Page 108 of One of Us Is Guilty

Tanner gave me a side eye, then smiled at Riley and made sure I saw it.

‘Your Honor,’ he began, ‘this witness has cause to examine what we believe to be the murder weapon and posit his expert opinion on whether or not it could have been used to cause the type of injuries which in his opinion caused the victim’s death.’

Very few judges would have let Riley proceed. This was way beyond the medical examiner’s expertise, considering there was no evidence of any head trauma that the DA had to offer.

‘I’ll allow the question,’ said Tanner.

Before Riley could restate and finish his question, Dr. Morrow shot out his answer.

‘The box weighs almost three pounds, it’s solid and has sharp corners. There is no question in my mind that this could have caused a skull fracture and fatal brain injury if it had been used as a weapon.’

‘Thank you, Dr. Morrow,’ said Riley, who sat down like he’d gotten away with murder. He was getting an easy ride from the judge, and I was getting fines.

I stood up and moved around the defense table, closing the distance between me and the witness stand. I felt Riley tense, almost up on his toes already. I could sense it. The judge too was watching me with hawk eyes. Dr. Morrow sensed it also. I could see his eyeline flicking between the judge and Riley. His protectors. At any moment, either one of them was ready to jump on me and rip me apart.

I didn’t want to keep them waiting.

‘Dr. Morrow, you’re altering your testimony to suit the prosecution’s case against my client. Isn’t that right?’

‘Obje—’

Helpfully, Riley didn’t even have to finish this word.

Judge Tanner said, ‘Mr. Flynn, you have been warned about this line of questioning repeatedly. That question will cost you another thousand dollars.’

‘I’ll rephrase, Your Honor,’ I said. ‘Dr. Morrow, you filed two autopsy reports on this victim. Correct?’

This question was short, sharp, to the point. Factually accurate and no way for Riley or Tanner to argue about it.

‘That is correct.’

‘The jury have only seen your second report, correct?’

‘I believe so, but—’

‘They only saw your second report – yes or no, Doctor?’ I had to risk cutting him off. I didn’t want to give him time to explain himself.

‘Yes,’ he said.

The next question had to be carefully worded. If I straight up asked him why the jury had only seen his second report, you can be sure he would give a perfectly convincing explanation. The risky thing about asking questions in a murder trial is that sometimes witnesses answer you. I didn’t want an answer. I wanted to carefullycontrol every word out of his mouth so I could build a narrative for the jury.

‘Your first report, which has been hidden from this jury, has a different conclusion on the victim’s cause of death – yes or no?’

‘The reason there’s a difference—’

‘I didn’t ask you for a reason. I didn’t ask you to give this jury poor excuses. I asked you a simple question with a simple yes or no answer.’

Riley was on his feet again – rookie mistake. ‘Your Honor, Dr. Morrow can answer Mr. Flynn’s question in any manner he chooses, as long as he answers it.’

Before Tanner could speak, I shot back at Riley, not for the judge, but for the jury to hear.

‘Your Honor, I’m exploring why Dr. Morrow and the district attorney’s office decided to hide relevant evidence from this jury. Obviously, Mr. Riley doesn’t want the jury to know the truth, but I’m determined that they hear it.’

I saw Riley’s expression change, a wince, like he’d just walked into a wall accidentally. He had only one option now. If he was smart, he would take it.

‘Your Honor, actually, having considered it, I withdraw my objection. Let Mr. Flynn waste his time. I don’t mind.’

I could take the barb on the end of that statement. I’d shut him up, and he would think twice about interrupting me again now that he knew I wasn’t giving him any free rides.