Phillip Margolin - Heartstone

Shaeffer rubbed his eyes and wished that he could take a short nap. The trial was exhausting him. He was working late and not sleeping well. He looked at Coolidge, who was seated next to him. He was off in space again and Mark leaned over and whispered to him for no other purpose than to make it appear that the defendant was taking some part in his own trial.

Mark had emphasized the importance that a jury would attach to an attitude of indifference manifested by an accused, but Coolidge had gone through the first week of trial without showing any sign of involvement. At times his eyes appeared glassed over, as if, like a zombie, he was already dead and only his body was on trial. Mark had seriously considered calling a halt to the trial so that Coolidge could be examined by a psychiatrist for the purpose of determining whether or not he could aid and assist in his own defense, but he had concluded that Coolidge was not mentally incompetent, merely defeated.

Yesterday, after court had recessed, Mark watched the guards lead Bobby away down the long corridor to the jail elevator and was suddenly overcome by a dizzying emotion similar to the unnerving disorientation that accompanies déjà vu . Perhaps it was the angle of the sun, but the sight of Coolidge in handcuffs, his head and shoulders bowed, his body diminishing in size as it floated down the corridor, a scene he had witnessed on numerous occasions, overwhelmed him. He saw with great clarity his responsibilities in this matter and only a great exercise of will kept him from giving up in despair.

When Shaeffer turned to Coolidge, he caught sight of Sarah sitting in the back of the courtroom. The sight of her angered him. He had arranged for her to visit Bobby any time she chose, but she had refused to see him. Mark had been forced to lie to Bobby to explain why she would not see him.

Sarah had avoided Mark since that day in her apartment and he had slowly come to realize that he had been used by her. He wanted to confront her, but his feelings of guilt over the desire he felt for her made him impotent. He wondered why she insisted on coming to the trial each day and concluded that she wanted to see her belief in Bobby’s guilt justified so she could rationalize her desertion of a man who loved her and her lies to him.

“Mr. Hessey, the defendant was a member of a teenage gang called the Cobras, was he not?” Heider asked.

“Yes,” Hessey answered.

Judge Samuels looked up from some papers he had been reading and over toward Shaeffer to see what his reaction would be to Heider’s last question. Shaeffer seemed oblivious to the danger Judge Samuels saw so clearly on the horizon.

Judge Samuels felt sorry for Shaeffer. He seemed like a nice boy, but he should never have accepted a case of this magnitude. Samuels had tried to give him subtle tips on how to conduct his defense when he realized the boy’s inexperience, but Shaeffer seemed distracted and nervous and he never caught on.

“What was the purpose of this gang, Mr. Hessey?”

“What, uh, did we do, do you mean?” Hessey replied uncertainly. He had been a nervous witness, looking at the judge or jury for approval whenever he gave an answer.

“Exactly.”

Hessey shifted in his seat and ran his hands along the arms of his chair.

“Well, we got together, you know. Had parties…”

His voice trailed off.

“Weren’t members of the gang constantly involved in street fights and…?”

“Mr. Shaeffer,” Judge Samuels’s voice boomed, “aren’t you going to object to that question?”

Shaeffer’s eyes jerked up from his notes. He had been preoccupied with thoughts of Sarah and he had missed Heider’s last few questions. Shaeffer’s confusion was apparent to Samuels and the jurist reddened with anger when he realized that Mark did not know what he was talking about. Shaeffer’s lack of competence was forcing Samuels to take more of a role in the trial than was proper, yet his conscience and sense of professional ethics made it impossible for him to stand by day after day while Heider ran roughshod over his opponent.

“I’m sorry, I…” Shaeffer stuttered. Samuels glared at him for a second, then turned his wrath on Heider.

“It is becoming increasingly apparent to this Court that counsel for both sides have forgotten the rules of evidence concerning examination of witnesses. A person of your experience, Mr. Heider, should know that this entire line of questioning is not permissible.”

Heider rose and accepted the judge’s challenge. He did not appear to take offense at the judge’s remarks and his manner was gracious.

“Your Honor, if this line of questioning is improper, then I will not continue with it. As there was no objection from defense counsel, I assumed the questions were proper.”

That little son of a bitch always has the right answers, Samuels thought. He would lose no points with the jury after that response and he had made Shaeffer look bad.

Heider finished his examination of Hessey by leading him through the events at Alice Fay’s party. He quizzed him about the attitude of Bobby and Billy toward rich people. Shaeffer, as if to make up for his earlier inattention, made numerous objections, most of which were overruled as improper.

“No further questions,” Heider said.

“Your witness, Mr. Shaeffer.”

“Thank you, Your Honor.”

Mark checked through his notes one last time. He was excited by the prospect of cross-examining Hessey. For the first time in the trial Mark felt that he would be able to score points. The state was basing its case on the credibility of Esther Pegalosi. It had tied her to the murder scene through her glasses. Mark was now prepared to destroy that key link between the star witness and the scene of the crime.

“Mr. Hessey, in 1960, you dated Esther Pegalosi on several occasions, did you not?”

“I guess so.”

“You and Mrs. Pegalosi had sexual relations, did you not?”

Hessey hung his head and grinned sheepishly.

“Me and most everyone else I knew.”

Heider was on his feet objecting and the spectators were laughing.

“Mr. Hessey, just answer the question,” Judge Samuels instructed.

“Mr. Hessey, did Esther wear glasses?”

“Not all the time. She used to wear them when she was in class and at a movie. Times like that. Sometimes she’d keep them on after.”

“Is it fair to say that Lookout Park was used as a ‘make out’ spot in 1960 by large numbers of teenagers?”

Hessey smiled.

“Yes, sir,” he said a bit too enthusiastically and several of the spectators laughed.

“Did you ever use Lookout Park to ‘make out’?”

“Yes, sir,” Hessey answered with even more enthusiasm. Philip Heider and Judge Samuels joined in the laughter this time.

“Did you use Lookout Park to ‘make out’ approximately one week before the murders of Richie Walters and Elaine Murray?”

Heider’s face clouded over and the laughter in the courtroom died down.

“What’s he getting at?” Heider whispered to Caproni. Caproni shook his head and concentrated on the questions.

“Yes, sir. About one week before.”

“How do you remember that?”

“Well, I remember when they found Richie Walters up there joking about how it could have been me, because I had been right up by the hill just the week before.”

“And you are sure of that?”

“Yes.”

“Where had you been prior to making out in the park, one week before the murders?”

“To the movies.”

“With whom?”

“With Esther.”

“When you drove to Lookout Park was Esther wearing her glasses?”

“Yes.”

“How do you know?”

Hessey looked suddenly serious and embarrassed.