David sat there a moment, then rose and walked over to the witness box. "Agent Jordan, when you examine fingerprints, do you ever find that some have been deliberately smudged, or damaged in some way, in order for the felon to conceal his crime?"
"Yes, but we're usually able to correct them with high-intensity laser techniques."
"Did you have to do that in the case of Ashley Patterson?"
"No, sir."
"Why was that?"
"Well, like I said... the fingerprints were all clear." David glanced at the jury. "So what you're saying is that the defendant made no attempt to erase or disguise her fingerprints?"
"That is correct."
"Thank you. No further questions." He turned to the jury. "Ashley Patterson made no attempt to conceal her prints because she was innocent and - "
Judge Williams snapped, "That's enough. Counselor! You'll have your chance to plead your case later."
David resumed his seat.
Judge Williams turned to Special Agent Jordan. "You're excused." The FBI agent stepped down.
Brennan said, "I would like to call as my next witness, Stanley Clarke."
A young man with long hair was ushered into the courtroom. He walked toward the witness stand. The courtroom was still as he was sworn in and took his seat.
Brennan said, "What is your occupation, Mr. Clarke?"
"I'm with National Biotech Laboratory work with deoxyribonucleic acid."
"More commonly known to us simple nonscientists as DNA?"
"Yes, sir."
"How long have you worked at National Biotech Laboratory?"
"Seven years."
"And what is your position?"
"I'm a supervisor."
"So, in that seven years, I assume that you've had a lot of experience with testing DNA?"
"Sure. I do it every day."
Brennan glanced at the jury. "I think we're all familiar with the importance of DNA." He pointed to the spectators. "Would you say that perhaps half a dozen people in this courtroom have identical DNA?"
"Hell no, sir. If we took a profile of DNA strands and assigned it a frequency based on collected databases, only one in five hundred billion unrelated Caucasians would have the same DNA profile."
Brennan looked impressed. "One in five hundred billion. Mr. Clarke, how do you obtain DNA from a crime scene?"
"Lots of ways. We find DNA in saliva or semen or vaginal discharge, blood, a strand of hair, teeth, bone marrow..."
"And from any one of those things you can match it to a specific person?"
"That's correct."
"Did you personally compare the DNA evidence in the murders of Dennis Tibble, Richard Melton and Samuel Blake?"
"I did."
"And were you later given several strands of hair from the defendant, Ashley Patterson?"
"I was."
"When you compared the DNA evidence from the various murder scenes with the strands of hair from the defendant, what was your conclusion?"
"They were identical."
This time the reaction from the spectators was even noisier.
Judge Williams slammed down her gavel. "Order! Be quiet, or I'll have the courtroom cleared."
Brennan waited until the room was still. "Mr. Clarke, did you say that the DNA taken from every one of the three murder scenes and the DNA of the accused were identical?" Brennan leaned on the word.
"Yes, sir."
Brennan glanced over at the table where Ashley was sitting, then turned back to the witness. "What about contamination? We're all aware of a famous criminal trial where the DNA evidence was supposedly contaminated. Could the evidence in this case have been mishandled so that it was no longer valid or - ?"
"No, sir. The DNA evidence in these murder cases was very carefully handled and sealed."
"So there's no doubt about it. The defendant murdered the three - ?"
David was on his feet. "Objection, Your Honor. The prosecutor is leading the witness and - "
"Sustained."
David took his seat.
"Thank you, Mr. Clarke." Brennan turned to David. "Nothing further."
Judge Williams said, "Your witness, Mr. Singer."
"No questions."
The jurors were staring at David. Brennan acted surprised. "No questions?"
Brennan looked at the jurors and said, "I'm amazed that the defense is not questioning the evidence, because it proves beyond a doubt that the defendant murdered and castrated three innocent men and - "
David was on his feet. "Your Honor - "
"Sustained. You're stepping over the boundaries, Mr. Brennan!"
"Sorry, Your Honor. No more questions."
Ashley was looking at David, frightened.
He whispered, "Don't worry. It will be our turn soon."
The afternoon consisted of more witnesses for the prosecution, and their testimony was devastating.
"The building superintendent summoned you to Dennis Tibble's apartment. Detective Light man?"
"Yes."
"Would you tell as what you found there?"
"It was a mess. There was blood all over the place."
"What was the condition of the victim?"
"He had been stabbed to death and castrated."
Brennan glanced at the jury, a look of horror on his face. "Stabbed to death and castrated. Did you find any evidence at the scene of the crime?"
"Oh, yes. The victim had had sex before he died. We found some vaginal discharge and fingerprints."
"Why didn't you arrest someone immediately?"
"The fingerprints we found didn't match any that we had on record. We were waiting for a match on the prints we had."
"But when you finally got Ashley Patterson's fingerprints and her DNA, it all came together?"
"It sure did. It all came together."
Dr. Steven Patterson was at the trial every day. He sat in the spectators' section just behind the defendant's table. Whenever he entered or left the courtroom, he was besieged by reporters.
"Dr. Patterson, how do you think the trial is going?"
"It's going very well."
"What do you think is going to happen?"
"My daughter is going to be found innocent."
Late one afternoon when David and Sandra got back to the hotel, there was a message waiting for them. "Please call Mr. Kong at your bank."
David and Sandra looked at each other. "Is it time for another payment already?" Sandra asked.
"Yes. Time flies when you're having fan," he said dryly. David was thoughtful for a moment. "The trial's going to be over soon, honey. We have enough left in our bank account to give them this month's payment."
Sandra looked at him, worried. "David, if we can't make all the payments... do we lose everything we've put in?"
"We do. But don't worry. Good things happen to good people."
And he thought about Helen Woodman.
* * *
Brian Hill was sitting in the witness box after being sworn in. Mickey Brennan gave him a friendly smile.
"Would you tell us what you do, Mr. Hill?"
"Yes, sir. I'm a guard at the De Young Museum in San Francisco."
"That must be an interesting job."
"It is, if you like art. I'm a frustrated painter."
"How long have you worked there?"
"Four years."
"Do a lot of the same people visit the museum? That is, do people come again and again?"
"Oh, yes. Some people do."
"So I suppose that over a period of time, they would become familiar to you, or at least they would be familiar faces?"
"That's true."
"And I'm told that artists are permitted to come in to copy some of the museum's paintings?"
"Oh, yes. We have a lot of artists."
"Did you ever meet any of them, Mr. Hill?"
"Yes, we - You kind of become friendly after a while."
"Did you ever meet a man named Richard Melton?"
Brian Hill sighed. "Yes. He was very talented."
"So talented, in fact that you asked him to teach you to paint?"
"That's right."
David got to his feet. "Your Honor, this is fascinating, but I don't see what it has to do with the trial. If Mr. Brennan - "
"It's relevant, Your Honor. I'm establishing that Mr. Hill could identify the victim by sight and by name and tell us who the victim associated with."
"Objection overruled. You may go ahead."
"And did he teach you to paint?"
"Yes, he did, when he had time."
"When Mr. Melton was at the museum, did you ever see him with any young ladies?"
"Well, not in the beginning. But then he met somebody he was kind of interested in, and I used to see him with her."
"What was her name?"
"Alette Peters."
Brennan looked puzzled. "Alette Peters? Are you sure you have the right name?"
"Yes, sir. That's the way he introduced her."
"You don't happen to see her in this courtroom right now, do you, Mr. Hill?"
"Yes, sir." He pointed to Ashley. "That's her sitting there."
Brennan said, "But that's not Alette Peters. That's the defendant, Ashley Patterson."
David was on his feet. "Your Honor, we have already said that Alette Peters is a part of this trial. She is one of the alters who controls Ashley Patterson and - "
"You're getting ahead of yourself, Mr. Singer. Mr. Brennan, please continue."
"Now, Mr. Hill, you're sure that the defendant, who's here under the name of Ashley Patterson, was known to Richard Melton as Alette Peters?"
"That's right."
"And there's no doubt that this is the same woman?" Brian Hill hesitated. "Well... Yeah, it's the same woman."
"And you saw her with Richard Melton the day that Melton was murdered?"
"Yes, sir."
"Thank you." Brennan turned to David. "Your witness."
David got up and slowly walked over to the witness box. "Mr. Hill, I would think it's a big responsibility being a guard in a place where so many hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of art was being exhibited."
"Yes, sir. It is."
"And to be a good guard, you have to be on the alert all the time."
"That's right."
"You have to be aware of what's going on all the me."
"You bet."
"Would you say that you're a trained observer, Mr. Hill?"
"Yes, I would."