Silent Witness (62 page)

‘Bullshit,' she cut in, and now her anger seemed quite real. ‘Your client has a pathological attitude toward women, and he's lying about it.'

‘So don't go out with him, Stella. But don't ever try to railroad him on a murder charge.'

‘All right,' Karoly put in, moments later than he should have. He looked from Tony to Stella, indecisive but knowing that it was the defense, not the prosecution, that could appeal if it lost. Avoiding reversal was the first instinct of a cowardly judge; glancing at Stella, Tony saw this knowledge in her eyes.

‘I'm sustaining the objection,' Karoly said to Stella. ‘Any more, and I'll give Mr. Lord his mistrial, and hold
you
in contempt. Understood?'

Stella lowered her eyes, struggling to conceal her anger. ‘Yes, Your Honor.'

‘Thank you, Your Honor,' Tony said promptly. Retreating back to the defense table before the judge could change his mind, Tony felt Sue's grave brown eyes.

‘Another bullet dodged,' Saul murmured.

Tony's heart was still racing; on the witness stand, Sam Robb breathed deeply, his eyes half shut. When they opened, it was to look at Tony with gratitude.

‘Tell us,' Stella asked with renewed calm, ‘how it was you first had sex with Marcie Calder.'

Sam faced her again. ‘She came to my office and said she loved me.'

‘And then?'

Sam puffed his cheeks, but kept his eyes on Stella. ‘She said she wanted to go down on me.'

Stella's eyes glinted. ‘As in oral sex, Mr. Robb? I just want to make sure the jury understands you.'

‘Yes. That's what I meant.'

‘What did you say to this offer?'

‘Say?' Sam's words were mumbled. ‘Not much.'

‘Not even “yes,” “no,” or “thank you”? As I remember, you thanked her for
anal
sex that night.'

Sam flushed with anger. ‘I don't remember what I said –'

‘You just
let
her?'

‘Yes.'

‘Because she wanted to so much.'

Sam looked down. ‘I wanted it too.'

Stella gave him a cold stare. ‘So at least it wasn't too hard for you. . . .'

‘No.'

‘Do you know if Marcie Calder had ever done anything like that before?'

‘No.' Sam's voice was quiet now. ‘She said she hadn't. . . .'

‘But you didn't stop her.'

‘No.'

‘Did you achieve climax, Mr. Robb?'

Tony stood again. ‘Objection,' he said. ‘No one wants to hear this, Your Honor. Least of all Ms. Calder's parents. And it's irrelevant to any issue in this case –'

‘Nonsense.' Stella's voice was crisp, confident. ‘It's the murder of
this
girl for which Mr. Robb is standing trial. The credibility of Mr. Robb's account, real or imagined, rests on his relationship to Marcie Calder, who he implies would have rather died than live without him. Mr. Robb has given that testimony voluntarily, and the state – which alone can speak for this dead girl – deserves some latitude in cross-examination.'

Karoly pursed his lips, gazing out at Marcie's parents. ‘Overruled.' He said to Stella, ‘Please re-ask the question.'

Stella turned to Sam, her voice almost casual. ‘That first time, when you say Marcie Calder gave you oral sex in your office at Lake City High School, did you reach climax?'

Glancing at Tony, Sam folded his hands. ‘Yes.'

‘In Marcie Calder's mouth?'

Sam shut his eyes again. ‘Yes.'

‘Do you happen to know why this inexperienced girl found you so irressible?'

‘No.' Eyes still shut, Sam shook his head. ‘No . . .'

‘Did she have emotional problems, do you think?'

‘No.'

‘No psychiatric treatment that you know of?'

‘No.'

‘Her grades were good?'

‘Yes.'

‘Her reputation at the school was good?'

‘Yes.'

‘No rumors of promiscuity?'

‘No.'

Stella looked at him in open disbelief. ‘And yet this sixteen-year-old girl, without any prior warning, was suddenly so overcome by your appeal that she wanted to give you oral sex in the vice principal's office.'

‘That's what happened.' Sam's face was suffused with new resentment. ‘Maybe
you
can't understand it, but that's what happened. . . .'

‘
No
,' Tony murmured under his breath. In the jury box, the nutritionist – the woman with two teenage daughters – looked startled and then stared at Sam with the same distaste and belief, Tony was certain, that he himself felt.

In a level voice, Stella said, ‘Explain it to me, Mr. Robb. Please, make me understand.'

Sam's cheeks turned red. ‘I can't,' he said. ‘She just wanted that with me. . . .'

‘Uh-huh. Just like she wanted you to be the first to insert your penis in her anus . . .'

‘Look,' Sam started, then caught himself. ‘I was the responsible adult here, not Marcie. I knew we shouldn't have done those things, and still I took advantage, all right? I said that.'

‘So about anal sex, at first you were reluctant?'

‘Yes.'

‘And
you'd
never, ever, done that, Mr. Robb? Not even once?'

‘Objection.' Tony tried to make his voice sound weary. ‘It's obvious what Ms. Marz wishes to do – to make everyone here squirm with such discomfort that it rubs off on Mr. Robb. But if she wants to humiliate him, she should at least choose questions that have some theoretical relationship, however tenuous, to Marcie Calder.
This
question has none at all, and to me and I'm sure to others, it's deeply offensive.'

‘If it is,' Stella retorted, ‘then I regret offending Mr. Lord. But the purpose of my question, Your Honor, is to test the credibility of this witness. When Mr. Robb claims that this sixteen-year-old girl initiated a sexual act as to which she had no prior experience, his
own
experience is relevant to whether this story deserves credence. Particularly when Ms. Calder cannot be here to answer for herself –'

‘Relevant evidence goes to death,' Tony snapped. ‘Not to her sexual reputation. Or experience.'

‘Your Honor . . . ,' Stella began.

‘Never mind, Ms. Marz. I'm overruling Mr. Lord. You can have your answer.'

Promptly, Stella turned to Sam. ‘Had you, before that night, ever experienced anal intercourse with anyone? Man or woman?'

Face red with anger, Sam stared back at Stella. ‘No.'

‘No? So how did this eleventh grader get you to go along, Mr. Robb?'

Sam folded his arms. ‘I don't know. . . .'

‘I mean, there you were in a car, just sitting in the lot at Taylor Park, and a sixteen-year-old girl from your high school is trying to get you to sodomize her? Didn't you stop to wonder if that was such a good idea?'

‘I wasn't thinking. . . .'

‘So how many times did Marcie have to ask you?'

‘I don't
know
. . . .'

‘Did you make her beg? Or were you more gracious than that?'

Sam sat straighter. ‘It just happened,' he said between his teeth. ‘I lost my head. . . .'

‘You? Hard to believe.' When Sam stiffened, insulted, Stella underscored this with an ironic smile. ‘So once you lost your head, how did you do it? You know, the act.'

‘Jesus,' Saul murmured. But Tony did not move.

‘Sam's on his own,' he whispered. ‘If I break in every time he looks angry, the jury will hate us both.'

Brusquely, Sam said to Stella, ‘What kind of question is that?'

‘Okay, I'll break it down for you. Did Marcie bend over?'

Sam's voice filled with resentment. ‘Yes.'

‘And then you put on a condom?'

‘Yes.'

‘It was in a foil packet, right?'

‘Yes.'

‘And then you had to take off your pants?'

Sam folded his arms again, staring at Stella with open dislike. ‘Yes. I did.'

‘How long did all that take?'

Sam's eyes narrowed. ‘Maybe five minutes.'

‘And all this time, you were struggling with your conscience.'

‘I
don't know
. . . .'

‘Did Marcie do anything to encourage you? Or was she just lying there, bottom in the air, obediently waiting?'

Sam took another deep breath. ‘She said that she wanted me.'

‘And you
always
did what this sixteen-year-old vamp wanted you to?'

‘We
both
wanted to, Ms. Marz.' Suddenly Sam's voice was rueful, as if Stella had held the mirror to his shame. ‘And that makes it my fault. . . .'

‘How long did it take between the time she asked you and the time you decided to give anal sex a whirl?'

‘I don't know. Five minutes.'

‘And another five or so minutes to put on the condom.'

‘Yes.'

‘So after you had the condom on, you put your erect penis between Marcie Calder's buttocks, right?'

Sam could no longer look at her – whether out of shame, or fear of his own anger, Tony could not tell. ‘Yes,' he said. ‘I did that. . . .'

‘Did she tell you if that hurt?'

Sam swallowed. ‘I tried to take it slow.'

Stella cocked her head. ‘How long, would you say, did it take to achieve full penetration? A couple of minutes, at least?'

‘I don't know, Ms. Marz. I guess so.'

‘And after that, did you achieve climax?'

‘Yes.'

Stella paused, her expression curious. ‘How
long
after?'

Next to Tony, Saul smiled faintly at the table. ‘Clever,' he murmured, and Tony knew that Saul, like him, could see where Stella was headed.

Sam looked down. ‘Four or five minutes.'

‘And then, afterward, Marcie asked you how it was.'

Now the anger in Sam's eyes seemed close to hatred. ‘Yes.'

‘And you were nice enough to thank her.'

‘Yes.'

‘Were you still inside her?'

‘Yes.'

‘How long did you stay inside her?'

‘I don't know. Maybe another five minutes.'

Stella gave him a cold smile. ‘So there you were, naked, lying on top of a sixteen-year-old with your penis inside her bottom. I hope at least it was dark out.'

Sam took his water glass, sipping as he watched her with veiled eyes. ‘It was dark,' he said.

‘In fact, it must have been. Because, according to your testimony, you were startled by headlights.'

‘That's right.'

Stella paused a moment. ‘I guess it was dark when you started love-making too. I mean, otherwise you'd have worried about someone recognizing you. Or Marcie.'

‘Yes.'

‘It was also dark when you met her, right? At the gas station.'

Sam hesitated, and Tony saw comprehension cross his face. ‘I wouldn't say dark, Ms. Marz. I'd say dusk.'

‘How long did it take you to drive to Taylor Park? Five minutes?'

‘Roughly.'

‘And was it dark then?'

Sam sat back. ‘Mostly.'

‘How long after that did Marcie Calder whisper in your ear that she wanted you to penetrate her anus?'

Sam scowled. ‘It was right away, almost.'

‘One minute, two minutes?'

‘Soon.' Sam's answer was grudging; to Tony, the distraught man the jury had seen on direct examination was gone. ‘Say two minutes.'

Stella paused, eyes narrowing, as if there were something she wished to visualize. ‘So,' she said, ‘it took at least five minutes to get to the park, one or two minutes for Marcie to proposition you, five minutes to wrestle with your conscience, at least five more to pull down your pants and get the condom on, a couple of minutes to achieve penetration, four or five minutes to orgasm, and, after that, roughly five minutes to thank Marcie politely before the headlights show up.' She gazed at the ceiling. ‘That comes to a half hour, give or take a minute or two. Sound right to you, Mr. Robb?'

Sam folded his hands. ‘I don't know,' he said coolly. ‘Maybe it didn't take that long, Ms. Marz. I never checked my watch.'

It was too obvious, Tony thought, that Sam understood the question. From the nutritionist's skeptical expression, she thought this as well.

Stella returned to the prosecution table, picking up a document. ‘Your Honor,' she said, ‘this is a certified copy of a report rendered by the National Meteorological Center in Steelton for Thursday, May twenty-third, the night Marcie Calder died. According to the survey, dusk occurred at approximately eight fifty-six. I ask the court to receive it into evidence.'

Karoly looked at Tony. But before this jury, to challenge the meteorologic service was a losing proposition. Calmly, Tony said, ‘The defense has no objection.'

In moments, the jurors were passing the report. Sam folded his arms again, defensive. ‘Would you agree, then,' Stella said to him, ‘that at the time you saw the headlights, it was roughly a half hour – if not more – past the time you met Marcie Calder at dusk?'

Sam glanced at Tony. ‘Roughly.'

‘That would take us to nine twenty-five, at least. Do you have any reason to quarrel with that?'

Sam spread his hands. ‘I don't have any reason to say it's true, either. I just don't know, Ms. Marz, and neither do you.'