Sleight of Hand - By Phillip Margolin Page 0,54
the damage Charles Benedict had anticipated. Blair’s complexion was pasty and he looked every day of his seventy-four years. With Carrie dead and Blair in jail, there was only a skeleton staff at Blair’s estate. Blair had given Benedict the security code for the front gate and the house so he could pick out clothing for Horace to wear at court appearances. Benedict had brought a beautifully tailored suit to the jail but Horace had lost so much weight that the suit looked like it was draped on a wire hanger.
“How are you holding up?” Benedict asked. He sounded deeply concerned but he was really delighted.
“Am I going to get out today?”
“I hope so. Gardner is tough but Jack Pratt has lined up several prominent witnesses who will vouch for you.”
Before Benedict could say anything else, the Honorable Preston L. Gardner III emerged from his chambers.
“We’re here for a bail hearing in Commonwealth v. Blair,” Gardner said as he took his seat on the dais. “Are the parties ready to proceed?”
“Rick Hamada for the commonwealth. We’re ready, Your Honor.”
“Charles Benedict for Mr. Blair. The defense is ready.”
“I don’t need any opening statements,” the judge said, “so let’s get this show on the road. You’ve got the burden, Mr. Hamada.”
Rick Hamada began his presentation by calling Frank Santoro. He used the first few minutes to establish the detective’s credentials before asking questions that would allow him to argue that the defendant should be held without bail.
“Detective Santoro,” Hamada asked, “can you please summarize the evidence that led you to the conclusion that there was probable cause to arrest the defendant for murder?”
“Yes, sir. First off, there was the motive. There were newspaper reports about a prenuptial agreement—”
“Objection! Irrelevant,” Charles Benedict said as he sprang to his feet. “This court shouldn’t be using unfounded rumors to decide an issue as serious as bail.”
“The rumor is just one piece of the decision to arrest,” Hamada replied. “It’s background and was just part of the big picture.”
“There’s no jury here, Mr. Benedict,” Judge Gardner said. “I’ll allow the testimony and take it for what I deem it’s worth.”
“Go ahead, Detective,” Hamada said.
“The newspaper reported that the defendant and his wife had signed a prenuptial agreement before their wedding. According to the story, Mr. Blair was going to have to give Mrs. Blair twenty million dollars the week she disappeared.”
“Please tell the judge if any physical evidence caused you to suspect that Mr. Blair may have killed his wife,” Rick Hamada said.
“There was the evidence we found in the trunk of Mr. Blair’s Bentley,” Santoro answered.
Hamada turned to Judge Gardner. “For purposes of this hearing only, Mr. Benedict has agreed that we can present the following testimony without calling experts from the crime lab or the medical examiner.”
“Is Mr. Hamada correct?” the judge asked.
“He is,” Benedict agreed.
“Proceed, Mr. Hamada,” Judge Gardner said.
“Detective Santoro, please tell the court about this evidence and its significance?”
“Okay, well, we found blond hairs in the trunk. The crime lab performed a DNA test on the hairs and concluded that they belonged to the victim, Mrs. Blair. So that was evidence that suggested she may have been in the trunk.
“Next, we found a blood smear in the trunk. The lab concluded that the blood was from Mrs. Blair by doing DNA testing. That suggested that Mrs. Blair may have been wounded or deceased when she was in the trunk.”
“Did you find a gun in the trunk?” Hamada asked.
“We did, a .38 pistol.”
“Was there anything unusual about the gun?” the prosecutor asked.
“The serial numbers had been filed off.”
“Why was that significant?”
“We see this commonly in guns that are sold illegally on the street and used to commit crimes.”
“Objection,” Benedict said. “Irrelevant, and the prejudice outweighs any possible relevance.”
“Sustained.”
“After you discovered this physical evidence in a car belonging to the defendant did you discover the body of the victim in this case, Carrie Blair?”
“We did.”
“Where did you find it?”
“It had been buried in a shallow grave in the woods at an abandoned resort.”
“Did the medical examiner determine the cause of death?”
“Yes, sir. Mrs. Blair was shot and the bullet caused massive internal injuries.”
“What type of bullet caused the damage?”
“A semi-jacketed hollow-point.”
“Where was this bullet discovered?”
“The medical examiner found it in Mrs. Blair’s body while he was performing the autopsy.”
“Why didn’t the bullet exit the body?”
“A semi-jacketed hollow-point has a soft point. It’s designed to mushroom inside the body when it hits bone. That’s why there was so much damage to the internal organs.”
“Was