Animal Instinct by Rosenfelt, David (novels for students TXT) 📕

“But this trial has been unusual in one important regard. You’ve sat through a lot of testimony by many witnesses, yet nothing has changed. Let me repeat that … nothing has changed.

“Right at the beginning, you learned that Corey Douglas was in Gerald Kline’s house that fateful night. You learned that he carried a grudge against Mr. Kline; he voiced it repeatedly, even to a police officer. You learned that Mr. Douglas’s blood-soaked clothing and knife were hidden in a Dumpster four houses down from Mr. Kline’s house.

“You learned all that at the outset of the trial, and you know what? It’s all still true. And you know what else? You have not heard an explanation from the defense for any of it.

“They have tried to distract you with stories of other deaths, none of which have anything to do with the murder of Gerald Kline. Have they identified anyone else besides Mr. Douglas who had a vendetta against Mr. Kline? Have they identified anyone else besides Mr. Douglas who had a motive to kill him?

“Have they identified anyone else whose bloodstained clothing and knife were found near the scene? No, but by all means, they want you to clear Mr. Douglas of this crime because someone else murdered someone else.

“It’s crazy. Was Lee Harvey Oswald innocent because someone else murdered Martin Luther King? That is literally the logic behind the defense position.

“Don’t be fooled by all of the smoke and mirrors. Focus on the facts … on the access, on the motive, and on the evidence. That is all you need; it tells you all you have to know to make the correct decision.

“Thank you.”

Andy wastes no time getting up; he starts speaking at the very moment that Judge Wallace invites him to do so.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I would respectfully disagree with Mr. Campbell. Because in my view one thing is certain, and that is that everything has changed.

“At the beginning of the trial, Mr. Kline seemed to be a successful entrepreneur who was tragically murdered. And let me make one thing clear: that murder, like all violent deaths, was and is tragic.

“But since then, you have learned that he lived in a dangerous world, surrounded by chaos and, yes, death. You have learned that a phone belonging to Jake Gardener, a man identified by the man in charge of the Homicide Division of the Paterson Police Department as a contract killer, was in Gerald Kline’s house an hour before his body was discovered.

“Mr. Campbell implied that perhaps the phone was there but that Mr. Gardener was not. Does it seem logical to you that Gardener lent someone his phone to go to Mr. Kline’s house and then took it back? Because Mr. Gardener had it in his possession when his own body was discovered.

“You’ve learned that Lisa Yates, a very close friend of Mr. Kline, was also murdered. You saw an email she wrote in which she expressed worry for her own safety from someone named Rico, and which included Mr. Kline commenting on Rico’s potential dangerousness. And you’ve learned that Rico, Richard Mahler, has himself recently died by violent means, possibly suicide, possibly not.

“You’ve learned that Mr. Douglas, while investigating this case, was the target of still another contract killer. He was able to thwart the attack and kill the intruder. Is it reasonable to consider it possible that the purpose of the killer was to abort the investigation? I think so.

“I don’t know for sure how Mr. Douglas’s clothing and knife happened to wind up in that Dumpster. But I can tell you this. When I left for court this morning, I did not lock my sweatpants and kitchen utensils in a safe. Did you? When I get home each night, I would not notice if a sweatshirt and knife were missing. Would you?

“But the prosecution would have you believe that Mr. Douglas, a savvy police officer of twenty-five years, hid incriminating evidence where he had to know it would be found. Then he called the police to the scene and waited for them to arrive.

“Let me ask you this: Why wouldn’t he have just left, taking that incriminating evidence with him? Why do everything to call attention to himself, to make himself the obvious suspect, if he didn’t have to? Do his actions make any sense at all? Would such a smart cop become such a stupid criminal?

“Ladies and gentlemen, I would submit that not only has the prosecution’s reasonable doubt threshold not been met, it hasn’t even been approached. Corey Douglas served this community well and heroically for twenty-five years. He has done nothing wrong. At the very least, we owe him our thanks and his freedom.”

Andy comes back and sits next to me at the defense table. I lean over, offer my hand, and as we shake hands, I say, “You were worth every penny.”

I have never experienced anything like this … not even close.

I’m not sure too many people have.

It’s been thirty-six hours since Judge Wallace sent twelve strangers into a room to decide whether I will spend most or all of the rest of my life in prison. Neither Andy nor I have any idea what is going on in that room, and we will not know until they have made their final decision.

Andy refuses to make a prediction and does not even want to talk about it. He has about half a million weird superstitions that he observes during a verdict watch, and pretty much everything I say violates one of them, so we don’t discuss it at all.

Today is Saturday, but the jury has been sequestered, and the plan is to deliberate through the entire weekend, or less if they reach their verdict.

Andy is very much aware, as is Laurie, of the other major pressure that I am experiencing. I am in a race to break open the conspiracy that has been going on at Ardmore. There is no time to wait;