by Jay Brandon
Suddenly the judge entered, walking briskly to her bench at almost the same time as the jurors started into the room, from another door in the corner. Edward didn’t even bother to glare at her.
‘Call your next witness, State,’ Cynthia said.
Surprisingly, the name the prosecutor said when he stood up was, ‘Dr Louise Fisher.’ Paul’s research partner.
She entered quickly. Edward turned to watch her come up the aisle. It was hard for him to remember what she looked like out of a white lab coat. Today, Dr Fisher had chosen a simple dress in a muted blue color. It looked vaguely professional and also vaguely frumpy. He understood. She didn’t want to appear as Paul’s lover, just his colleague.
She sat in the witness chair and took the oath without looking at the counsel tables. David quickly established her credentials and familiarity. Then he held up a DVD – the DVD – in a sleeve marked with a tag and identified it as State’s Exhibit 68.
‘Do you recognize this, Dr Fisher?’
‘Yes. I’ve seen it once in your office and then again this morning.’
‘Can you tell us who appears on this recording?’
‘Dr Paul Shilling.’
‘The man you shared offices with for how many years?’
‘Seven.’
‘Any doubt in your mind of the identity of the person on this DVD?’
‘No sir. None.’
‘Does anyone else appear on this recording?’
‘No. Just Paul.’
‘Thank you, Dr Fisher. Pass the witness.’
There was no point to asking her any questions. She couldn’t help him, not with this part of trial. All she had done was identify a man on a recording – accurately, as Edward knew very well.
‘Hello, Dr Fisher. Just a few questions now.’
She clutched her purse. Her face looked pale and vulnerable.
‘Do you recognize the background in this recording?’
She gulped, frowned, tried to think. ‘I didn’t really notice it. It’s a paneled wall, nothing on it. No, I didn’t recognize it.’
‘Is it Paul’s house?’
‘I’ve never been to the house where he was living when he – when he died.’
‘No? But didn’t you see each other socially as well as professionally?’
‘Yes, but he – Paul – wouldn’t tell people where he lived.’
‘Or at least not you?’
‘Yes.’
‘Let’s go back to that paneled wall. Is it his office?’
‘No. That’s completely different material and he has diplomas and professional certificates and photos on his office wall. No, I’ve never seen this place before.’
‘You said you’ve seen this DVD all the way through. Does Paul appear to be his normal self on it?’
Dr Fisher frowned, leaning forward in the witness stand. ‘What do you mean “normal?”’
‘Does he seem the same as he usually did? Such as at a day at the office.’
‘Well, he’s—’ She checked herself and thought.
‘Would you like to see it again?’
‘No. I actually have very good visual memory,’ she said distractedly. ‘I’m just playing it back in my mind.’
As he waited, Edward looked at the jurors. They seemed to watch her as respectfully as Edward, quiet as spectators at a surgery. Dr Fisher came out of her mini trance and said, ‘I certainly can’t say he appeared as he did every day. Certainly he’s much more intense on the recording than he usually is.’
‘Is that the only difference?’
‘He—’ she began, then shrugged. ‘I don’t know what you’re looking for.’
‘You saw Paul socially as well as professionally, didn’t you, doctor?’
She stared at him and it seemed she wouldn’t answer, but then she did. ‘Yes. A handful of times.’
‘Did you see him when he’d been drinking?’
She went back to staring at him so directly it seemed like a glare, except that her face retained almost no expression. Oh yes, Edward thought, for this woman and Paul to have any chance of engaging like human beings, alcohol would have had to be applied. Liberally.
‘Yes. Not to excess, but a few drinks, yes.’
‘Based on that experience, would you say he’d been drinking when he made this recording?’
‘We weren’t drinking buddies,’ she snapped. ‘I haven’t studied him for signs of intoxication.’
‘That’s too bad,’ Edward said. ‘You might have made a more helpful witness.’
‘Objection,’ David Galindo said, on his feet. There was a pause, and Edward realized David must be doing what Edward himself was, thinking of what exactly was objectionable about Edward’s last remark. Defense counsel is being a smartass should cover it.
‘Argumentative,’ David finally blurted.
Cynthia immediately said, ‘Sustained,’ which clearly would have been her response no matter what the prosecutor said.
Edward almost felt he could ignore the judge. Her rulings no longer had significance for him. She had already dropped the atom bomb on him. He didn’t have to worry about her sniper fire.
Besides, he had remembered his training. How to use this witness.
‘Let me ask you about your social relationship with Paul. When did you begin—’
‘Objection,’ the prosecutor said again. ‘This exceeds the scope of the direct examination. I only asked her to identify a person on a recording.’
Edward was standing too before David finished talking.
‘Your Honor, we enjoy in Texas what is known as “wide open cross.” Once you put a witness on the stand, that witness may be cross-examined on any relevant subject. I’m sure the court is familiar with this concept, having used it many times as a very successful prosecutor. It means when a witness—’
‘Counselor, you may stop the law school lecture.’ Cynthia was looking at him directly, her unlined face curious. ‘I’ll allow it.’
Edward sat quickly. ‘When did you begin dating your colleague, Dr Fisher?’
She wrinkled her nose in obvious distaste. ‘We went out together a handful of times. I’m not sure when it began.’
‘Well, let’s narrow it down. Was it before or after Paul separated from his wife?’
Her eyes widened as she looked at Amy, shaking her head. ‘After, of course. Long after.’
‘How did it happen?’
Louise Fisher shifted uncomfortably on her chair. The jurors were no longer slumping, all of them watching her.
‘Casually, I suppose. One day we were finishing up rather later than usual, and he asked me if I’d like to go have a drink with him and maybe dinner. I didn’t see any reason to refuse.’
‘Where did you go?’
She named a well-known local seafood restaurant. Edward remembered it from his prior life. Expensive, dark, with booths that were completely private and separate from each other.
‘How nice. What were you drinking?’
‘I had a gin and tonic, maybe two, then we ordered dinner and Paul ordered a bottle of wine.’
‘Did you have your share of it?’
‘At least. Later it seemed to me Paul hadn’t been drinking as much.’
‘How did that evening end?’
Louise Fisher shifted in her chair again. Very few witnesses realize how they reveal themselves in their body language as they testify. The jurors were a few feet from her. Every little hesitation, cough, clearing of the throat, shifting of the eyes, registered with those people in the jury box, who had been charged with paying the most attention they’d ever paid in their lives to any event. Most jurors take that very seriously. These saw the witness shift, look down, and decide whether she was going to answer the question truthfully. It was very obvious.
She lifted her head and looked straight at her interlocutor.
‘Paul offered to drive me home and, after the drinks and the wine, that seemed prudent. He said he’d come back in the morning and
pick me up. Then when we got to my house he suggested maybe it would be easier if he just spent the night there. That took me by surprise.’
‘Was he suggesting sleeping on your couch or in your guest room?’ Edward asked in a very neutral voice. Nevertheless, Louise looked at him sharply.
‘No. Right after he said it he kissed me.’
‘Hmm,’ Edward said, then just sat there musing, as if he’d been as taken by surprise by her answer as Louise had obviously been by the kiss. She was blushing, looking down at her hands, twisting in the chair. She couldn’t look at Amy any more.
‘Did he spend that night with you?’
‘Objection to relevance,’ David Galindo said. ‘This isn’t about this witness’s love life.’
‘No, it’s about the deceased’s,’ Edward responded quickly. ‘The State has suggested he was killed in a crime of passion. It’s certainly relevant to inquire into who else might have had similar feelings.’
‘Overruled,’ Cynthia said. ‘But only so far, Mr Hall. I don’t want you needlessly embarrassing this witness.’
‘Yes, Your Honor.’ As if he cared. ‘That means you need to answer the question, Dr Fisher. Did Paul spend that night with you?’
‘No,’ she said in a tiny voice. Then she added just as quietly, ‘Not that night.’
‘So you did go out again.’
‘Yes.’ She suddenly looked up and appealed to him. ‘They were separated. They had filed for divorce. He didn’t seem to me like a married man anymore.’
‘I understand. So tell me about the relationship, please.’
‘We did one more drink-after-work occasion. That time I kissed him back when he dropped me off. The next time was an actual date. Paul picked me up on a Saturday night, we went to dinner again, walked around a little, talking, then back to my place. This time it was sort of understood that he would stay.’
‘So you had sex.’
She nodded, eyes downcast again.
‘How long did that relationship continue?’ Edward asked gently.
‘Not long.’ Louise’s blush had deepened. ‘Maybe two or three occasions. It seemed—’ She stopped herself.
Edward waited, then asked quietly, ‘It seemed like what?’
Louise looked up, straight at Amy this time, and said, ‘It seemed like Paul had gotten what he wanted.’
She wanted his wife to know it hadn’t been her fault, she hadn’t been the seductress; she’d been the victim.
‘But the sexual aspect of the relationship did continue for at least a brief while, from what you’ve said. Yet you said Paul wouldn’t let you know where he lived?’
‘No. I asked, he avoided the question. After we’d stopped the … the dating relationship, it seemed to me he hadn’t wanted me to be able to find him and make a scene. He had a refuge to escape to.’
‘Did you believe he had other women when he was with you?’
‘I knew he did. That’s one of the things that made me feel’ – she gulped but continued – ‘used. He lost interest quickly and I felt like a fool.’
‘But you continued working with him?’
‘Yes. I didn’t feel I had much choice about that. The research was important. It was important in and of itself and it was important to both our careers. I didn’t want to jeopardize that.’
‘Did you feel jealous when you thought about him and the other women?’
Louise shook her head, no longer making eye contact with anyone.
‘I’m sorry, Dr Fisher, but you have to answer out loud.’
‘No, I wasn’t jealous. Not the least bit. I just felt – sullied.’
‘Do you know the names of other women he dated, Dr Fisher?’
She named three names, one of them Laura Martinelli.
‘Were you jealous because you knew about those women? Did he flaunt them in front of you?’
Louise Fisher looked up, eyes making perfect circles, to match her mouth. ‘Oh no. Oh no. I felt sorry for them. I wanted to tell them …’
‘What did you want to tell them, Louise? These other women Paul dated?’
She raised her head suddenly, stared at him and said loudly, ‘I wanted to tell them, Run away! Don’t do it. He just – He just wants to use you.’
‘No more questions,’ Edward said very quietly.
Then he noticed the silence. The prosecutors were whispering, heads bent together. Edward took the opportunity to look at the jurors, whose eyes were all over the place. A few still stared at Louise Fisher with evaluating looks and Edward suddenly wondered if he’d just ruined his own case. If he’d just proved the deceased was a lying asshole scoundrel, didn’t that give his sister sitting beside him more of a motive for killing the bastard?
‘No more questions,’ he suddenly heard from the prosecutor. Poor broken Louise looked around, wondering what she was supposed to do now.
David ignored her and said, ‘Your Honor, we have a very brief witness to testify to the authenticity of this next exhibit.’ He held Paul’s DVD in his hand. ‘Then we’ll be playing that for the jury. Should we proceed, or—?’
‘How long is the recording, counselor?’
‘Relatively brief, Your Honor. Ten minutes or so.’
Judge Cynthia looked over at the jurors, who looked back at her noncommittally.
‘I think this jury deserves a break first. Bailiff?’
The bailiff led the jurors out through the door up near the judge’s bench. Cynthia exited out her own private door. Louise Fisher sat forgotten on the witness stand, looking confused about what to do next.
Then someone appeared at her elbow. It was Amy, up there standing next to Louise, offering her an arm. Louise looked at her with a mixture of gratitude and apprehension, and sweet little Amy patted her hand.
One juror, looking back, saw this exchange. Only one.
Edward stayed at counsel table with Amy during the break. The prosecutors were gone, so the front of the room was actually a little private.
‘Listen, Amy, they’re going to be playing Paul’s video during this next part. How you watch it is very important. Don’t sit there and look pissed off – it’s the worst thing you can do. That’s like you’re sullen because you’ve been caught and don’t sit there shaking your head. That looks annoyed and guilty. Like you’re mad that this evidence got found instead of, you know …’
‘Mournful and sad because I’m seeing my beloved husband for maybe the last time?’
He looked at her, startled. It was the most cynical remark he’d ever heard his sister make.
‘I meant that actually is how I’m going to feel, Edward.’ She crossed her arms under her breasts. ‘Any other advice? Make-up tips?’
‘Amy, this is important. This could be the whole ballgame.’
‘I know. I know.’ He could hear the tears at the back of her throat. ‘This is me being found guilty. I understand, Edward. What expression of mine can change that?’
Edward didn’t know. He didn’t even know what face she could wear to convince him of her innocence.
Some electronics nerd testified for the State that the DVD had not been altered, then David offered the recording.
Edward rattled off a string of objections, ending with, ‘But most of all, Judge, this completely deprives my client of her right to cross-examine witnesses against her. There’s no way I can question this supposed “witness” about what he’s saying. And I have a lot of questions for him, Your Honor. Starting with why would you—?’
‘I will allow you to make a bill of exceptions about those, counselor. Anything else?’
‘It’s just not fair,’ Edward said, and heard himself whining like a child at bedtime. ‘We don’t know anything about this recording. If he was drunk, if there was someone out of camera range holding a gun on him, if—’
‘I get it, Mr Hall. Overruled. Mr Galindo, the exhibit is admitted and you may publish it for the jury.’
A television on a rolling cart had been set up directly across fro
m the jury box. It seemed a wave went across the spectators as they all turned more or less in unison. David’s second chair pressed play on the remote control.
Paul came onto the screen abruptly, as if he’d leaped into the television. He sat there for the beat of a few seconds, staring straight into the camera. Did he look drunk? Wasn’t that the stare of a drunken man trying to concentrate?
But he spoke very well. ‘My name is Dr Paul Shilling. Today is March fourteenth. Almost the Ides. I am making this recording because I’m uneasy. It’s probably nothing, and I’ll just laugh and destroy this in a few months. But right now, I think it’s important to say that, if I am found dead, it will be my wife, Dr Amy Shilling, who murdered me.’ He continued, looking fixedly into the camera.
Edward shifted his study from Paul to the room behind him, not much of it was visible. Paul sat in a low chair. The camera showed him at medium range, from about the waist up. Paul leaned toward it as if trying to convince the camera of his sincerity. The wall behind him was paneled in medium brown wide planks. There was nothing on the wall except a couple of small objects that caught the light. Edward concentrated and saw that they were hooks.
He had seen this short recording half a dozen times, but for the first time he noted a drop of sweat on Paul’s forehead. Edward looked intently at him, listened hard. Yes, he heard it now, the slight slur to some of Paul’s words. Speaking about Amy wanting to reconcile with him, he was saying, ‘Let’s just say we have completely, uh, conflicting views on that. I just want to get divorced.’ And Edward heard, ‘Lesh jusht say …’ and ‘I jusht want …’ But Paul’s next words were very clear, perhaps from overcompensating.
‘I just want to get on with my life. I am afraid that very soon I’m going to have to make this absolutely clear to Amy, and when I do, well, she’s subject to fits of anger. More than anger, really. She’s attacked me physically in the past. And this is going to be humiliating for her. She’s attached such importance to being a doctor’s wife – my wife, to put it, um – that I don’t know how she’ll react. Especially if she fin – especially if she thinks of me with another woman.’
