Frost"s voice cracked before he cleared his throat and said, "Negative for drugs and alcohol."
"At the time of the alleged rape?"
"Correct."
"No drugs or alcohol at all," she said to the jury. "But that goes completely against the story to which Ms. Lawrence testified under oath. She said they were drinking, doing drugs, carrying on, and having a good old time before Mr. Tate slipped her a date-rape drug and had his way with her. Is that a fair summary of her story, Detective?"
"It is," Frost said.
"Do you now believe my client raped Ms. Lawrence as she described?"
"Objection!" Strong said.
Sharon Lawrence was weeping silently. Her mother looked ready to crawl out of her skin.
Naomi said, "Judge, I"m asking a detective with two and a half decades of experience to evaluate the facts as he knows them now and form an opinion."
Varney hesitated, said, "Overruled, Ms. Strong. Rephrase the question, Ms. Cross."
"Does Ms. Lawrence"s story jibe with these FBI tests?"
"No, but she could have just embellished that part of the story," Frost said.
"Or she embellished the entire story, in which case she can be prosecuted for perjury, along with her mother, and for planting false evidence," Naomi said. "They"ll both do time."
"No!" Ann Lawrence cried, getting to her feet. "She ... we ..."
Varney rapped his gavel, said, "Sit down, Mrs. Lawrence."
She sat back down, looking wobbly, next to her daughter, who stared at the floor.
Naomi said, "The defense calls Sharon Lawrence to the stand."
"Are you done with Detective Frost?" Judge Varney asked.
"For the moment, Judge," Naomi said. "But I"d prefer he remain available."
Varney instructed Frost to stay and, along with the rest of the crowded courtroom, watched him pa.s.s a pale, nervous Sharon Lawrence heading toward the witness stand.
Ann Lawrence"s face had gone flushed, and she sat small in her seat. Cece"s mother and father were staring at the woman as if she were some dark mystery.
"Ms. Lawrence," Naomi said. "Did you hear Detective Frost"s testimony just now?"
"Yes."
"And the results of the drug tests?"
Sharon Lawrence nodded feebly.
"Did Coach Stefan Tate drug and rape you?"
The girl said nothing for several long moments. Her lips trembled, and she looked out at her mother and then at Stefan Tate.
"No," she whispered as tears poured down her face. "It was all a lie."
Part Five
JUSTICE.
CHAPTER 94.
THE COURTROOM ERUPTED. My cousin put his face in his hands, his shoulders shaking. Judge Varney looked bewildered as he gaveled the court silent. Stefan picked up his head and looked at his mother and then Patty Converse. For the first time in days, I saw hope in Patty"s face.
"Ms. Lawrence," the judge said. "You understand you have admitted to committing perjury under oath?"
She nodded, sobbed. "Am I going to jail?"
Varney said nothing. A second went by, and then another.
Naomi said, "Not if you tell the court the truth."
The judge looked annoyed at Naomi, then glanced out into the audience before saying, "Yes, the truth will help."
Naomi got a Kleenex and handed it to Sharon Lawrence, waited for her to regain her composure.
"Why did you lie?" Naomi asked.
Shoulders hunched forward, she replied, "It was like you said. We, my mom and me, we don"t have much. Finn said he"d make sure we had enough if I accused Coach Tate of raping me."
"The late Finn Davis?" Naomi asked.
"Yes."
"Adopted son of your uncle Marvin Bell?"
"Yes."
"Knew it," Pinkie whispered behind me.
"How much did Finn Davis offer you and your mother to cry rape?"
Sharon Lawrence glanced at her mother. Ann Lawrence stared at her hands on her lap as if they were deep, dark holes.
"Six thousand dollars a month for the rest of my mom"s life," Sharon Lawrence choked. "Don"t you see? It saved her. That"s why I did it."
Ann Lawrence burst into tears and hid her face in her hands.
"Why did Finn Davis want you to accuse Coach Tate of rape?"
Sharon Lawrence said, "I don"t know. He said he wanted to make sure Coach Tate was punished for what he"d done."
"Did Finn Davis provide the s.e.m.e.n that went in your panties?"
"Yes," she said, looking disgusted. "I don"t know how he got it."
"One last question," Naomi said. "Did Finn Davis ask you to plant drugs in the athletic bag of Jannie Cross?"
"Objection; relevance," Strong said.
Varney again looked caught between a rock and a hard place and finally said, "Sustained."
"He did ask," Sharon said anyway. "Finn. He promised me two thousand a month if I put the drugs in her bag. Are we going to jail? Me and Mom?"
This last question was aimed at Judge Varney, who said, "That"s a matter for another time and place, young lady. You"re dismissed for the time being."
If it was possible, Sharon Lawrence looked even smaller and weaker when she got up and left the witness stand. She didn"t look at Stefan or any of us, just slid in next to her mother, who held her tight, whispered, "It"s all right. We"re going to be all right."
"Judge," Naomi said. "Based on Ms. Lawrence"s recanting of her testimony and the overwhelming physical evidence, the defense moves that the rape charges against my client be dropped."
Varney licked his lips, said, "Ms. Strong?"
The district attorney hesitated, and then said, "The state does not object."
"So ordered," Varney said.
Naomi went over and put her hand on Stefan"s shoulder, said, "The defense asks that Detective Frost retake the stand."
Varney looked at his watch and then nodded.
Frost looked rattled when he took his seat.
Naomi took up more doc.u.ments, said, "The defense wishes to enter the next exhibit, a second series of FBI tests based on evidence found at the murder scene."
Again Strong voiced no objection, just took her copy of the test, as if fearing its contents.
Frost took his copy as Naomi said, "This is a drug test done on s.e.m.e.n samples taken off Rashawn Turnbull"s body, correct, Detective?"
Frost scanned the doc.u.ment, said, "It is."
"This would be the same s.e.m.e.n sample that the state"s DNA testing identified as belonging to my client?"
"Uh, correct."
"Please read pages four and five," Naomi said.
Frost flipped the pages and read, and it was like watching a balloon with a slow leak wilt and collapse.
Naomi said, "Detective Frost, can you read aloud the results of the test on my client"s s.e.m.e.n gathered off Rashawn Turnbull"s body?"
Frost chewed the inside of his lip. He said in a defeated voice, ""Negative for drugs and alcohol.""
""Negative for drugs and alcohol,"" she repeated to the jury. "The prosecution says my client drank to excess, did copious quant.i.ties of drugs, and went into a berserk rage on the night of Rashawn"s rape and murder. But the FBI says Stefan Tate was stone-cold sober when that s.e.m.e.n was produced."
CHAPTER 95.
BREE SLID INTO the seat in the courtroom I"d been saving for her. Her eyes were shining when she whispered, "I"ve got something. Something big."
"Hold on," I whispered back. "Naomi"s about to destroy the state"s case."
My niece said, "Detective Frost? You agree that"s what the test indicates?"
"Apparently so," the detective said, looking like he"d gone too many rounds with a heavyweight contender.
"That"s strange," Naomi said, strolling over to the jury. "Because the blood sample you took from my client the morning after he allegedly killed Rashawn Turnbull showed he had a blood alcohol level of point zero six five, indicating he"d probably been very drunk the night before. Correct?"
Frost took a big breath, said, "Yes."
"But we now know that"s contrary to the FBI"s results," Naomi said, hands on the jury box. "Which means that the s.e.m.e.n on Rashawn"s body and in Sharon Lawrence"s panties came from my client, but not on the nights in question. Which means someone, probably Finn Davis, somehow got to one of my client"s condoms after he had had intercourse with his fiancee."
I glanced over my shoulder and saw that Patty Converse"s face had gone red, but she was nodding in agreement.
"Objection, Judge!" Strong cried. "The defense attorney is drawing conclusions out of thin air."
"These conclusions are not drawn out of thin air!" Naomi insisted. "These are scientific facts, Ms. Strong. Flip to page nine of the FBI"s report, third paragraph, reference to a third distinct DNA source in Ms. Lawrence"s panties. Initial test indicates the DNA is female and unrelated to Ms. Lawrence. v.a.g.i.n.al secretions of another woman, suggesting, again, a used condom was stolen after use to plant evidence in order to frame my client for a crime he clearly did not commit."