by R E Swirsky
***
The court broke for lunch and the questions resumed with Dean back on the stand through the rest of the afternoon. The questioning finished with Ron asking Dean about the guitar wires.
"In the drawer next to the bed," Dean answered when Ron asked where the strings were found.
"How old is Josh's guitar?"
"Josh told me it is less than one year old. Almost new, really."
Josh squirmed in the prisoner's box every time his name was mentioned. He was composed, but he was clearly frightened as the evidence now was all about him.
"These strings you found…can you tell us about them?"
"Josh had only changed the strings on his guitar once. The ones found in his drawer were the original guitar strings. We found only five guitar strings in Josh's bedside table. One string was missing."
"There was a guitar string found around Donna Gardner's neck. Do you believe this was the missing guitar string?"
"The guitar string we found around Donna Gardner's neck was the lower e-string. The string missing from the ones changed out by Josh was the lower e-string. I believe the guitar string found around Donna Anderson's neck is the same guitar string that was missing from the ones changed out by Josh."
The crowd murmured again. The murder weapon was now directly connected to Josh for the first time.
Ron picked up the evidence bag containing the guitar string and held it up. "So you believe that Josh Anderson used this guitar string to strangle Donna Gardner in her bed on the night of September 18th, 2011?"
Dean stared straight at Ron. "The evidence collected would seem to indicate that Josh Anderson murdered Donna Gardner with that guitar string on the night of September 18th, yes."
The crowd erupted with the declaration. Fred shook his head, and Tracey covered her face with her hands. The judge restored order. Ron was finished with the questions, having ended the session for the day on another high point for the prosecution and some dramatic information for the jury to consider.
