MR. JAYWALKER: It was. But there was nothing unusual about her clothes that you remember?
MR. LUGO: No.
MR. JAYWALKER: This was August, August in New York City, right?
MR. LUGO: Right.
MR. JAYWALKER: You don't remember, for exam ple, that Samara was wearing a long coat, for ex ample, or a jacket that seemed too warm for that time of year, do you?
MR. LUGO: No, I don't remember anything like that.
MR. JAYWALKER: When she left, was she carrying anything?
MR. LUGO: Like what?
MR. JAYWALKER: Oh, like a knife, or a bloody towel.
MR. LUGO: No, I don't remember anything like that.
MR. JAYWALKER: And did she seem upset when she left? Or in a hurry?
MR. LUGO: No, she seemed regular.
On redirect, Burke got Lugo to admit that Samara might have been carrying a handbag, and might have been wearing a lightweight jacket, although he really couldn't say one way or the other.
They broke for lunch.
'How's it going?' Samara asked, on the way downstairs.
Jaywalker put a finger to his lips. He didn't think there were any jurors in the elevator, but he didn't want to take a chance. Once, years ago, he'd gotten into trouble by mentioning to a colleague that he was on trial and 'shov eling shit against the tide.' A juror had overheard him and reported it to the judge. Luckily, the juror had been only an alternate.
'I don't know,' Jaywalker lied, once they were safely out on Centre Street. 'Things could be worse, I guess.' He refrained from adding, And soon enough, they will be.
'But you don't think we're dead yet, do you?'
'What you mean we, white woman?'
It was an old joke, probably older than Samara. Which might have had something to do with why it didn't seem to strike her as particularly funny.
In the afternoon session, Burke called a young woman employed as a programming assistant at ABC. Armed with a thick binder, she testified that on the evening of the murder, a year and a half ago, Wheel of Fortune had aired at seven-thirty Eastern Standard Time, and had ended at eight.
Jaywalker asked her no questions.
Detective Bonfiglio was recalled and told that he was still under oath. Burke reminded him that when he'd been excused that morning, he'd just described how he'd had conversations with Mrs. Gristede of Penthouse B, and Mr. Lugo, the doorman who'd been called in.
MR. BURKE: Following those conversations, did you do something?
DET. BONFIGLIO: Yeah. By that time, CSU was finished and the morgue guys had come and taken the body. I ordered the crime scene sealed.
MR. BURKE: Meaning what?
DET. BONFIGLIO: Meaning the apartment was locked from the outside, crime scene tape was used, a notice was put on the door, and a seal was applied to it, so if anyone was to try to enter, they'd have to break the seal.
MR. BURKE: What did you do after that?
DET. BONFIGLIO: Me and my partner, we exited the premises, and we did thereafter proceed to the home of Samara Tannenbaum, to pay her a visit.
And in his best copspeak, Bonfiglio recounted their visit to Samara's. He described her initial claim that she hadn't seen her husband in about a week, followed by her admission that she'd been at his apartment the previous evening. Also her denial that the two of them had argued, similarly retreated from as soon as she'd been told that they had a witness who said otherwise.
MR. BURKE: Can you describe her general demeanor?
DET. BONFIGLIO: She was real nervous like, she
MR. JAYWALKER: Objection.
THE COURT: Sustained.
MR. JAYWALKER: Move to strike.
THE COURT: Yes, the answer is stricken, and the jury will disregard it.
Fat chance, Jaywalker knew. Still, even though he couldn't expect the jurors to unhear it, he'd had to keep it out; otherwise Burke would be permitted to refer to it in his summation. But Burke was determined to get it in.
MR. BURKE: Detective, did you have a chance to observe Mrs. Tannenbaum while you questioned her?
DET. BONFIGLIO: Yes, I did.
MR. BURKE: Tell us some of the things you observed.
DET. BONFIGLIO: Observed? I dunno, I observed her face, her arms, her legs, her
MR. BURKE: I mean regarding her demeanor.
DET. BONFIGLIO: Oh. She was pespirin' a lot. You know, sweating. And her hands was like shaking. And she'd look away from me, every time I tried to make eye contack wid her.
MR. BURKE: Did there eventually come a time when you took some po lice action with respect to her?
Jaywalker, who'd been about to rise, eased back in his chair. Burke, to his credit, had skipped the part about Samara's saying she wanted to call her lawyer, as well as her refusal to consent to a search of her apartment without a warrant. Eliciting either of those facts would have been improper, since they represented nothing but Samara's in vocation of her constitutional rights-in this case her right to counsel, her right to silence and her right to be free from unreasonable searches-and no inferences adverse to her could properly have been drawn by the jury. Still, there were plenty of prosecutors who would have tried, whether out of ignorance or arrogance. Jaywalker was only half sorry Burke hadn't; if he had, at least Samara would have had something to argue on appeal.
DET. BONFIGLIO: 'Scuse me? I don't unnastand.
Burke shot a look over at Jaywalker, who gave him a nod, meaning, Go ahead, lead the witness; I won't object. Although the two of them had never gotten far enough to try a case against each other before this one, they were un failingly on the same page.
MR. BURKE: Did there come a time when you placed Mrs. Tannenbaum under arrest?
DET. BONFIGLIO: Yeah.
MR. BURKE: And what did you arrest her for?
DET. BONFIGLIO: For the murder of her husband.
MR. BURKE: Thank you. Detective, I now draw your attention to later that same day. Did there come a time when you and other members of the de partment executed a search warrant in connection with this investigation?
DET. BONFIGLIO: Yeah.
MR. BURKE: Where did that take place?
DET. BONFIGLIO: At Mrs. Tannenbaum's town house.
MR. BURKE: When did that take place?
DET. BONFIGLIO: That same night, at twenty-two hunnerd hours. Ten o'clock, to you.
