“I’m on it,” Yuki said. “I am.” She finished most of her burger, checked her watch, and pictured setting off Judge LaVan if she was late. “Crap. I’ve got to go.”
“I’ll get the check,” Cindy said.
“But I’m taking you out to lunch.”
“Next time,” Cindy said.
Yuki dabbed her lips with a napkin, kissed Cindy’s cheek, and rubbed her engagement ring with her thumb as if making a wish on Aladdin’s lamp. With Cindy’s laughter in her ears, Yuki ran out of the bar.
Chapter 53
YUKI’S WITNESS LOOKED surprised but pleased to find himself the center of attention.
“Mr. White, you own a store called Oldies But Goodies on Pierce?” she asked him.
“Yes, that’s right. On Pierce near Haight.”
“And what do you sell in your store?”
“Lots of different things. Jukeboxes. Musical instruments. Vinyl LPs. Odds and ends.”
“Do you sell guns?”
“Rarely, but yes.”
“In April of last year, did you sell a twenty-two-caliber Smith and Wesson handgun to Mr. Dennis Martin?”
“Yes. He had a license to carry. I checked it and I checked his driver’s license. It was him.”
“Your Honor,” Yuki said, “I’d like to admit this receipt, which documents the sale of a twenty-two Smith and Wesson handgun to Dennis Martin.”
Yuki handed the sales slip up to the judge, who passed it to the clerk, who showed it to Phil Hoffman.
“Any objections, Mr. Hoffman?” LaVan asked.
“None.”
“People’s exhibit number thirty is admitted into evidence,” LaVan said.
Yuki asked, “When did you contact the police, Mr. White?”
“Last week. When I saw the story about this trial in the paper. I recognized Mr. Martin’s picture.”
“Thank you, sir. Your witness,” Yuki said to opposing counsel.
Hoffman stood, walked across the well, and greeted the witness.
“Mr. White, I think you know that the serial number of the gun you sold Mr. Martin is not on the sales receipt
. Did you file a transfer of registration, as required?”
“I’m not a gun dealer. I’m in the antiques business. I bought that gun as part of a box lot at an auction last year.”
“So you didn’t comply with the law?”
“Like I just said, I didn’t even know there was a gun in the box I bought for thirty bucks. I’m not a gun dealer. I work alone in the store. Man comes in, sees the gun in the case. He also bought a fountain pen. And a book on electricity from the 1920s. These things are memorabilia. I wrote up a receipt. I didn’t know I had to file anything. Look, I checked his gun license. I don’t think a lot of people with my kind of business would even have done that.”
Stephen White cast his eyes toward Yuki as if to say, “Did I just get into trouble here?”