William Bernhardt - Dark Justice

And Ben knew why. Before, there might have been some measure of doubt in the brains behind those eyes. But not any longer, not after this testimony. Now every one of them thought they were staring into the eyes of a coldblooded killer.

Zak grabbed Ben’s shoulder just as he was rising to cross. “He’s jealous,” Zak whispered.

Ben froze. At the moment he really didn’t want a damn thing to do with this client of his. But he supposed he had to listen. “Jealous?”

“Sure. That’s what this is all about. He’s always been jealous. Jealous ’cause they made me the top man on the team-promoted me over him. Jealous ’cause I was always able to get the chicks-and he couldn’t. You think he was in that bar just for a tall cool one? He was trying to get laid. But it never happened. I could do it; he couldn’t. Plus, I had kind of a side thing with Molly, and he was pissed about that. Plus, he’s sweet on Deirdre.”

“Deirdre?”

“Right. He wants her bad. But she’s not interested. And”-he fell silent for a moment-“he thinks, anyway, that she and I are … intimate. That’s why he’s turned on me.”

Ben nodded, then walked to the podium. It was possible, of course. God knows Rick must have some motive for turning on his friend and colleague, and that could be it.

Or, Ben mused, it could just be that Rick thinks Zak is a murderer and he has a moral obligation to tell what he knows. A disturbing possibility.

Ben cut to the chase. “Mr. Collier, it’s a fact that you and Zak have been close friends, isn’t it?”

“We’ve worked closely together. I never considered him a friend.”

“Did he consider you a friend?”

“I don’t know. Probably.”

“Do you think he trusted you?”

“I don’t know.” Rick pulled himself up, almost defiantly. “If he trusted me not to tell that he murdered someone, then he made a mistake. I don’t countenance murder, not for any cause. And I won’t cover it up, either.”

Ben frowned. This wasn’t going to get him anywhere. “Isn’t it true that you were jealous of your friend Zak’s … success with women? A success you never had.”

“Absolutely not. I thought he was a sexist slimeball. Sure, I like women, and I like to be with them. But not if it means treating women in that abusive, degrading way. Leading them on. Lying. Trying to make it with three different women at once. I just won’t do it.”

Swell, Ben thought. Strike two. What could he try next?

“What about Deirdre? The dendrochronologist on the Green Rage team?”

Rick’s eye twitched. “What about her?”

“You’re in love with her, aren’t you? You wanted her. And Zak had her. Not you.”

Rick took a deep breath, then released it. “It’s true that I think Deirdre deserves something better than that … philandering pig who can’t keep his zipper zipped. But then, I think every woman deserves better than that. And besides, I’m involved with someone else.”

Ben sighed. Strike three-and you’re outta there. He was going to have to try a different approach. Nothing he said was going to make the jury forget what they’d heard from this witness. The most he could hope for was to give them something else equally memorable. “Mr. Collier, you understand the difference between fact and supposition, don’t you?”

“Sure.”

“When you’re testifying, you’re supposed to give the jury facts. But I noticed that a lot of times, you were giving them supposition-which is a nice way of saying you were just guessing.”

“Is this a question?” Granny asked.

“I’ll get to it.” Ben flipped hurriedly through the notes he had taken during Rick’s direct examination. “For instance, you said that you were certain Zak built and planted the bomb that killed Gardiner. But you didn’t actually see him make the bomb, did you?”

“Well, no.”

“And you didn’t see him plant the bomb.”

“Of course not.”

“You never actually saw him with a bomb in his hands.”

“No. But his backpack-”

“His backpack was filled with something. But you don’t know what it was. It might’ve been a bomb, or it might’ve been his dirty laundry. You don’t actually know, right?”

“Well, I think we can assume-”

“So now you’re assuming, is that right? And assuming, of course, is just another word for guessing.”

“I thought it was logical-”

“You weren’t put on the stand to play Sherlock Holmes, sir. You were called to tell what you knew. What you knew . And you don’t know what Zak had in his backpack, right?”

“I suppose.”

“And you don’t know if he made or planted that bomb, right?”

Rick caught his breath, took a few moments to think. “He told me he was going to take Gardiner out of the picture.”

“Did he? Were those his words? Or yours?”

Rick bit down on his lips. “Well, I don’t remember his exact words.”

“You’d better, because this is absolutely critical. We need to know if Zak really said this or if it’s something that came out of your imagination. What did Zak actually say?”

Rick paused. Ben could almost see the wheels turning inside his brain. “I think what he actually said was ‘I’m going to take care of Gardiner.’ ”

“Take care of him? Now that’s quite a bit different, wouldn’t you say?”

“Not really.”

“Take care of him could mean anything. That could mean he’s going to let the air out of Gardiner’s tires or pour a beer down his pants. Or stop seeing his wife.”

“Well, given what happened-”

“Aha!” Ben pointed across the podium. “Now we get to the truth of the matter. You’re not testifying about what you know. You’re filling in the blanks of what you don’t know, based on what happened later.”

“It’s common sense-”

“It is not common sense. It’s attitude. You could’ve filled in the gaps in such a way as to exonerate your friend. But instead you chose to do it in a way that would crucify him.”

Granny rose to her feet. “Your honor, he’s not questioning the witness.”

Ben continued unabated. “That was a decision you made, Rick, not him. You decided to paint Zak in the worst way possible. And why, I wonder? Could it be because he was promoted over you and made head of this Green Rage team? Could it be that you thought with him executed, you’d have Deirdre all to yourself?”

“Your honor!” Granny shouted. “This witness is not on trial.”

Judge Pickens pounded his gavel. “I’ve had enough of this, Kincaid. Sit down.”

“What about it, Rick?” Ben continued, shouting over the din. “Tell us why you turned Judas on your best friend! Tell us why you’re so desperate to get him out of the way!”

“Kincaid! Sit down!” Judge Pickens had risen to his full height. He was towering over the bench, his arms outstretched. He looked like he was about to throw the gavel across the room like a tomahawk. “This examination is over !”

Ben folded up his notebook and returned to his table. He just hoped his dramatic demonstration had some impact with the jury.

Ben’s eyes met Christina’s. They didn’t have to speak; he knew what they were both thinking. The jury had it all now: means, opportunity-and motive. It would’ve been a stretch to make the jury believe Gardiner was killed just because he was a logger cutting down trees. But a malicious adulterer taking out a jealous husband? That was altogether too easy. That had the ring of truth to it.

The very dangerous ring of truth.

After a much-needed fifteen-minute break, Judge Pickens reassembled the court for the last witness of the day. The last witness the prosecution was going to call.