Page 94 of One of Us Is Guilty

Riley relaxed his grip on the pen.

It was a plausible and accurate explanation. The smart explanation.

Or so they thought.

‘I see, so it wasn’t relevant because the police didn’t have a suspect at that time, right?’

‘Right,’ said Miss Karim.

‘So you accept that your testimony today is materially different to the statements you gave the police on previous occasions?’

‘Well, yes, but I explained that.’

‘Of course you did. You explained that you changed your testimony once the police arrested Vanessa Vanderpool, right?’

‘Well, I . . . I don’t think of it that way, I mean . . .’

‘Miss Karim, all three statements you gave to the police were made before my client was arrested, correct?’

‘Yes.’

‘So you altered your testimony today to suit the prosecution’s case against my client?’

‘Objection, Your Honor,’ said Riley, leaning over the desk, his pen in his hand like a dagger he wanted to stick in my back. The judge was giving him her full attention. She was going to sustain his objection, no matter what I said. She didn’t want the rails coming off this prosecution so soon. ‘This is not the way this happened, Your Honor. Mr. Flynn is misrepresenting the facts to the—’

I cut off Riley before he could get the objection sustained.

‘Your Honor, if Mr. Riley wants to testify, he can get on the witness stand any time he likes, but there’s no need. He already has this witness lying for him in order to make his case.’

The jury heard that. I could tell by the squeak of the old mahogany jury chairs. They make that sound when a juror moves, usually leaning forward or swaying back. Any activity like that from the jury is good.

It means they’re listening.

‘Objection sustained. The jury will disregard Mr. Flynn’s last statements and his last question. We’ll take a short adjournment. I want counsel in my chambers, right now. That meansyou, Mr. Flynn.’

It’s difficult to gauge how well a trial is going. There are so many little indicators, but often they don’t add up to much.

When I saw Harry smiling, and a thick vein pulsing in Riley’s red throat, I took it as a good sign. If the prosecutor’s blood pressure was higher than mine, then either the DA needed to change their diet and exercise or things were going well for the defense.

Even though Judge Tanner had told the jury to ignore the last exchange with the witness and the DA, they wouldn’t forget it. People are always more swayed by something they see or hear that just so happens to be something they weren’t supposed to see or hear.

A small victory with the first witness.

I had a bad feeling there wouldn’t be many more victories in this case. Even this tiniest of wins would come with a heavy price.

And the judge was about to collect.

36

Eddie

‘I was warned about you,’ said Judge Tanner.

She had slumped into her chair behind the desk in her chamber. Riley and I stood side by side, facing her. Rubbing at her temples, she looked from the prosecutor back to me. Cupping his hands in front of him, back straight, chest out, Riley looked like he was in a principal’s office at military school. Did they have principals at military school? Or did they have a rank? I didn’t know and had no inclination to find out. I was letting my mind wander because I didn’t want to get angry.

I was already pissed at having to fight back against a judge who had been bought and paid for by Julian Vanderpool, even though I couldn’t prove it. I couldn’t even say it. Not here. There was no point. It would only make my situation worse, if that was possible.

As a criminal defense attorney, you’re always battling against the juggernaut that is the system. No matter how you can manipulate it, or slide past some of those more dangerous pieces of legal machinery, the system won most of the time. Added to that were prosecutors and judges with their own agendas. An innocent person has a better chance of cleaning out the casino at a roulette table than getting a fair trial.