associated with the
Bold Venture
?”

“Yes. We definitely have.”

“Would you describe to the jury the nature of the artifacts that you have located as recently as of yesterday?”

Rosetti smiled and leaned closer to the microphone.

“Approximately two weeks ago we had initially located what we believed to be submerged artifacts once carried in the hold of the
Bold Venture
. Of course, we then mapped out the entire area, in quarter sections, by stereophotography. We created a detailed site plan for the excavation. The length and configuration of the outline…and you have to understand that there were barely any remnants left of what we thought to be the hull…corresponded with the dimensions of the
Bold Venture
.”

“And did you subsequently discover some objects at the site, which were then actually retrieved?”

“That's exactly what happened. We went down there with our scuba-diving team, initially taking close-up photography. Then we did some very gentle brush-away cleaning of the site. That is when it was very obvious to us what we had.”

“What did you find?”

“We found a collection of barrels in the area of the hold of the ship.”

“Barrels?”

“Yes…the kind of barrels that were in use in the early eighteenth century.”

“And how is it, Dr. Rosetti, that these barrels would have survived the ravages of time at the bottom of the ocean? Particularly in light of the fact that, as I'm presuming, the barrels were made of wood…”

“They were made of wood, and that's an excellent question.” Rosetti was now becoming animated in his answers, and his eyes were visualizing something that was not apparent to the attorneys, jurors, or judge.

“You see,” he continued excitedly, “okay…so you really had to be there…here's this sandy bottom, but we're down there with our scuba gear…and there's a mound of sand that shows it has some debris. The debris consisted of round-ended wooden objects. Now, obviously…if you know anything about old-fashioned barrels…they had two main components in addition to the round top and bottom. First were the wooden planks that run upright—up and down like a picket fence—those are the
staves
. Obviously, the staves have to be encircled by something. And what they used were metal hoops. Now before we did the dive, because I felt we had probably
come across some barrels from the ship, I did a little research on eighteenth-century barrels.”

“And what did your research indicate to you?”

“What I found was that the barrels at our site closely resemble other eighteenth-century barrels. Wooden staves encircled by three metal hoops—one at the top, one in the middle, and one about a fourth of the way from the bottom. And then you have a circular wooden bottom and top. I actually compared the configuration of our barrels with another ocean archaeological recovery.”

“And which recovery are you referring to?”

“One of the ships from the Siege of Yorktown that occurred during the Revolutionary War, 1781. On September 5 of that year, a British fleet arrived off the coast of Virginia. But they ran smack into more than twenty French warships that had anchored there to assist the colonials. Both lines of war vessels kept blasting each other for five days, after which the British high-tailed it up to New York. That led to the final British surrender.”

“And how is that event significant to your findings at the
Bold Venture
?”

“Because the barrels at the
Bold Venture
site are very much like those found at the Siege of Yorktown site when those sunken vessels were excavated. Ocean archaeologists also found barrels. In that case they found the barrels preserved because they had been buried in sand ballast. The barrels in the
Bold Venture
were also preserved because they happened to be surrounded by sand ballast, which kept them from water damage.”

“Now, did you actually make a recovery of some of the barrels?”

“Well, the hoops had burst, and the staves spread out. But they had kept their configuration pretty well. And the hoops, though broken were pretty well intact, all things considered. So we had both hoops and staves that were recoverable.”

“And is there any question in your mind, as a professional ocean archaeologist, that the barrels that you found at the presumed site of the
Bold Venture
were in fact part of the barrels that were in the hold of that ship at the time of its sinking?”

“No question. There's no doubt in my mind.”

“And how did you verify that?”

“Two ways. First of all, their location was in the midst of what would have been the hull of the ship. But secondly, we found some distinctive markings on some of the barrels that indicated their ships of origin. Some of those ships were known to have been robbed and scuttled by Blackbeard.
He'd taken the barrels onto his ship. It all adds up that this was part of Blackbeard's booty from other ships.”

“And did you find something else in or around those barrels that you believe may relate to the issues of this case?”

“You're talking about the Isaac Joppa involvement with Edward Teach?”

“Yes,” Will said. “Did you find anything in or around those barrels that relates to the claim by Isaac Joppa that he was a prisoner during the months that he was on the ships of Edward Teach and his pirate band?”

“Yes,” Rosetti answered with a broad smile. “Oh, we sure did.”

“Now, Dr. Rosetti, do you see a markerboard over on the other side of the judge's bench?” Will pointed to a large markerboard.

Rosetti nodded.

“I'd like you to walk over to that board…and if you'd just roll it into the middle of the courtroom area here so that the jury can see it, and the judge as well. And if you could draw for us, please, in as detailed a fashion as you can, exactly what you found in the area of the barrels—whatever it is you believe relates to the claimed innocence of Isaac Joppa.”

Rosetti eyed Will closely, then scratched the back of his head vigorously. He rose and walked over to the blackboard.

Virgil MacPherson was still seated, but only barely. His head was down low—he was staring at Rosetti and his hands were planted on the top of the table. He had the appearance of an animal waiting to make an ambush.

Rosetti picked up a marker. But something stopped him from proceeding. Something unspoken. A scientist's desire for precision, perhaps. For accuracy. For objective presentation.

It was a trait Will had counted on.

“Dr. Rosetti,” Will reminded him, “I want your drawing to be as absolutely detailed and accurate a representation as possible.”

Rosetti put his marker up again but, again, did not begin drawing.

Then he turned around and smiled.

“Mr. Chambers, in order for me to really give you an accurate drawing of what we found—of the antiquity I think may be very important to this case—I really…the problem is that I need…I need to review, again, the object we're talking about.”

“Would it be accurate to say,” Will replied with a smile, “that your recollection of the exact configuration and appearance of the object we're talking about needs to be refreshed in order for you to testify fully? And give a full and accurate description?”