12th of Never

they considered the incident closed.”
    Yuki said, “Did you consider the incident closed?”
    “Pretty much,” Sorbera said. “I didn’t hear from Mrs. Herman, but when the bags of human remains were identified as her body and the child was reported missing, I went to my captain and told him about the incident.”
    “Thanks, Officer. I’m done, Your Honor.”
    When Kinsela had no questions for Sorbera, Yuki called her next witness to the stand.

Chapter 23
    GARY GOODFRIEND WORE a fringed buckskin jacket, distressed jeans, and a plaid shirt. He swaggered as he came up the aisle, then walked through the gate as though he were bellying up to a bar.
    Yuki took a sip from her water bottle and watched as Goodfriend was sworn in. The man was cocky. He had an ego. But he had also come forward and volunteered to testify for the prosecution.
    He was an uncontrollable yet important witness, and Yuki had decided to take a chance on him.
    When he was seated, she greeted him and asked him about his business.
    “I’m an FFL. A licensed gun dealer. I have a store over in Castro Valley.”
    “Do you know the defendant?”
    “I met him at a Calgun firearms show. I had a booth there. I talked to him for about ten, fifteen minutes.”
    “Did you sell him a gun?”
    “Yes. I sold him a Beretta Px4 Storm. It’s an exceptional weapon. Mr. Herman had a CCW and he paid cash.”
    “Can you tell us what CCW stands for?”
    “Carrying a concealed weapon—a permit.”
    “Did you sell more than one gun at the gun show?”
    “About fifteen guns that day. Another dozen the following day.”
    “And what was it about Mr. Herman that made him stand out in your mind?”
    “He was talking to another customer while I rang up a sale. Something he said just stayed in my mind.”
    “And what was the nature of that conversation?”
    “Two guys shooting the bull about guns. What they owned. What they liked. What they liked to shoot at.”
    “And what did Mr. Herman like to shoot at?”
    “Mr. Herman told the other guy that he had a rat problem.”
    “Do you know the name of the other guy?”
    “No, I didn’t sell him a gun. I never saw him before or since.”
    “So you overheard Mr. Herman say he had a rat problem. What did the other guy say to that?”
    “He said, ‘Rat problem? You mean like a snitch?’ And Herman over there said, ‘No, a
rug rat
problem.’”
    “What did you take ‘rug rat’ to mean?”
    “A rug rat is a kid. A child. At the time, I thought he was just, you know, joking, but when I heard about his wife turning up dead and his kid going missing, I remembered what he said and it got me worried.”
    “Did you call the police?”
    “Yes.”
    Yuki showed the police report to the judge and to Kinsela, then handed it to the clerk along with the sales receipt for the gun. These items were entered into evidence.
    Then she thanked Gary Goodfriend and turned him over to the defense for cross-examination.

Chapter 24
    JOHN KINSELA GOT to his feet behind the prosecution table and stayed there. He looked bored as he questioned Yuki’s witness from across the room.
    “Mr. Goodfriend, you say you sold thirty guns, more or less, at the gun show that weekend. Is that right?”
    “Yes. More or less.”
    “And presumably you talked to more than those thirty people who bought guns from you.”
    “Oh, sure. I talked to hundreds of people.”
    “But you’ve told us that you remember Mr. Herman distinctly two years later. Is that right?”
    “He’s a memorable person.”
    “Memorable because he said he had a rug rat problem. Is that correct?”
    “Yes, it is.”
    “And as I understand it, you took that to mean that he was buying a gun to kill a child?”
    “You could take it to mean that.”
    “Seriously? But you didn’t notify the police at that time, did you?”
    “No. It just sounded like bull. Creepy bull, but bull.”
    “Did the defendant also tell you directly that he had a rug rat problem?”
    “Nope.”
    “Would it surprise you to hear that, in fact, Mr. Herman’s house did have rodents? And that he hired an exterminator?”
    “If you say so, I believe you.”
    “Thanks. Now, apart from the overheard conversation, and whatever you two said during the gun transaction, did you have any conversations with the defendant at any other time?”
    “Nope.”
    “So apart from the joke he made with this ‘other guy,’ you had no additional reason to believe that Mr. Herman meant to harm his