I nodded but I hoped it was clear that I wasn't nodding because I believed him.

"Now, your partner testified and you have testified that Mr. Elliot on three occasions told you both that he was not responsible for the killings in that house. Right?"

"Right."

"You heard those statements?"

"Yes, I did."

"Was that when you were outside or inside or where?"

"That was inside, when we were up in the bedroom."

"So that means that he made these supposedly uninvited protestations of his innocence while he was handcuffed with his arms behind his back and you and your partner had your weapons drawn and ready, is that correct?"

The third hesitation.

"Yes, I believe that would be so."

"And you are saying he was not under arrest at this time?"

"He was not under arrest."

"Okay, so what happened after Mr. Elliot led you inside and up to the bodies and you and your partner determined that there was no one else in the house?"

"We took Mr. Elliot back outside, we sealed the house, and we called detective services for a homicide call-out."

"Was that all according to sheriff's procedure, too?"

"Yes, it was."

"Good. Now, Deputy Harber, did you take the handcuffs off of Mr. Elliot then, since he was not under arrest?"

"No, sir, we didn't. We placed Mr. Elliot in the back of the car, and it is against procedure to place a subject in a sheriff's car without handcuffs."

"Again, there's that word 'subject.' Are you sure Mr. Elliot wasn't under arrest?"

"I am sure. We did not arrest him."

"Okay, how long was he in the backseat of that car?"

"Approximately one half hour while we waited for the homicide team."

"And what happened when the team arrived?"

"When the investigators arrived, they looked in the house first. Then they came out and took custody of Mr. Elliot. I mean, took him out of the car."

There was a slip I dove into.

"He was in custody at that time?"

"No, I made a mistake there. He voluntarily agreed to wait in the car and then they arrived and took him out."

"You are saying he voluntarily agreed to be handcuffed in the back of a patrol car?"

"Yes."

"If he had wanted to, could he have opened the door and gotten out?"

"I don't think so. The back doors have security locks. You can't open them from inside."

"But he was in there voluntarily."

"Yes, he was."

Even Harber didn't look like he believed what he was saying. His face had turned a deeper shade of pink.

"Deputy Harber, when did the handcuffs finally come off of Mr. Elliot?"

"When the detectives removed him from the car, they took the cuffs off and gave them back to my partner."

"Okay."

I nodded like I was finished and flipped up a few pages on my pad to check for questions I missed. I kept my eyes down on the pad when I spoke.

"Oh, Deputy? One last thing. The first call to nine-one-one went out at one-oh-five according to the dispatch log. Mr. Elliot had to call again nineteen minutes later to make sure he hadn't been forgotten about, and then you and your partner finally arrived four minutes after that. A total of twenty-three minutes to respond."

I now looked up at Harber.

"Deputy, why did it take so long to respond to what must've been a priority call?"

"The Malibu district is our largest geographically. We had to come all the way over the mountain from another call."

"Wasn't there another patrol car that was closer and also available?"

"My partner and I were in the alpha car. It's a rover. We handle the priority calls and we accepted this one when it came in from dispatch."

"Okay, Deputy, I have nothing further."

On redirect Golantz followed the misdirection I'd set up. He asked Harber several questions that revolved around whether Elliot had been under arrest or not. The prosecutor sought to diffuse this idea, as it would play into the defense's tunnel-vision theory. That was what I wanted him to think I was doing and it had worked. Golantz spent another fifteen minutes eliciting testimony from Harber that underlined that the man he and his partner had handcuffed outside the scene of a double murder was not under arrest. It defied common sense but the prosecution was sticking with it.

When the prosecutor was finished, the judge adjourned for the afternoon break. As soon as the jury had cleared the courtroom, I heard a whispered voice call my name. I turned around and saw Lorna, who pointed her finger toward the back of the courtroom. I turned further to look back, and there were my daughter and her mother, squeezed into the back row of the gallery. My daughter surrept.i.tiously waved to me and I smiled back.

Thirty-nine

I met them in the hallway outside the courtroom, away from the clot of reporters who surrounded the other princ.i.p.als of the trial as they exited. Hayley hugged me and I was overwhelmed that she had come. I saw an empty wooden bench and we sat down. met them in the hallway outside the courtroom, away from the clot of reporters who surrounded the other princ.i.p.als of the trial as they exited. Hayley hugged me and I was overwhelmed that she had come. I saw an empty wooden bench and we sat down.

"How long were you guys in there?" I asked. "I didn't see you."

"Unfortunately, not that long," Maggie said. "Her last period today was PE, so I decided to take the afternoon off, pull her out early, and come on down. We saw most of your cross with the deputy."

I looked from Maggie to our daughter, who was sitting between us. She had her mother's looks; dark hair and eyes, skin that held a tan long into the winter.

"What did you think, Hay?"

"Um, I thought it was really interesting. You asked him a lot of questions. He looked like he was getting mad."

"Don't worry, he'll get over it."

I looked over her head and winked at my ex-wife.

"Mickey?"

I turned around and saw it was McEvoy from the Times Times. He had come over, his pad and pen ready.

"Not now," I said.

"I just had a quick-"

"And I just said, not now. Leave me alone."

McEvoy turned and walked back to one of the groups circling Golantz.

"Who was that?" Hayley asked.

"A newspaper reporter. I'll talk to him later."

"Mom said there was a big story about you today."

"It wasn't really about me. It was about the case. That's why I was hoping you could come see some of it."

I looked at my ex-wife again and nodded my thanks. She had put aside any anger she had toward me and placed our daughter first. No matter what else, I could always count on her for that.

"Do you go back in there?" Hayley asked.

"Yes, this is just a little break so people can get something to drink or use the bathroom. We have one more session and then we'll go home and start it all over tomorrow."

She nodded and looked down the hall toward the courtroom door. I followed her eyes and saw that people were starting to go back in.

"Um, Daddy? Did that man in there kill somebody?"

I looked at Maggie and she shrugged as if to say, I didn't tell her to ask the question I didn't tell her to ask the question.

"Well, honey, we don't know. He is accused of that, yes. And a lot of people think he did. But nothing has been proven yet and we're going to use this trial to decide that. That's what the trial is for. Remember how I explained that to you?"

"I remember."

"Mick, is this your family?"

I looked over my shoulder and froze when I looked into the eyes of Walter Elliot. He was smiling warmly, expecting an introduction. Little did he know who Maggie McFierce was.

"Uh, hi, Walter. This is my daughter, Hayley, and this is her mom, Maggie McPherson."

"Hi," Hayley said shyly.

Maggie nodded and looked uncomfortable.

Walter made the mistake of thrusting his hand out to Maggie. If she could have acted more stiffly, I couldn't imagine it. She shook his hand once and then quickly pulled away from his grasp. When his hand moved toward Hayley, Maggie literally jumped up, put her arms on our daughter's shoulders, and pulled her from the bench.

"Hayley, let's go into the restroom real quick before court starts again."

She hustled Hayley off toward the restroom. Walter watched them go and then looked at me, his hand still held out and empty. I stood up.

"Sorry, Walter, my ex-wife's a prosecutor. She works for the DA."

His eyebrows climbed his forehead.

"Then, I guess I understand why she's an ex-wife."

I nodded just to make him feel better. I told him to go on back into the courtroom and that I would be along shortly.

I walked toward the restrooms and met Maggie and Hayley as they were coming out.

"I think we're going to head home," Maggie said.

"Really?"

"She's got a lot of homework and I think she's seen enough for today."

I could've argued that last point but I let it go. "Okay," I said. "Hayley, thanks for coming. It means a lot to me."

"Okay."

I bent down and kissed her on the top of her head, then pulled her in close for a hug. It was only at times like this with my daughter that the distance I had opened in my life came closed. I felt connected to something that mattered. I looked up at Maggie.

"Thanks for bringing her."

She nodded.

"For what it's worth, you're doing good in there."