“Yes.”
“If I have this right, the scenario you’ve put forth to explain how Mr. Turner murdered Mr. Chesterfield requires Mr. Turner to go backstage while no one is in the assistants’ dressing room so he can hide Miss Porter’s inhaler. Then he had to wait until the other assistants left the dressing room in their robes so he could knock out Miss Porter with the ether and take her place.”
“That’s correct.”
“That means Mr. Turner had to hide the inhaler during the levitation trick, because the assistants returned to the dressing room while Chesterfield was performing the card tricks. But that creates a problem for the State’s case, doesn’t it? In order for Mr. Turner to fit into your scenario, he could not have stayed in his seat until Mr. Chesterfield started performing the card tricks. If Mr. Turner didn’t leave his seat until Mr. Chesterfield began to perform the card tricks, how would he have been able to hide the inhaler? The assistants would be in the dressing room changing.”
Anders started to speak. Then she closed her mouth.
“Can you explain to Judge Washington how Mr. Turner would have time to hide the inhaler if he didn’t leave his seat until the card tricks started?” Robin pressed.
“I… We didn’t think of that.”
“That’s obvious,” Robin said. “What’s also obvious, Your Honor, is that Mr. Turner did not have time to hide the inhaler. That means that someone else did. And that person murdered Mr. Chesterfield.”
Ragland jumped to his feet. “An accomplice!” he shouted. “Turner had an accomplice. That’s who hid the inhaler.”
“Who is the accomplice?” Judge Washington asked.
“I… We… That has to be how he did it.”
Judge Washington shook her head. “You seem to be grasping at straws, Mr. Ragland. And until you can grab that straw real hard and show it to me, I’ve got to conclude that you haven’t made your case for denying this man bail.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Judge Washington and the attorneys discussed the terms of David Turner’s release. Peter Ragland insisted on a high bail, house arrest, and an electronic monitor. The judge sided with Robin, who argued that the State’s case wasn’t strong enough to warrant such stringent conditions.
Ragland maintained his composure until he finished answering the questions the reporters fired at him when he left the courtroom, but he was seething when he ran up the steps to the district attorney’s office with Anders and Dillon in tow.
As soon as they were in one of the conference rooms, Ragland turned on the detectives. “Why didn’t you warn me about the time discrepancy?” he yelled. “Lockwood made me look like a fucking idiot.”
“None of us saw that coming,” Dillon answered calmly.
“Well, you should have!” Ragland screamed, forgetting that he had the same information the detectives possessed.
Anders and Dillon let Ragland vent.
After a few seconds, he took a deep breath and tried to calm down. “Turner’s guilty. He must have an accomplice who hid thatinhaler. Find the accomplice. That’s the most important thing right now. If we identify the accomplice, we can nail Turner.”
“Do you have an idea who the accomplice might be?” Anders asked.
Ragland shook his head. “It has to be someone who knew about the inhaler and the assistants’ routine.”
“What about Sheila Monroe or Maria Rodriguez?” Anders said.
“Yeah, the other assistants,” Ragland said. “Where did they find the inhaler?”
“In Maria Rodriguez’s dressing table.”
“Did they print the inhaler?” Ragland asked.
“Yeah, but it only had Porter’s prints on it,” Anders said.
“Damn. If Rodriguez hid it, it makes sense that she would have been careful about leaving prints.” Ragland was quiet for a moment. Then he scowled. “Check on Rodriguez. See if she has any ties to Turner. Maybe she was his assistant in one of his shows.”
“Great idea, Peter,” Dillon said. “We’ll look into her.”
“Okay, great. Get on it.”