Chapter 58
Eddie
Damn, he was a convincing, slimy son of a bitch.
I know a tell. A lie leaves the lips, but the eyes hold on to the truth.
His emotion wasn’t fake, though. That looked real. That felt real. Whether he was channeling some dark, tragic incident from his past, or maybe he was allowing his true emotions for Molly to come to the forefront, I couldn’t quite decide.
His testimony had not done as much damage as I’d thought, which was largely down to Harry’s research and Riley not being prepared.
The DA had been caught off guard and hadn’t recovered.
If he’d been smarter, or better prepared, Patrick could have won this case for him.
Instead, he let uncertainty cloud his judgement.
The number-one thing you want to avoid while running a trial is making a mistake.
It’s almost better to do too little, than too much.
The more you’re talking, the greater the chance you will slip up.
I decided to take my own advice.
There was only one question I had to ask – did he kill Molly Green?
But the prosecution had already asked it.
I decided to keep this short. Dangerously short.
And leave a little mystery for the jury.
‘Mr. Vanderpool, did you have a sexual relationship with Molly Green?’
‘Absolutely not,’ he said.
‘Did you ever buy her an expensive piece of jewelry?’
I saw his eyes widening, but only for half a second, a brief flash as the question hit him, like the shutter on a camera, before he could again contain his reactions and keep himself calm and relaxed.
‘No, I never bought her any jewelry,’ he said.
I stood there and stared at him for a moment.
Until I was sure the entire jury had their attention on me, waiting for my next question.
I put on a broad satisfied smile. The kind of smile that somebody wears when they know they’ve won.
‘No further questions,’ I said.
Patrick’s head swiveled quickly to the DA. Then the judge, then the jury. Perplexed. Worried. What the hell has just happened? written over his face.
I sat down.
The jury would think I’d nailed Patrick. That I had caught him in a lie.
It was Vanessa’s suggestion. But we didn’t have the final card to play. There was no Perry Mason moment of me being able to produce a receipt or a picture or anything else to contradict him.
I had nothing. No bracelet. No evidence.
All I had was Vanessa’s testimony where she would deny killing the victim.
I had the advice and the prepared answer I had given to her, which would set a trap for Riley. But I really needed Bloch to come through with something from Molly’s apartment.
That would be the third weapon in my arsenal. If she found what I hoped she would, that weapon could prove to be nuclear.
I checked my phone.
Text from Bloch.
Something is beeping in the wall. We’re digging.
‘Your Honor, subject to the right to call Detective Larkin at a later stage, with the agreement of the defense, the prosecution rests.’
‘Call your first witness, Mr. Flynn,’ said Tanner.
I stood, said, ‘The defense calls Vanessa Vanderpool.’
As she took the oath, and promised to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, I thought about the one rule I lived by in trying criminal cases – it’s nearly always a mistake to allow the defendant to testify.
This time, I had no choice.
The next few minutes would decide Vanessa’s fate.