“Why not just tell the authorities about the danger to Mr. Rice?”
Vanessa laughed. She pointed around the courtroom. “You can see how much credence the police give to what I have to say. My father had me committed to a mental hospital after Lost Lake in order to destroy my credibility. I knew no one would take me seriously, so I saved Carl before the General’s men could kill him. As it was, we just escaped in time. My father’s killers murdered Dr. French and his wife shortly after we escaped and they tried to kill you.”
“How do you know that Mr. Rice didn’t kill Dr. French and his wife?”
“I was with him from the time he left the hospital until I was kidnapped by my father’s men.”
“Did you know any of the men who kidnapped you?”
“Sam Cutler.”
“Who is Sam Cutler?”
“I can’t be certain that’s his real name. Carl knew him as Paul Molineaux. He works for my father, but I didn’t know that when I met him.”
“What was your relationship with Mr. Cutler before he kidnapped you?”
“He was my lover,” Vanessa answered bitterly. “When my father decided to run for the presidency, he instructed Sam to get close to me to make sure I wouldn’t cause his election campaign any trouble.” She paused. “I only learned this recently.”
“Was Mr. Cutler alone when he kidnapped you?”
“No. He had several members of my father’s security force with him. They tried to kill Carl, but he escaped.”
“Where were you taken by Mr. Cutler?”
“To my father’s home in California.”
“Is this the house in which you grew up?”
“Yes, but I don’t go there anymore.”
“Did Mr. Cutler use force to bring you to the mansion?”
“He used physical force and he drugged me.”
“So you did not go to the mansion of your own free will?”
“No.”
“Was Mr. Rice trying to kidnap you when he broke into the mansion?”
“No. He was rescuing me. My father was keeping me there against my will.”
“So Mr. Rice was trying to rescue you from kidnappers when he broke into the mansion, and you would have left with him voluntarily?”
“Yes.”
“If the judge lowers your bail or releases you on your own word, what will you do?”
“I’d follow the court’s instructions. If he lets me return to Washington until the trial, I’ll go back to work. Patrick Gorman, my employer, is keeping my position open. I have an apartment. I’ve been living there for close to fifteen years.”
Ami handed a document to Judge Velasco.
“This is a signed affidavit from Patrick Gorman attesting to the fact that Miss Kohler has been a valued employee for many years and that he will continue to employ her if she is released from custody. I’ve given a copy of the affidavit to Mr. Kirkpatrick, and he has agreed that it can be a substitute for Mr. Gorman’s testimony at this hearing.”
“Is that so, Mr. Kirkpatrick?” the judge asked.
“Yes, Your Honor.”
“Very well, any further questions of your witness?”
“No,” Ami said.
“You may examine, Mr. Kirkpatrick.”
When Brendan walked over to the witness box he looked subdued, as if he were sad to have to ask his questions.
“Were you and Carl Rice lovers in high school, Miss Kohler?”
“Yes.”
“And you broke up in high school?”
“Yes.”
“Then you renewed your acquaintance in D.C. in 1985?”
“Yes.”
“Did you become lovers in Washington?”
“No.”
“Who made the decision to keep the relationship platonic in D.C.?”
“Me.”
“Why was that?”
“We hadn’t parted on the best of terms in high school, and we’d both changed over the years.” Vanessa shrugged. “I just didn’t feel like getting involved in that way with Carl again.”
“And Mr. Rice knew how you felt?”
“Yes.”
“He also knew that you hated your father, didn’t he?”
Vanessa laughed. “Everyone knew that.”
“Did Charlotte Kohler, your mother, die in a car accident when you were in middle school?”
“It was no accident.”
“You believe that your father murdered your mother, don’t you?”
“I know he did.”
“But you have no proof that she was murdered, do you?”
“No,” Vanessa answered as she glared defiantly at the prosecutor.
“And the authorities concluded that your mother’s death was an accident, didn’t they?”
“My father has people on his payroll who can make any death look like an accident.”
“Nonetheless, the official verdict was that your mother’s death was an accident?”
“Yes.”
“You testified that Sam Cutler was living with you in Washington?”
“Yes.”
“Did you tell him that you thought that your father may have been involved in the Kennedy assassination?”
“My father’s military career took off soon after Kennedy was murdered,” she answered belligerently.
“And you think that’s because he was involved in some sort of cabal that was responsible for the assassination?”
“I don’t have any proof about that. It’s…The coincidence is…” Her voice trailed off as she realized how insane she sounded. “Yes.”
“You testified that you and Mr. Rice had once been lovers, but you decided to keep the relationship platonic when you met again in 1985.”
“I just said that.”
“What if he wanted more, Miss Kohler? He knew you hated your father and that you’d believe any outlandish story he made up as long as the villain in it was General Morris Wingate. What if he concocted a story about a secret army headed by your father to bind you to him?”
“No, the Unit existed,” Vanessa insisted stubbornly.
“If Mr. Rice hadn’t told you about the Unit, would you have known about it?”
“What about the records in the safe?”
“Please answer my question, Miss Kohler,” Brendan asked patiently. “If Mr. Rice had not told you about the Unit, would you have known of its existence?”
“No.”
“Did any of the records you took from your father’s safe mention the Unit?”
“No, but Carl’s army records were with the others.”
