Mickey Haller 4 - The Fifth Witness

sure the jury understood that I was indeed getting the answers I wanted.
    “What time was it when that receipt was found in the victim’s pocket?”
    Kurlen checked his notes and didn’t find an answer.
    “I am not sure because the receipt was found by the coroner’s investigator who was in charge of checking the victim’s pockets and securing all property that had been on the victim’s person. This would have been done before the body was transported to the coroner’s office.”
    “But it was well after you and your partner took off in pursuit of Lisa Trammel, correct?”
    “We didn’t take off in pursuit of Trammel, but the discovery of the receipt would have been after we left to talk to Trammel.”
    “Did the coroner’s investigator call you and tell you about the receipt?”
    “No.”
    “Did you find out about the receipt before or after you arrested Lisa Trammel for murder?”
    “After. But there was other evidence in support of—”
    “Thank you, Detective. Just answer the question I ask, if you don’t mind.”
    “I don’t mind telling the truth.”
    “Good. That’s what we’re here for. Now, wouldn’t you agree that you arrested Lisa Trammel on the basis of inconsistent and contradictory statements that later turned out to be, in fact, consistent and not in contradiction with the evidence and the facts of the case?”
    Kurlen answered as if by rote.
    “We had the witness who placed her near the scene of the crime at the time of the crime.”
    “And that’s all you had, correct?”
    “There was other evidence tying her to the murder. We have her hammer and—”
    “I’m talking about at the time of her arrest!” I yelled. “Please answer the question I ask you, Detective!”
    “Hey!” the judge exclaimed. “There’s only one person who’s going to be allowed to raise their voice in my courtroom, and, Mr. Haller, you aren’t that person.”
    “I’m sorry, Your Honor. Could you please instruct the witness to answer the questions he is asked and not those that are not asked?”
    “Consider the witness so advised. Proceed, Mr. Haller.”
    I paused for a moment to collect myself and swept my eyes across the jury. I was looking for sympathetic reactions but I didn’t see any. Not even from Furlong, who didn’t meet my eyes with his. I looked back at Kurlen.
    “You just mentioned the hammer. The defendant’s hammer. This was evidence you didn’t have at the time of the arrest, correct?”
    “That’s correct.”
    “Isn’t it true that once you made the arrest and realized that the inconsistent statements you relied upon were not actually inconsistent, you began looking for evidence to fit your theory of the case?”
    “Not true at all. We had the witness but we still kept a wide-open view of this thing. We weren’t wearing blinders. I would’ve been happy to drop the charges against the defendant. But the investigation was ongoing and the evidence that we started accumulating and evaluating did not cut her way.”
    “Not only that but you had motive, too, didn’t you?”
    “The victim was foreclosing on the defendant’s house. As far as motive went, that looked pretty strong to me.”
    “But you were not privy to the details of that foreclosure, only that there was a foreclosure in process, correct?”
    “Yes, and that there was a temporary restraining order against her, too.”
    “You mean you are saying that the restraining order itself was a motive to kill Mitchell Bondurant?”
    “No, that’s not what I’m saying and not what I mean. I’m just saying it was part of the whole picture.”
    “The whole picture adding up at that point to a rush to judgment, correct, Detective?”
    Freeman jumped up and objected and the judge sustained it. That was okay. I wasn’t interested in Kurlen’s answer to the question. I was only interested in putting the question in each juror’s mind.
    I checked the rear wall of the courtroom and saw that it was three thirty. I told the judge that I was going to move in a new direction with my cross-examination and that it might be a good time to take the afternoon break. The judge agreed and dismissed the jury for fifteen minutes.
    I sat back down at the defense table and my client reached over and squeezed my forearm with a powerful grip.
    “You’re doing so good!” she whispered.
    “We’ll see. There’s still a long way to go.”
    She pushed her chair back to get up.
    “Are you going for coffee?” she