'Man . . . manslaughter.'
'You stabbed a man to death in a bar fight, did you not?'
Allen looked like he was going to be sick.
'Please instruct Mr. Allen to answer, Your Honor,' Riker asked the Court.
'Please answer the question,' Quinn instructed the witness.
'That is true,' Allen answered.
'Did you know about this?' Garrett whispered to Crease.
'Yes, but I forgot. It's ancient history. James is gay. When he was eighteen, two men attacked him. They were gay bashing. James had a knife and he fought them off. Lamar said that it would have been self-defense, but James ran the men down after they quit the fight and killed one of them. He gave James a break when he got out of prison and hired him. He hasn't been in trouble since.'
'You're the housekeeper at the Hoyt estate, right?' Riker asked Allen.
'Yes.'
''When Mr. Hoyt and the defendant were away, you were in charge of the house, weren't you?'
'Yes.'
'That's why you had the keys to all the rooms, including the bedroom?'
'Yes.'
'And you could go into any room in the house to clean or to get something, right?'
'Yes.'
'In fact, it was part of your duties to let people, like the cleaners, into various rooms in the house, including the bedroom, when Mr. Hoyt and the defendant were away?'
'Yes.'
'Mr. Allen, did you like Mr. Hoyt?'
'Yes, sir.'
'You'd worked for him for more than twenty years?'
'Yes.'
'And you wanted his killer brought to justice?'
'Yes.'
'How did you feel when Detective Anthony told you that keeping him and Officer Yoshida out of the bedroom might lead to the destruction of evidence that could prove who killed Mr. Hoyt?'
'I . . . Well, I didn't want to be responsible for something like that.'
'So you wanted the officers to enter that bedroom, didn't you?'
'I ... I guess . . . Yes. I wanted to help.'
'Thank you, Mr. Allen,' Riker said before turning away from the witness and returning to his seat. Quinn noted Riker's satisfied smile and the brief look of concern on Garrett's face.
'If I might, Your Honor,' Garrett said.
'Certainly.'
'Mr. Allen, your instructions from Senator Crease were quite explicit, were they not? Didn't she tell you to keep the bedroom locked and let no one but the cleaners into it?'
'Those were my instructions.'
'She did not tell you to make an exception for the police, did she?'
'No.'
'You made it clear to the officers what your instructions were?'
'Yes.'
'And when you refused Detective Anthony admission, that is when he became agitated, sharp with you and demanding?'
'Yes.'
'Did his tone have anything to do with your decision to give him the bedroom key?'
'Well, he was a policeman and he seemed very upset with me. I didn't feel that I could refuse him.'
'Nothing further.'
Riker was already on his feet. 'Mr. Allen, did the defendant give you specific instructions to keep the police out of the bedroom.'
'No.'
'So you never discussed with the defendant what you should do if a policeman came to the house and needed access to the bedroom so he could try to secure evidence that would help find Lamar Hoyt's murderer?'
'No.'
'Before you gave Detective Anthony the key, did you try to figure out what the defendant would have told you if you had been successful in talking to her in Pendleton?'
'I . . . Yes, I did.'
'Was it your impression that the defendant wanted her husband's killer found?'
'Most assuredly.'
'So you concluded that she would never want to impede the investigation, didn't you? That she would have gladly allowed the police access to that bedroom if it would help find her husband's killer?'
Allen looked down and answered, 'Yes,' in a tone so low that Quinn had trouble hearing him.
'And that was why you gave Detective Anthony the key, wasn't it? Not because he grew sharp with you, but because you realized that his agitation stemmed from his desire to solve the murder of your employer of twenty years? Isn't that so?'
'I ... I guess . . . Yes, that had a lot to do with it.'
'Thank you, Mr. Allen,' Riker said with a self-satisfied smile.
Quinn asked Mary Garrett if she had any other questions for the witness. Garrett thought about trying to rehabilitate Allen, but she realized that the damage had already been done. She dismissed the witness. Allen took a seat in the back of the courtroom. He looked very upset.
'How bad were we hurt?' Crease asked in a whisper.
'Riker did a good job. We can argue that Allen was bullied into consenting to the search, but Riker can argue that he was only doing what he thought was best and that he had concluded that you would have consented, too.'
'Would it do any good to call me as a witness?' Crease asked. 'I definitely told Jim to keep the bedroom locked, except to let in the cleaners.'
'Riker would ask you if you intended to keep out police officials who were trying to solve the murder of your husband,' Garrett answered. 'We both know how you would answer that question.'
'Any more witnesses, Ms. Garrett?' Quinn asked.
'No, Your Honor.'
'Then let's hear from your people, Mr. Riker.'
'The State calls Lou Anthony, Your Honor.'
The bailiff went into the hall and returned with the detective. The bailiff gave Anthony the oath, then motioned him toward the witness box. Quinn thought that the detective seemed very uncomfortable and the judge noticed that the witness avoided looking at Ellen Crease.
'Detective Anthony, are you the detective in charge of the investigation into the death of Lamar Hoyt?' Riker asked after establishing Anthony's background in police work.
'Yes, sir.'
'Were you at the crime scene on the evening of January seventh?'
'Yes, sir.'
'Did you interview the defendant and speak to the medical examiner, forensic experts and other investigators?'
'Yes, sir.'
'What conclusion did you come to about the defendant's responsibility for the death of her husband and Martin Jablonski on the evening of the shooting?'
'On the evening of January seventh, I concluded that a burglar, who we later learned was an ex-convict named Martin Jablonski, had broken into the home of Mr. Hoyt and the defendant to commit a burglary and had shot
