The 17th Suspect (Women's Murder Club #17)(55)

CHAPTER 80


YUKI FOUND BRIANA’S testimony credible and very compelling. She tried to shut down her sympathy for the young woman and thought about how to get the jury to do the same.

She approached the witness.

“Ms. Hill, have you ever heard the expression buyer’s remorse?”

“Yes.”

“It means after a purchase the buyer has regrets. Would you go along with me on that definition?”

“Okay.”

“Is that what happened to you? You decided to rape Marc and afterward realized you’d made a bad mistake?”

“I regretted going along with him. That’s all.”

Yuki had an idea for a line of questioning that she might get away with up to a point. It was worth a try, even if Judge Rathburn smacked her down.

She said, “Ms. Hill, after the police arrested you for raping Mr. Christopher, you were released on bond, weren’t you?”

“Yes.”

“But you were arrested again, weren’t you? Why?”

Giftos was on his feet, yelling, “Objection! Relevance.”

Yuki knew that Briana’s return to jail had nothing to do with the rape, but it would raise questions in the jurors’ minds. Why was she back in jail? Did she shoot Marc Christopher?

Yuki said, “Withdrawn, Your Honor.”

Rathburn said, “You know, you’re walking a fine line, Ms. Castellano.”

She said, “Sorry, Your Honor,” thinking she’d made a good decision. Desperate times called for desperate measures. She turned back to the witness.

“Ms. Hill, would you say that it’s risky to date someone who reports to you?”

“I do now.”

Yuki asked, “Are you telling us that you’ve had other interoffice relationships?”

“Objection,” Giftos shouted.

“Sustained.”

“I want to answer,” said the witness.

The judge said to her, “You understand that the question does not apply to the action against you. As your attorney was about to say at the top of his lungs, anything that does not pertain to this case is irrelevant.”

“I understand. I want to set the record straight.”

“Then, go ahead.”

Briana said, “Interoffice dating is no big deal in advertising. I have dated people I’ve worked with, but I’ve never done anything like what I did with Marc that night. I should never have done it. He sold me on it, saying it would be fun. It wasn’t fun. And it wasn’t a crime. It was regrettable.”

And with that, Briana started to cry and couldn’t seem to stop. The judge spoke her name. Her lawyer stood up and said, “Your Honor, can you give the witness a few moments?”

Yuki found Hill’s sobs heartrending—but would the jury find her convincing? If Yuki pushed her any further, she risked coming off as a bully.

“Thank you, Ms. Hill. I have no further questions,” she said.

Rathburn told the defendant that she could step down, and called the court into recess.

Out in the hallway Yuki told Arthur, “I didn’t have a hook to hang my hat on.”

He said, “Didn’t hurt, could’ve helped. She doesn’t seem stable.”

Yuki checked her phone and saw that she had a dozen missed calls. One of them was from Red Dog.

She called him back.

“Talk to me,” he said.

“Giftos has got three character witnesses on deck,” she said. “Briana’s sister, her boss at the agency, and her ex-boyfriend of about a year prior to her relationship with Marc. They’re all going to say she’s a fantastic person.”

“You still like our chances?”

“What I think is that she’s na?ve. He’s calculating. Whether this rape was her idea or his, she was never an even match for him. As things stand right now, there’s enough reasonable doubt to fill a freight train.

“My gut,” Yuki said, “tells me that this jury is going to hang.”

Parisi said, “My gut says make time to go over your closing argument with me.”

“Will do,” said Yuki. She welcomed input from Parisi. Because she believed Briana’s story, and that worried her.





CHAPTER 81


CONKLIN AND I were at our desks Monday morning when he said to me, “Want to go for a ride?”

I said, “When I say that to Martha, she goes nuts.”

Conklin cracked up, then held up some keys.

“Get your leash. We’re going on a mystery road trip. I’ve checked out a squad car.”

I’d just returned after a weekend of bed rest that I had truly needed. A hundred e-mails were waiting in my inbox, and I had a million questions for Conklin about our ongoing homicide case. My first cup of java sat untouched and chilling on my desk.

I really needed to work.

I tried to get my partner to tell me what he wanted me to see, but I couldn’t budge him. He wouldn’t even give me a hint. I finally gave up.

“How long is this going to take?” I asked.

“Trust me. You’ll like this. Get up, Boxer.”

I threw a big sigh, gulped down half my coffee, pulled on my jacket, and said, “What’re we waiting for?”