The Innocent Woman

I did not.”
    “Was that answer true?”
    “Yes, it was.”
    “But you say you resented the verdict? The verdict of innocent. So if you didn’t resent the defendant for being found innocent, you must have resented the jury for finding her so. Is that right?”
    Lowery blinked twice. Did not answer.
    “Objection, Your Honor,” Dirkson said.
    “Overruled.”
    Lowery took a breath. “No, I did not resent the jury. I resented the situation . The fact that she had been found innocent.”
    “What about me?” Steve said.
    Lowery looked at him. “I beg your pardon?”
    “Did you resent me?”
    “Objection?” Dirkson said.
    Steve smiled. “Surely the bias of the witness towards the defense is relevant.”
    “Overruled.”
    “Do you resent me?” Steve said.
    Lowery glared at him. “Yes, I resent you,” he blurted.
    “There we have it,” Steve said with a smile. “Finally, we come to the root of the problem. And why do you resent me?”
    “For what you’re doing now,” Lowery said, angrily. “Mixing things up, twisting what I say.”
    “Is that what I did in the petty cash trial?”
    “You certainly did.”
    “Is that what I’m doing now?”
    “Yes, it is.”
    “And you resent that?”
    “Of course, I do.”
    “What exactly is it that I’m doing that you resent?”
    “I told you. You’re misquoting me. Misinterpreting everything I say. Mixing everything up so it comes out backwards.” Lowery paused, took a breath. Said angrily, “You’re making me look like a total jackass.”
    “Is that so?” Steve said. He smiled broadly at the jury. “Thank you. No further questions.”

32.
    N EXT UP, D IRKSON CALLED Dr. Andrew Stanton, a crisp, efficient looking young man with a no nonsense air about him. He took the stand and recited his qualifications as medical examiner, which included twelve years’ experience in that position, a rather surprising and impressive statistic in one so young.
    “Now, then,” Dirkson said, “directing your attention to the evening of Thursday, June tenth, were you called upon to examine a body at that time?”
    “Yes, I was.”
    “Can you tell us when and where that was?”
    “Yes. I was summoned to the office of F. L. Jewelry on West 47th. I arrived there at approximately ten twenty-five.”
    “Approximately?”
    Stanton smiled. “That was approximately when I arrived. I began my examination at ten twenty-nine.”
    Dirkson smiled back. “Thank you, doctor. And what can you tell us about the body you examined?”
    “He was a young man, say in his mid-thirties, of medium height and build. He was lying face down in the middle of the floor, with a pool of blood emanating from his chest.”
    “You examined the body at that time?”
    “Yes, I did.”
    “What did you do?”
    “First I determined that the man was dead. Of this, there was little doubt. Still, I verified the fact. I then conducted a preliminary examination of the body to determine the apparent cause of death.”
    “And what was that?”
    “Blood had come from a wound where something had penetrated the chest. From the location of the wound and the extent of the blood, it was likely this object had also penetrated the heart.”
    “Could you tell what this object was?”
    “It was apparently a bullet, though I did not make that determination then.”
    “But you did make it later?”
    “Yes. In the lab. When I conducted my autopsy.”
    “And what did that object prove to be?”
    “A bullet, which had penetrated the chest and lodged in the heart.”
    “You recovered the bullet from the heart of the victim?”
    “That is correct.”
    “Tell me, doctor, did you take any steps so that it would be possible for you to identify this bullet?”
    “Yes, I did. I scratched my initials, A. S. for Andrew Stanton, on the base of the bullet.”
    Dirkson nodded his approval. “Thank you, doctor.” He strode to the prosecution table, picked up a small plastic bag. “Your Honor, I ask that this be marked for identification as People’s Exhibit One.”
    “So ordered.”
    When the court reporter had marked the exhibit, Dirkson took it and returned to the witness stand. “Doctor, I hand you a plastic bag marked for identification People’s Exhibit One and ask you what it contains.”
    Doctor Stanton took the bag and examined the contents. “This is the bullet that I removed from the body of the decedent.”
    “How do you recognize it?”
    “As I said, by my initials, A. S., which I scratched