Page 98 of The Devil's Advocate

Price hesitated, swallowed, and nodded.

‘For the record, we need you to sayyes,’ said Kate.

Price looked at Korn and found his eyes boring into hers. Kate caught that look, wondered if it was disappointment or a restrained hatred. Price was in no man’s land. She didn’t want to get caught out as a liar, but she didn’t like where Kate was leading. Price averted her eyes from Korn, looked at the jury and said, ‘Yes.’

‘Skin has a certain elasticity, correct?’

‘Correct.’

‘And if certain parts of the skin are struck with force, that can leave an impression of the area that contacted the skin?’

‘That’s possible, but again, not relevant to cause of death in this case,’ said Price, now trying to keep her head above water.

Kate ignored the attempt, pressed on.

‘There are a number of star-shaped bruises on the victim’s forehead. They are in a row, uneven, and each is under an inch long, is that correct?’ asked Kate as she separated a page from the bundle in front of her, as if she was about to use it.

‘I don’t know if it was exactly that shape, but it was similar.’

‘Could this pattern have appeared on the victim’s head from a punch if the attacker had been wearing a ring?’

‘That’s possible.’

Kate strode forward, handed a page to the judge, and then another to the prosecution.

‘Your Honor, as the witness has now acknowledged the pattern of bruising, I would like to enter the following as a defense exhibit. It’s a printout of a webpage that offers certain types of rings for sale. I’d like to ask the expert’s opinion on this ring.’

Chandler looked at the webpage printout, but not in great detail. He seemed bored and hadn’t appreciated where this was going.

Kate and Eddie had already discussed this strategy. Korn wouldn’t object. He didn’t want to draw any attention to what his expert had left out of the autopsy report. The expert had said it was irrelevant to cause of death, and the more Korn fought it, and made a fuss over it, the more importance the jury might attach to it. No, he would sit on his ass and say nothing. And that’s what he did.

The judge admitted the exhibit.

‘Miss Price, the ring offered for sale from this website has a star in the center. From the dimensions listed, it would appear to correspond exactly to the size and shape of the marks on the victim’s forehead, isn’t that correct?’

Kate gave Price the printout so she could take a closer look.

‘I can’t really say for certain.’

‘But they look identical, their shape, and they are the same size, wouldn’t you say?’

‘I don’t know, I would need to examine the ring,’ said Price.

Without knowing it, Price had left a window open and Kate decided to throw her case through it.

‘They are Fraternal Order of Police rings, very commonly worn by current and former law enforcement officers. You mean to say you’ve never seen a ring like this before?’

‘No, I haven’t.’

‘Strange, I thought you would’ve seen it on the hand of assistant district attorney Wingfield when you two discussed your autopsy report?’

Price drew breath to respond, and it froze in her chest. The courtroom fell silent.

‘I don’t believe I saw him with that ring,’ said Price.

‘Maybe he took it off and put it in his pocket, like he did a few minutes ago?’

Wingfield leaned back in his seat, wiped the sweat from his face through his hair.