New Tricks - By David Rosenfelt Page 0,75

him. You can fit me with a wire, and you can be near the scene if things go bad.”

He turns to Laurie, who to this point has not said a word. “And you’d be there as well?”

She shakes her head. “No, Robinson would be more likely to deal if it’s just Andy. But I’ll be with you, nearby, just in case.”

He shakes his head. “We work alone.”

“Not this time you don’t,” I say. “Ms. Collins has my full confidence, which at this point I can’t quite say for you.”

He thinks for a few moments. “Okay… I’ll be in touch.”

“When?” I ask.

“I have people I need to clear this with.”

I nod. “And I have a client I need to defend, so put a rush on it.”

Laurie and I leave, and once we get in the car she says, “He’ll go for it.”

I nod. “I think so, too. And if I was wrong about my theory, he’d have thrown us out of the office.”

She nods her agreement.

“You were quiet in there,” I say. “What were you doing… thinking about what we talked about last night?”

“Andy…”

“Because there’s a lot to think about,” I say. “Flower girls, bridesmaids, showers, shit like that. I think I’m going to have Tara give me away.”

“No one has to give the man away.”

“Oh.”

“Andy, are you going to keep bringing this up?”

“Probably.”

“Then I’m going to check into a hotel.”

“Bring what up?”

RICHARD CALLS A STRING OF WITNESSES who are so boring, the jury has trouble staying awake.

First up is Patrolman Marty Harris, who gave Steven’s car a parking ticket on the street outside Mario’s restaurant in Paterson on the night of the murder. The restaurant is located just two blocks from the exact spot where the murder took place, a fact that Richard uses twenty minutes and two maps to demonstrate.

The ticket was written at nine thirty-seven, as noted by Patrolman Harris on his ticket. This fits in quite well with the estimated time of death, which was around ten o’clock, a connection that Richard makes sure the jury understands.

When he turns him over to me after about an hour of tedium, there’s really nothing about what he said for me to question. So I decide to question him about what he didn’t say.

“Patrolman Harris, where was Steven Timmerman while you were writing the ticket?”

“I don’t know.”

“Are most people who park in that space usually in the restaurant, since that’s the only place open on that street at night?” I ask.

“I would assume so.”

“So you didn’t see Steven Timmerman, before or after writing the ticket?”

“No.”

“Did you see his father, Walter Timmerman?”

“No.”

“Mr. Wallace showed a map, pointing out where the car was parked and where the body was found. Are you familiar with that area? Have you ever driven or walked by there?”

“Yes. Many times.”

“The body was found behind a convenience store. If I asked you to drive to that store tonight, could you find it?”

“Of course,” he says.

“Where would you park?”

I can see his mind racing as he contemplates the mistake that many witnesses make. He has said nothing wrong, but he believes that his next truthful answer will hurt the prosecution’s side, so he tries to think of a way out. Of course, he should not be trying to manipulate matters, he should just tell the truth.

Which ultimately he does. “I would park in front of the convenience store.”

“Not at Mario’s restaurant, two blocks away?” I ask.

“No.”

“Let me present you with a hypothetical. Suppose you were going to murder someone who was in your car, and you were planning to commit the murder behind the convenience store. Obviously you wouldn’t want to be seen with that person, since that would make you a likely suspect after the body was found. Would that make you more or less likely to part two blocks away and walk with him?”

“I would park near the convenience store,” he says.

“Thank you. Me too.”

Next up is a clerk from the phone company named Nina Alvarez, who testifies about the phone call from Walter Timmerman to Steven on the night of the murder. Steven had also told me about the call, but we could not find it in Walter’s records. The explanation for that, as Ms. Alvarez quickly points out, is that it was not made from Timmerman’s private cell phone, but rather from his business cell phone, listed under the account of Timco.

Through Richard’s lens, Alvarez’s testimony comes off as damning. The implication is that whatever was said between the two men, it resulted in