16th Seduction (Women's Murder Club 16)

After Grant had finished eliciting praise from his former pupil, Yuki stood, straightened her suit jacket, and crossed the polished wooden floor to the witness.

She said, “Mr. Miller, did Mr. Grant use his own unpublished work on explosives as a course book?”

“Sure. ‘All About Bombs’ was the core of the curriculum for most of ninth-grade science. We learned about all kinds of bombs, from firecrackers to nukes.”

“Did Mr. Grant cover any other branches of science?”

“Yes, he covered the basics. Look, I like him. I think he’s very smart. But I’m under oath, right? So I’ve got to say I always thought he was obsessed with explosives.”

Grant objected. “Judge, can he just volunteer his opinion?”

Judge Hoffman said, “You opened the door by asking his opinion of you, Mr. Grant. I want to remind you, this is your witness. Go ahead, Ms. Castellano.”

“Mr. Miller, could you elaborate on what you mean by ‘obsessed’?”

The high school senior looked toward the science teacher and said, “I’m sorry, Mr. Grant, but I gotta say it.” Then, turning back to Yuki, Miller said, “Mr. Grant is singlemindedly all about combustion, or as he has often said, ‘The beauty and the power of explosions, the sound and the light, the beginning of creation and maybe the end of it, too.’ There were many times when I thought he was fricking crazy.”

Yuki thanked the witness and crossed paths with Grant as she returned to her table.

Grant didn’t wait for her to sit down before he began his redirect examination of Kenneth Miller.

“Ken, when you say ‘crazy,’ that’s a figure of speech, isn’t it?”

Miller said, “I don’t think so.”

Grant said, “Let me put it this way. You like girls, Kenny?”

The boy stiffened in his chair. “Yeah, so?”

“Are you obsessed with them?”

“Okay. Maybe. Sometimes. Yes.”

“Does that mean you’re crazy or that you have a passionate interest?”

“Whatever you say, Mr. Grant.”

“I’d say that while you might be girl crazy, you’re not insane. Would you agree?”

Yuki called out her objection. “Leading, Your Honor.”

The judge said, “Sustained.”

Miller looked up at the judge, who said, “Don’t answer.”

“Nothing further,” Grant snapped, adding under his breath, “Class dismissed.”

Yuki didn’t care what Grant said under his breath. Ken Miller had said that Grant was obsessed with explosives, and he’d detailed that obsession, including a reference to life and death. Nothing Grant could say would negate that.

Yuki knew that she’d scored a big one for the team. Len whispered to her, “Good play, Yuki.”

It was good. But was it enough?

CHAPTER 45

YUKI’S HAPPY MOMENT faded fast as the science teacher, who looked and sounded as normal as every person in the courtroom, including the judge and jury, got to his feet, straightened his tie, and buttoned his dark-blue jacket.

Connor Grant said, “Your Honor, I’m going to testify in my defense.”