Deadly Distractions, page 29
"I was short on cash—a lot of bills, you know."
"How many hours a week did you work there?"
"Oh, about 15 to 20 a week."
"How far away was it?"
"About an hour's drive."
"Did you work every day?"
"Weekdays—three or four hours a day."
"So you worked three hours a day and spent two hours driving back and forth?"
"Objection," Trenton said. "I can't see the relevance of this line of questioning."
"Your Honor. It will be become clearly relevant but I have to lay a foundation before I can get to the point."
"Overruled. The witness will answer the question."
Lance replied, "Yes."
"How was it that you came to work for A-Plus Wrecking Service?"
"I don't know. I think I just looked in the Yellow Pages and started calling all the wrecking service companies at random."
"Do you know a man named Don Harris?"
Lance squirmed in his chair and began rubbing his chin. "Yes, he's a customer at Highway 78 Towing."
"You're his mechanic?"
"Yes, I work on a couple of his cars."
"Could he have suggested you go work for A Plus Wrecking?"
"Maybe, but I don't remember it."
"Did he tell you that A Plus Wrecker service did work for the Internal Revenue Service?"
"Not that I recall."
"But he might have?"
"No, I don't think so."
"He didn't tell you to get to know Agent Bobby Tuttle?"
"Huh? No."
"How did you get to know Bobby Tuttle then?"
"I went out with him on a couple of jobs."
"You volunteered for those jobs, right?"
"I guess. I don't remember."
"In fact, you were the only person who ever went out with Bobby Tuttle from the day you went to work for A Plus Wrecking, isn't that right?"
"I don't know. Maybe."
"When you first applied for work at A-Plus Wrecking, was there a job available?"
"I don't remember."
"You don't remember. . . . Do you remember a driver getting killed in an automobile wreck which just happened to create an opening for you?"
"Oh, right. I remember that."
"Did you have anything to do with that accident?"
"What do you mean?"
"Were you a witness? Did you see it happen? Were you involved in it?"
"Objection," Compound question, not to mention being irrelevant."
"Withdrawn. I'm through with this witness for now, Your Honor but reserve the right to recall him at a later date."
"Very well. Do you have any redirect, Mr. Lee?"
"No, not at this time, Your Honor."
It was a beginning. I could see several members of the jury were intrigued by Stan's cross examination. He had begun to lay a foundation for our defense without Trenton Lee realizing it. The judge noted it was nearly five o'clock and recessed the case until Thursday morning at 9:30. When the judge had left the bench, I joined everyone at the defense table and congratulated them on a job well done. Stan, however, wasn't taking any bows. He was upset that he hadn't been able to ruffle Lewis Lance more. He said if all of Trenton Lee's witnesses were as good a liars as Lewis Lance, we were in serious trouble.
49
BAD DREAMS
After the judge recessed the case for the night, I went back to the office to work on the presentation of our defense. The way I figured it, Trenton would finish up his case on Friday and come Monday morning I would need to be ready to start calling witnesses. First on my witness list was Don Harris. I had been trying to serve a subpoena on him for a month without success. It didn't look like he'd be at trial so I crossed him off the list. It was unlikely he'd admit to anything anyway so it didn't upset me too much that he wasn't going to be there. Fortunately, I didn't have to prove he was the killer, just create reasonable doubt.
Paula and I had decided Dusty needed to testify, since most everyone presumed he was guilty anyway. He had little to lose. I debated whether to start off with Dusty or bring him on last. In order to keep the focus on Don Harris, I opted to put Dusty and Martha on first and then present all the evidence calculated to show that Don Harris was more likely the actual killer. I looked at my revised witness list.
# Name Description Objective
1. Dusty Thomas Defendant Show that he is not a killer. Gain sympathy.
2. Martha Thomas D-wife Paint Dusty as a good and decent man.
3. Emma Lou Neighbor. Establish silver Mercedes at the scene of crime; damage to mirror
4. Charlotte Harris Harris' wife Show he was driving silver Mercedes with damaged mirror; show had opportunity to kill, also good for motive—hated Bobby Tuttle, IRS, People's Mission
5 Robert Perkins IRS Sup Have him explain the People's Mission and Tuttle's investigation of Don Harris
6. Donald Hurst IRS Agent Get him to show how Bobby was hated by many
7. Jill Murray ?? Girlfriend Opportunity and desire to kill Bobby. Virginia connection? Violent nature, kidnapping by Don Harris.
8. Ron Green Harris' Show Don Harris' S&T Packing into illegal arms
Partner dealing
9. Paul Thayer PI ?? Loose ends as needed.
10. Lewis Lance Driver Recall after introduction of new evidence–show intentional delay in arriving to give Don Harris time to murder Bobby Tuttle
11. Detective Conrad CC Sheriff's Attempted murder of Paula and me - link to Don Harris
I knew I didn't have enough to prove Harris guilty, but I was quite sure there was enough to create reasonable doubt. A lot would depend on how well Trenton Lee cross-examined my witnesses. Unfortunately, he was a good prosecutor and I expected him to be no less than an expert at cross. I just prayed all my witnesses wouldn't be intimidated and would stand their ground.
Before I went home, I called Paul Thayer to see if he had any news for me. He wasn't in so I left a message for him to call me at home if he had any news. As I hung up the telephone, I wondered if I was going to get another report from Mo in time to do me any good. I knew if any of his bosses got wind that he was helping me I'd never hear from him.
Rebekah and the kids were waiting for me when I got home. Rebekah had attended the first day of jury selection but decided she would be imposing on her mother too much to go every day. They had all been watching news reports about the trial and were excited to tell me about it.
"Daddy, I saw you on TV," Marcia said.
"Really?" I replied.
"You were walking into the courthouse with Mr. Thomas and his wife." Mark said. "You looked mad."
I laughed. "Well, they were elbowing me and wouldn't let us get through."
"Everyone thinks you're going to lose, Dad," Reggie said.
I looked at him and shrugged. "Well, as they say 'it's not over 'till the fat lady sings.'"
Marcia frowned and asked. "What fat lady?"
"Okay," Rebekah said. "Leave your father alone and let him come and eat his dinner. I'm sure he must be famished. Go watch Alf. It's about to start."
"Okay," Marcia said and ran off with the boys close behind.
"Sit down. I'll bring you your dinner."
"Thanks," I said.
"So, how is it going?" Rebekah said as she took a plate out of the cupboard.
"Not so bad. No big surprises so far."
"Good. Maybe you'll prove everyone wrong," Rebekah said. "Dusty Thomas is due for some good luck."
"I feel good about our defense. I don't see how the jury could ignore it."
"They can't. Everything that has happened to you and Paula can't be a coincidence."
"Exactly. But so far the DA hasn't been impressed with anything we've come up with and they don't seem too worried about our case at all."
"Really? Hmm. I wonder why."
"What I'm afraid of is that they know something I don't."
"Like what?"
"I wish I knew."
"Wouldn't Bart tell Paula?"
"No. Not if it were important."
"Don't they have to disclose any new evidence that they uncover?"
"Yes. They're supposed to but sometimes they don't follow the rules. The government wants Dusty to go down pretty badly, so I wouldn't be surprised if they bent the rules a little, or even a lot in this case."
The more Rebekah and I talked the more I began to worry. Trenton had been acting pretty confident. He hadn't put up much of a fight when I cross examined Lewis Lance. As we were talking, the telephone rang. It was Paul Thayer and he sounded far away.
"Where are you?" I asked.
"I'm in D.C. My man out here wasn't getting anywhere so I decided I'd better come out myself."
"Oh. I appreciate that. Any luck?"
"Yes, I found out the call from Don Harris from Jill's apartment was to a man named Ronald Jack. I haven't been able to find out much about him but I'll be working on that all day tomorrow."
"Great. As soon as you find out something, call my office and tell Stewart. He'll be alone but he can send the information to me by messenger."
"All right. Good luck tomorrow in trial."
"Thanks."
The name Ronald Jack didn't ring a bell. I was sure when I got the rest of Thayer's report it would be quite clear who he was and where he fit into the puzzle, but until then there was no use worrying about it.
I went into the den and joined Rebekah, who was watching Moonlighting. As the night wore on, my exhaustion caught up with me, and midway through Johnny Carson, I fell asleep and began to dream. I was back in Ecuador, face to face with General Moya. "I am told you are a man of your word. Very well, we’ll do it your way, but do not dare to double-cross me. If you do, I will send an assassin to punish you and Senor Weller for your betrayal." Suddenly Monty and I were running through the streets of Quito away from our captors. Then I heard a shot and Monty went down. Blood oozed from his back where the bullet had struck. I knelt down and tried to help him but another shot rang out and I felt the sting of the bullet in my chest. I screamed as pain shot through me. . . ."Ahhhh. Oh, God help us!"
"Stan! Wake up. . . . Wake up. You're dreaming," Rebekah said.
50
THE ALIBI
I got to the courtroom early, before Trenton or Stan had arrived. It was Thursday and Trenton had a full slate of prosecution witnesses to go through—crime scene personnel, police and sheriff's deputies who had been on the scene, and a ballistics expert. When Stan walked in, I noticed he looked a little pale, so I went over to him to see how he was.
"Good morning," I said.
"Oh. Hi Paula."
"Are you okay? You don't look so good."
"I'm just tired. I didn't sleep well."
"Can I get you anything?"
"No. I'm fine. Don't worry. How are you holding up?"
"I'd be better if I were down here with you."
"I wish you were. Believe me."
"Well, Trenton may wrap it up today. None of his witnesses should take very long."
"Yeah, there's not much to argue about. They saw what they saw. I'm worried about their ballistics expert. What if he claims he can match the shot to Dusty's gun."
"Then he's a lying son of a bitch. Anyway, I've got another ballistics expert available if need be."
"I know. I just have a feeling they're going to spring a surprise on us today."
"I don't think so. What could it possibly be?" Paula asked.
"I'm probably just paranoid. Don't worry about it."
Stan had got me to worrying. If Trenton had a big surprise up his sleeve, what would it be? I couldn't think of a thing that he could do without us knowing about it. As he walked into the room, I watched him closely. He was looking very cocky. When Bart came in, I went over to him.
"Hey. Good morning."
"Hi, babe. How are you?"
"Great. Listen. There isn't anything coming down that I should be worried about is there?"
"What do you mean?"
"Trenton's been playing it pretty cool. What's he got up his sleeve?"
Bart gave me a stone cold look. I immediately knew we were in trouble.
"What is it? Tell me."
"I can't. It's confidential trial strategy,"
"Bart. Don't give me that. What is it?"
"I can only tell you that Stan's about to get his ass kicked. I'm surprised you two haven't seen it coming."
I went back to my seat mortified. What was happening? Stan looked at me and I forced a smile. The bailiff stood up and announced the judge's arrival and everyone scampered to their seats. The judge took the bench and the bailiff brought in the jury. The judge nodded and Trenton called his next witness, the ambulance driver who was first on the scene. All morning Trenton paraded his witnesses before the court. I held my breath expecting to hear some new revelation that would prove Dusty was guilty, but nothing happened. By the end of the day it appeared Trenton had called all his witnesses and I was expecting him to rest but he didn't. He announced to the judge that he had one more witness.
"The prosecution calls Mr. Don Harris."
My heart plunged as Don Harris walked into the courtroom and took the stand. He had a grin on his face that was almost demonic. The fact that Don Harris was appearing as a witness could only mean one thing: he had an alibi, and if he had an alibi, Dusty Thomas was as good as dead.
"Objection, Your Honor, " Stan said. "This witness is on our list, not the prosecution's list."
"That is very true, Your Honor. But there is no reason we can't call him first. Mr. Turner certainly can't complain since he was going to call him himself."
"Overruled. You may proceed."
After the court reporter administered the oath, Trenton Lee proceeded. He asked Harris to identify himself, give his occupation, educational background, and other pertinent information. Then he asked about the day of Bobby's Tuttle's death.
"Can you account for your whereabouts on July 11, 1986?"
"Yes, I had a meeting in Austin at 11:00 a.m. with two buyers. I also stopped in and saw my CPA in the afternoon. He needed some papers to finish up a tax return."
"So you were gone all day?"
"Yes, I didn't get home until 9:30 or so that night."
"How did you get to Austin?"
"I drove my wife's car. I couldn't get mine started and I didn't have time to get it fixed."
"Did you have any problems with your wife's car while you were on this trip?"
"Yes. My wife is kind of fussy about her car. She didn't really want me to take it. On the way down, we got into a couple rain showers and the car got filthy. I didn't want to bring her home a dirty car so I went to a car wash on the way home. Unfortunately, I got too close to a security post and knocked the left, side mirror off."
"Now I understand you were also being audited by Agent Bobby Tuttle on behalf of the Internal Revenue Service about this time."
"Yes. I belong to the People's Mission, a local church that was being audited by Agent Tuttle."
"Did you have any animosity toward Mr. Tuttle on account of this audit?"
"No, he was just doing his job. My accountant was dealing with Mr. Tuttle. I only met the man one time."
"Were you involved in any way in Bobby Tuttle's death?"
"No. Absolutely not."
Trenton smiled at Stan and said, "Pass the witness."
The judge responded. "It's nearly five o'clock. We'll adjourn and resume tomorrow at 9:30."
When the judge had left the bench, I went over to the defense table. Stan was shaking his head and Dusty looked very dejected.
"Well, now we know why Don Harris was avoiding us. He was setting a trap and we fell right into it," Stan said.
"I'm so sorry," I said. "This is all my fault. I should have seen this coming."
"It's as much my fault as yours," Stan said.
"How many hours a week did you work there?"
"Oh, about 15 to 20 a week."
"How far away was it?"
"About an hour's drive."
"Did you work every day?"
"Weekdays—three or four hours a day."
"So you worked three hours a day and spent two hours driving back and forth?"
"Objection," Trenton said. "I can't see the relevance of this line of questioning."
"Your Honor. It will be become clearly relevant but I have to lay a foundation before I can get to the point."
"Overruled. The witness will answer the question."
Lance replied, "Yes."
"How was it that you came to work for A-Plus Wrecking Service?"
"I don't know. I think I just looked in the Yellow Pages and started calling all the wrecking service companies at random."
"Do you know a man named Don Harris?"
Lance squirmed in his chair and began rubbing his chin. "Yes, he's a customer at Highway 78 Towing."
"You're his mechanic?"
"Yes, I work on a couple of his cars."
"Could he have suggested you go work for A Plus Wrecking?"
"Maybe, but I don't remember it."
"Did he tell you that A Plus Wrecker service did work for the Internal Revenue Service?"
"Not that I recall."
"But he might have?"
"No, I don't think so."
"He didn't tell you to get to know Agent Bobby Tuttle?"
"Huh? No."
"How did you get to know Bobby Tuttle then?"
"I went out with him on a couple of jobs."
"You volunteered for those jobs, right?"
"I guess. I don't remember."
"In fact, you were the only person who ever went out with Bobby Tuttle from the day you went to work for A Plus Wrecking, isn't that right?"
"I don't know. Maybe."
"When you first applied for work at A-Plus Wrecking, was there a job available?"
"I don't remember."
"You don't remember. . . . Do you remember a driver getting killed in an automobile wreck which just happened to create an opening for you?"
"Oh, right. I remember that."
"Did you have anything to do with that accident?"
"What do you mean?"
"Were you a witness? Did you see it happen? Were you involved in it?"
"Objection," Compound question, not to mention being irrelevant."
"Withdrawn. I'm through with this witness for now, Your Honor but reserve the right to recall him at a later date."
"Very well. Do you have any redirect, Mr. Lee?"
"No, not at this time, Your Honor."
It was a beginning. I could see several members of the jury were intrigued by Stan's cross examination. He had begun to lay a foundation for our defense without Trenton Lee realizing it. The judge noted it was nearly five o'clock and recessed the case until Thursday morning at 9:30. When the judge had left the bench, I joined everyone at the defense table and congratulated them on a job well done. Stan, however, wasn't taking any bows. He was upset that he hadn't been able to ruffle Lewis Lance more. He said if all of Trenton Lee's witnesses were as good a liars as Lewis Lance, we were in serious trouble.
49
BAD DREAMS
After the judge recessed the case for the night, I went back to the office to work on the presentation of our defense. The way I figured it, Trenton would finish up his case on Friday and come Monday morning I would need to be ready to start calling witnesses. First on my witness list was Don Harris. I had been trying to serve a subpoena on him for a month without success. It didn't look like he'd be at trial so I crossed him off the list. It was unlikely he'd admit to anything anyway so it didn't upset me too much that he wasn't going to be there. Fortunately, I didn't have to prove he was the killer, just create reasonable doubt.
Paula and I had decided Dusty needed to testify, since most everyone presumed he was guilty anyway. He had little to lose. I debated whether to start off with Dusty or bring him on last. In order to keep the focus on Don Harris, I opted to put Dusty and Martha on first and then present all the evidence calculated to show that Don Harris was more likely the actual killer. I looked at my revised witness list.
# Name Description Objective
1. Dusty Thomas Defendant Show that he is not a killer. Gain sympathy.
2. Martha Thomas D-wife Paint Dusty as a good and decent man.
3. Emma Lou Neighbor. Establish silver Mercedes at the scene of crime; damage to mirror
4. Charlotte Harris Harris' wife Show he was driving silver Mercedes with damaged mirror; show had opportunity to kill, also good for motive—hated Bobby Tuttle, IRS, People's Mission
5 Robert Perkins IRS Sup Have him explain the People's Mission and Tuttle's investigation of Don Harris
6. Donald Hurst IRS Agent Get him to show how Bobby was hated by many
7. Jill Murray ?? Girlfriend Opportunity and desire to kill Bobby. Virginia connection? Violent nature, kidnapping by Don Harris.
8. Ron Green Harris' Show Don Harris' S&T Packing into illegal arms
Partner dealing
9. Paul Thayer PI ?? Loose ends as needed.
10. Lewis Lance Driver Recall after introduction of new evidence–show intentional delay in arriving to give Don Harris time to murder Bobby Tuttle
11. Detective Conrad CC Sheriff's Attempted murder of Paula and me - link to Don Harris
I knew I didn't have enough to prove Harris guilty, but I was quite sure there was enough to create reasonable doubt. A lot would depend on how well Trenton Lee cross-examined my witnesses. Unfortunately, he was a good prosecutor and I expected him to be no less than an expert at cross. I just prayed all my witnesses wouldn't be intimidated and would stand their ground.
Before I went home, I called Paul Thayer to see if he had any news for me. He wasn't in so I left a message for him to call me at home if he had any news. As I hung up the telephone, I wondered if I was going to get another report from Mo in time to do me any good. I knew if any of his bosses got wind that he was helping me I'd never hear from him.
Rebekah and the kids were waiting for me when I got home. Rebekah had attended the first day of jury selection but decided she would be imposing on her mother too much to go every day. They had all been watching news reports about the trial and were excited to tell me about it.
"Daddy, I saw you on TV," Marcia said.
"Really?" I replied.
"You were walking into the courthouse with Mr. Thomas and his wife." Mark said. "You looked mad."
I laughed. "Well, they were elbowing me and wouldn't let us get through."
"Everyone thinks you're going to lose, Dad," Reggie said.
I looked at him and shrugged. "Well, as they say 'it's not over 'till the fat lady sings.'"
Marcia frowned and asked. "What fat lady?"
"Okay," Rebekah said. "Leave your father alone and let him come and eat his dinner. I'm sure he must be famished. Go watch Alf. It's about to start."
"Okay," Marcia said and ran off with the boys close behind.
"Sit down. I'll bring you your dinner."
"Thanks," I said.
"So, how is it going?" Rebekah said as she took a plate out of the cupboard.
"Not so bad. No big surprises so far."
"Good. Maybe you'll prove everyone wrong," Rebekah said. "Dusty Thomas is due for some good luck."
"I feel good about our defense. I don't see how the jury could ignore it."
"They can't. Everything that has happened to you and Paula can't be a coincidence."
"Exactly. But so far the DA hasn't been impressed with anything we've come up with and they don't seem too worried about our case at all."
"Really? Hmm. I wonder why."
"What I'm afraid of is that they know something I don't."
"Like what?"
"I wish I knew."
"Wouldn't Bart tell Paula?"
"No. Not if it were important."
"Don't they have to disclose any new evidence that they uncover?"
"Yes. They're supposed to but sometimes they don't follow the rules. The government wants Dusty to go down pretty badly, so I wouldn't be surprised if they bent the rules a little, or even a lot in this case."
The more Rebekah and I talked the more I began to worry. Trenton had been acting pretty confident. He hadn't put up much of a fight when I cross examined Lewis Lance. As we were talking, the telephone rang. It was Paul Thayer and he sounded far away.
"Where are you?" I asked.
"I'm in D.C. My man out here wasn't getting anywhere so I decided I'd better come out myself."
"Oh. I appreciate that. Any luck?"
"Yes, I found out the call from Don Harris from Jill's apartment was to a man named Ronald Jack. I haven't been able to find out much about him but I'll be working on that all day tomorrow."
"Great. As soon as you find out something, call my office and tell Stewart. He'll be alone but he can send the information to me by messenger."
"All right. Good luck tomorrow in trial."
"Thanks."
The name Ronald Jack didn't ring a bell. I was sure when I got the rest of Thayer's report it would be quite clear who he was and where he fit into the puzzle, but until then there was no use worrying about it.
I went into the den and joined Rebekah, who was watching Moonlighting. As the night wore on, my exhaustion caught up with me, and midway through Johnny Carson, I fell asleep and began to dream. I was back in Ecuador, face to face with General Moya. "I am told you are a man of your word. Very well, we’ll do it your way, but do not dare to double-cross me. If you do, I will send an assassin to punish you and Senor Weller for your betrayal." Suddenly Monty and I were running through the streets of Quito away from our captors. Then I heard a shot and Monty went down. Blood oozed from his back where the bullet had struck. I knelt down and tried to help him but another shot rang out and I felt the sting of the bullet in my chest. I screamed as pain shot through me. . . ."Ahhhh. Oh, God help us!"
"Stan! Wake up. . . . Wake up. You're dreaming," Rebekah said.
50
THE ALIBI
I got to the courtroom early, before Trenton or Stan had arrived. It was Thursday and Trenton had a full slate of prosecution witnesses to go through—crime scene personnel, police and sheriff's deputies who had been on the scene, and a ballistics expert. When Stan walked in, I noticed he looked a little pale, so I went over to him to see how he was.
"Good morning," I said.
"Oh. Hi Paula."
"Are you okay? You don't look so good."
"I'm just tired. I didn't sleep well."
"Can I get you anything?"
"No. I'm fine. Don't worry. How are you holding up?"
"I'd be better if I were down here with you."
"I wish you were. Believe me."
"Well, Trenton may wrap it up today. None of his witnesses should take very long."
"Yeah, there's not much to argue about. They saw what they saw. I'm worried about their ballistics expert. What if he claims he can match the shot to Dusty's gun."
"Then he's a lying son of a bitch. Anyway, I've got another ballistics expert available if need be."
"I know. I just have a feeling they're going to spring a surprise on us today."
"I don't think so. What could it possibly be?" Paula asked.
"I'm probably just paranoid. Don't worry about it."
Stan had got me to worrying. If Trenton had a big surprise up his sleeve, what would it be? I couldn't think of a thing that he could do without us knowing about it. As he walked into the room, I watched him closely. He was looking very cocky. When Bart came in, I went over to him.
"Hey. Good morning."
"Hi, babe. How are you?"
"Great. Listen. There isn't anything coming down that I should be worried about is there?"
"What do you mean?"
"Trenton's been playing it pretty cool. What's he got up his sleeve?"
Bart gave me a stone cold look. I immediately knew we were in trouble.
"What is it? Tell me."
"I can't. It's confidential trial strategy,"
"Bart. Don't give me that. What is it?"
"I can only tell you that Stan's about to get his ass kicked. I'm surprised you two haven't seen it coming."
I went back to my seat mortified. What was happening? Stan looked at me and I forced a smile. The bailiff stood up and announced the judge's arrival and everyone scampered to their seats. The judge took the bench and the bailiff brought in the jury. The judge nodded and Trenton called his next witness, the ambulance driver who was first on the scene. All morning Trenton paraded his witnesses before the court. I held my breath expecting to hear some new revelation that would prove Dusty was guilty, but nothing happened. By the end of the day it appeared Trenton had called all his witnesses and I was expecting him to rest but he didn't. He announced to the judge that he had one more witness.
"The prosecution calls Mr. Don Harris."
My heart plunged as Don Harris walked into the courtroom and took the stand. He had a grin on his face that was almost demonic. The fact that Don Harris was appearing as a witness could only mean one thing: he had an alibi, and if he had an alibi, Dusty Thomas was as good as dead.
"Objection, Your Honor, " Stan said. "This witness is on our list, not the prosecution's list."
"That is very true, Your Honor. But there is no reason we can't call him first. Mr. Turner certainly can't complain since he was going to call him himself."
"Overruled. You may proceed."
After the court reporter administered the oath, Trenton Lee proceeded. He asked Harris to identify himself, give his occupation, educational background, and other pertinent information. Then he asked about the day of Bobby's Tuttle's death.
"Can you account for your whereabouts on July 11, 1986?"
"Yes, I had a meeting in Austin at 11:00 a.m. with two buyers. I also stopped in and saw my CPA in the afternoon. He needed some papers to finish up a tax return."
"So you were gone all day?"
"Yes, I didn't get home until 9:30 or so that night."
"How did you get to Austin?"
"I drove my wife's car. I couldn't get mine started and I didn't have time to get it fixed."
"Did you have any problems with your wife's car while you were on this trip?"
"Yes. My wife is kind of fussy about her car. She didn't really want me to take it. On the way down, we got into a couple rain showers and the car got filthy. I didn't want to bring her home a dirty car so I went to a car wash on the way home. Unfortunately, I got too close to a security post and knocked the left, side mirror off."
"Now I understand you were also being audited by Agent Bobby Tuttle on behalf of the Internal Revenue Service about this time."
"Yes. I belong to the People's Mission, a local church that was being audited by Agent Tuttle."
"Did you have any animosity toward Mr. Tuttle on account of this audit?"
"No, he was just doing his job. My accountant was dealing with Mr. Tuttle. I only met the man one time."
"Were you involved in any way in Bobby Tuttle's death?"
"No. Absolutely not."
Trenton smiled at Stan and said, "Pass the witness."
The judge responded. "It's nearly five o'clock. We'll adjourn and resume tomorrow at 9:30."
When the judge had left the bench, I went over to the defense table. Stan was shaking his head and Dusty looked very dejected.
"Well, now we know why Don Harris was avoiding us. He was setting a trap and we fell right into it," Stan said.
"I'm so sorry," I said. "This is all my fault. I should have seen this coming."
"It's as much my fault as yours," Stan said.
