Chapter 72

  THERE HAD BEEN a whole blessed week’s break while Judge Bendinger returned to physical rehab for his replaced knee. But the break was over. Bendinger was back. And Yuki now felt the tsunami¹ effect of the whole freakin’ Junie Moon circus starting all over again, the out-of-control press, the pressure to win.

  At nine o’clock sharp, court was called into session.

  And the defense² began to put on its case.

  L. Diana Davis didn’t look up as her first witness came through the gate, passing so close she must have felt a breeze as his herringbone jacket nearly grazed her arm. Yuki saw Davis lean in and speak behind her hand to her client, all the while panning the gallery with her eyes. The TV cameras were running, and the reporters were packed in the rows at the back of the room.

  Davis smiled.

  Yuki whispered to Len Parisi, “There’s no place Davis would rather be. Nobody she’d rather defend.”

  Red Dog smiled. “That beast is inside you, too, Yuki. Learn to love it.”

  Yuki watched Davis pat her client’s hand as Lieutenant³ Charles Clapper, head of CSU, was sworn in. Then Davis stood and greeted her witness.

  “Lieutenant Clapper, how long have you been head of the San Francisco Crime Scene Unit?”

  “Fifteen years.”

  “And what did you do before that?”

  “I started with the San Diego PD right outta school, worked vice⁴ for five years, homicide for five. Then I joined the Las Vegas CSU before moving to San Francisco and joining the CSU here.”

  “In fact, you’ve written books on trace evidence, haven’t you?”

  “Yes, I’ve done a couple of books.”

  “You appear on TV a few times a week, don’t you? Sometimes even more times than me,” Davis said, smiling widely, getting the laugh she wanted from the gallery.

  “I don’t know about that,” Clapper said, smiling too.

  “Very good. And how many homicides have you investigated in the last twenty-five years, Lieutenant?”

  “I have no idea.”

  “Take a wild guess.”

  “A wild guess? Maybe a couple of hundred a year.”

  “So it’s reasonable to say you may have investigated as many as five thousand homicides, is that right?”

  “Roughly.”

  “I think we can accept ‘roughly,’ ” Davis said, good-naturedly. “And as well as investigating fresh crime scenes, you investigate crimes that happened months or even years ago, is that correct?”

  “I’ve investigated cold cases, yes.”

  “Now, in April of this year, were you called to the home of the defendant⁵?”

  “I was.”

  “And did it have the appearance of a crime scene?”

  “No. The rooms were orderly. There was no evident disturbance⁶, no blood or shell casings, et cetera.”

  Davis said, “Now, were you told that a man may have been dismembered in the bathtub of the defendant’s house?”

  “I was.”

  “And you did all the normal tests for trace evidence, did you not?”

  “Yes, we did.”

  “Come up with anything evidentiary?”

  “No.”

  “Find any evidence that showed that the blood had been cleaned up?”

  “Nope.”

  “No bleach⁷ or anything like that?”

  “No.”

  “Lieutenant Clapper, let me just give you the whole laundry list at once and save a little time here. The walls hadn’t been repainted, the rugs hadn’t been cleaned? You didn’t find an implement⁸ that could have been used to dismember a body?”

  “No.”

  “So it’s fair to say that you and your team did everything you could do to ascertain⁹ the manner in which a crime was committed - or even if a crime was committed?”

  “We did.”

  “Based on your experience and your examination of the so-called crime scene, please tell the jury - did you find any evidence, direct or indirect, that links Junie Moon to the alleged¹⁰ murder of Michael Campion?”

  “No.”

  “Thank you. That’s all I have for this witness, Your Honor.”

1 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。

2 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

3 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

4 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

5 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。

6 disturbance   

n.动乱，骚动；打扰，干扰；(身心)失调

参考例句：

• He is suffering an emotional disturbance.他的情绪受到了困扰。
• You can work in here without any disturbance.在这儿你可不受任何干扰地工作。

7 bleach   

vt.使漂白；vi.变白；n.漂白剂

参考例句：

• These products don't bleach the hair.这些产品不会使头发变白。
• Did you bleach this tablecloth?你把这块桌布漂白了吗？

8 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

9 ascertain   

vt.发现，确定，查明，弄清

参考例句：

• It's difficult to ascertain the coal deposits.煤储量很难探明。
• We must ascertain the responsibility in light of different situtations.我们必须根据不同情况判定责任。

10 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为