Chapter 69
THE LAST THING Judge Nussbaum had said before adjourning court for the weekend was “I can hardly wait until Monday, Mr. Kinsela, to see what you’ve got up your sleeve.”
Kinsela had laughed through his nose, and Keith Herman had nearly grinned his face off, but Yuki hadn’t been amused.
She had left the courtroom and gone directly upstairs, where she found Red Dog Parisi conferring with Chief Jacobi. She pulled a chair up to Parisi’s desk and the three of them discussed Lily Herman’s kidnapping, her mysterious return, and what effect the child’s reappearance might have had on the jury. They also reassured each other that the gun dealer’s recanting of his earlier testimony was meaningless.
The next day, Yuki, Nicky, Red Dog, and all the ADAs had gathered to pick their case apart and to critique the new structure of Yuki’s closing argument. They worked on Sunday, too, and even met again this morning to evaluate the media coverage and to incorporate last-minute thoughts.
The mind meld had been productive and Yuki was glad for the team’s support, but she was still uneasy.
Damage had been done. She’d told the jury in her opening statement that Keith Herman had killed two people, not one. And while the case was still about the murder of Jennifer Herman, Yuki knew that Kinsela had damaged her standing with the jury. And, by the way, he could slip another knife between her ribs before he was done.
There was only one witness on Kinsela’s list. It was another of the prosecution’s former witnesses— undercover cop Lieutenant Floyd Meserve.
Meserve was a good guy and a good cop.
Keith Herman had tried to hire Meserve to kill his wife and child. No question about it. Their interview had taken place in Meserve’s vehicle and had been recorded on video. The video had been shown to the jury. Keith Herman had told Meserve that he wanted Jennifer and Lily killed.
Now, as Yuki sat with Nicky at the defense table, waiting for court to reconvene, Yuki muttered to her associate, “How could Kinsela possibly use Meserve against us? How?”
The minute hand on the big clock moved. The bailiff announced that court was in session. The judge entered the courtroom and so did the jury. The judge banged the gavel, made some general remarks, then asked Kinsela if he was ready to begin.
Kinsela said, “Your Honor, we call Lieutenant Floyd Meserve.”
Meserve came through the front doors of the courtroom. He wore a cheap plaid sport jacket, a starched shirt, and a wide blue tie. His pants were shiny and so were his shoes. His ponytail had been hacked off—an amateur job, as if he had done it himself.
The lieutenant in charge of Crimes Against Persons looked pissed off as he was sworn in. He took his seat in the witness box and John Kinsela, appearing fresh and invigorated in a light gray suit and yellow tie, came toward him.
Yuki thought Kinsela definitely had something up his sleeve, but she couldn’t fathom what kind of something it could be.
Chapter 70
JOHN KINSELA GREETED his witness, Lieutenant Meserve, then asked him, “Are you familiar with Lynnette Lagrande?”
Meserve sat back in his chair and looked genuinely puzzled before he said, “I don’t understand what you mean by ‘familiar.’”
“Let me put it this way. Do you
“Yes, I know her,” said the former undercover cop.
“How would you characterize your relationship with her?”
“Social. I go out with her. Dinner and such.”
Yuki felt a chill at the back of her neck. What the hell was this?
“That’s what we call in this country dating, isn’t that right?”
“Your generation calls it dating.”
“Well, humor me and the jury and let’s both call it dating, okay? So how long have you been dating Ms. Lagrande?”
“I really don’t remember.”
“Long enough to become familiar with her?”
Kinsela snorted at his own joke. Someone in the gallery let out a high-pitched giggle, which caught on and became a wave of tentative laughter.
Yuki stood up and said, “Your Honor, I object in the strongest possible terms to the way Mr. Kinsela is fooling around at the expense of this court and the jury’s time. And in the process, he’s taking liberties with Ms. Lagrande’s reputation.”
Nussbaum said, “Sustained. Mr. Kinsela, this is a murder trial. Don’t do that again. This is your last warning.”
Yuki sat down hard in her seat and tried to comprehend the bombshell that had just landed in Judge Nussbaum’s courtroom.
Had she heard it right?
Floyd Meserve was currently a lieutenant in the police force. A year ago, he had been an undercover cop. He had put a video setup inside his vehicle and interviewed Keith Herman, a thug of a lawyer with a reputation for child abuse and jury tampering and maybe far worse. Herman had sought out Meserve, thinking he was a hit man, a contract killer. And Herman had said he wanted to have his family killed.
Now this good lieutenant was telling the court that he was dating Lynnette Lagrande, Keith Herman’s former girlfriend.
How had he met Lynnette?
And why was John Kinsela asking Meserve about dating Lynnette, anyway? What could that have to do with the case against Keith Herman?
There was more to come, Yuki could feel it.
Something big was about to blow.
Chapter 71
KINSELA STOOD SIX FEET from the witness box with his hands clasped behind his back.
“I’m sorry, Your Honor,” he said. “I didn’t mean to make light of the proceedings.”
From the smile in Kinsela’s pale blue eyes, it was clear to Yuki and everyone else in the courtroom that Kinsela was enjoying himself enormously.
The judge said, “Watch yourself, Mr. Kinsela. Don’t make me angry.”
Kinsela apologized again, and then he continued his examination of the witness.
“Lieutenant, were you dating Ms. Lagrande at the time you met with Keith Herman?”
“You mean at the time when Keith Herman asked me to kill his wife and kid?”
“If that’s what he actually did. But let me be more precise. Were you dating Ms. Lagrande before February of last year?”
“I guess so.”
“Please answer yes or no.”
“I don’t keep a date book, for Christ’s sake. What do you think I am? A fifteen-year-old girl?”
Kinsela said, “Your Honor. Please tell the witness to answer the question.”
The judge spoke to the witness. “Lieutenant Meserve, you will either answer Mr. Kinsela’s questions truthfully
