21st Birthday by Patterson, James (ebook reader screen .TXT) 📕

“He drives to Sacramento, where his ex-wife, Alexandra Conroy, lives, and the two of them go to a resort in Carmel-by-the-Sea. According to Mr. Burke, what brings him back to San Francisco is a newspaper with a headline reporting the murder of his teenage student and mistress, Melissa Fogarty, known as ‘Misty.’

“How can the People charge Mr. Burke with Ms. Fogarty’s murder when he was out of town?

“Because although he cannot be in two places at once, we believe his alibi was either intentionally or unintentionally falsified. We believe that Mr. Burke’s ex-wife is incorrect about Mr. Burke being with her the whole time they were in Carmel, and that he returned to San Francisco to kill Ms. Fogarty on Friday evening.

“We will show video of Ms. Fogarty waiting for Mr. Burke in the parking lot of Sunset Park Prep at about eight that Friday night. Misty attends this school. It is where Mr. Burke teaches and where they met and began their affair. That night, as she waits for him, you will see Mr. Burke get into the back seat of Ms. Fogarty’s car. You will see the movement of his arm as he draws the blade across this teenager’s throat. It was quick, done from behind, from left to right.

“Moments later, as Ms. Fogarty bleeds out, Mr. Burke leaves the car. He disposes of the murder weapon by tossing it over the fence that separates the school parking lot from a field of unmown weeds and car parts. Still, due to diligent police work and additional reviews of the video taken of the murder, crime scene investigators find the weapon, a straight razor belonging to Mr. Burke.

“The Forensics lab has determined that Lucas Burke’s fingerprints and Ms. Fogarty’s blood are both on the razor that was used to slash her throat.

“Circumstantial evidence combined with the physical evidence all points to one person only.

“The defendant, Lucas Burke.”

CHAPTER 78

YUKI WAITED OUT the crying in the gallery; Misty’s parents and friends were sobbing uncontrollably.

The gavel came down hard and several people got up from their seats in the gallery and, without being asked, left the courtroom. Some spectators used the opportunity to move from the rear of the room to the front.

At the defense table, Newt Gardner was whispering to his client, who looked as though his brain was in park. No wheels appeared to be turning at all.

Judge Passarelli asked Yuki to continue.

Yuki said, “That Sunday, four days after Lorrie’s body washes up on the beach and two days after Misty Fogarty is murdered, Tara’s red Volvo surfaces at low tide off China Beach. Her body is strapped into the passenger seat. Her throat has been slashed. A rock the size of a loaf of bread, weighing eight and a half pounds, has been placed on the car’s accelerator to keep pressure on the gas. The baby’s diaper bag is wedged under the driver’s seat, and Tara is wearing the same clothes she was wearing the morning she left her house for the last time. No sign of her computer, her handbag, or her overnight bag.

“So what has happened?

“Mr. Burke denies any knowledge.

“According to San Francisco’s chief medical examiner, Dr. Claire Washburn, Lorrie was smothered, but Tara’s cause of death was a clean cut by a sharp blade across her throat, and Dr. Washburn will also testify that Melissa was killed the same way.

“We will show you the murder weapon, Mr. Burke’s razor with his fingerprints on the handle, and Melissa Fogarty’s blood on the blade.

“It’s direct evidence, ladies and gentlemen, and the murders of these three completely innocent victims will be proven to you beyond reasonable doubt.

“Thank you for your attention and your service.”

Yuki returned to her seat. The gallery began to buzz. She glanced at Cindy and saw that Brady had vacated his spot. Nick Gaines’s tablet was in front of her with a note.

Great damned job, Yuki. Flawless.

She thought so, too.

The defense was called to make its opening statement, and Yuki’s sense of a job well done was about to come undone.

CHAPTER 79

CINDY STRUGGLED WITH her phone charger, trying to insert it into the electric socket on the baseboard behind her seat, eventually completing the task.

The judge had asked if defense counsel was ready with his opening statement, and he said he was. This would be a bad time for her phone to run out of juice. Cindy watched as the battery icon showed the phone charging. She picked her notebook off the floor and — along with all 140 people in the courtroom — focused her gaze on Newt Gardner. He was known for his showmanship, and although Cindy was with Yuki all the way, she was a working reporter, and where there was Newt Gardner, there was news.

Gardner stood and moved his chair back so that it rested against the bar. He put his hand on his client’s shoulder familiarly, showing what a good guy Lucas Burke really was. He stood behind his table for a moment, letting the suspense build. Then Gardner walked across the well to the lectern in the center of the floor, where he could speak not only to the jurors but all of the spectators as well.

He introduced himself, casually stating that he had been a defense attorney for thirty years. It was the definition of false modesty, Cindy thought. He might as well have said, “I know I need no introduction,” but he said his name and that he was representing an innocent man.

“I’m glad to be representing Lucas Burke, who has never committed a crime or a misdemeanor; not parking in a no-parking zone, never arrested for vandalism or disorderly conduct, and certainly not murder. The prosecution is asking you to connect dots.

“Anyone see any dots?

“There are no dots. Terrible events happened and Lucas is one of the victims. His