BASCOTT. Anything is possible.
But St Claire found the answer to his question in another skirmish between Stenner and Vail.
VAIL … I have only one more question, Lieutenant Stenner. You stated a few minutes ago that this crime was premeditated. You said it unequivocally, as a statement of fact. Isn't that just another one of your unsupported allegations, sir?
STENNER: No, sir, it is not.
VAIL: Well, will you please tell the court upon what evidence you base that supposition?
STENNER: Several factors.
VAIL: Such as?
STENNER: The symbols on the back of the bishop's head.
VAIL: And what about the symbols, Lieutenant?
STENNER: They refer to a quote from a book in the bishop's library. The passage was marked in the book. We found similar markings in a book retrieved from Stampler's quarters in the Hollows. Some highlighter was used and we can identify the handwriting in both books as Stampler's.
VAIL: Lieutenant, why do you believe these markings on the victim's head prove premeditation?
STENNER: Because he planned it. He wrote in blood, on the victim's head, the symbol B32.156. B32.156 is the way this book is identified, it's a method for cataloguing the books in the bishop's library.
VAIL: And what does it mean?
STENNER: It is a quote from the novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. 'No man, for any considerable period, can wear one face to himself, and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be the true.'
VAIL: What is the significance of that quote?
STENNER: It is our belief that Stampler felt betrayed by Bishop Rushman, who made him leave Saviour House. His girlfriend left him, he was living in a hellhole. He felt the bishop was two-faced. So he put this symbol in blood on the victim's head to add insult to injury.
VAIL: I think you're reaching, Lieutenant…
STENNER: We proved it to my satisfaction.
VAIL: Well, I guess we should thank our lucky stars you're not on the jury, sir…
St Claire's pause was doing double time. He wrote on his pad: 'What happened to the bishop's books?' But he kept reading until the trial came to its startling conclusion.
VENABLE: You have quite a memory for quotations and sayings that appeal to you, don't you, Mr Stampler?
STAMPLER: I have a good memory, yes, ma'am.
VENABLE: Are you familiar with Nathaniel Hawthorne's book The Scarlet Letter?
STAMPLER: Yes, ma'am, I know the book.
VENABLE: And does the phrase 'B32.156' meaning anything to you?
STAMPLER: (No response.)
JUDGE SHOAT. Mr Stampler, do you understand the question?
STAMPLER: Uh, I believe those are the numbers that were on the back of the bishop's head, in the pictures.
VENABLE: Is that the first time you ever saw them?
STAMPLER: I reckon.
