The 17th Suspect (Women's Murder Club 17)

“I wish I could be there,” he said. “You look hot.”

Yuki hadn’t really expected Brady to show up for her first day of trial, but she would have loved it if he had. She hid the pang of disappointment, kissed him, and minutes later drove to the Hall of Justice.

Art had been waiting for her inside courtroom 23. As Yuki settled into her seat at the prosecution table, she shot a quick look across the aisle.

Giftos was at the defense table with Madison Benson, his second chair. He was speaking softly to Briana Hill, no doubt assuring her that everything would go well.

Until her world had come crashing down, Hill had been on the success track in advertising. She was dressed today as though she weren’t out on bail and unemployed but rather still on the executive payroll at the Ad Shop. Her patterned gray-and-white skirt suit was smart, and her wavy chestnut hair hung to her shoulders, adding to her already very young, even innocent appearance.

Behind the bar, at Yuki’s back, the gallery filled with spectators, who conversed and laughed as they found their seats. Unlike with murder trials, there was no sense of solemnity or tragedy. Instead Yuki picked up the daytime-talk-show giddiness in the air. The audience was titillated, as if they were hoping there would be goody bags under the seats.

When she last scanned the gallery, Yuki had picked out Marc Christopher’s parents, Lily and Fred Christopher, sitting two rows back from the rail.

Yuki had also spotted Cindy in the last row, with Lindsay right beside her. Yuki felt a rush of gratitude toward her friends for being here.

Just then Arthur nudged her with his elbow, and Yuki turned around as the bailiff took a stance in front of the bench and intoned, “All rise.”

The spectators, the attorneys, the victim, and the defendant all got to their feet as Judge Rathburn came through the door behind the bench and took his chair.

The bailiff called court into session.

CHAPTER 40

YUKI WATCHED THE judge swivel in his chair, getting comfortable. He poked at his laptop, spoke a few words to his clerk, then greeted the jury.

After saying how important jury duty was to the justice system and thanking the jurors for their service, the judge began to explain the case that would be presented to them.

“In California the rape statute broadly defines rape as nonconsensual sexual intercourse accomplished by means of threats, force, or fraud.

“It’s common to think of rape as a sex act committed by means of physical force. But other situations can also lead to rape charges in our state.

“A woman is passed out, drunk. A man has sex with her. That’s rape. A doctor or a psychologist tells a patient that having sex with him or her will cure an illness. That’s rape.”

Rathburn went on to explain clearly and forcefully to a rapt audience that if a cop pulled over a motorist and told the driver there would be no ticket if said motorist agreed to have sex with him, that was rape, too.

“Now, it is commonly believed that only men can commit rape. That’s not true,” said Rathburn. “The defendant in this case is a woman, and she is charged with forcing a man to penetrate her without his consent.”

Rathburn cleared his throat before telling the jury that he had a duty to instruct them on the elements defining penetration, which he would read to them from the California penal code.

The judge pulled his laptop close and read, “Sexual penetration, however slight, of the genital or anal opening of the other person or causing the other person to penetrate the other party’s genital or anal opening—”

The language of the statute was more than one man in the gallery could handle. He laughed sharply, igniting titters from the back of the room. Even one of the jurors grinned before clapping her hands over her mouth.

Rathburn’s face darkened. He slammed down his gavel, the cracks sounding like gunfire and having a similar effect.

“Enough,” Rathburn barked. “Will the court officers show the man in the red tie to the door?”

The man with the red tie and matching complexion sputtered an apology, but Rathburn ignored him. When the disrupter had been marched out and the doors had been closed, the judge addressed the spectators.

“Anyone who cannot sit quietly in this courtroom, who cannot control their emotions, please leave now. Likewise, any members of the jury who are having second thoughts about serving in a case

about rape, let me know now.”

Rathburn waited.

The spectators were mute and motionless. The jurors as a body seemed to have stopped breathing.

There was no question in Yuki’s mind that His Honor, Kevin Rathburn, had laid down the law in his court.