Presumed Puzzled

by Parnell Hall

  As the jury was marched in and took their seats, Chief Harper reached for his cell phone and slipped out the door.

  Dan Finley was glad to get the call. He was eager to get back to the courthouse, find out what was going on. He didn’t like hanging out in the street, waiting for an old drunk.

  Particularly Luke Haslett. Dan knew him well, had arrested him many times. Drunk and disorderly. Disturbing the peace. At least Dan would get some satisfaction out of hauling him into the courthouse instead of throwing him in a cell. Judge Hobbs had never had to deal with him until he sobered up. It would be fun to drop a fully intoxicated Luke Haslett in his lap.

  Dan had never arrested Luke Haslett at his house. If he got home, Dan was happy to let him stay.

  Dan pushed up the front window, reached through, and unlocked the front door. So much for security. He went in, and recoiled from the stench of stale whiskey.

  Luke Haslett hadn’t made it into bed. Dan wasn’t surprised. In Luke’s case, it was a wonder he’d managed to make it home. He’d gotten as far as the living room, where he’d collapsed in a heap on the floor. A pint of cheap bourbon lay empty beside him. Dan heaved a sigh. Hoped he wouldn’t have to carry him.

  Luke was lying facedown. Dan shook him, got no response. He rolled him over onto his back.

  The body was stiff, the eyes open and glassy. A carving knife protruded from his chest.

  There was no pulse, not that Dan needed to check.

  Luke was clearly dead.

  The hand that had been twisted underneath him clutched a paper.

  It was a Sudoku.

  Chapter

  50

  Henry Firth was beside himself. He paced the floor of the judge’s chambers, too agitated to sit down. “Your Honor,” he insisted, “the jury has to be told.”

  “The jury has to be told the witness isn’t available,” Becky said.

  “The jury has to be told why.”

  “The jury will be told why. Unfortunately, the man is dead.”

  “That’s no explanation.”

  “That’s a perfect explanation. No one expects to hear testimony from a dead man.”

  “Your Honor, the jury needs to know how he died.”

  “No, it doesn’t,” Becky said. “That has no bearing on the present case and would be wildly prejudicial to the defendant. If the jury is subjected to such prejudicial innuendo, it will be impossible to get a fair trial.”

  “What innuendo? The witness was killed. That’s a fact.”

  “That’s a debatable fact,” Becky said. “You could call witnesses who would give the opinion the man was killed, and I would have the right to cross-examine. But that would be extremely prejudicial, and something the jury should not hear.”

  “It’s prejudicial because your client killed the witness,” Henry Firth said.

  “See, Your Honor,” Becky said. “That’s the type of highly prejudicial, rash assumption the prosecutor wants to make in front of the jury. I don’t think the situation could be clearer.”

  Judge Hobbs put up his hand. “The woman has a point. The jury needs to be told the man is dead. The cause of death is hardly relevant.”

  “It’s entirely relevant, Your Honor. He was killed to prevent him from telling what he knows.”

  “And there’s another rash assumption the prosecutor would like to make in front of the jury. There’s no evidence of any such thing.”

  “Your Honor, I spoke to Luke Haslett yesterday after court. He was prepared to testify to nearly being run down in the mall parking lot, looking at the car that swerved around him, and seeing a woman in a car burning a paper.”

  “Paula Martindale?” Judge Hobbs asked.

  “He didn’t know Paula Martindale. I had hoped he would identify her in court.”

  “Was he shown a picture of Paula Martindale?”

  “No, Your Honor.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because then Ms. Baldwin would make a big deal about how he was identifying her from seeing her picture, not from seeing her in the parking lot.”

  “That I can believe,” Judge Hobbs said. “I can see why it would be frustrating to lose this man as a witness. But that does not mean you can shortcut the rules of evidence.”

  “I’m not trying to shortcut anything. The jurors should know the truth. Not some la-di-da expurgated version of the truth because the real truth looks bad for the defendant.”

  “It only looks bad for the defendant if it’s presented in the manner you intend to present it,” Becky said. “Judge Hobbs should make the announcement and instruct the jury. We should keep out of it.”

  “That’s not acceptable to the prosecution,” Henry Firth said.

  “You don’t think I can be fair?” Judge Hobbs said.

  “Of course I do, Your Honor. But the rights of the people need to be protected. I don’t intend to stipulate them away just because defense counsel isn’t happy with the facts.”

  “No one’s asking you to stipulate anything,” Judge Hobbs said. “We are dealing with an unfortunate situation. I am attempting to resolve it expediently and legally. I will explain to the jury that Luke Haslett, the witness mentioned in Paula Martindale’s and Ken Jessup’s testimony and himself scheduled to be a witness, will not be able to appear because he has died. That they are to attach no weight to this incident, and that it should have no bearing on the testimony of any other witness.”

  “That’s totally unsatisfactory, Your Honor,” Henry Firth said.

  “I beg your pardon?”

  “No offense, Your Honor, but it doesn’t explain anything.”

  “There’s nothing to explain,” Becky said. “The jury only know about the witness because they were in court listening to your questioning of Ken Jessup when Officer Finley burst in with the news that he was dead. Which, of course, he should not have done, but Chief Harper had his cell phone off because he was in court. So if you consider the police an extension of the legal department, this is a situation entirely of your own making. Were it not for that incident, there would be nothing to explain.”

  “Except the fact the witness didn’t obey the summons in the first place.”

  “The jury wasn’t in court when you made that announcement.”

  “I’m afraid she’s right, Mr. Firth. You may not like it, but that’s the way it’s going to be.”

  Henry Firth exhaled angrily. “Very well, Your Honor. In that case, I ask for a continuance.”

  “That’s unacceptable,” Becky said.

  “You object to a continuance?”

  “Of course I do. Don’t you see what he’s doing? He’s trying to circumvent your ruling. Since you won’t let him tell the jury Luke Haslett was murdered, he wants to give them time to learn it from the media.”

  “But the jurors have been instructed not to discuss the case or listen to the media,” Henry Firth said. “And I’m sure Judge Hobbs will reemphasize those instructions when granting the continuance.”

  “Jurors are human beings, Your Honor. There’s no way they’ll miss that coverage. As the prosecutor well knows.”

  “You can’t have a continuance,” Judge Hobbs said. “I’ll grant you an adjournment until ten o’clock tomorrow morning.”

  “That may not be sufficient, Your Honor. I’ve just lost a key witness.”

  “A witness you knew nothing about until yesterday,” Becky pointed out. “Is your whole case based on one man?”

  Judge Hobbs smiled at the prosecutor. “Got you again, Henry.”

  Chapter

  51

  If the jurors missed the coverage it wasn’t Rick Reed’s fault. “Cover-up murder!” Rick proclaimed in front of the police station. “Key prosecution witness Luke Haslett, silenced before he could testify! In a stunning turnaround, a crucial alibi witness, who could have established beyond a shadow of a doubt that Paula Martindale, previously accused of the murder of her husband, could not have done it, because she was nowhere near the scene of the cri
me when it took place, has been brutally slain before he could take the stand.

  “So far, no one is accusing Cora Felton, the defendant in the case, of perpetrating this heinous act, yet she is clearly the one who benefits the most. Legal pundits speculate her only chance of acquittal is raising reasonable doubt that the wife, Paula Martindale, is more likely to have committed the crime. Take her out of the equation, and Cora Felton has no chance. The testimony of Luke Haslett would have taken Paula Martindale out of the equation, and yet, at the last moment, another mathematician has stepped in and taken Luke Haslett out of the equation.

  “Cora Felton’s only defense is that she had no knowledge of what Luke Haslett would say on the stand. She and her attorney have both declined comment.

  “One can only speculate what they must be thinking.”

  “I’m thinking, did he really say ‘another mathematician stepped in’?” Cora said.

  “The boy shouldn’t play with metaphors,” Becky said. “Well, you think there’s a juror in town who managed to miss that?”

  “If so, I’d nominate him for sainthood.” Cora was doing her best Henry Firth impression, pacing Becky Baldwin’s office very much in the way Henry Firth had paced Judge Hobbs’s. “So, what do we do now?”

  “You’re asking me?”

  “Well, you’re the lawyer.”

  “Yes, and I will do everything legally in my power. I couldn’t stop Henry Firth from getting an adjournment. Which is not as bad as a continuance but still long enough to poison the jury. So. Everyone thinks you killed Luke Haslett. Wanna convince me you didn’t?”

  Cora’s mouth fell open. “You don’t trust me?”

  “I trust you. Now make me believe you. Go on. Convince me you didn’t kill Luke Haslett.”

  “Are you serious?”

  “Before we’re done I’m going to have to convince a jury you didn’t kill Luke Haslett. I’d at least like a line of argument. At the moment, I haven’t got one. The only one who benefits from his death is you.”

  “As far as we know.”

  “And he had a Sudoku.”

  “Right. Because someone wanted to make it look like I did it. Though why I would kill him and leave a Sudoku as a calling card makes no sense at all.”

  “Did you solve the copy Chief Harper slipped you?”

  “Of course I solved it. Here, look.”

  “See? They’re just numbers,” Cora said.

  “Do they add up to anything?”

  “They add up to the fact I do Sudoku. They add up to the fact someone killed Luke Haslett to frame me. Though I don’t know why they need to. They seem to have me dead to rights anyway.”

  “Fine. Keep going.”

  “What do you mean, fine?”

  “I need you to explain why Luke Haslett was killed,” Becky said. “There’s no good reason, so listing bad reasons is a start.”

  “Good Lord.”

  “Go ahead. Sell me. Why would the killer need to frame you?”

  “I have no idea.”

  “So think it out. What does framing you accomplish?”

  “Absolutely nothing. Except it draws attention away from the murder.”

  “The one you’re being tried for?”

  “Yeah, that murder. I didn’t do that one, either, in case you’re asking.”

  “I never said you did.”

  “You never said I didn’t. Okay, why did the killer need to frame me? He didn’t. So why did he do it? Maybe he didn’t. If he didn’t do it to frame me, then why did he do it? I have no idea, but take that as a premise. Luke Haslett could prove Paula Martindale’s alibi, but he isn’t needed. Why not? Because Paula has another way to prove her alibi? Not that we know of. Because he’s not a good-enough witness to do it? More likely. He’s a drunk and unreliable.”

  “Maybe there’s something in his testimony that would undermine her alibi,” Becky said.

  “Perfect. But what could it be?”

  “How about he remembers the whole incident but somehow manages to place it on a different date?”

  “How could he possibly do that?” Cora said. “From what I understand, the man could barely remember his own name.”

  “So why do you silence a witness like that?”

  “How the hell should I know?”

  “We’re not getting anywhere,” Becky said.

  “Yeah, because there’s nowhere to get. We’re speculating on the preposterous.”

  Becky shrugged. “That’s what lawyers do.”

  Chapter

  52

  There was a change in the jury. They had been, if not sympathetic, at least neutral. Today their faces were hard. And as Judge Hobbs once again brought up the death of the witness Luke Haslett and instructed them not to speculate on what Mr. Haslett might have said, they all were looking straight at Cora Felton. A sure sign that they had made up their minds.

  Henry Firth regarded them with satisfaction. His adjournment had done its job.

  “Now then,” Judge Hobbs said. “When we left off yesterday, the witness Ken Jessup was on the stand, and Mr. Firth was conducting his direct examination. Do you have any further questions, Mr. Firth?”

  “Just a few, Your Honor.”

  “Proceed. Mr. Jessup, I remind you that you are still under oath.”

  “Mr. Jessup,” Henry Firth said, “you testified to seeing Paula Martindale sitting alone in a car in the mall parking lot?”

  “Yes, I did.”

  “You also testified to seeing Luke Haslett lurch in front of your car as you were driving out of the lot?”

  “That was a separate incident.”

  “But you testified to it?”

  “Yes.”

  “Mr. Jessup, would it surprise you to learn that Luke Haslett—”

  “Objection!” Becky thundered. Jurors gawked in amazement to hear such a bellicose roar come out of such an attractive young woman.

  “Sustained!” Judge Hobbs snapped. “Counsel, approach the bench!”

  Becky and Henry Firth went up to confer with the judge.

  “Mr. Firth,” Judge Hobbs said with quiet intensity, “any attempt to circumvent the court’s ruling by introducing anything Luke Haslett may or may not have told you outside of court while not under oath will be considered contempt of court and grounds for a mistrial. Do I make myself clear?”

  “Yes, Your Honor.”

  “Step back.”

  The lawyers resumed their positions.

  Henry Firth said, with rather bad grace, “No further questions.”

  “Ms. Baldwin?” Judge Hobbs said.

  Becky didn’t even bother to stand. “No questions, Your Honor.”

  That produced a ripple in the court. Henry Firth nearly gagged.

  “Very well,” Judge Hobbs said. “The witness is excused. Call your next witness.”

  “Your Honor,” Henry Firth said, “I find myself at a loss. The witness I intended to call, as you know, is not available, and I had expected counsel’s cross-examination to take all morning. If I could have a brief recess?”

  “The court was adjourned overnight so you could prepare, Mr. Firth.”

  “Yes, Your Honor. As I say, this took me by surprise. I need to line up a witness.”

  “Ten minutes, Mr. Firth. Not a minute more,” Judge Hobbs said.

  As court broke up, Paula Martindale pushed her way through the gate and grabbed Henry Firth. Her face was animated. She whispered something and pulled him out of earshot of the defense table.

  “What the hell just happened?” Cora said.

  “I don’t know,” Becky said, “but it can’t be good.”

  Chapter

  53

  Henry Firth’s manner had changed. When court recessed, he had seemed dejected and utterly at sea. When court reconvened, he seemed confident, eager, purposeful, almost gloating.

  “Mr. Firth,” Judge Hobbs said, “is your next witness ready?”

  “Yes, Your Honor.”

  “
Very well. Call your witness.”

  “Call Paula Martindale.”

  Becky Baldwin spread her arms. “Objection, Your Honor. Mr. Firth completed his direct examination of Paula Martindale and declined to rebut my cross-examination. Her testimony is done. He can’t recall her on a whim. I submit that he has no purpose in mind, and he is recalling her merely because he is unprepared and has no witness ready.”

  “Is that true, Mr. Firth?”

  “Not at all, Your Honor. New evidence has come to light.”

  “Evidence you didn’t have ten minutes ago when court recessed because you had no witness ready?”

  “That’s right.”

  “Very well. You may proceed.”

  Paula Martindale took the stand.

  “Mrs. Martindale,” Henry Firth said, “you testified to seeing Ken Jessup in the parking lot the night you burned the puzzle.”

  “Objected to as already asked and answered, leading and suggestive, and assuming facts not in evidence,” Becky Baldwin said smoothly.

  Judge Hobbs blinked. “Sidebar,” he said ominously.

  The lawyers approached the bench.

  “You have three objections to counsel’s question?” Judge Hobbs said.

  “Your Honor, I object to this whole line of questioning. I know Your Honor has already ruled on that. I still maintain that Mr. Firth is stalling. The question has been already asked and answered, and I will object to anything that isn’t new.”

  “The question was preliminary only, Your Honor,” Henry Firth said.

  “It would seem so, Ms. Baldwin.”

  “It’s also leading and suggestive. Counsel is practically testifying for the witness. He delivered all the testimony, and the witness is simply supposed to say yes.”

  “I was merely trying to save time, summarizing things that, as you say, have already been asked and answered. Counsel is obviously not interested in saving time.”

  “And assuming facts not in evidence?” Judge Hobbs said.

  “The prosecutor blithely refers to the parking lot where the witness burned the puzzle. That fact is very much not in evidence. Paula Martindale may have said she burned a puzzle, but we have only her word for it. That is not a fact in evidence. It is merely the unsubstantiated claim of an interested party.”