“I did.” Judy located the copies of the report and distributed one each to Santoro, the judge, and the bailiff. “Your Honor, I move this report into evidence as Defense Exhibit Twenty-three.”
Santoro, reading, put up a hand. “No objection,” he said after a moment, but he kept reading.
“It’s admitted,” Judge Vaughn ruled, and went back to skimming his papers.
Judy paused so the jury could focus. “Dr. Wold, please tell the jury what you investigated to determine how the accident occurred.”
“I examined the wreck, measured it, researched the make and model of truck, which was a 1981 VW Rabbit. I visited the scene, obtained the AID report from the police, and also ran a number of residue tests on the exterior of the vehicle and the interior of the passenger cab.”
“What were the results of those residue tests?”
“Well, I found a number of residues in the burned wreck, primarily residue of burning plastic, residue of burned and partially burned diesel fuel, and residue of gasoline.”
Judy noted it. RESIDUE CITY. “Were these residues—diesel, oil, and gasoline—found in equal amounts?”
“No, not at all. By far the greatest amount of residue, particularly in the passenger cab, was residue of gasoline. Both unburned gasoline and gasoline-impregnated ash were all over the interior of the passenger cab.”
Judy made a note. YOU GO, GIRL. “Dr. Wold, what is the significance of that gasoline residue in the passenger cab?”
“It is extremely significant. It tells us that it was a gasoline fire that engulfed the passenger cab.”
“I see.” Judy paused. “Dr. Wold, is there any reasonable explanation for the gasoline inside that cab?”
“Yes, of course. As I said in my report, it is very common for construction vehicles to be carrying all sorts of fuel, even in their cabs. In fact, I assumed that the Lucias’ truck was, since it was a working truck. In addition, if the truck was carrying gas cans, a lawn mower, a chain saw, or the like, gasoline could come from there.”
Judy nodded. “But what if the truck wasn’t carrying any of those things?”
“What do you mean?”
Judy sighed. The toughest expert she ever met. Biting the hand that feeds him. She could only hope it increased his credibility, because he was busting her chops. “I mean, do you have an explanation for a diesel- powered truck, carrying no container of gasoline, to be engulfed in a gasoline fire during a crash?”
“No.”
“Nothing in your examination could explain why a diesel truck with no gasoline in it had a gasoline fire?”
“That’s what I just said.”
Judy made a note. I AM NOT PAYING YOU, NO MATTER WHAT. “Dr. Wold, I direct you to the conclusion of your report. Could you please read it to the jury?”
“Certainly.” Dr. Wold flipped to the last page of his report. “I concluded that ‘negligent driving, poor weather conditions, and a substandard guardrail resulted in the fatal accident involving Mr. and Mrs. Lucia on January twenty-fifth.’I also noted that ‘petroleum residues included engine oil, diesel fuel, and gasoline, not unusual in a construction vehicle crash.’”
Judy paused. Was it insane to refute the conclusion of your own expert in a death case? Not when it was this expert. It was a pleasure to prove him wrong. “Dr. Wold, is it possible that the gasoline fire caused the crash, instead of the crash causing the gasoline fire?”
Dr. Wold cleared his throat. “I never looked at it that way, but it’s possible. And if the truck was not carrying gasoline, then the presence of the gasoline remains unexplained.”
“So I ask you, do you still agree with the conclusion in your report?”
Dr. Wold thought for a long time. “I don’t know.”
“I have no further questions,” Judy said, and she walked to counsel table and sat down next to Pigeon Tony. She didn’t dare look at him or Frank, who was the one who had known the truck had a diesel, not a gasoline, engine. It was good stuff, and she didn’t want to jinx anything.
Santoro was already at the podium, his expression tense. “Dr. Wold, didn’t you in fact conclude that the Lucias’deaths were the result of driver error, bad weather, and a low guardrail?”
“That’s what I concluded, yes.”
“Thank you.” Santoro stormed to his chair and sat down, and Judy hid her satisfaction.
“No redirect, Your Honor,” she said. Her stomach was a knot. She thought she was making headway, but she was too focused to have any perspective. On the dais, Judge Vaughn was making notes, probably I LOOK GOOD IN BLACK. She glanced at the jury, which remained impassive, watching Dr. Wold step down and leave the courtroom.
It was time for Judy’s last witness.
Chapter 46
“The defense calls Marlene Bello to the stand,” Judy called out.
She turned to face the double doors, and the gallery was craning their necks to see, particularly on the Coluzzi side of the aisle. Jimmy Bello’s mouth had dropped open, and Tony-From-Down-The-Block looked like a man in love. He had been Judy’s secret weapon, though Marlene was such a class act, she didn’t need to be convinced to testify.
Judy smiled at her as she entered the courtroom, and she smiled back, sashaying down the aisle in a red knit dress that caressed every curve, with matching red pumps. She even made pantyhose look like a damn good time. Marlene took the witness stand as if she owned it, was sworn in, sat down, and crossed a great pair of legs.
Judy was at the podium. “Please tell the jury who you are, Ms. Bello.”
“My name is Marlene Bello and I used to be married to Jimmy Bello.” She pointed a crimson-lacquered nail at him. “Right there.”
“How long were you married to Mr. Bello?”
“With time off for good behavior?” she asked, and the jury laughed. “Almost thirty-two years.”
“And when were you divorced?”
“Cut him loose about a year and a half ago, almost two.”
“Now, Ms. Bello, did there come a time when you began tapping your own telephone, without your husband’s knowledge?”
Santoro shot up. “Objection, relevance, Your Honor.”
“May we approach?” Judy asked, and Judge Vaughn gave them the go-ahead. Judy reached the dais first. “Judge, as you will see in just a few questions, Ms. Bello is here to make statements against her own interest, which bear directly on the matter at hand.”
Santoro was shaking his head. “Your Honor, the matter at hand is the murder of Angelo Coluzzi. If she doesn’t speak to that, she has no business testifying. She’s just the ex-wife of a prosecution witness!”
“Your Honor,” Judy said. “Again, the Commonwealth opened the door on the deaths of Frank and Gemma Lucia.”
Judge Vaughn sighed. “I overrule the objection, but keep the questions in control, or I will.” Santoro went back to counsel table and Judy to the podium.
“You may answer the question, Ms. Bello.”
“I did tap my own phone. I hired a private detective to do it.”
“And why did you do this?”
“To see if that pig was cheatin’ on me, which he was.”
“Objection, relevance, and prejudicial, Your Honor!” Santoro shouted, but Judge Vaughn waved him off.
“And did the time period you tapped cover last year, commencing on January first?”
“Yes. It was my New Year’s resolution. Throw the bum out.”
“So I take it you were tapping your own phone through January twenty-fifth of that year, the date on which Frank and Gemma Lucia were killed?”
Santoro simmered but evidently thought better of objecting, since even Judge Vaughn was listening intently to Marlene. Judy almost managed to relax, but she was still a lawyer and it proved impossible.
“Yeah, I was tapping our phone on the twenty-fifth.”
