The Perfect Game (17 page)

Chapter Forty-four

(Thursday, September 21)

Detective Wallace agreed to join the others for happy hour to celebrate his performance on the stand. Wallace had recently been featured on the cover of
People
magazine. Ryan teased him mercilessly about his celebrity status. Wallace accepted the ribbing good-naturedly, but he clearly despised the attention being showered upon him. He steered the prosecutors onto the topic of the Defense team, which was relatively easy to do because skewering the Defense was one of their favorite pastimes.

Kyle did an excellent impression of Fisher, pretending to buff his fingernails while holding a press conference. Candace joined in with an impression of Pratt sputtering indignant diatribes to the judge. Lauren produced a spot-on impression of Jake, admiring his World Series ring and bemoaning the fact that this “pesky little murder trial is interfering with my pursuit of scandalous women.” With a general consensus that they had gained a significant advantage in the case, the mood was light.

Afterwards, Ryan drove Lauren to Good Samaritan for her six o'clock start time. She asked him to pick her up at the hospital the next morning because she was pulling call that evening.

“Are those on-call rooms how they show them on television?” Ryan teased.

“Hardly. Ever notice how all of the doctors on television programs are young, hot, and have time for their personal lives?”

“You're young and hot and would have time for a personal life if you weren't attending this bleeping trial.”

Heat flushed her cheeks. “I can assure you those shows are unrealistic. They depict a lot of sex in on-call rooms, but if you offered a real resident a choice between sex and sleep, I'm pretty sure they'd choose sleep every time.” As soon as the words escaped her lips, she wished she could rescind them.

Ryan smiled. “I guess it's a lot like police work. Too much work, not enough time. Why do people take these jobs?”

“The fame and fortune?”

They shared a laugh.

“Speaking of fame and fortune, they aren't going to call you to testify at all?” she asked.

“Nah. Wallace has a lot more experience on the stand. Besides, Candace is worried the Defense would try to discredit me because I've spent so much time with you.”

“I feel terrible. I didn't know it was going to mean you wouldn't be able to testify.”

“Because testifying is such a treat? I should be thanking you. You've saved me from one of Pratt's scathing cross-examinations. Besides, I enjoy being your designated driver. It's the most pleasant part of my day.”

“Mine too,” Lauren responded instantly. Both the trial and her work were stressful. The times she spent in Ryan's car were the most relaxing waking moments she had.

“The Defense would have been right anyway.”

“Right about what?” Lauren asked, confused.

“I'm not impartial about you anymore. I haven't been for a long time.”

Lauren considered the magnitude of his words. It had been more than a year since she been abruptly dumped by Michael and her fledgling relationship with Jake had never even taken off. She had declined several efforts by LaRhonda to set her up. Even hearing that Michael had recently married Darcy had not upset her much. She had been too busy to miss dating.

Lost in thought, Lauren wasn't sure how to respond.

Ryan pulled into the side entrance of the hospital and broke the silence. “See you in the morning…” he said, exactly as he always did.

She smiled cheerfully. “Great. See you then.” As she opened the employee door, she turned to wave, but Ryan's sedan was already disappearing around the corner.

Chapter Forty-five

(Friday, September 22)

Lauren had tossed and turned all night thinking about what Ryan had said and kicking herself for the way she had handled it. Why hadn't she told him how grateful she had been for his support or how much she enjoyed his company? She ruminated about how her silence must have sounded like a deafening rejection to him. How he must have been eager to escape when he pulled away so quickly.

As she waited outside on a hospital bench for him to pick her up the following morning, she agonized about what she could say to fix the situation. She had stopped by the hospital cafeteria to purchase some pastries and clutched the white bakery bag in her sweaty palm. Ryan pulled up punctually. He would try to get out of the car to open her door for her if she didn't beat him to it so she jogged toward the sedan in her pencil skirt and high heels. As she did so, she stepped on an out of place landscaping rock. She lost her balance and threw out her arms in a desperate attempt to prevent a fall, wobbling back and forth before regaining her balance. Ryan watched from the car with alarm. To mask her embarrassment, she dipped into an elaborate bow with a flourish of her arms. She could hear the welcome sound of Ryan's laughter when she opened the car door.

“That was quite the performance.”

“Thanks, I've been practicing in all of my spare time.”

Lauren saw he had a Starbucks drink waiting for her, flooding with relief that he didn't appear to be upset with her.

“Thanks for the chai tea. That is exactly what the doctor ordered, both literally and figuratively. Bear claw?” she offered. He raised one eyebrow suspiciously and accepted the pastry.

Lauren's mind was racing about what she should say, but Ryan spoke first. “Candace plans to rest the Prosecution's case soon. Who do you think the Defense will call as their first witness?” They slipped easily into their usual dialogue about trial proceedings and Lauren lost her resolve to finish the conversation they had started yesterday. Maybe she had been reading too much into things. The tension she had feared did not exist and not wishing to stir any up, she decided to let the matter drop.

At the courthouse, there was more media pandemonium than usual. Television reporters were preparing sound bites, breathlessly speculating that the Prosecution would rest their case that day.

Candace called Wallace back for re-direct, hoping to keep him on the stand long enough to prevent the Defense from starting the presentation of their case that day. She wanted the jury to have time to contemplate the full magnitude of the Prosecution's case over the weekend.

“Detective Wallace, do you remember Mr. Pratt asking if you were able to prove that Dr. Rose was not involved in her sister's murder?”

“Yes, I remember.”

“Can you tell us if that is how police investigations proceed?”

“I can tell you that is
not
how police investigations proceed. If police were required to prove everybody who did not commit the crime, we would be investigating the entire human population. However, we do try to eliminate all possible suspects until we narrow it down to the person responsible.”

“And were you able to eliminate Dr. Rose as a possible suspect?”

“Yes. Dr. Rose has a reliable alibi. Several of her coworkers confirmed she was at work that evening. Additionally, Dr. Rose was fully cooperative with the investigation and provided consistent statements throughout.”

Candace kept Wallace on the stand for as long as she could, wrapping up shortly before noon. Judge Robles recessed court for lunch.

The Prosecution team celebrated over Chinese take-out. They had presented a very strong case to the jury. They had not seen any Defense witnesses waiting in the courtroom lobby, suggesting the Defense would wait until Monday to call their first witness.

The conversation turned to the question of whether or not Jake would take the stand.

“Jake will insist on testifying,” Lauren predicted. “He won't want to miss his moment in the spotlight.”

“There isn't a snowball's chance in hell that Pratt will let Jake take the stand,” Candace disagreed. “It's Defense 101. Never put the defendant on the stand.”

The team made friendly bets on the issue. Ryan and Lauren betting against Candace and Kyle. Wallace, who had joined them today, abstained, commenting he had been surprised by trial outcomes so often that he no longer cared to guess what might happen. Lauren wondered if the wrongful conviction of his father was one of the “surprising court outcomes” Wallace alluded to.

“Is Pratt ballsy enough to call Lauren to the stand?” Kyle wondered aloud.

“Nope,” Candace said. “Pratt is many things, least of which is an arrogant asshole, but he isn't stupid. Lauren's a terrible risk for them. They couldn't break her on cross-exam last time and she would be unpredictable as hell. They won't call her.”

Lauren let out an audible sigh of relief.

“Of course, we're still going to have to prep you this weekend, just in case,” Candace cautioned. “It wouldn't be the first time I was surprised by this fucking trial. Maybe Pratt and Fisher forgot to take Defense 101.”

“Fisher took Publicity 201 instead,” Kyle said.

“And Pratt was probably in Smoke and Mirrors 302; the advanced course,” Ryan commented.

“So, what's your best guess?” Wallace asked. “Do you think they'll call me back for more cross this afternoon?”

Candace pondered. “That's a tough one. On one hand, I know Pratt would be loath to allow us the last word before recessing for the weekend. On the other hand, you've already embarrassed him a few times. I can't imagine he cares to square off against you again.”

But when court resumed that afternoon, Pratt did approach Wallace on the stand once more.

“Detective Wallace,” Pratt said in a voice smooth as silk, “you testified this morning you could not absolutely prove that Miss Rose was not responsible for the murder of her sister, did you not?”

“That's not what I said. I can't prove that you didn't kill Liz Wakefield either. All I do is testify about the evidence and let the jury interpret the facts.”

Despite the fact that Wallace had scored yet another embarrassing point against him, Pratt grinned. “You also testified you were able to verify Lauren Rose's alibi. Can you tell us how you did that?”

“Yes, we spoke to Dr. Rose's immediate supervisor, a man by the name of Dr. Matthew Stone. He was able to confirm that Dr. Rose had been at work that evening for her entire shift of noon to midnight and that she had stayed until about six-thirty a.m. because she was busy saving the life of a child.”

Pratt glared at Wallace for plugging Lauren with his response, but did not object. “And Dr. Stone had visual contact on Miss Rose for the entire evening?”

“Not the entire time, but they interacted frequently throughout the night.”

“Detective Wallace, have you spent much time in hospital emergency rooms?”

“Yes, I'm afraid I have spent far too much time in emergency rooms.”

“Is it fair to say ERs tend to be busy places?”

“Yes.”

“And the people that work there tend to be busy people?”

“Yes.”

“So, isn't it fair to believe that Miss Rose could have departed the hospital for a short period of time undetected by her supervisor?”

“Long enough to use the restroom or make a quick personal call? I would imagine so, but I doubt very much she had time to leave the ER, drive across town, commit a vicious murder, and return to the hospital without her absence being detected by somebody.”

“You doubt it, but you don't know for sure because you weren't there, Detective Wallace.”

“No, I wasn't and neither were you, Mr. Pratt. We have no eye witnesses to the crime, so we have to rely on the evidence, which implicates Jake Wakefield, not Dr. Rose.”

“That's how you chose to interpret the evidence, but other possible interpretations do exist.”

“Any logical person would draw the same conclusion. I believe these jurors are logical people, who will interpret the evidence accurately.”

“Have you ever misinterpreted evidence, Detective Wallace?”

“Not that I'm aware of.”

“Really?” Pratt asked incredulously. “I find it hard to believe that in all of your years of service, thirty-five years all together as you told us in your earlier testimony, that you've never made a mistake.”

“I didn't say I've never made a mistake. We all make mistakes. But, to the best of my knowledge, I've never arrested the wrong person.”

Pratt smirked, “Until now.”

“Objection.” Candace was on her feet. “Defense counsel is attempting to provide his own testimony in this courtroom.”

“Sustained.”

“I will withdraw the remark,” Pratt offered. “No more questions for this witness.”

“The witness is excused.” Candace beamed at Wallace as he descended the stand and departed the courtroom. “On behalf of the people of the State of Arizona, the Prosecution rests, Your Honor.”

The reporters in the courtroom began feverishly typing into their portable telecommunications devices. This was breaking news. After nearly a month of testimony, the State's case against superstar Jake Wakefield rested.

Pratt said, “Your Honor, at this time, the Defense would like to call Lauren Rose as a witness.”

Candace was outraged. “The Defense did not advise Dr. Rose they intended to call her today.”

“Your Honor, we did not anticipate the Prosecution would rest their case today,” Pratt said. “We don't wish to delay the court proceedings. We are very mindful of the sacrifices this jury is making during their sequestration and we wish to get these jurors home as soon as possible. We would be pleased to open the Defense case today if you will allow us to call Miss Rose.”

One couldn't help but admire the extent of Pratt's wily ways. Candace was now in a bind. If she protested, it would appear as if she had no regard for the jurors and as if Lauren needed protection. If she did not, she would be sending Lauren into the lions' den without any preparation. She asked for, and was granted, permission to consult the witness. Candace beckoned for Lauren to approach the Prosecution table and then whispered. “Are you ready for this?”

Lauren felt sick to her stomach. Candace and Kyle had been planning to prepare her over the weekend for the possibility the Defense might call her as a witness, which everybody thought unlikely. Now it was a grim reality. The Defense had an urgent need to make Lauren look guilty. They were clearly prepared to pull out all the stops to make that happen. Lauren's mind raced. What could she possibly say that wouldn't make her look suspicious to the jury? “I'm ready as I'll ever be.”