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  "How long have you worked there?"

  "Ten years." She smiled. "This June."

  There was a brief exchange about her training, her work at the police academy, and her experience within the police force. Then Barrie stopped pacing, her hand on the railing of the witness stand. "Who was in charge of the investigation surrounding the death of Emily Gold?"

  "I was," the detective said.

  "Did you determine the cause of death?"

  "Yes. A gunshot wound to the head."

  "So there was a weapon involved in this case."

  "A Colt .45."

  "And were you able to retrieve the weapon?"

  Anne-Marie nodded. "It was at the scene of the crime," she said. "Lying on a carousel. We took the gun and ran a variety of ballistics tests on it."

  "Is this the gun you retrieved from the scene of the crime?" Barrie asked, holding up the Colt .45.

  "That's it," Detective Marrone said.

  "Your Honor," Barrie said, "I'd like to enter this as Exhibit A." She went through the customary procedure, showing the gun to Jordan, who dismissively waved it away. Then she turned back to the detective. "Did you determine where the gun came from?"

  "Yes. It was traced back to its owner, James Harte."

  James, behind the defense table, started at the sound of his name. "James Harte," the prosecutor said. "Is that any relation to the defendant?"

  "Objection," Jordan called out. "Relevance?"

  "I'll allow it," the judge said.

  The detective looked from the judge to Barrie Delaney. "It's his father."

  "Did you have a chance to interview James Harte?"

  "Yes. He said that the gun was a collector's item, but still used for target practice. His also said his son was familiar with the gun, had access to it, and used it as well for target shooting."

  "Can you tell us about the tests you ran on the weapon?"

  Detective Marrone shifted in her chair. "Well, we determined that there was one bullet fired, which went into the victim's temple, exited the victim's head, and lodged in the wood of the carousel. We found the casing from that bullet still in the chamber of the gun, as well as a second bullet that had not been fired. Christopher Harte's fingerprints were on both of those bullets."

  Barrie pointed. "By Christopher Harte, you mean the defendant."

  "Yes," Detective Marrone said.

  "Hmm." Barrie turned to the jury, as if she was deliberating over this tidbit for the first time. "So his fingerprints were on both bullets. Did you find anybody else's fingerprints on the bullets?"

  "No."

  "And what, in your expert opinion, does that suggest?"

  "He was the only one who handled the bullets."

  "I see," Barrie said. "Were there any other tests done on the weapon?"

  "Yes, a standard ballistics test checked for fingerprints on the gun itself. We found both Christopher Harte's and Emily Gold's fingerprints on the gun. However, Mr. Harte's fingerprints were all over it. The victim's fingerprints were only on the barrel of the gun."

  "Can you show us what you mean?" Barrie asked, picking up the Colt, with its new exhibit tag.

  The detective easily palmed the gun. "Mr. Harte's fingerprints were here, here, and here," she said, pointing. "Emily Gold's fingerprints were only in this region." She scraped her fingernail along the blunt steel barrel.

  "But to shoot this gun, Detective Marrone, you would have to have your hand where?" She waited for Anne-Marie to indicate the butt of the gun. "And Emily's fingerprints were not there."

  "No."

  "Yet Mr. Harte's were."

  "Objection," Jordan said lazily. "Asked and answered."

  "Sustained," Puckett said.

  Barrie turned her back on Jordan. "Was any other testing done at the crime scene?"

  "Yes. We did a Luminol test, a fluorescent spray that detects blood spatter patterns. Based on that, as well as the angle of the bullet that eventually lodged in the carousel, we deduced that Emily Gold was standing up when the bullet was fired, and that someone else was standing very close and slightly in front of her. We also know that she lay on her back and bleeding for several minutes before she was moved into the position in which officers first found her when arriving at the scene of the crime."

  "Which was?"

  "Bleeding profusely with her head in the defendant's lap."

  "And did the Luminol pick up anything else?"

  "Yes. A large stain not tied to the spatter pattern of the bullet wound, where the defendant supposedly struck his head."

  "Objection." Jordan gestured at Chris. "Would you like to see the scar?"

  Puckett gave Jordan a measured glance. "Continue, Ms. Delaney," he said.

  "From that stain, is it possible to determine how or why the defendant fell down?" Barrie asked.

  "No," the detective said. "It only shows that he lay still there for about five minutes, bleeding."

  "I see. Any other tests?"

  "There was gunpowder residue found on both the victim's and the defendant's clothing. We also tested the corpse of the victim for gunpowder residue on the fingers."

  "And what did you find?"

  "There was no gunpowder residue on Emily Gold's fingers."

  "In a suicide, with a victim holding the gun in her hand when she shot herself, would you normally find gunpowder residue on the hands?"

  "Definitely. That's why I started to think Emily Gold did not kill herself."

  Barrie was silent for a moment, assessing the faces of her jury. And they were hers now. Every single one of the twelve sat on the edge of his or her seat; several were taking careful notes on the provided pads of paper. "Was there anything else you found at the scene of the crime?"

  "We found a bottle of Canadian Club. Liquor."

  "Ah ... underage drinking," Barrie said, smiling.

  The detective grinned, too. "It wasn't my biggest concern at the time."

  At this, Jordan objected. "Your Honor," he said, "if there was a question somewhere in there, I missed it."

  Puckett rolled an almond about on his tongue, neatly tucking it into the pouch of his cheek. "Watch yourself, counselor," he warned Barrie.

  "Was there anything that stood out in the autopsy report?"

  Anne-Marie nodded. "The victim was eleven weeks pregnant."

  The prosecutor walked the detective through the interviews she'd done with the friends of Emily Gold, her neighbors--with one glaring exception, her parents, her teachers. "Detective Marrone, did you also have a chance to speak to the defendant?" Barrie made sure to catch Anne-Marie's eye. The detective was good, a professional, but she'd been forewarned to not mention the conversation she'd had with Chris at the hospital. Ruled inadmissible, even its mention could be cause for a mistrial.

  "Yes, I did. He came down to the police station on November eleventh. I read him his rights, and he waived them."

  "Is this the police report transcribing the conversation on November eleventh?" The prosecutor held up a file, emblazoned with the logo of the Bainbridge police.

  "It is," the detective said.

  "How soon, Detective, after your meeting with Christopher Harte, did you write this report?"

  "Immediately after he left."

  "What was the gist of that conversation?"

  "Mr. Harte basically told me he brought the gun to the scene of the crime, went to the scene of the crime, and watched Emily Gold shoot herself."

  "Did that add up to the evidence you'd seen?"

  "No."

  "Why not?"

  Detective Marrone cocked her head, staring at Chris. He felt his cheeks redden, and forced himself to keep his gaze steady and direct. "If it was just one of those things, instead of all of them ... if it was only that the bullet traveled through the victim's head at a weird angle--"

  "Objection!"

  "Or if there were bruises on her wrist, but everything else seemed consistent with suicide--"

  "Objection!"

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