“You made two opposing sworn statements, yes or no?”
“This isn’t a yes-or-no kind of thing, I’m telling you.”
Giftos said, “Your Honor, permission to treat the witness as hostile.”
“Go ahead,” said Rathburn. “Mr. Christopher, answer the questions. Don’t hypothesize. Don’t rationalize. Don’t make excuses. Get me?”
“Yes, sir. Your Honor.”
The judge said to defense counsel, “Mr. Giftos, please proceed.”
CHAPTER 77
JAMES GIFTOS STUCK his hands in his pockets and said, “Mr. Christopher, do you need me to repeat the question?”
Marc looked more annoyed than chastened. “Yes,” he said. “Good idea.”
Giftos said, “You’ve made two opposing sworn statements about what transpired between you and Ms. Hill in the restaurant, yes or no?”
Christopher said, “Both are true. We made small talk and she got hysterical when I tried to break up with her.”
Giftos said, “In fact, neither story is true, is it? While you were drinking together in that bar, you told Ms. Hill that you’d like to experiment with a sex game, didn’t you?”
“No,” said Marc. “I did not.”
“Isn’t it true that you told her that you’d like her to act out a rape scene in which she threatened you with a gun and you pretended to be the victim?”
“No. Definitely not.”
Giftos said, “Isn’t it a fact, Mr. Christopher, that you suggested this sexual role-playing with a plan in mind to entrap Ms. Hill?”
“No. No way. I did not. That’s totally crazy,” said Marc.
“Let me ask you this. Did you know that it is illegal to record a person in a sex act without his or her knowledge?”
“I thought she was going to kill me.”
“Really? Mr. Christopher, did you know that Ms. Hill had just come into a sizable inheritance?”
“I guess so. Yes.”
“Mr. Christopher,” Giftos said pleasantly, “we’ve uncovered some voice mails from you to Ms. Hill that were left on her office phone. Could you tell us if this is your voice?”
“You’re saying I made the calls?”
Yuki tried to beam a thought to Marc: Answer the questions in as few words as possible. Do not give Giftos any shit. Do not.
“I’m going to play them now,” said Giftos.
He held the small recording device and pressed a button. As each message played, the mechanical voice of the phone system announced the date and time.
First message: “Briana, for the last time. Call me. I’m serious.”
Second message: “It’s Marc. You shouldn’t screw with me, Briana. Call me.”
Third message: “Briana, I’ve had enough. Either you pay up or there’re going to be some traffic problems in San Francisco.”
Giftos stopped the recorder and said to Marc, “Is this your voice?”