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It was a curious remark, especially coming from a cop all the way up in New England. Andie hoped it simply reflected the national interest in the Imani trial. She worried that talk of the tension between Andie and Jack—wife and husband, agent and defense lawyer—was rippling through all levels of law enforcement.
“Is there something specific about this investigation that makes you say that?” she asked.
He smiled a little, as if her question amused him. “You really have no idea why this island is called Nixes Mate, do you?”
“I didn’t even know the name of the island until the boat ride out here.”
“Would you like a little history lesson?”
Andie could tell he wasn’t just offering interesting background. He seemed to have a theory about the case, and it was somehow rooted in the island’s history.
“If you think it will help with this investigation,” she said.
“Oh, it’ll help,” he said. “Tremendously.”
Andie listened. And over the next five minutes, with the November wind whipping over Nixes Mate, Lieutenant Wall told her.
Chapter 33
Tuesday morning came quickly. Jack and Imani were back in Judge Cookson’s courtroom at the Criminal Justice Center. To Jack’s relief, his client not only was on time but, perhaps more important, had followed his directions on courtroom attire. Dark slacks and blazer. Shoes with at most one-inch heels. Blouse with no cleavage. The only thing more choreographed than an Imani concert was an Imani trial.
“Mr. Owens, the prosecution may call its first witness,” said Judge Cookson.
To Jack, the calling of the first witness marked therealfirst day of trial. Everything before that was important but without bloodshed, like a war without casualties.
“The state of Florida calls Dr. Harvey Leed,” said Owens.
The decision to make the Miami-Dade medical examiner the first witness came as no surprise to the defense. It was important for the jury to understand the forensic basis for the charge of murder. After letting the witness describe his credentials and other preliminaries, the direct examination moved to the cause of death.
“Asphyxiation due to ligature strangulation,” said Dr. Leed.
“In layman’s terms, what does that mean?”
“A rope closed around the victim’s neck, restricting the airways and flow of blood, and depriving the brain of oxygen.”
“You understand that the body was recovered from Biscayne Bay, correct?”
“Yes. Chained to a piling.”
“Is it your testimony that the victim did not drown?”
“That is my expert opinion,” said the witness.
“How did you come to that conclusion?”
Dr. Leed removed his spectacles and wiped them clean, as if shifting from witness to professor. “The first thing you have to understand is that drowning cannot be proven by autopsy. It is a diagnosis of exclusion, based on the circumstances of death.”
“Mr. McCormick’s death presents some rather grim circumstances.”
“Yes, it does. But a dead body underwater does not always mean a drowning. I’ve seen victims strangled and then thrown into swimming pools.”
“Please tell the jury, Doctor: How did your diagnosis by exclusion proceed in the case of Tyler McCormick?”
The witness seemed to take the prosecutor’s cue, turning in his chair to speak more directly to the jurors. “The first thing I look for is some sign of life-threatening trauma. If a body is recovered in a lake but there’s a hole in the back of the head as big as a hammer, I pretty much rule out drowning.”
“In the case of Mr. McCormick, was there sign of life-threatening trauma?”
“Yes. In addition to horizontal ligature marks around the neck, Mr. McCormick’s autopsy showed a fracture on the upper-left horn of the thyroid cartilage.”
