Chapter 51

  TANYA BROWN WAS ENJOYING HERSELF, giving Yuki a headache at the same time.

  Ms. Brown smiled at the bailiff, tossed her hair as she swore to tell the truth, and modeled her orange jumpsuit as if it were designed by Versace. She was the third of Yuki’s three jailhouse witnesses, all “in the system” for dealing¹ drugs, prostitution, or both, and all of whom had met Junie Moon within the walls of the county jail. And while the testimony² of jailhouse snitches was generally considered suspect or useless, Yuki was hoping that the virtually identical statements of these three women would together substantiate³ Junie Moon’s confession⁴.

  Yuki asked Tanya Brown, “Did the prosecution⁵ offer you anything in exchange for your testimony?”

  “No, ma’am.”

  “We didn’t offer to get you transferred, or get you time off or better treatment or more privileges?”

  “No, ma’am, you said you weren’t going to give me anything.” Tanya Brown wiggled her fanny in the witness seat, poured herself a glass of water, smiled at the judge, then settled down.

  “All right then, Ms. Brown,” said Yuki. “Do you know the defendant⁶?”

  “I wouldn’t say I know her, know her, but we were cellmates one night at the women’s jail.”

  “And did Ms. Moon say why she was arrested?”

  “Yeah, everyone gets a turn at that.”

  “And what did Ms. Moon tell you?”

  “She said she was a working girl and that she had a date with Michael Campion.”

  “And why did that stick in your mind?”

  “Are you kiddin’? It was like, Whoa. You did the dirty with the golden boy? And like what was that like? And by and by it came out that he died when they were doing it.”

  “Is that what Ms. Moon told you?”

  “Yeah. She said he had a bad heart, and that happened to me once, too, but my john was no golden boy. He was a smelly old man, and he died in the front seat of his Caddy, so I just opened the door - oh, ’scuse me.”

  “Ms. Brown, did Ms. Moon say what she did when Mr. Campion had a heart attack?”

  “She got all weepy-like,” said Tanya Brown. “Said she and her boyfriend got rid of his body.”

  “Did she say anything else?”

  “She said Michael was the sweetest boy she ever met and how bad it sucked for him to die on the happiest night of his life.”

  Yuki thanked the witness, made sure she didn’t roll her eyes as she turned her over to L. Diana Davis.

  Davis asked Tanya Brown the same question she’d asked each of Yuki’s previous two jailhouse witnesses.

  “Did Ms. Moon offer you any proof that she’d been with the so-called victim? Did she describe any distinguishing marks on his body, for instance? Show you any souvenirs? A ring, or a note, a lock of his hair?”

  “Huh? No, I mean, no, ma’am, she didn’t.”

  “I have no other questions,” said Davis dismissively, again.

1 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

2 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

3 substantiate   

v.证实；证明...有根据

参考例句：

• There is little scientific evidence to substantiate the claims.这些主张几乎找不到科学依据来证实。
• These theories are used to substantiate the relationship between the phenomenons of the universe.这些学说是用来证实宇宙现象之间的关系。

4 confession   

n.自白，供认，承认

参考例句：

• Her confession was simply tantamount to a casual explanation.她的自白简直等于一篇即席说明。
• The police used torture to extort a confession from him.警察对他用刑逼供。

5 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。

6 defendant   

n.被告；adj.处于被告地位的

参考例句：

• The judge rejected a bribe from the defendant's family.法官拒收被告家属的贿赂。
• The defendant was borne down by the weight of evidence.有力的证据使被告认输了。