“Those were the only times you saw the car that evening?”
“Yes.”
“And you did not know what model and year the car was until you checked with the Motor Vehicle Division?”
“I…It’s the car I saw,” Ortiz answered weakly.
David picked up three color photographs from his table and walked over to the witness stand. Monica drummed the tip of her pen on her desk. Ortiz was in trouble, and she did not know how much longer he would be able to stand up under David’s questioning. She had Dr. Stewart on call to testify that Ortiz, and others with amnesia caused by a concussion, could recall with complete accuracy events they had forgotten. But for the jury to believe in Ortiz’s recall, they had to believe in Ortiz.
“Will you study these three photographs, please?” David asked Ortiz. The policeman shuffled the photos until he had viewed all three.
“Would you tell the jury what they are?”
“They appear to be a beige Mercedes-Benz.”
“Same type that Mr. Stafford drives?”
“Yes.”
David smiled at Ortiz and took back the pictures.
“I have no further questions.”
Monica could not believe it. She had seen David tear witnesses apart and she knew his technique. He always softened them up, as he had Ortiz, with questions that would shake their confidence. Then he progressed from point to point, ending with a series of questions that involved a major point in their testimony. The questions about Ortiz’s amnesia had been expected, but she also expected more. Ortiz had been touched by David, but not badly shaken. She wanted him off the stand quickly, while he was still basically intact.
“No further questions,” Monica said.
“Call your next witness.”
“Dr. Arthur Stewart, Your Honor.”
Ortiz wanted to discuss the case as soon as she left the courtroom, but she told him to wait until they got to her office. Dr. Stewart had been excellent and David had not scored many points. She had rested the State’s case at the end of his testimony without calling Cyrus Johnson.
“But why?” Ortiz demanded when he and Monica and Crosby were alone.
“Because it wasn’t necessary and I did not want to risk it.”
“You haven’t shown any motive. Johnson can establish that this guy is an S-M freak.”
“Or make it look like we’re trying to railroad him with perjured testimony. Look, Bert, we already have a motive. He is a member of a big law firm, but not a partner. He is married to a wealthy woman. If he is arrested for prostitution, his career and marriage could be over. What more do we need? Besides, you were terrific.”
Ortiz shook his head. “I don’t know. That business with the amnesia. Don’t you think…?”
“I was in the courtroom, Bert,” Crosby said. “You came off just great, and that doctor cleared that whole business up. I was surprised how easy Nash went on you.”
“Yeah. That has me worried, too. Why do you think he let up?”
“I don’t know,” Monica said, “but let’s not look a gift horse in the mouth.”
“If it was a gift,” Ortiz said. “That son of a bitch has something he’s not telling you about. I can feel it.”
Monica shrugged. “I’m not going to worry about it now.”
“And you can still use T.V. in rebuttal, right?” Ortiz asked.
“Bert, I don’t trust him. He’ll do anything to get out of this dope charge.”
“I don’t think so,” Ortiz said, shaking his head vigorously. “It’s too much of a coincidence.”
“Well, if the case goes as well as it has so far, it will all be academic.”
“Mr. Stafford calls Patrick Walsh, Your Honor,” David said, and the clerk left the courtroom to summon the witness. David took the opportunity to collect the exhibits he would use and to review his notes on Walsh’s testimony.
The defense was going well. David had started by calling several of Larry’s friends and business associates, who testified to his good character. They had painted a picture of a newly wed, young professional who possessed a sense of humor and a dedication to his work. Monica, through cross-examination, brought out the fact that Larry had been passed over for partner by his firm, but Charlie Holt, the witness, had handled that line of questioning well. David thought this revelation had provoked sympathy from the jurors.
David used Barry Dietrich, the partner with whom Larry had met on the evening of the murder, to bridge the gap between the character witnesses and those witnesses who would establish Stafford’s defense. Dietrich was not enthusiastic about testifying. With the exception of Charlie Holt, the partners at Price, Winward had been reluctant to get involved in the case. However, once on the stand, Dietrich had done well.
The courtroom door opened, and a tall, angular redheaded man with a slight limp walked to the stand. David looked back toward him and noticed Jenny seated on the aisle at the rear of the courtroom. They had been together often during the last month, treating each moment alone as if it might be their last. David loved Jenny. He knew that now. Often, when they were lying together, David wondered what would happen to them when the trial ended. If Larry was free, would Jenny go back to him? David was weak and vulnerable at such moments. He would hold Jenny, afraid of what might happen if he let her go.
“Mr. Walsh, how are you employed?” David asked once the witness had been sworn.
“I’m a zone distribution manager for Mercedes-Benz of North America.”
“What does a zone distribution manager do?”
“For sales purposes Mercedes has divided the United States into zones and subzones, and I’m in charge of sales in the San Francisco zone, which covers the Pacific Northwest and Northern California. I order all the cars for the zone and distribute them to the dealers in the subzones.”
David picked up the photograph of Larry’s Mercedes and handed it to the witness.
“How long have you been with Mercedes-Benz, Mr. Walsh?”
“It will be twenty-two years this April.”
“I’ve just handed you a photograph which has been marked as State’s exhibit five, and I ask you if you can identify that car for the jury.”
“Certainly. This is our model 300SEL, 1991. It is beige in color.”
“What does 300SEL mean?”
“The 300SEL is a four-door sedan with a gas engine. Three hundred is the engine size. S means the car is one of our super-class models, the largest sedan we sell. E means the car has fuel injection. L stands for a long wheel base.”
“Do you also sell a 300SE model?”
“Yes, we do. That model looks identical, but it’s four inches shorter.”
“Thank you. Now I am handing you three other photographs,” David said, handing Walsh the pictures he had shown to Ortiz on the preceding day. “Can you identify the cars in those pictures?”
Walsh studied the photographs, then stacked them and turned toward the jury as David had instructed him to do at their pretrial meeting. He held up the top photograph.
“This photograph, which is marked defendant’s exhibit seven, is a beige Mercedes-Benz.”
“Is it a 1991, 300SEL?”
“It is not. It is a 1981, 300SD.”
Several of the jurors leaned forward, and Monica cocked her head to one side, focusing her attention on the witness.
“And exhibit eight?”
Walsh held up a picture of another beige Mercedes.
“This is a 1985, 300SE model.”
There was a stir in the courtroom.
“And the final car?”
“Exhibit nine is a 1987, 420SEL.”
