Perri O'Shaughnessy - Presumption Of Death

“He can speculate all he wants about why the defendant was on the mountain and why he chose this clinic, but he can’t speculate about the behavior of a fleeing felon?” Nina said.

“I get the point,” Judge Salas said. “Objection overruled. Let’s move it along.”

“Your answer?” Nina said to Deputy Grace.

“No, it’s not what I would expect from a fleeing felon.” Grace was still relaxed. He had told the truth without any fuss, and Nina respected that.

“Thank you, Deputy.”

“No redirect,” Jaime said, and Deputy Grace stepped down.

They took a short recess. Paul was fuming. “On file,” he said. “I guard my home address like El Al guards its ticket counter. No way could they get my address.”

“So that’s why we don’t have many visitors,” Nina said.

“Why didn’t you follow up some more on how he got my address?”

“Because it has nothing to do with this hearing, and it would add a confusing bit to the transcript, and because you can call him and ask him.”

“They’re keeping a file on me, Nina.”

“They’re keeping a file on everybody,” Nina said. “I’m going back in and get ready for Crockett.”

“G OOD AFTERNOON, DETECTIVE CROCKETT.”

“Good afternoon.” Jaime had already taken Davy Crockett through the story of Wish’s arrest and interview at the station. Methodically, he had then obtained an outline of the series of arson fires that had occurred, the Cat Lady’s statement about two men, Wish’s burns, and had even attempted to bring in Wish’s juvenile record for setting a fire. Nina had objected, of course, but Judge Salas had absorbed it even as he sustained her objection.

Now it was her turn. The object of all this was to show that Wish’s actions and statements were consistent with innocence, and that Coyote had also been on the mountain.

“Now, Mr. Whitefeather told you at the interview that Danny was only trying to stop the fires?”

“That’s about all he said, yes. You advised him to remain silent but he did say that, in addition to admitting he was on the ridge that Tuesday night.”

“All right. Now. There was a reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the arsonist in the previous two fires, am I correct?”

“I believe so. It was put up jointly by two corporations that suffered property damages due to the arsons.”

“And the amount of this award was?”

“A hundred thousand dollars, I believe.” Judge Salas stroked his chin.

“You had received numerous tips from the public about who the arsonist could be?”

“Yes.”

“Ruth Frost asked for that reward, did she not, after she signed her statement?”

“Doesn’t mean she wasn’t telling the truth.”

“Right. So there was great public interest in this reward? It had been well-publicized?”

“Yes.”

“Would a photograph of a man, accompanied by a sworn statement that the photograph was taken at the time and place of an arson fire, be evidence that the man was an arsonist?” The question was clumsy, but Crockett understood and Jaime made no objection.

“Possibly. It might be a firefighter, or an innocent bystander.”

“Right. But your office would follow up to determine if this person was an innocent party or not if presented with such a photograph?”

“Sure we would.”

“Now, you have testified that the murder weapon was found to be a camera.”

“Dr. Rittenhauer will go into that further in her testimony, I believe.”

“But that’s your understanding?”

“Yes.”

“And you have identified the camera as belonging to the defendant?”

“Yes.”

“Speaking as a highly trained and experienced arson investigator, why do you think the defendant brought the camera up the mountain with him? You think he did that, right?”

“He was up there and so was his camera. There are several possible reasons for bringing it up there. The first one I would think of is, he wanted a souvenir. It was an ego trip. Can I make a comment about why the fires might have been set?”

“Go right ahead.” She had been hoping Crockett would go into his lecture mode. Let Salas hear about all the many reasons others might have set the fires.

“Juveniles set most of the fires, probably fifty percent of the fires in this country. They love the colors, the excitement, the destruction.

“Adults don’t get that same kick. Maybe they want to do something grandiose, something that will make them famous. We call that a vanity motive.

“Then there are the revenge arsons. Love stories gone bad. Feuding relatives. These people aren’t worrying about being caught. They’re too busy being drama kings and queens.

“Of course, there are always the insurance fires. The list goes on. Lately, we’ve seen an increase in arson that is used to commit homicide or to cover up a homicide.

“Now, we don’t know exactly why these fires were set. But in any of these scenarios except the last, the arsonist might have wanted a photo to remember it by.”

“Isn’t it true that the last scenario is actually what you believe at this time was the motivation for the third fire? To cover up a homicide?”

“We can’t be sure-”

“You’ve testified that Mr. Cervantes’s death was no accident, that the camera was the murder weapon. Mr. Whitefeather is charged with premeditated murder in one of the counts of the complaint. Which of the scenarios you have mentioned is the most likely scenario explaining the third fire, based on your experience and training?”

“For the third fire, it seems that at least one purpose was to commit a murder,” Crockett said, because he had to, or else the premeditated murder count would have to be dismissed.

“And, as you’ve just said, it is actually not at all likely that a suspect would bring a camera to record that?”

“You never know.”

“But it’s unlikely?”

Crockett pursed his lips and said reluctantly, “Pretty unlikely. They might take a souvenir, but usually some physical item, not a photo.”

“So the first reason for bringing the camera up the ridge, an ego trip, doesn’t work in this case. What other reason might there be to bring a camera up a hill, assuming that a hundred-thousand-dollar reward has been offered?”

“Presumably to try to get the reward by documenting the arsonist.”

“Ah,” Nina said.

“Pretty stupid way to go about it, though. And it doesn’t make sense in light of the other facts.”

“Why don’t you remind us of those facts again.”

With exaggerated patience, Crockett said, “Fact: The defendant went up the ridge with Mr. Cervantes. Fact: Mr. Cervantes was linked with the previous arson. Fact: There is no evidence anyone else was on the mountain that night.”

“Let’s look again at that third fact.” Judge Salas looked at the clock on the wall, stifled a yawn.

Nina took the photos recovered from Wish’s memory card from an envelope on her table. The memory card looked like a tiny disk and held digital memories of photos, taking the place of the roll of film of yore. She showed them to Jaime as a courtesy. He already had his set, and nodded, not particularly perturbed.

“You’ve seen these photos, haven’t you, Detective Crockett?”

Crockett looked through each of them and said, “Yes, your investigator gave me the same set.”

“He explained that these were developed from the memory card taken from the camera of Mr. Whitefeather?”

“He didn’t know where that memory card came from.”

“He told you I found it in clothing worn by Mr. Whitefeather during the fire, didn’t he?”

“Maybe you ought to testify, Counsel. I know nothing about where these photographs come from.”