Salas took his time. Finally he said, “This witness isn’t competent to testify about these photographs. You haven’t laid any groundwork. You have to assume too many facts not in evidence. I will sustain this objection.”
Salas was right, but she had had to try. The photos had at least reared their ugly heads. She took the set of photos back to the table and took a breath. Onward.
“All right. Back to your contention that there is no evidence of any third party being present during the third fire. My investigator, Mr. van Wagoner, also came to your office and signed a statement regarding a child-endangerment case in the Arroyo Seco area about a week after the third fire, is that correct?”
“Ye-es.” Crockett, puzzled, looked to Jaime for help, and Jaime shrugged his shoulders.
“The suspect in that case was a man named Robert Johnson, also known as Coyote?”
“Yes.”
Two could play at the hearsay game. Nina could make Crockett testify about Paul’s statement and keep Paul off the stand.
“You recorded the interview and later provided a copy of the statement to Mr. Sandoval here?”
“Yes.”
“And in the interview with you did Mr. van Wagoner tell you about anything he saw at Robert Johnson’s, uh, home?”
Crockett looked surprised. “A couple of conchos. Silver medallions. He also reported kerosene and weapons on the premises. We took all these items into custody pursuant to a search warrant executed that same day.”
Turning to the judge, Nina said, “Your Honor, I have previously requested that Mr. Sandoval bring to court today the conchos under discussion and I would now request to have them given to the witness for examination.”
Jaime said, “I have them right here.” Two small chased silver medallions lay in the evidence bag Jaime passed to Nina.
“Let’s see,” Judge Salas said. She gave it to the clerk and the clerk passed it to the judge. He turned the bag to and fro and held it up to the light, then passed it back.
Now Crockett had the bag, and pulled on a pair of latex gloves and emptied the conchos onto the witness stand.
“Seen those before, Detective?”
“Yes, I have marked the bag. These are the conchos Mr. van Wagoner reported.”
“Have you attempted to match the conchos to any other conchos in police custody?”
“Yes. Our evidence technician did find a match. The conchos matched conchos on the belt worn on the body of Mr. Cervantes.”
“Was Mr. Cervantes’s belt missing any conchos?”
“Two. I can save some time here and state that our evidence tech examined the conchos and belt with a microscope and reported that the conchos were from the belt of the decedent. There were marks showing they had been torn off. It says here that he found one print of an index finger on one concho matching records on file for Robert Johnson.”
“Yes. I have that report. And what conclusion did you draw from this?”
“No real conclusion. The belt had been in the possession of both men, or Johnson found the conchos after a bar fight in Cachagua. They may have known each other.” Crockett was reading the technician’s report as he spoke. A deep frown came over his forehead. He had had a lot of work to do, and little time, and he had missed something. He was realizing that now.
Time to ram it home. Nina found herself turning and looking at Paul as she said, “Your evidence technician found traces of soot on the two conchos from Mr. Johnson’s home, isn’t that correct, Detective?” Paul winked. Nina tried not to smile.
“Appears he did.” Crockett was still reading. “It does mention that.”
“Soot? The product of a fire?”
“A wood fire.”
“So now we have conchos torn off from Mr. Cervantes’s belt, with Mr. Johnson’s prints on them, which have been in or near a fire. That’s what we have, am I right?”
Salas was tapping his lip again, interested at last.
“That’s what we appear to have,” Crockett answered.
“What inference do you, based on your experience and training, draw from these facts, Detective?”
“You might infer that he got these conchos during or after the fire.”
“Come on, Detective, how could he have gotten them after the fire? The belt was in police custody, wasn’t it?”
Crockett gave in. “Could have gotten them during a fire.”
“Could have torn them off Mr. Cervantes’s belt during a struggle during a fire?”
“Objection, calls for speculation.” Jaime had finally woken up.
“Overruled.”
“That would be consistent with the report from our evidence tech.”
Nina paused. Paul was nodding, Salas was tapping, Jaime was scratching his head. She felt focused and in control.
She moved closer to Crockett and said, “That links Mr. Johnson to the time and place of the third fire, doesn’t it?”
“It’s interesting. It’s very interesting. It could.”
“Now, let’s back up to our previous discussion, about ego trips in arsonists. Detective Crockett, in your experience, do murderers ever take souvenirs from their victims?”
“Yes.”
“Why do you think Mr. Johnson might tear off a couple of conchos from Mr. Cervantes’s belt during the fire?”
“During a struggle. Or trying to save him, maybe. Or-”
“Or for a souvenir?”
“Maybe.”
“But he was there?”
“I can’t say for sure.”
“You can’t say for sure? Did you find any evidence of kerosene when you searched Mr. Johnson’s place?”
“Yes. Three empty gallon cans with kerosene residue.”
“You’re a well-experienced arson investigator, Mr. Crockett. Please give us the benefit of your expertise. What if anything would you conclude from the facts we’ve just gone through, that Mr. Johnson was in possession of several empty kerosene cans, that kerosene was used in the Robles Ridge fire, that Mr. Johnson was an associate of a victim of that fire, that Mr. Johnson had in his possession items matching those worn by the victim, with his fingerprints on them, and with soot on them from a fire? What do you make of those facts?”
“Objection,” Jaime said. “Not a proper hypothetical. Lack of foundation. Misstates the facts set forth in the testimony.”
Nina argued, “He’s an expert, and I have a right to ask for his opinion.”
“I’ll draw the appropriate conclusions of fact and law in this proceeding,” Salas said. “The facts are as stated. It is my function to interpret them.”
“Detective Crockett is here to assist you in that regard, Your Honor,” Nina insisted. She didn’t want to, but she would have to get in Salas’s face.
“Overruled.”
“I ask that the court reconsider in light of the established body of law on the subject of expert testimony-I ask that the ruling on the objection at least be deferred and I be allowed to brief this point.”
“Overruled.”
“I’ll file a writ.”
“To one of my Superior Court colleagues. Good luck.”
“I’ll object to use of one of your colleagues too,” Nina said. “I’ll take it right out of this county to a real appellate court.”
“I don’t like your attitude, Counsel. I think you disrespect this Court.” Salas was blinking hard, angry and trying not to show it.
“For the record, I do not disrespect the Court,” Nina said. She left it to Salas to decide if she disrespected him.
Night fell upon the central coast. Debbie had made a lasagna and put out some red wine, thinking they could have a little talk about some big things on her mind.
But about ten, after their TV shows were over, just when she turned off the TV and said “Sam, I need to talk to you,” he got a phone call. He might have been expecting it, because he jumped for the phone.
“Yeah?” he said. Debbie didn’t go into the kitchen. She sat right on the couch and listened.
“Yeah. Okay. On my way.” He hung up and looked at her. What’s he feeling, she thought, and then, it’s regret, that’s what it is. He’s sorry about something.