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‘These sisters are blaming each other for their father’s murder. They will seek to cast doubt on the prosecution evidence, but the evidence in this case can’t lie.

Both women are tied, by our forensic officers and crime scene specialists, to the murder. We will show you that evidence. It’s up to you to evaluate it, make up

your own mind and come to a verdict.’

The jurors were still new to the case. They hadn’t heard any evidence, hadn’t been bored or confused by experts, hadn’t had the worry of when the case would

be finished so they could get back to their jobs and their lives. Every juror gave Dreyer their undivided attention. And he used every second to the full.

‘Last October fourth, a knife was taken from the block in the kitchen. A twelve-inch long kitchen knife made of good steel. One used to prepare family

meals. The type of knife any of us could have in their home. This bloodied knife was found in the bedroom. The fingerprints of both defendants were found on this knife. The prosecution accepts that it’s possible the prints may have gotten on the knife in a manner not connected with the murder, but they may not. That

is up to you to decide. What is clear, is that knife was taken up to Frank Avellino’s bedroom, and one or both of the defendants did this to him.’

He walked away, back to the prosecution table, and an image flashed up on the projector screen.

Juries aren’t supposed to talk. They stay silent. This jury looked at the screen, and they were silent no longer. One juror, a middle-aged woman who worked in

home design, let out a wail as she covered her mouth, and then her eyes.

Expletives, gasps, even a muted scream erupted from one of the jurors but I couldn’t tell which one.

On the screen was a picture of hell.

Frank Avellino lay on his back in his bloodied deathbed. His shirt had been ripped open, and it hung in tatters as if a wild bear had ripped into him with both claws. He no longer had a face, just a mass of tissue and exposed bone and teeth.

His eyes were gone, only what looked like dark red pool balls in his sockets.

‘Both defendants had the victim’s blood on their clothing. Again, this could be because one of them touched him, or tried to revive him in that dark bedroom without realizing he was dead. It’s up to you to decide if you accept that explanation. One or both of the defendants murdered this man. This case should

result in at least one conviction for one of the defendants. It can end in convictions for both. The evidence against Sofia and Alexandra Avellino is clear.’

He paused, pointed at the picture and concluded his speech with a flourish.

‘I know some of you are not religious and that doesn’t matter in this courtroom,’ said Dreyer. ‘But I defy any of you to look at Frank Avellino and say you don’t believe in evil. Ladies and gentlemen, that evil is in this room.

With you. Right now. Don’t let it go unpunished.’

TWENTY-NINE

KATE

Kate made a note on her yellow legal pad in blue ink.

Dreyer is a shock jock. He’ll use the violence in this crime to his advantage.

He’s playing on the jury’s emotions. Use it.

She got to her feet and watched Judge Stone introduce her to the jury as counsel for Alexandra Avellino. The speech she had rehearsed had to go out the

window. She’d cut it down while listening to Dreyer – there were other plays to be made, and she wanted to turn the tables on the prosecution.

Kate moved out from behind the desk, and walked in silence to the well of the court. This was the center of the courtroom. The equivalent of the pitcher’s mound at Yankee Stadium. She laced her fingers together and let her arms fall.

She faced the jury. And waited.

Then she turned to the judge and said, ‘Your Honor, respectfully, I think the jury have seen enough of that image for now.’