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“I agree,” Steffi said. “We could search till doomsday and not find that pistol. You really don’t need it, Hammond,” she said confidently.
He dragged his hand down his face, realizing for the first time that he hadn’t taken time to shave that morning. “I’ll have a hard time selling them on her motive.”
“That’ll be a breeze,” Steffi argued. “You’ll have Trimble’s testimony about her past.”
“You’re dreaming, Steffi,” he said. “It happened more than twenty years ago. But even if it had happened yesterday, Frank will never permit it to come out during trial. He’ll argue her juvenile record’s irrelevance, and any fair judge will rule it inadmissible. The jury will never hear that shit. If by some legal maneuvering on my part it is ruled admissible, I’m not sure I would use it. It could have the opposite effect and work against us.”
Smilow’s eyes narrowed on Hammond. “Well, Mr. Prosecutor, maybe you’re representing the wrong side. You’re ready to throw up any and all obstacles to this case, aren’t you?”
“I know what can happen in court, Smilow. I’m only being realistic.”
“Or cowardly. Maybe Steffi should alert Mason that you’ve developed cold feet.”
Hammond withheld an obscene comeback. Smilow was deliberately provoking him, and an angry outburst would give him exactly what he was hoping for. Instead he spoke very quietly. “I have an idea. Why don’t you dispense with all the legal ways to win a conviction? Let’s see, what underhanded methods could you use? I know.” He snapped his fingers. “You could withhold exculpatory evidence. Yeah, you could do that. It wouldn’t be the first time, either, would it?”
Smilow’s very clean-shaven jaw knotted with rage.
“What are you talking about?” Steffi asked.
“Ask him,” he said, never taking his eyes off Smilow. “Ask him about the Barlow case.”
“If you weren’t already banged up—”
“Don’t let that stop you, Smilow.”
“Guys, cut the crap,” Steffi said impatiently. “Don’t we have enough to worry about without you two slapping each other with gloves?” She turned to Hammond. “What were you saying about Ladd’s juvenile record working against us?”
Several seconds passed before Hammond pulled his eyes away from Smilow and focused on Steffi. “As Dr. Ladd was listening to the Trimble recording, you only had to watch her face to see how much she detests him. The jury will be watching her, too.”
“Though maybe not as closely as you.”
If she had jabbed him with a hot poker, he couldn’t have reacted more fiercely. “What the fuck?”
“Nothing.”
“Something,” he insisted angrily.
“Just an observation, Hammond,” she replied with maddening calmness. “You couldn’t take your eyes off our suspect today.”
“Jealous, Steffi?”
“Of her? Hardly.”
“Then keep your snide remarks to yourself.” He cautioned himself not to go too far down that track or he might not be able to get safely back. He picked up the topic where they’d left off. “Trimble is slime. He even offended you, and you’re not easily offended. His testimony will repulse women jurors.”
“We’ll coach him on what to say and how to say it.”
“Have you ever seen Frank Perkins on cross-examination? He’ll flatter Trimble into expounding on some of his chauvinistic theories. Trimble will be too vain to see the trap. He’ll orate himself right into it, and we’ll be sunk. It would be tough for me to sell a jury on the notion that Dr. Ladd—and you can bet Frank will line up a legion of character witnesses—was in cahoots with a guy like him.”
Steffi thought on it for a moment. “Okay, for the sake of argument, let’s say she’s as pure as the driven snow. When her criminal half-brother showed up with his blackmail scheme, why didn’t she immediately report him to the authorities?”
“Association,” Hammond replied. “She wanted to protect her practice and her reputation. She didn’t want all that garbage from the past dredged up.”
“Maybe, but she could have called his bluff and threatened to sic the cops on him. Or she could have ignored him until he gave up and went away.”
“Somehow I don’t think he would be that easy to ignore. He would have kept hacking away at her, threatening to expose her to her patients, and friends, and the community. They weren’t empty threats. People are always willing to believe the worst about someone. Patients entrust her with their problems. Would they continue that trust if they heard what Bobby had to tell them? No, Steffi. He could have inflicted some serious damage, and she knew it.
“She’s made a name for herself professionally. Established herself as an expert on acute anxiety disorder. She’s admired and respected. After the years it took her to work through God knows how many hang-ups from her childhood and construct her life, she would do just about anything to protect it.”
