In Self Defense by Susan Sloan (phonics books .TXT) 📕

“Yes, about the suitcase,” David said, thoughtfully rubbing his chin.  “Did you have reason to know that the stalker wouldn’t have brought a suitcase with him?”

“No,” Eddie had to admit.  “I had no reason to know that.”

“But you’re the expert, Mr. Ridenour -- you and the police detectives, aren’t you?  And if none of you knew what the stalker looked like, or whether or not he would be bringing a suitcase with him, why would you expect a panicked Clare Durant to know?”

“If it was an honest mistake,” Eddie suggested in his own defense, “why did she remove it before the police got there?”

“Now that’s an interesting point that apparently no one seems to have bothered to investigate, isn’t it?” David countered.

“Objection,” Mark Sundstrom called.  “Argumentative.”

“Withdrawn,” David said as he took his seat.

***

“That’s going to be a real sticking point for the jury, isn’t it?” Clare said with a sigh.  “Why I moved the suitcase.”

“Yes, it will be,” David told her.  “But only for a while.  Then it won’t matter at all.”

***

The voice analyst who had examined the digital recording was called to testify.  He confirmed that, in comparing the message that had been left on Stephanie Burdick’s answering machine, which the jury had already heard, with other known recordings of Richard Durant speaking, he had found sufficient markers to conclude that the jury had indeed listened to Durant’s voice.

“Mr. Abado,” David inquired casually, when the prosecutor had concluded his direct examination, “is there any way for you to determine, from all your analyses, whether Richard Durant was telling the truth on that recording?”

The analyst blinked. “Telling the truth?” he repeated.  “I don’t know what you mean.”

“I mean, can you testify here in this court today that Richard Durant actually did call his wife and tell her he was going to be coming home that night around midnight?”

“Well, no,” Abado replied.  “Without a recording of such a conversation, there would be no way for me to testify to that.”

“So he could have lied to his mistress when he told her what he was going to tell his wife, or he could have been telling the truth but then changed his mind, for some reason, and decided not to tell her, is that right?”

“Sure,” Abado agreed.

“Thank you,” David said with a smile and a nod.  “I have nothing further.”

***

On and on it went, witness after witness.  Police, analysts, technicians -- all clarifying the technical and observable aspects of the case.

And then, almost two weeks into the trial, Stephanie Burdick was called to testify. All decked out in Givenchy and Prada, she walked purposefully down the aisle, looking far more like a runway model than a boardroom mistress.  A low murmur rippled across the packed gallery of spectators at the show.  This was the exalted, Seattle’s top rung, so to speak, the envy of mere mortals, the embodiment of you-can-look-but-you-can’t-touch.  Few, if any of those in the courtroom, had ever seen the socialite in person.

Not one to dance around, Mark Sundstrom cut right to the chase.  “What was your relationship with the deceased?” he asked, as soon as his witness had taken the oath.

Stephanie took a deep breath.  “We were lovers,” she replied with a defiant toss of her head.  “For a little more than two years.”

The gallery erupted.  Even members of the normally stoic jury couldn’t keep their eyes from popping.  This was not information that had been allowed to make its way into the media, and so it took Judge Lazarus several minutes to gavel the crowd to silence.

At the defense table, Clare steeled herself for what was to come, hands clenched in her lap.  Whatever else Richard was, he had always been discreet about his philandering, and few had known about it, until now.  Now, the whole world would know.

“And how did you believe this two-year relationship of yours was going to end?”  Sundstrom continued when order is finally restored in the courtroom.

“It was my understanding that Richard was going to divorce his wife,” Stephanie said softly, with an almost girlish blush touching her cheeks, “and that we were going to be married.”

“And this was your understanding because?

“Because it’s what Richard said,” the witness testified.  “On any number of occasions.”

“Richard Durant told you he was going to divorce his wife and marry you?”

“Yes.”

“All right, let’s go back to the afternoon of October 19th of last year,” the prosecutor said.  “Did you receive a telephone message from Richard Durant on that day?”

“Yes, I did.”

“What did the message say?”

“It said that he was coming home from his trip a day early and that he would be coming by my place as soon as he got in.”

“Did it say anything else?”

“Yes, it also said that he was going to call his wife and tell her that he was on his way home, but that he wouldn’t get there until much later that night.”

“And is that, in fact, what happened?”

“As far as I know, yes,” Stephanie confirmed.  “Richard arrived at my place a little after seven o’clock.”

“And what time did he leave?”

“I believe it was a little after eleven-thirty.”

“Now,” the prosecutor continued, “do you happen to know how long it would normally take for him to drive from your apartment on Capital Hill to his home in Laurelhurst?”

“If I remember right, Richard said once that it took him around half an hour.”

“Sundstrom nodded.  “So that would have him turning into his driveway sometime shortly after midnight, give or take a few minutes, wouldn’t it?” he inquired.

“I guess so.”

“And several weeks after the murder, what did you do with that recorded message?”

“When I heard that Richard’s death had been officially ruled accidental, I took it to the police.”

Sundstrom walked over to the prosecution table and retrieved the digital recorder from Tom Colby.  “Is this what you gave to Detectives Hall and Grissom that day?” he asked his star witness.

Stephanie nodded.  “Yes, it is.”

“Just as a matter of curiosity -- are you in the habit of