Witness for the Defense (20 page)

“But then, from somewhere through the trees, he heard the car start. Danny held his breath until seconds later the glare of the car’s headlights shone directly on the large tree that shielded the boy. Just as he was sure he’d have to make a run for it, the car turned and drove slowly away.”

Bragg took a deep breath and slowly let it out before he concluded. “As I said, ladies and gentlemen, but for the grace of God, Danny lived through that ordeal and escaped from the depraved animal who kidnapped him.” The head D.A. then lunged in front of Jared and pointed his finger at him again. “I will prove that that animal is none other than the person sitting right here in front of you. That loathsome, despicable man is Mr. Jared Reineer.”

Bragg straightened himself and gave the jury a semi-bow, then strutted back to his seat. I had to admit, he put on one hell of a show. I felt like clapping.

“Mr. Dobbs,” Priest said, “will you be making an opening?”

I didn’t have to think twice. Sarah and I had discussed it at length. If I did make an opening statement, I would have to outline for the jury the evidence I intended on producing. The problem was, I didn’t know. I didn’t know if Danny would still be unable to positively identify either Jared or his car. I didn’t know if or how I was going to be able to prove McBean planted the Gummy Bears. I didn’t know if Bragg would figure out a way to connect the disappearance of the Boonville boy to Jared. And I didn’t know whether or not to call Jared to the stand.

Too much depended upon what the prosecution did.

“Your Honor, the defense wishes to reserve its right to make an opening statement.”

“Then this court will be adjourned until ten tomorrow. Mr. Bragg, please be sure you and your first witness are ready to proceed at that time.”

All smiles, Bragg quickly rose to his feet again. “You can rest assured, the people of the state of California and our first witness, Danny Barton, will be more than ready.”

Jared was fired up after Bragg’s ferocious attack. His eyes darted from one blank wall to the other, never once settling on mine. I’d patiently listened, understanding perfectly well how T disturbing it must have been. If the D.A.’s finger had been in my face all afternoon, I’d have likely bitten it off.

We were alone in the attorney interview room, where Jared was changing out of his civilian trial clothes. “Someday Bragg will regret what he did to me in there,” he said, balancing on one leg and then the other as he stepped out of his dress pants.

My eyes widened. If I didn’t know him better—wasn’t convinced he was afraid of his own shadow—I would have thought he was making some kind of threat. “What did you say?”

Jared thought for a moment. “I mean, when we win this thing, his political career will be history. No matter how much money he or his old man has.”

“I’m surprised you know so much about him.”

“You should always know as much about the enemy as you possibly can.” He unbuttoned his white dress shirt. “Isn’t that what good trial attorneys do?”

“I just didn’t know you had access to the history of Bragg’s family life,” I said casually.

“It’s well chronicled. Do you think I can’t read?”

“Not with all the books I found strewn across the guest house floor,” I remarked.

Jared’s face went stone cold. “What do you mean, strewn across the floor?”

I knew as soon as the words left my mouth, I shouldn’t have mentioned anything about his personal property. It was the one thing guaranteed to set him off. “Let’s just say that when the cops search a place, they normally don’t tidy up afterward.”

Jared was frozen in place. “But you said they didn’t wreck any of it.”

“They didn’t,” I said. “Sarah boxed everything and stored it someplace safe.”

Jared placed his hands on the counter and leaned into me. Except for his boxer shorts, he was totally naked. “Everything?”

I was tired. It had been a long day, and I anticipated an even longer one tomorrow. “I’m not sure,” I said impatiently. “I know there were a lot of clothes and books.”

“And my necklace?”

“Come on, Jared,” I said, sighing. “We’ve been over this before. As far as I know, it’s still in the property room along with the rest of the stuff they took from your person the day you were arrested.”

He looked at me long and hard. “What do you mean as far as you know?…Aren’t you sure?”

“Yes, yes…you’ll get it back when you’re released.”

His eyes dropped and his face turned sad. “I’m sorry, Hunter, but I’ve had that necklace most of my life, and it means a heck of a lot to me.”

“I understand.”

I hesitated. I needed to figure out the best way to approach him about the real reason I needed to talk—Avery’s Blazer. Because of what Bragg had said in his opening, it was obvious that he was going to try to connect Jared to the disappearance of Gary Cosgrove. I knew Bragg could be bluffing, but I had to be prepared for the worst. I had to find out exactly what Jared knew.

“Do you recall driving Avery’s Blazer a day or two before you were arrested?”

“Why do you ask?”

“Some old man told me one was used to kidnap that missing boy.”

Jared slowly stepped into his blue denim trousers and gave me a look as if he thought I was joking. “Do they think I’m the only person in the state of California who has access to a red Blazer?”

“That’s what Bragg was talking about in his opening when he told the jury you’d done something similar to another boy.”

“I remember,” he said and lifted an eyebrow. “That’s when you were a little slow pulling the trigger.”

It didn’t take a genius to realize he was criticizing me. I knew I should have objected a bit sooner, but I didn’t need a tree trimmer to remind me. “What did you just say?”

“I just thought,” he said as he sat across from me, “that you let that pompous idiot carry on longer than you should have about something that has nothing to do with my case.”

I let the remark pass. But not before I took a deep breath and made a show of blowing it out. “There are a couple of witnesses who saw the kid driven off in a red Blazer, and he hasn’t been seen or heard from since.”

“Did anyone see who the driver was?”

“Not as far as I know. But they seem pretty confident they’ll be able to prove it was you.”

Jared’s eyes never wavered. “They’re wrong. I told you weeks ago that I don’t know anything about that missing kid.”

Jared leaned back and plopped his bare feet on the counter. “How can they think I kidnapped some kid in a red Blazer the day after I supposedly kidnapped a different kid in my black Chevy?”

“I know it’s tenuous,” I said. “But they must know you had access to Avery’s Blazer about that time.”

“Access only,” he said and sat forward. “I never drove there. I don’t know where the place even is.” He then tilted his head. “As a matter of fact, I forgot the name of the damn place.”

“Boonville.”

No sooner did the name come out of my mouth when our eyes locked on each other’s. “That sounds like a damn place you’d find in a Disney movie,” Jared said and we both smiled.

“Our problem is,” I said, “this is McBean’s fantasy we’re dealing with, not Walt Disney’s—and we both know what that means.”

Chapter 22

Everyone watched as Danny Barton followed the bailiff down the center aisle on his way to the witness stand. He was dressed in clothes that looked to be straight off the rack from his mother’s secondhand store. The sleeves of his faded blue blazer were so long they hid everything but his fingertips. With every step his pant cuffs were pinned between the heels of his shoes and the floor. A wide paisley tie covered most of his thin chest.

When Danny neared the front of the witness stand, he turned to the clerk, who was busy rummaging through the top of his desk. With his right hand in the air, the boy surveyed the courtroom while he patiently waited to be administered the oath. When his eyes eventually found Jared, they came to an immediate halt and a glint of concern crossed his young face.

I didn’t know what to make of it. Danny had never been able to positively identify Jared. Not from photographs, or any of the two live lineups that were held for him the day after Jared was arrested.

So why the trancelike stare?

Finally, the clerk found whatever it was he was looking for and interrupted the anxious moment. “Do you solemnly swear . . ,“he began. The boy, as if a hypnotist had snapped his fingers, blinked once and turned back to the old man with his hand still above his head.

I breathed a sigh of relief and glanced at Sarah, who was clearly as puzzled as I was. “What the hell was that all about?” I mouthed as I heard Danny, who was now in the witness chair, accidentally bump the mike with his hand.

“You may begin,” Priest said, nodding at the D.A.

Danny looked immediately at Bragg. The boy knew what would happen next. I was sure they had spent many hours rehearsing the moment.

Bragg began by asking a few foundational questions to help put the boy at ease. However, it didn’t take long for everyone to realize that the D.A. was wasting his time. Sitting straight, the ten-year-old would pause briefly to consider each question before answering it with an air of certainty. Amusement intermittently flickered across the judge’s face. The jury seemed captivated. Danny Barton was in control.

Bragg finally asked about the night the boy was attacked. “Why were you out so late?”

“It wasn’t that late,” Danny said indignantly. “I’m old enough.”

Bragg faced away from the witness stand and smiled at the jury. “I’m sure you are.”

“And, I’d been working all day,” he added. It was obvious the boy knew Bragg was poking fun at him.

Danny looked at his mother as though he had done something wrong. She was sitting in the front row behind the prosecution table, dwarfed by the scowling Otto Cosgrove, seated to her right. After she nodded, he turned back to Bragg.

“My mother’s birthday was the next day. I had to buy her a present.”

“That’s nice,” Bragg oozed like he was talking to a two-year-old. “What did you have in mind?”

“She needed perfume.”

“And is that what you bought her?”

“No,” he said sadly. “I didn’t have enough money.”

“How much did you have?”

The young boy lifted his head and gave his mother a quick smile. “I made five dollars that day,” he said proudly. “I sure thought that would be enough for a bottle of perfume.”

“Everything is just so expensive nowadays.”

The boy grimaced. “Sure is.”

“So what did you end up buying her?”

Danny paused. There was something about Bragg’s question that bothered the boy. His air of confidence was gone.

“What did you buy her?” Bragg repeated.

Danny slowly hung his head and stared blankly at the floor. “Nothing.”

Bragg rushed to Danny’s side and placed his hand on the boy’s shoulder to soothe him. Danny shrugged it away and gave the D.A. a look saying “stop doing that.”

I laughed inwardly when Bragg stepped back, startled by the boy’s reaction. It was obvious to all he’d embarrassed the ten-year-old.

“So everything was too expensive?”

“Not everything. But I wanted to buy her perfume.”

Bragg paused to underscore the importance of his next question. “So you left the store without buying anything?” he said, knowing perfectly well the boy hadn’t.

The smile returned to Danny’s face. “I bought some Gummy Bears.”

“Really?” Bragg said as if he had heard it for the first time. “What are Gummy Bears?”

“Chewy candy.”

Bragg placed his hand on his chin, considering it. “What kind of a package was this chewy candy in?”

“That clear plastic kind of stuff,” he said and hesitated. “I forget exactly what you call it.”

“Cellophane,” Bragg said, helping him out.

“Yeah, that’s it.” Danny looked at McBean. “Told you I’d forget that word.”

There was laughter in the gallery and smiles from most of the jurors. If they’d thought Danny’s answers had been spontaneous, they didn’t anymore.

Bragg waited for the courtroom to settle. The Gummy Bears were the foundation of the prosecution’s case. He didn’t want anyone to miss what would come next.

“Danny,” he finally said, “tell us what happened after you left the store with the Gummy Bears.”

For over an hour, with most of the jurors sitting on the edge of their seats, Danny explained everything that had occurred after he left Sav-on. Little detail was spared. Bragg glossed over the fact that, except for a beard and a baseball cap, Danny couldn’t give an accurate description of his attacker.

“What happened to the Gummy Bears?” Bragg asked.

“I was holding them when he grabbed me.”

“Were you still holding them when you escaped?”

“They were gone. I must have dropped them somewhere.”

“Like maybe when you were inside the car?” Bragg asked.

I jumped to my feet so quickly I almost knocked my chair over. “Objection. Calls for speculation.”

Priest nodded. “Sustained,” she said, and with a flick of her hand waved at the D.A. to proceed.

Bragg faced the jury and walked slowly toward them with a concerned look. “The car that the man used,” he said and placed his hands on the jury railing, “would you describe it?”

Danny angled his head. “It was pretty big.”

“How about the color?”

“Black.”

McBean handed the D.A. several photographs. “Danny,” he said and placed the photos on the counter in front of the boy. “I’m showing you what has been marked for identification as People’s One through Four. Would you please look at each and tell us if you have ever seen the car that is in these photographs?”

I edged forward in my chair as Danny eagerly picked up the photos, glanced at each, and placed them back on the counter.

“Yes,” he said.

Sarah gave me a quizzical look. We both knew he’d never been able to positively identify Jared’s car.

Bragg stepped aside so the jury could not only hear but see Danny answer his next question. “When have you seen that car before?”

There was an eerie quiet throughout the courtroom. Danny hesitated, and a concerned look replaced his boyish grin. For the first time the carefree boy seemed to grasp the importance of what he was about to say. His eyes jumped from Bragg to Jared, and then settled on Bragg. “It’s the car the man who attacked me was driving.”