12th of Never (Women's Murder Club 12)

Kinsela had no questions for the sanitation man.

Forensic pathologist Dr. Roy Barclay testified that he had examined the body parts that had been parceled into the eight construction-grade garbage bags. He said that the parts were conclusively from the body of Jennifer Herman.

Barclay told the jury that he had determined the cause of death to be a bullet fired through the left eye at close range, the manner of death to be homicide, and that the time of death would have been within eight hours of the discovery of the parts. He sent the bullet to his ballistics department.

Kinsela asked, “Did the bullet match a gun in the national ballistics database?”

“No. It’s consistent with four or five firearms.”

Kinsela thanked the witness and had no other questions.

After the forensic pathologist stepped down, Judge Nussbaum called for a lunch recess. Nicky and Yuki had sandwiches at her desk, buttoned up every detail, and when they returned to the courtroom one hour and twenty minutes later, Yuki called her star witness, Lynnette Lagrande.

Lagrande was critical to the prosecution’s case. And because she had been photographed by the press, and because Mr. Herman had a reputation for having witnesses threatened, terrified, and possibly killed, Yuki had kept her witness in a safe house with 24-7 security for the last two months.

Now the bailiff called her name.

As if they were at a church wedding, as if the organ music had just begun, the jurors, the attorneys, and the audience in the gallery turned as one to watch Lynnette Lagrande come up the aisle.

Chapter 34

YUKI, LIKE EVERYONE else in Arthur R. Nussbaum’s courtroom, watched Lynnette Lagrande come through the wooden gate in the bar, which separated the gallery from the judge, jury, and prosecution and defense tables. She was wearing a black-and-white print dress with a high collar and a hem that hit midcalf. The thirty-year-old woman was so stunning that the simple dress only enhanced her spectacular figure.

Lagrande swore to tell the truth, then took her seat and crossed her legs at the ankles. When she moved her wavy black hair away from her eyes, she revealed her beautiful, heart-shaped face.

Yuki walked up to the witness and asked, “Ms. Lagrande, what kind of work do you do?”

“I teach first graders at John Muir Elementary School. I’ve had this job for four years and I love it.”

“Are you acquainted with the defendant?”

“Yes, I am.”

Lagrande didn’t look at Keith Herman, but he fixed his sharklike eyes on her.

“How did you come to meet Mr. Herman?” Yuki asked.

“Two years ago, Lily Herman, Mr. Herman’s daughter, was in my class. I met him one day when he came to pick her up after school.”

Under Yuki’s questioning, Lagrande described the course of her relationship with the defendant: parent-teacher conferences, accidental meetings in town, then a lunch with Mr. Herman that turned romantic and was the start of a liaison that had continued for more than a year.

“How would you characterize your feelings for Mr. Herman at this time last year?”

“I loved him.”

“And did he ever tell you how he felt about you?”

“He claimed to love me.”

Yuki brought a packet of letters and e-mails from the prosecution table to the witness stand and showed them to the witness.

“Do these cards and printouts of e-mails belong to you?”

“Yes. They’re mine.”

“Your Honor, I’d like Ms. Lagrande to read some passages from this correspondence and then I’ll introduce all of it into evidence.”

Kinsela said, “Your Honor, the defense concedes that the defendant expressed feelings of love for the witness.”