The Perfect Alibi (Robin Lockwood #2)(27)
“More like one to the nth degree.”
“Have you told Rex yet?”
“No.”
“Then let’s go break the news.”
“He’s not going to like it,” Anders said.
* * *
Vanessa led the way down the hall to Rex’s office. He looked up when the women walked in and started to smile. But the smile faded when he saw the looks on their faces.
“That’s not possible,” Kellerman said when Anders finished explaining the DNA match.
“Everyone I talked to agrees with you,” Anders said, “but the samples match.”
Kellerman shook his head. “It’s a trick, a scam. Have you checked the visitor logs? Did this Braxton woman visit Hastings? Could they have fucked in the jail?”
“Hastings’s only visitors were his new lawyer, Les Kreuger, and his parents.”
“There’s got to be an explanation.”
“The crime lab is working on it. They’ve hired Paul Baylor at Oregon Forensics to run tests on the semen in the two cases.”
“Does Kreuger know about this?”
“I’ve got to tell him, Rex.”
Kellerman looked lost. “He’ll try to get Hastings out of jail. He’ll move for a new trial.”
“I expect so,” Vanessa said. “You better brush up on DNA because bad things will happen if we can’t figure out how two people can have the same DNA.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Tyler Harrison III watched Frank Nylander walk toward the elevator before closing the door to his office. Nylander had come to New York assuming that Leonard Voss’s case would be settled by the end of their meeting. That hadn’t happened, and both lawyers were upset by the intransigence of Nylander’s client.
Harrison walked over to his window. Twenty stories below, the traffic crawled along Park Avenue. As he watched it, Harrison thought about how he was going to break the bad news to Marvin Turnbull. A few minutes later, he returned to his desk and dialed Turnbull’s private number at Norcross Pharmaceutical.
The CEO picked up after one ring. “What happened?” Turnbull asked.
“Voss rejected the offer.”
“You’re kidding! It was more than generous.”
“Voss sees this as a matter of principle. He’s on a crusade.”
“Is there any way we can keep the case from going to trial? The publicity could be disastrous.”
“I’ll take another shot at a settlement,” Harrison said, “but Nylander told me both Voss and his wife are dead set on—and I quote—‘exposing Norcross.’ He didn’t seem any happier about having to take the case to trial than I am.”
“Fucking fanatics,” Turnbull mumbled. There was silence for a moment. Then Turnbull said, “Okay, take another shot at settling. It looks like that’s all we can do.”
* * *
Marvin Turnbull hung up on Harrison. Then he took out a disposable cell phone and dialed a number in Portland, Oregon.
“Yes,” Ivar Gorski answered.
“We’ve hit a snag, and I may need you to implement plan B, so be prepared.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Robin was in her office when Vanessa Cole phoned.
“Are you representing Randi Stark in her civil suit against Blaine Hastings?” Cole asked.
“Yes.”
“Les Kreuger is Blaine Hastings’s new attorney. He filed a motion for a new trial and release on bail, and Judge Redding is hearing it this afternoon. You should be there.”
“Why?”
“I’ll let it be a surprise.”
“Should I bring Randi?”
“No.”
“Why the heads up?”
“You’ll find out.”
* * *
Judge Redding’s courtroom was packed, and Robin guessed that someone in Blaine Hastings’s camp had tipped off the press. Robin found a seat just as Les Kreuger called Paul Baylor, a slender, bookish African American, as his first witness. Kreuger was a bear of a man with a florid complexion and gray-streaked black hair. He had trained for the opera in his youth and used his deep voice for dramatic emphasis.
“Mr. Baylor, are you self-employed?” Kreuger asked.
“I am.”
“What is your business?”
“I own Oregon Forensic Investigations.”
“What do you do there?”
“I provide forensic expertise to individuals and institutions.”
“With regard to criminal investigations, do you work for the prosecution and defense?”
“I do.”
“What are your credentials?”
“I have a degree in forensic science and criminal justice from Michigan State University, and I worked at the Oregon State Crime Lab for ten years before leaving to open my own business.”
“Can you tell the Court a little about DNA?”
Baylor turned to Judge Redding. “DNA is shorthand for deoxyribonucleic acid, a chemical entity that is found in all living things. With regard to human beings, DNA is an instruction manual that helps us carry out all the necessary life processes.