Jonathan Kellerman - Evidence

“No way.”

“You know about the fifty thousand Desi got paid. The half he was supposed to share but didn’t.”

“No, I don’t.”

“But you can figure out what I’m talking about.”

“Some kind of payoff?”

“For expertise and equipment-vegan Jell-O, for example.” Silence.

“You do know what that is?”

“I’ve heard of it. A long time ago.”

“Never used it.”

“No way!”

“Makes sense, why would you… I just need to sort out Monte’s story from yours, he’s the one with the violent streak, he’d obviously say anything to save his own skin.”

“The guns are his, I’ve never owned a gun.”

“I’m sure that’s true-”

“I can’t stand firearms. That’s why I’m C.I.’ing, not working in the ballistics lab.”

“Makes sense… let me check something… okay, here it is. Speaking of ballistics, here’s a report. We found Monte’s box exactly where you said it was, so I know you’ve been truthful about that and I appreciate it. Unlike Monte, who’s spinning a yarn about having no clue. Like we’re not going to find it.”

“He can be that way.”

“What way?”

“Mindless. Denying.”

“I’ll bet… anyway, we found the box and recovered the.22 that was used to shoot Des Backer. Unfortunately it’s your fingerprints that are on it, not Monte’s.”

Silence.

“Lara?”

“That makes absolutely no sense.”

“That’s what I told the lab, so they ran the prints again-yours are on file because when you got the job they printed you and we obtained Monte’s when we arrested him. His are all over the box. And some of the other guns. But not that one.”

“Oh, wow-I just figured it out. After Monte came back he gave me the gun to put away. I didn’t want to be an accessory, even after the fact, but you don’t defy him. He’d just murdered two people, for God’s sake.”

“So you stashed the gun.”

“Right back in the box. I’m sure you found it on top.”

“That’s exactly where we found it.”

“I wanted it to be obvious. So if someone ever searched, they’d see it.”

“You figured we’d search.”

“I was hoping. Unfortunately, I wasn’t thinking straight, didn’t glove up. Not that I could’ve gotten away with it, Monte was right there.”

“Monte stood there and ordered you to stash the gun.”

“He could’ve done it himself but he was into domination.”

“Ordering you around.”

“Constantly.”

“Must’ve been hard, Lara.”

“It was soul-eroding.”

“Same for carrying around the knowledge of what Monte did and not being able to tell anyone.”

“Everything I’ve done since the night he told me has been a form of self-defense, Lieutenant. When I met you, at the scene, I thought you might be someone who could help me but… taking that step… I should’ve done it sooner, I’m sorry. Thank God I finally did.”

“Let’s talk about that first time, Lara. How’d you come to work the Borodi scene?”

“I was up next. I’ve never been a big believer in coincidences but I’m starting to change my mind because lately my life’s full of them.”

“Like meeting up with Monte at the campsite.”

“Exactly. Like Monte bringing Des and Doreen into our lives. He must’ve been plotting revenge for years.”

“So you got called to the scene not knowing.”

“It was just another call, Lieutenant.”

“When Monte told you he murdered Des and Doreen, did he say where it happened?”

“I didn’t ask. Next morning, I take a call and it’s them. You can imagine. I nearly fainted.”

“When I met you, you seemed to be holding it together pretty well, Lara.”

“It took every ounce of energy to not start screaming, Lieutenant. The moment I was out of there I just fell apart.”

“Too scared to tell me what you knew.”

“I’m sorry, it’s obvious I should have, I was so freaked out, and then, later, when I thought about it, I figured I’d get in trouble for not coming forward right away, I was… I felt totally stuck.”

“I can understand that.”

“It’s obstruction, isn’t it?”

“Frankly, it could be, Lara. Whether or not John Nguyen-he’s the deputy D.A. in charge-decides to pursue that is up to him. If you continue to help, I have no trouble talking to John on your behalf.”

“I’d appreciate that.”

“Sure… coincidences-yeah, I’ve seen that in my own life. What some folks might call fate, karma, or just plain luck. What do psychologists call it, Dr. Delaware?”

“Yet another mystery of life.”

“Heh heh-okay, let’s move on. You show up at the scene, find out who the vics are, try to maintain.”

“My insides were churning.”

“Freaky coincidence… there is one sticking point. You made a special effort to take that call. We found out because we weren’t thinking in terms of coincidence and wondered how you came to work a scene with vics you knew. So we checked the work schedules here at the crypt. Confirmed it with Dave McClellan. You asked to switch with another C.I., Dan Paillard. Dan verifies it.”

Silence.

“Lara?”

“I know what it looks like but that had nothing to do with what happened. Absolutely nothing, I was eager for more experience. This is an intense place, being new, I felt I needed to catch up.”

“You traded with Dan but never collected on your half of the bargain.”

“What do you mean?”

“You never asked him to cover for you in return.”

“Guess I didn’t… I forgot he owed me anything, like I told you, Lieutenant, I’ve got memory issues.”

“I guess that could also explain forgetting you traded with Dan in the first place.”

“Sometimes I forget where I put my shoes.”

“That I can tell you, Lara. They were right where you said, near the box of guns.”

“I… I was speaking rhetorically. But… sure.”

“So you traded with Dan to get experience.”

“Exactly.”

“Okay… looks like you’ve explained away each of the question marks I had when I came in. The problem is, each one makes sense but when you put them all together, John Nguyen doesn’t like what he sees. I know because he told me. John’s basically a good guy, but he’s also a highly suspicious guy. I had a case I didn’t want to file because I felt the evidence didn’t justify it but John bulldozed ahead anyway. And got a conviction. He’s aggressive, smart, and really good at convincing juries.”

Silence.

“Lara?”

“So what do we do, Lieutenant?”

“What we do is maybe you can explain something away as more than coincidence or memory lapse. Anything that breaks up this… big database of coincidence.”

“I already admitted I knew Carlo back in high school. I just didn’t know you meant Knew with a capital K.”

“Understood. But I can tell you for a fact that John is not going to buy the part about switching with Dan Paillard as self-education. He’s convinced you were part of the murder and were aiming to control the situation. That means premeditation and that’s like a big martini for a guy like John.”

“But-”

“Hear me out, Lara-you okay? Here’s another tissue. It’s important that you see it from a prosecutor’s perspective: What you’re asking John to believe is that you had no idea what Monte was up to when he left the house, that he came home and told you he’d murdered someone, that you stashed the murder weapon for him and didn’t report anything because you were scared. John’s seen plenty of women in domestic situations, that much he can probably buy. But then you want him to believe that you just happened to work the scene for self-education. John is not going to accept that. And, to be honest, in my opinion neither is a jury. They watch too much TV, want everything to make sense by the third commercial. Combine that with your prints on the murder weapon and you can-”