Along Came a Spider (Alex Cross #1)(70)

Eight different psychiatrists and psychologists were brought to the stand to build the case that Gary Soneji/Murphy was in control of his actions; that he was a deviate sociopath; that he was rational, cold-blooded, and very sane.

He was described as a “criminal genius,” without any conscience or remorse; as a brilliant actor, “worthy of Hollywood,” which was how he’d manipulated and fooled so many people along the way.

But Gary Soneji/Murphy had consciously and deliberately kidnapped two children; he had killed one or both of them; he had killed others—at least five, and possibly more. He was the human monster we all have nightmares about…. So said all theprosecution experts.

The chief of psychiatry from Walter Reed was on the stand for most of one afternoon. She had interviewed Gary Murphy on a dozen occasions. After a long description of a disturbed childhood in Princeton, New Jersey, and teenage years marked by violent outbursts against both human beings and animals, Dr. Maria Ruocco was asked to give her psychiatric evaluation of Gary Murphy.

“I see someone who is an extremely dangerous sociopath. I believe Gary Murphy is fully aware of all his actions. I absolutely do not believe he is a multiple personality.”

So it was that Mary Warner artfully laid out her case every day. I admired her thoroughness, and her understanding of the psychiatric process. She was assembling a terribly complex jigsaw puzzle for the judge and jury. I’d met with her several times and she was good.

When she was finished, the jurors would have an exquisitely detailed picture in their minds… of the mind of Gary Soneji/Murphy.

Each day of the trial she would concentrate on one new puzzle piece. She would show them the piece. She would explain it thoroughly. She would then insert the piece into the puzzle.

She showed the jury exactly how the new piece related to everything else that had gone before. Once or twice, spectators in the courtroom audience were moved to applaud the soft-spoken prosecutor and her impressive performance.

She accomplished all of this while Anthony Nathan was objecting to virtually every point she attempted to make.

Nathan’s defense was simple enough, and he never wavered from it: Gary Murphy was innocent because he had committed no crime.

Gary Soneji had.

Anthony Nathan paced the front of the courtroom with his usual swagger. He wore a fifteen-hundred-dollar tailored suit, but didn’t look at all comfortable in it. The suit was cut well, but Nathan’s posture was impossible—it was like trying to dress a jungle gym.

“I am not a nice person.” Anthony Nathan stood before the jury of seven women and five men on the Monday of the second week. “At least not in the courtroom. People say that I have a perpetual sneer. That I’m a pompous man. That I’m an insufferable egomaniac. That I’m impossible to be around for more than sixty seconds. It’s all true,” Nathan said to his captive audience. “It’s all true.

“And that’s what gets me into trouble sometimes. I do tell the truth. I’m obsessed with telling the truth. I have no patience, none at all, with half truths. And I have never taken a case where I cannot tell The Truth.

“My defense of Gary Murphy is simple, perhaps the least complex and controversial I’ve ever delivered to any jury. It is about Truth. It is all black and white, ladies and gentlemen. Please, listen to me.

“Ms. Warner and her team understand how strong the defense is, and that’s precisely why she has just laid before you more facts than the Warren Commission used to prove exactly the same thing—ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. If you could cross-examine Ms. Warner, and she would answer honestly, she would tell you that. Then we could all go home. Wouldn’t that be nice? Yes, that would be very nice.”

There were snickers from around the courtroom. At the same time, some members of the jury were leaning in closer to listen and watch. Each time that Nathan passed by, he got a half step closer to them.

“Someone, several someones, asked me why I took this case. I told them, as simply as I’ll tell you now, that the evidence makes this a certain winner for the defense. The Truth is overwhelming for the defense. I know you don’t believe that now. You will. You will.

“Here’s a stunning statement of fact. Ms. Warner did not want to bring this trial to jury at this time. Her boss, the secretary of the treasury, forced this case to trial. He forced the trial to take place in record time. Never have the wheels of Justice moved so fast. Those same wheels never would have moved this fast for you or your family. That is the truth.

“But in this particular instance, because of the suffering of Mr. Goldberg and his family, the wheels have moved very fast. And because of Katherine Rose Dunne and her family, who are famous and rich and very powerful, and who also want their suffering to end. Who can blame them for that? I certainly don’t.

“But NOT AT THE EXPENSE OF THE LIFE OF AN INNOCENT MAN! This man, Gary Murphy, does not deserve to suffer as they have suffered.”

Nathan now walked over to where Gary sat. Blond, athletic-looking Gary Murphy, who looked like a grown-up Boy Scout. “This man is as good a man as you will find anywhere in this courtroom. I’ll prove it to you, too.

“Gary Murphy is a good man. Remember that. There’s another fact for you.

“It is one of two facts, just two, that I want you to remember. The other fact is that Gary Soneji is insane.

“Now, I must tell you, I am a little insane, too. Just a little. You’ve seen that already. Ms. Warner has drawn your attention to it. Well, Gary Soneji IS A HUNDRED TIMES MORE INSANE THAN I AM. Gary Soneji is the most insane person I’ve ever met. And I’ve met Soneji. You will, too.