16th Seduction (Women's Murder Club 16)

Hoffman said, “I suggest you use your adviser to question you.”

“Yes, Your Honor. That’s our plan.”

Grant was on his own witness list, so it was no surprise to Yuki and Len that he would testify. Len had loved, loved, loved the idea of having the opportunity to grill him on the stand. But what they hadn’t known prior to the trial was that Grant was so sharp, so nimble. Maybe the right word for him was brilliant.

Now Len told Yuki he wasn’t sure he should cross-examine Grant at all. The defendant was not just slick, he was very compelling.

Grant took the stand and the oath. He adjusted his glasses, ran his hand over his face, and sipped some water as Antonelli approached.

As Yuki expected, Antonelli asked Grant if it was okay to call him Connor, and the next question was to ask how he was feeling. Grant said it was okay and he was feeling fine.

Antonelli proceeded to ask brief questions regarding where Grant had been on the evening of August 3 after leaving the Hotel Slocum. Grant said, “I was walking north along the Embarcadero.”

Antonelli asked, “What did you see?”

Grant sketched in the moderate traffic, the perfect temperature, then jumped directly to “the thunderous explosion, the pink light on the flying hail of glass.”

“I was absorbed in the entirety of it. I was awestruck,” said Grant. “This was the explosion of a lifetime.”

And then Grant cut Antonelli off before she could ask another question. He explained earnestly that he had made an offhand remark to the tall, blond-haired woman outside Sci-Tron, not knowing that she was a police officer until she had cuffed him.

Yuki objected that the defendant was ranting beyond the scope of the question, which was “What did you see?”

Hoffman said, “I’m going to let him run with this for another minute or so. Let’s hear it in brief, Mr. Grant.”

Grant thanked the judge and continued.

“I had been in a state of wonder. I was confused. I just didn’t get why she was arresting me,” Grant told the court. “Then I find out that she lied about what I’d said and her husband backed her up. I guess that’s what married people do. More to the point, I think the jury should see how easy it is for an innocent person to be tried for a crime when people in positions of authority collude.”

Antonelli said, “Connor, you’ve written a book-length manuscript on bombs. When this enormous explosion occurred in front of your eyes, was that a coincidence?”

“Yes.”

“Did you bomb Sci-Tron?”

“No, I did not.”

Antonelli asked, “Did you know about it in advance?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Do you know anything about that explosion that you can tell the jury?”

“CSI director Clapper said that I could have built and set this bomb with my eyes closed. He’s totally wrong. This was a very expert detonation. I couldn’t have done it if there’d been a gun to my head.”

Connor Grant turned to the jury. He looked utterly sincere.

“I feel very bad for the people who were killed and the families who were affected. I am also a victim. My name has been tarnished. I don’t know if I have a job when this is over or if I’m going to go to jail for something I didn’t do.”

As Yuki got to her feet, Antonelli cut off her objection.

“Your Honor, we’re done. The defense rests,” said Antonelli.

Judge Hoffman said, “Cross, Mr. Parisi?”

CHAPTER 46

LEN PARISI STOOD up and, looking neither left nor right, walked across the floor and stopped a dozen feet from the witness box so that his voice would project and so that Connor Grant would have to speak loud and clear.