Chapter 75

  YUKI READ LEN’S NOTES to her, his suggested line of questioning exactly what she planned to ask, but what was underscored in her mind was how important Malcolm was to the defense¹. And how important it was that she nullify his testimony².

  Yuki stood, walked toward the witness stand, saying, “Mr. Malcolm, are you here today of your own volition³?”

  “Not exactly. The long arm of the law reached out and grabbed me out of a nice little titty bar in Tijuana.”

  “You have friends in Mexico, Mr. Malcolm?” Yuki asked over the laughter in the gallery. “Or was this a case of ‘you can run but you can’t hide’?”

  “A little of both.” Malcolm shrugged⁴, giving the jury a glimpse of his terrible, gappy smile.

  “A few minutes ago you swore to tell the truth, isn’t that right?”

  “I got nothing against the truth,” Malcolm said.

  Yuki put her hands on the railing in front of the witness, asked, “How do you feel about the defendant⁵? Ms. Moon.”

  “Junie’s a sweet girl.”

  “Let’s see if we can refine that answer, okay?”

  Malcolm shrugged, said, “Refine away.”

  Yuki allowed a smile to show the jury she was a good sport, then said, “If you and Junie Moon were both free to walk out of here, Mr. Malcolm, would you spend the night with her?”

  “Yeah. Sure.”

  “And if she needed a kidney, would you give her one of yours?”

  “I’ve got two, right?”

  “Yes. Odds⁶ are you have two.”

  “Sure. I’d give her a kidney.” Ricky Malcolm grinned expansively, conveying what a generous guy he was.

  “During your three-year-long relationship with the defendant, did you share things with her? Enjoy doing things with her?”

  “Yeah. Sure.”

  “And how do you feel about her now?”

  “That’s a little personal, isn’t it?”

  Davis called out, “Your Honor, is this the Dr. Phil show? There’s no relevance⁷ -”

  “If the court would give me a moment to show relevance,” Yuki interrupted.

  “Overruled, Ms. Davis. Proceed, Ms. Castellano.”

  “Thanks, Your Honor,” Yuki said. “Mr. Malcolm, your feelings aren’t a secret, are they? Would you please roll up your right sleeve and show your arm to the jury.”

  Malcolm hesitated until the judge asked him to do it. Then he exposed his arm to the jury.

  Called a “full sleeve” by tat aficionados⁸, a dense⁹ collection of tattoos¹¹ ran up Ricky Malcolm’s pale skin from his wrist to his shoulder. Among the snakes and skulls¹² was a red heart branded with the initials R.M. hanging from the hook of a feminized crescent moon.

  “Mr. Malcolm, could you tell us what the letters underneath¹³ that heart tattoo¹⁰ mean?”

  “You mean T-M-T-Y-L-M-J-M?”

  “That’s right, Mr. Malcolm.”

  Malcolm sighed. “It stands for ‘Tell me that you love me, Junie Moon.’ ”

  “So, Mr. Malcolm, is it fair to say that you love the defendant?”

  Malcolm was looking at Junie now, his face heavy, having lost its wiseass expression, Junie looking back at him with her huge slate-gray eyes.

  “Yes. I love her.”

  “Do you love her enough to lie for her?”

  “Sure, I’d lie for her, what the hell?”

  “Thanks, Mr. Malcolm. I’m done with this witness, Judge,” said Yuki, turning her back on Ricky Malcolm.

1 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。

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 volition   

n.意志；决意

参考例句：

• We like to think that everything we do and everything we think is a product of our volition.我们常常认为我们所做和所想的一切都出自自己的意愿。
• Makin said Mr Coombes had gone to the police of his own volition.梅金说库姆斯先生是主动去投案的。

4 shrugged   

vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Sam shrugged and said nothing. 萨姆耸耸肩膀，什么也没说。
• She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩，装出一副无所谓的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

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 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

7 relevance   

n.中肯，适当，关联，相关性

参考例句：

• Politicians' private lives have no relevance to their public roles.政治家的私生活与他们的公众角色不相关。
• Her ideas have lost all relevance to the modern world.她的想法与现代社会完全脱节。

8 aficionados   

n.酷爱…者，…迷( aficionado的名词复数 )； 爱看斗牛的人

参考例句：

• West Coast aficionados of postwar coffee-shop architecture(Karal Ann Marling) 西海岸战后咖啡店式建筑的狂热追随者（卡拉尔安马林） 来自互联网
• Clay developed a radical style which appalled boxing aficionados. 克莱发展出一种震惊拳击迷的全新风格。 来自互联网

9 dense   

a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的

参考例句：

• The general ambushed his troops in the dense woods. 将军把部队埋伏在浓密的树林里。
• The path was completely covered by the dense foliage. 小路被树叶厚厚地盖了一层。

10 tattoo   

n.纹身，(皮肤上的)刺花纹；vt.刺花纹于

参考例句：

• I've decided to get my tattoo removed.我已经决定去掉我身上的纹身。
• He had a tattoo on the back of his hand.他手背上刺有花纹。

11 tattoos   

n.文身( tattoo的名词复数 )；归营鼓；军队夜间表演操；连续有节奏的敲击声v.刺青，文身( tattoo的第三人称单数 )；连续有节奏地敲击；作连续有节奏的敲击

参考例句：

• His arms were covered in tattoos. 他的胳膊上刺满了花纹。
• His arms were covered in tattoos. 他的双臂刺满了纹身。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 skulls   

颅骨( skull的名词复数 )； 脑袋； 脑子； 脑瓜

参考例句：

• One of the women's skulls found exceeds in capacity that of the average man of today. 现已发现的女性颅骨中，其中有一个的脑容量超过了今天的普通男子。
• We could make a whole plain white with skulls in the moonlight! 我们便能令月光下的平原变白，遍布白色的骷髅！

13 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。