Silent Witness (59 page)

It was time to end this, Tony thought. ‘Did you also examine,' Tony asked Shapiro, ‘a sample of the blood smear taken from the wheel of Mrs. Robb's gray Volvo?'

‘I did. And I agree that it's Marcie Calder's blood.'

‘Did you make any other determination?'

‘Yes. At your request, I attempted to determine whether the blood sample contained traces of a substance not found in blood.'

‘Did you find any such substance?'

‘I did.' Pausing, Shapiro addressed the jury in a firm tone. ‘Two separate tests revealed that the sample contained traces of a silicone resin, called polydimethyl silicone, or PDMS.'

‘How do you explain the presence of PDMS in Ms. Calder's blood?'

‘PDMS is the lubricant commonly found in Adam's Rib. That's the only explanation I can think of.'

Tony nodded. ‘Does PDMS match the substance found on the anal swabs described by Dr. Micelli?'

‘It does.'

‘Did you find any other foreign matter in the blood sample?'

‘Yes.' Shapiro looked at Tony now. ‘Both tests revealed traces of feces.'

Softly, Tony asked, ‘Based on these results, Dr. Shapiro, what can you say about the blood found on the steering wheel?'

Shapiro folded his hands. ‘That it reflects the blood found on the exterior of Marcie Calder's anus and may well have gotten on the steering wheel after Mr. Robb removed his condom. Or, at least, touched it.'

Tony moved closer. ‘In your opinion, what does the smear of blood tell you about whether Marcie Calder was murdered, or about the identity of the murderer?'

Shapiro looked grave. ‘In all probability, nothing at all.'

Pausing, Tony saw the faces of the jurors, pensive and surprised. ‘Thank you,' he told Shapiro, and returned to the defense table. Any relief he felt was canceled by the look on Sam Robb's face, suffused in shame and – for the briefest of moments – resentment.

Appraising Shapiro with her eyes slightly widened, Stella Marz hesitated before rising, as though deciding which point to attack first. But her manner was calm and undismayed. ‘Let's start,' she said bluntly, ‘with the possibility of accident or suicide. Is that what you really think happened here?'

Shapiro shook his head. ‘I was careful not to say that. What I
did
say – and all I said – is that the evidence cited by Detective Gregg and Dr. Micelli doesn't rule out the possibility.'

‘Then let's take the fatal injury. Marcie Calder had pronounced coup injuries, correct? Trauma to the brain on the side where her skull was crushed?'

‘That's right.'

‘These suggest a blow administered by someone else, true?'

‘Yes.'

Stella placed her hands on her hips. ‘Ever seen a coup head injury this severe in a fall?'

Shapiro frowned. ‘No.'

‘All right. As I understand you, all you were saying is that the absence of contre-coup injuries does not rule out a fall.'

‘Yes. That's all I was saying.'

‘But combined with the presence of
coup
injuries, doesn't that strongly suggest death at the hands of another?'

Watching Shapiro, Tony saw the first signs of discomfort – an expert who fears that he is at the edge of his credibility. ‘It certainly “suggests” a homicide, yes.'

‘And that's what you believe happened, isn't it?'

‘More likely than not, yes.'

Stella's long, silent look had the maternal contempt of a teacher who has caught a precocious student in a lie. ‘Then let's move on,' she said. ‘You also suggested that rain obscured the evidence that the abrasions on Marcie Calder's face and hands were postmortem – that is, suffered in a fall after death. Do you remember that testimony?'

‘I do, yes.'

Already, Tony noted, Shapiro had begun to seem cautious, less voluble. ‘In a
pre
mortem injury,' Stella pressed, ‘you would expect to find bleeding beneath the skin.'

‘I would.'

‘But not here.'

‘No.'

‘Isn't the likely reason that Marcie Calder's heart had already stopped pumping?'

‘Yes.'

‘So, to use your words, it's much “more likely than not” that these are postmortem injuries.'

‘Yes.'

‘And, of course, the rock
was
seven feet from Marcie's head.'

‘Yes.'

‘
And
there was no blood found on any other rock.'

‘No.'

‘So we have several factors which suggest that Marcie Calder was murdered before her fall: coup head injuries; likely postmortem abrasions; the absence of blood on the hill or on any other rock; and the fact that the one rock with blood on it was a fair distance from her head.'

‘Those factors exist, yes.'

Stella paused. ‘You can quibble with any one of them, Doctor. But isn't this
combination
compelling evidence of homicide?'

‘It certainly suggests homicide, yes.'

‘What about the footprints above the hill? Are you aware of any evidence of fall-like indentations made by someone's knees?'

‘No.'

Standing taller, Stella maintained her tone of calm relentlessness. ‘You would agree, then, that there is considerable physical evidence which affirmatively suggests a homicide?'

Shapiro pondered Stella's semantics for a moment. ‘Yes.'

‘Then please tell the jury what physical evidence, if any, affirmatively supports the notion of suicide or accident.'

Shapiro folded his hands. ‘“Affirmatively supports”?'

‘That's right.'

‘I'm not aware of any.'

Tony watched Stella hesitate, looking for a final question to drive the point home. Then, as Tony would have, she seemed to conclude that this was unnecessary.

‘You mentioned, Dr. Shapiro, your belief that Marcie Calder engaged in a consensual act of anal intercourse, correct?'

‘Yes.'

‘You assume, moreover, that Mr. Robb was Marcie Calder's lover?'

‘Yes.'

‘Given this intimacy, wouldn't you expect to find traces of Marcie Calder's hair on the defendant's clothes?'

‘Possibly.'

‘But there weren't any such traces on the clothes Mr. Robb claimed to wear that night, correct?'

‘According to the criminalist's report, no.'

‘Doesn't that suggest that Mr. Robb wasn't wearing those clothes, and that he lied to the police?'

There was no need to object, Tony knew. ‘Not necessarily,' Shapiro answered calmly. ‘It's entirely possible that he might not have Ms. Calder's hairs on his clothes. At the time of sexual intimacy, neither of them was necessarily dressed.'

Sam shifted in his chair, trapped and restless. Tony's discomfort was different – the answer might remind the jury that Sam Robb had not testified.

Stella moved closer. ‘But the police
did
find Marcie Calder's hairs in the back seat of the car, didn't they?'

‘According to the report.'

‘And on the headrest of the passenger seat?'

‘That's what the report said.'

‘And there was no blood on the defendant's clothes, right?'

‘Not according to the report.'

‘And yet you believe there was blood on his hands?'

‘Yes.'

‘Doesn't
that
suggest that Mr. Robb had changed his clothes and lied to the police?'

‘Not necessarily, Ms. Marz. Perhaps Mr. Robb simply didn't get any blood on his clothes.'

Against his will, Tony imagined Sam in bloody clothes, desperate to get rid of them. But the image went black – there was no evidence that this was so. Next to him, his friend's face was vulnerable again, filled with shame and sadness.

‘The police report,' Stella prodded, ‘also noted gray-blond hairs on Ms. Calder's clothes, correct?'

‘Yes.'

‘Those hairs matched the defendant's, right?'

‘Yes.'

‘Doesn't that indicate that Marcie and the defendant achieved some degree of intimacy while she was dressed?'

‘It does.'

‘And yet, Dr. Shapiro, none of Marcie's hairs are on the clothes
Sam Robb
says he was wearing.'

‘Yes. I said that.'

‘Did either you, or the police lab, find any hairs on Marcie Calder's clothes which appeared to belong to an African-American?'

‘No.'

‘Wouldn't you expect some, if Ms. Calder were involved in a struggle with an African-American assailant?'

Shapiro shrugged. ‘That assumes too many facts, Ms. Marz. Was there a struggle? Where did the assailant touch the victim? Your question is impossible to answer.'

This was a fair response, Tony knew, and the jury seemed to know it. They turned expectantly to Stella.

Stella stopped, frustration briefly crossing her face, and then she looked serene again. ‘Then let's turn to the tuna sandwich,' she said. ‘Assuming that Marcie ate the sandwich at approximately eight o'clock, do you agree that she would have fully digested it by ten o'clock?'

‘Only approximately. You have to allow a half hour either way, as Dr. Micelli conceded. So a homicide could have occurred as late as ten-thirty.'

Stella tilted her head. ‘But not a homicide involving Mr. Nixon, correct? Assuming that his telephone records are correct and that he placed a call to his estranged wife at ten-eighteen.'

‘Assuming that, true. I have no knowledge, one way or the other.'

‘But you're also aware that Mr. Robb claims to have left Marcie Calder at around ten o'clock?'

‘Yes.'

‘So this gives Mr. Nixon roughly eighteen minutes to find Marcie Calder in the dark, locate a rock, hit her on the head three times, drag her to the edge of the cliff without leaving any hairs on her clothes, throw her off, return to his car, drive two miles to his home, and call his wife in Chicago.'

Shapiro looked faintly amused. ‘Assuming that Mr. Robb's ten o'clock estimate was right, yes.'

‘On that assumption, do you think Mr. Nixon – or anyone – could have done all this in eighteen minutes?'

Shapiro pondered his answer. ‘To start,' he said finally, ‘the assumption about time is a big one. If Mr. Robb left the park at nine-thirty or nine forty-five, everything changes. And we have no indication that his statement to the police was precise, or that time was the biggest thing on his mind.

‘But I'll assume for a moment that Mr. Robb's guess is right on the money. Could Mr. Nixon have done all that in eighteen minutes? I need more information. For instance, did Mr. Nixon stop to change his clothes, or did he run right home? And we've got no physical evidence with respect to Mr. Nixon, because the Lake City police never gathered any.

‘But yeah – it's
feasible
that he could have done all that. Especially if he called his ex-wife as soon as he got home.' Pausing, Shapiro faced the jury, finishing his answer. ‘I'm certainly not saying that's what happened. All I'm saying is that, hypothetically, it
could
have happened. I'm also saying, quite emphatically, that – if this is a murder – there's nothing to say that the murderer has to be Mr. Robb.'

At the corner of his eye, Tony saw Saul regard the table, trying not to smile. Wounded, Stella tried to recover.

‘Let's summarize where we are, Dr. Shapiro. There's no affirmative evidence to suggest that Marcie Calder fell over the cliff by accident?'

‘Affirmative evidence? No.'

‘Or affirmative evidence that she killed herself?'

‘No.'

‘Nor is there any affirmative evidence that Sam Robb was in the clothes he said he was wearing?'

‘No.'

‘But there is affirmative evidence that he had anal intercourse with Marcie Calder, then lied to the police?'

‘There seems to be. Yes.'

‘There is affirmative evidence that Sam Robb fathered Marcie's unborn child? And lied about
that
?'

‘Yes.'

‘And Marcie Calder's body shows no signs of another assailant – no hair, no skin beneath her nails, nothing?'

‘That's true. But as you point out, the only hairs on her clothes – Sam Robb's hairs – could have gotten there because of sexual intimacy. So there is
no
physical evidence – hair or skin – to suggest she was assaulted at all. Let alone that Mr. Robb assaulted her.' Shapiro paused for a brief, lethal moment. ‘That includes the blood on the steering wheel, which I already explained.'

It was the answer of the skilled expert; waiting for his moment, Shapiro had driven home the essence of Sam's defense.

‘Isn't it quite possible,' Stella rejoined, ‘that Mr. Robb murdered Marcie Calder and that the blood from the murder became commingled with material from the condom already on his fingers?'

Shapiro propped his elbow on the witness stand, head resting on the palm of his hand. ‘Possible?' he answered. ‘I can't rule it out. But I don't think it's likely that this would account for the amount of resin and fecal matter found in the blood smear.'

‘But you can't say, can you, that the blood wasn't derived from Marcie Calder's head injuries?'

‘No, I can't. All that I can say is that there are compelling reasons not to
assume
that it
was
. Or that it implicates Sam Robb in a murder.'