Joseph Teller - The Tenth Case

Joseph Teller

The Tenth Case

MR. JAYWALKER: And where was it you saw him?

MS. TANNENBAUM: At his apartment.

She described how she'd gone there at Barry's invita tion to discuss something he'd said was important but which she could no longer remember. It had been around dinnertime when she'd arrived, and he'd ordered Chinese food, which they'd eaten straight from the takeout cartons. Barry hadn't eaten much, she recalled. He'd com plained he had a cold, or the flu, or something like that.

Typical Barry.

Within twenty minutes they'd found themselves arguing over whatever it was Barry had wanted to talk about.

Perhaps it had been his humiliation over her latest antic, or perhaps she was just saying that to fill in the blank in her memory, she couldn't be sure. In any event, the argument quickly turned nasty and loud, and ended when

Samara called Barry a name she knew he hated and stormed out.

MR. JAYWALKER: Do you remember the name you called him?

MS. TANNENBAUM: I do.

MR. JAYWALKER: What name?

MS. TANNENBAUM: I called him an asshole. I'd called him lots of things at one time or another, but that was the only one he really hated. He'd told me it made me sound like a slut, like the trailer trash I was. I'd told him I didn't care. If I was trailer trash,

I was trailer trash. Whatever. Anyway, that's what I called him that night, just to push his button. That's how angry I was.

MR. JAYWALKER: And yet you don't remem ber what it was you were angry about?

MS. TANNENBAUM: Exactly. I mean, how stupid is that? But that's how it was with the two of us.

From Barry's, she'd caught a cab and gone straight home. She hadn't bathed or showered, washed her hair or her clothes, or done anything else out of the ordinary. She no longer recalled what time she'd gone to bed or fallen asleep. Only that sometime the next afternoon two detectives had come and rung her doorbell, asking to talk with her, and she'd let them in. When she'd asked them what it was about, they'd refused to tell her, which had annoyed her.

MR. JAYWALKER: What did they ask you?

MS. TANNENBAUM: They wanted to know when was the last time I'd seen my husband.

MR. JAYWALKER: What did you answer?

MS. TANNENBAUM: I asked them why, or what business it was of theirs. Something like that. They still wouldn't answer me. So I said about a week ago.

MR. JAYWALKER: Was that the truth?

MS. TANNENBAUM: No, it was a lie.

MR. JAYWALKER: Why did you lie to them?

MS. TANNENBAUM: I don't know. Like I said, they were piss-they were annoying me, telling me I had to answer their questions but refusing to answer any of mine. Maybe that's why I lied, to get even. I'm honestly not sure.

MR. JAYWALKER: What happened next?

MS. TANNENBAUM: They told me I was lying. They told me they had a witness who could put me in Barry's apartment the night before. So I said yes, I'd been there, so what?

MR. JAYWALKER: What happened then?

MS. TANNENBAUM: They asked me if we'd had a fight, Barry and me. I didn't think it was any of their business, what went on between my husband and me, and I think I told them that.

MR. JAYWALKER: Did you ever say yes or no about having had a fight the previous evening?

MS. TANNENBAUM: I said no. We hadn't had a fight. To me, a fight is when two people hit each other, throw things, stuff like that. What we'd had was an argument.

MR. JAYWALKER: Did you volunteer that?

MS. TANNENBAUM: I wasn't volunteering any thing. As far as I was concerned, I'd let these guys into my home, and they didn't have the decency to tell me why they were there and what it was all about. I was just supposed to listen up and answer whatever they asked me, like some five-year-old.

MR. JAYWALKER: What happened next?

MS. TANNENBAUM: They told me I was lying again, that they had another witness who'd heard us fighting. I told them again that we hadn't been fight ing. They said how about arguing? And that's when I said sure, we argued, we argued all the time.

MR. JAYWALKER: What's the next thing you recall happening?

MS. TANNENBAUM: One of them, the one who testified here the other day MR. JAYWALKER: Detective Bonfiglio?

MS. TANNENBAUM: Yeah, Bonfiglio, the nasty one. He told me my husband was dead, that somebody had killed him. He said it just like that, to hurt me. Jaywalker knew he had to tiptoe here, in order to avoid revealing that at that point Samara had asked to call her lawyer, triggering an end to the questioning.

MR. JAYWALKER: Did there come a time, a minute or so later, when something happened?

MS. TANNENBAUM: Yes.

MR. JAYWALKER: What happened?

MS. TANNENBAUM: They put handcuffs on me, behind my back, real tight. And they told me I was under arrest for murdering my husband.

MR. JAYWALKER: Did you murder your hus band, Samara?

MS. TANNENBAUM: Absolutely not.

MR. JAYWALKER: Did you do anything to him physically that evening?

MS. TANNENBAUM: No.

MR. JAYWALKER: At any time while you were in Barry's apartment, did you have a knife in your hand?

MS. TANNENBAUM: Never.

MR. JAYWALKER: Did you stab him in the chest with a knife or any other sharp instrument?

MS. TANNENBAUM: No, absolutely not.

MR. JAYWALKER: Have you told us everything about that evening that you can recall?

MS. TANNENBAUM: Yes, except for what the fight-the argument was about. I still can't remem ber that.

Jaywalker was aware of the salty taste before realizing he'd bitten the inside of his cheek hard enough to draw blood. Had she really said f ight, instead of argument, before correcting herself? Shit, he thought. Shit, shit, shit. Burke would have a field day with that slip, he knew. Even a couple of the jurors could be heard mumbling over it. So into the breach he went.

MR. JAYWALKER: I noticed you used the word fight.

MS. TANNENBAUM: Fight, argument, whatever you want to call it. I've heard those two words so many times since that day that I'm dizzy. All I know is, I didn't touch Barry that night. And I certainly didn't stick a knife into him or anything like that. That I'd remember, I'm pretty damn sure.

For an impromptu recovery, it wasn't bad, and Jay walker left it at that. He walked over to Burke then and asked to borrow several of his exhibits. The first one he showed Samara was the towel.

MR. JAYWALKER: Do you recognize this?

MS. TANNENBAUM: I'm not sure. It looks like the towels I have, but there's no way for me to know for sure if it's mine or not. It might be. That's the best I can say.

MR. JAYWALKER: Did you ever wrap a blouse and a knife in it, and stick it behind the toilet tank in your upstairs guest bathroom?

MS. TANNENBAUM: Absolutely not.

MR. JAYWALKER: How about this blouse?

MS. TANNENBAUM: It's mine.

MR. JAYWALKER: How do you know?

MS. TANNENBAUM: I just do.

MR. JAYWALKER: Did you wear it to Barry's apartment that last evening you saw him? Or have it with you?

MS. TANNENBAUM: No, definitely not.

MR. JAYWALKER: You say definitely not. How can you be so certain?

MS. TANNENBAUM: It's part of a set I own, a blouse and a pair of slacks Barry bought me. Same pattern, same colors. I only wore them as an ensem ble. You know, together. Also, look at the material. It's silk, too heavy to wear in the summer.

MR. JAYWALKER: Did you ever wrap this blouse, along with a knife, in the towel I just showed you and hide it behind a toilet tank?

MS. TANNENBAUM: No, never.

MR. JAYWALKER: And this knife? Do you recognize it?

MS. TANNENBAUM: I do.

MR. JAYWALKER: How do you recognize it?

MS. TANNENBAUM: It's identical to a set of steak knives I own. It's the same size and shape and every thing else, as the others in my kitchen drawer.

MR. JAYWALKER: Did you have it with you at Barry's apartment the last time you were there?