Amethyst Purple Pt. 02

"Your objection is sustained, Mr. Wynn. Detective, please find another way to describe the item you are currently discussing." Judge Baker admonished.

"Yes, Your Honor. We also recovered a bloody and torn men's tank top t-shirt near the pool of blood in the grassy area. In the same general area we recovered a lady's white L.A. Gear athletic shoe, left foot, and a three foot section of tree limb, four inches in diameter. The limb proved to have blood, skin and hair embedded into its surface."

A.D.A. Reeves introduced each item of evidence as exhibits as Detective Bradford described them, presenting each individually for the jury to see.

"How long did it take for the Search and Rescue boat to arrive on the scene?" A.D.A. Reeves asked.

"They were in the water and calling on the radio within fifteen minutes, I saw searchlights downriver from our location about ten minutes after that."

"When did they recover the victim's body, Detective?"

"911 received a frantic call from a fisherman just after daybreak at about seven thirty who said a woman's body drifted up to his boat about a mile and a half downstream from Riverside Landing Park. The Search and Rescue boat responded to recover Miss Reynolds' body and transported her to the Medical Examiner's office."

The rest of the afternoon drug on with Detective Bradford covering the procedure he followed in his investigation, the witnesses he interviewed until he finished with what proved to be the case breaker when he received a call from a woman on the following Wednesday who stated that her ex boyfriend had been acting very strange since the weekend; he was argumentative and at times violent and he'd begun drinking more than usual. She said he drove an older, beige Chevrolet panel van that mysteriously burned in his driveway two days after the murder thus ensuring that any evidence of the crime that might have been secreted within was now forever lost. When Vincent Turner was interviewed, Detective Bradford said, he had scabbed over scratch marks on his neck, his chest and his arms and his lower lip was split. Turner also had a rare blood type, B negative, which, conveniently, matched the blood sample from the front of the ripped men's tank top recovered at the scene. The victim's blood type was the much more common A Positive. Owing to this overwhelming circumstantial evidence Detective Bradford closed his case and obtained arrest warrants charging Vincent Turner with Felony Murder, Aggravated Rape and other charges.

The clock read five twenty-three when A.D.A. Reeves finished questioning Detective Bradford so Judge Baker admonished the jury and recessed court until 09:00 the following morning.

St. Louis, MO

Marti convinced Jordan to try out her new sleek black dress so they changed and found an upscale dance club a short cab ride from the hotel after she called Ted to share their daily updates.

Marti described the day's shopping adventure after Jordan's revelation and outlined their plans for the evening.

"You wouldn't believe this girl. She's one of the most beautiful women you've ever seen and she thinks she's plain and unnoticed. Of course she's never learned how to present herself in a flattering or seductive way; she grew up with nothing but male influence. I'll bet she can fix your car quicker than most professional mechanics and apparently she's a pretty accomplished amateur race car and motorcycle driver. I think she's going to take me to the dragster races? Does that sound right? Yeah, the drag races, she said we're going to the drag races this weekend and she swears I'm going to love it. I've never been to the races, have you?"

"Yeah, I've been to a couple races, she's right, you're going to have a blast."

"Well, anyway, we went shopping and got makeovers so I'm taking her to a club down the street so she can see just how guys are going to react. And I can keep her safe, she doesn't have any experience with what's going to happen tonight and I'd hate for her to get out on her own and get hurt."

"Who's going to keep you safe? Or rather, who's going to keep St. Louis safe from you? I'm pretty sure that town has never experienced anyone in your class before either." Ted prodded.

"Oh, Baby, you do care." Marti cooed back.

Ted chuckled "Seriously, have fun but be careful, you don't have a phone book full of friends you can call for quick help out there and I'm almost eight hours away. Just make sure you don't wind up in anybody else's bed. And nobody ends up in your bed. Or bathroom countertop, chair, sofa or anywhere else for that matter."

"I promise, Baby, I won't be TOO bad, I won't do any more than maybe have a couple dances then I'll come back to my lonely hotel room, alone and horny just so I can dream about coming home to you."

"I know you won't, Doll, I'm going to have a bourbon then kick back and review my notes from today's testimony then crash so I'll be ready for tomorrow morning."

"Well, don't get too comfortable, I wasn't lying when I said I'd probably come back to my room horny. If I do I just might have to call you and wake you up for a bit of telephone relief."

"Darling, you know I'll always be ready to wake up for you, whether it's in person or on the phone. Love you, Doll."

"I love you too, Baby. Bye."

Wednesday, June 22, 1994

St. Louis, MO

"Son of a bitch, so Durand has been right all this time, huh. Peter has told me a dozen times that if she ever decided to quit hiding it she'd be the most gorgeous woman in the company and the son of a bitch just might be right. Have you seen her yet this morning?"

This was the conversation Marti walked in on when she entered the company lounge, the men standing to the side of the room stopped talking when they noticed her walk up to the coffee maker. Marti acted as though she was the only person in the room and that she hadn't heard any of the earlier exchanges. The four men cautiously began speaking again in subdued voices but Marti was able to discern pieces of their debate.

"I guess hanging out with the hot ass bank chick is having a positive effect on little miss Jordan."

"The bank chick IS pretty hot."

"Yeah, I'd suck her daddy's dick just to see where she came from."

This brought laughter from all four of the men and a smile that Marti hid behind her coffee cup.

"You're just looking for a dick to suck."

"Yeah, I believe that was more than just a Freudian Slip James, aren't you married?"

"Yes, he's married but I don't think his wife is."

"You're one to be talking, tell me again why YOUR wife's nickname is Schwinn?"

The banter continued for several minutes with each of the four men trading shots with one another while several other people drifted into the lounge for morning coffee and pastries. Marti knew the reason the room grew silent before she looked up from the newspaper she was glancing through. Jordan stood in the doorway, white with fear, unaccustomed to the attention being directed toward her and her new appearance. Marti stood from her table and motioned for Jordan to come into the room. Marti freshened her coffee and filled a cup for Jordan while she chose a croissant from the pastry tray and they sat back at the table Marti had so recently vacated while the room's conversations slowly returned to their normal tenor.

"How do you feel after last night?"

Jordan immediately smiled and her eyes shone with the memory of the experience.

"I feel renewed, like last night was the first step taken on a new pathway."

"There you go, your new pathway in a new direction, if you choose to follow it, will have to bring you to more new adventures. Just don't get lost along the way. So, what's on the agenda for this morning?"

"The first thing we'll do is go down to the warehouses and introduce you to the workers then after lunch we can go downtown to the Outside Accountants and the bank that handles our holdings."

Marti feigned a frown while she crossed her right arm across her breast and raised her left index finger to the side of her mouth in contemplation.

"We do need to do those things, they are important but I think the very first thing we need to do is get your first date with one Mr. Peter Durand scheduled before one of these other oafs scrapes up enough courage to try to beat him to the punch. I personally think he deserves a first shot, anyway. Oh, don't look so surprised and you might as well get used to the idea that every red-blooded male around is going to be, quite literally, sniffing around your door after today. Whether they're legitimately available or not. I'm afraid I might not have done you any favors yesterday, your life just got infinitely more complex and difficult.

Knoxville, TN

"SUPERIOR COURT IS NOW IN SESSION."

"Mr. Wynn, I believe it's your turn to examine Detective Bradford." Judge Baker then turned toward the Detective "I'd remind you that you're still under oath, Detective."

"Yes, Your Honor."

"Thank you, Your Honor." Martin responded as he approached the witness stand.

"Good Morning, Detective. This case seems to have fallen together for you rather quickly and easily, hasn't it?"

"I don't think I'd describe it as 'easy', Counselor, but the evidence did come together pretty cleanly. We were very fortunate that Miss Reynolds' remains were recovered as quickly as they were, before the river water had a chance to degrade the evidence samples we were able to obtain to a point they were unusable. That allowed us to draw a stronger link between her body, the scene at Riverside landing Park and the suspect, connecting them all to the singular event of her Rape, Murder and attempted disposal."

"I see, did you ever look at any other suspects during your whirlwind investigation?"

"I followed leads on a couple other possibilities but none of them led anywhere. None had matching blood types, none had any discernible connection to a light colored cargo van and none knew the victim nor were they known by any of Miss Reynolds' friends or family."

"Ahh, and how was Mr. Turner associated with Miss Reynolds?"

"I never could establish that they knew each other." Detective Bradford admitted.

"So how exactly were they connected?"

"I never found the connection."

"Why wasn't that enough to eliminate Mr. Turner as a suspect if it eliminated the other suspects?"

Feeling a flash of optimism Detective Bradford responded "He drove a van that matched the description of the van the witnesses saw leaving the park. Which van mysteriously had a five gallon can of gasoline poured inside and burned two days after the crime. When I interrogated him he had obvious visible injuries that were consistent with having been in a violent struggle recently, he has the same rare blood type as the assailant and I understand only one and a half percent of the population has B negative blood."

"Your Honor I move that the last part of his statement be stricken unless he can provide specific data reflecting the rarity of one particular blood type in comparison to another."

"Sustained." Judge Baker answered then turned toward the jury to explain "I'm sure the issue of blood types and their distribution rate among the population will surface again at some point during these proceedings but as for right now we have no accepted research or data to support the figures quoted by the witness so you are commanded not to consider those figures until such time as they can be introduced formally." Then turning back to Martin "You may continue."

"Thank you, Your Honor. Detective, let's address each of your points individually. How have you established that whoever committed this atrocious assault was, in fact, occupying the van your witnesses saw and that it wasn't just some third party who drove through the park and left, not having participated in its occurrence at all?"

"Well, we don't absolutely know for certain." His optimism draining again.

"Did you investigate the arson of Mr. Turner's van?"

"Only as it related to this case but any possible evidence that might've been inside was irretrievably lost in the fire."

"So you never tried to find out who committed the crime of Arson? Is Arson an unimportant crime in Tennessee?"

"I couldn't prove who started the fire, I couldn't prove he didn't do it himself, either in an attempt to destroy evidence." Detective Bradford responded defiantly.

"Would it interest you to know that another officer did investigate the arson and in fact he arrested a suspect?"

"I never received any information of that occurrence."

"Did you ask Mr. Turner where he received his injuries during your interrogation?"

"Yes, he said his 'crazy ex-girlfriend' broke into his house in the middle of the night and woke him up hitting him with her fists and scratching him in his bed."

"Was this the same girlfriend who called in your tip accusing Mr. Turner of the crime you were investigating?" Martin asked.

"Yes, I believe it was."

"Now, regarding the assailant's blood type. How do you know Mr. Turner's blood type matches the assailant's?"

"It matches the sample we collected at the scene."

"Which sample was that, Detective Bradford?"

"The sample from the tank top t-shirt."

"How do you know for certain that t-shirt even had any connection to the crime you investigated?"

"I can't prove absolutely that it does but it was laying on the ground in the puddle of blood and was stained with two different blood types."

"But it might've already been on the ground and the assault occurred later, thus transferring Miss. Reynolds' blood to it there, correct?" Martin asked.

"I suppose that is one possibility."

"Either way, you can't say with any authority that the tank top t-shirt you recovered at the scene actually belonged to and was worn by the perpetrator of this murderous assault, can you?"

"No, Sir, I can't."

"Just like you can't say with any authority that the perpetrator was actually driving a light colored panel van, can you?"

"No, Sir, I can't."

"Detective, do you think you might have elected to close your investigation a bit prematurely once you began looking at Mr. Turner?"

"No, Sir, I don't. I believe I got it right and my investigation proves it."

"So these doubts that are raising more questions in every mind in this courtroom doesn't concern you in the least?"

"No case is airtight, we live in a circumstantial world." Detective Bradford insisted.

Martin returned to the Defense's table to consult with Ted. "Have I covered everything? Did I miss anything?"

"You hit every point I have in my notes, I think we've milked him dry and countered every point he's made."

"Have you heard anything on your project yet?"

"No, I still haven't gotten any response from the FBI yet."

"Well, the program is new, I'm sure they have a lot of data to sort through and they're still learning how to most efficiently collate it all."

"I hope they find something while we can still use it."

"Mr. Wynn, do you have any more questions for the Detective?" Judge Baker nudged.

"One more thing, Your Honor, if you please."

Judge baker nodded and sat back in his high backed leather and oak throne.

"Detective Bradford, have you heard of the 'DNA Identification Act of 1994'?"

"Yes, its a new law coming out that will establish a national database of DNA profiles to be used to identify offenders and victims of crimes. It's something the FBI is doing." Detective Bradford announced.

"Have you submitted any of the samples from this case to be compared to the database?"

"No, I haven't, the system isn't up yet."

"Actually, it went active in May. I have nothing further Your Honor."

Martin returned and sat beside his client opposite Ted at the Defense table.

Judge Baker dismissed court "We're going to break for lunch now, please be back and ready to resume at one thirty. You may be excused."

After lunch the courtroom was host to a conga line of expert witnesses testifying to such minutiae as the average depth of the river around Knoxville (7 feet), volume of water in the basin at differing times of the year and flow rates of the channel. Comparing these tidbits of data with the time and location Jenny Reynolds' body was recovered, established that the crime likely occurred within minutes of when it was reported thus adding credence to the possibility that the person driving the van seen leaving the park was, indeed, the perpetrator. Medical experts confirmed that less than two percent of the American population shared the rare B negative blood type and that both samples present on the recovered t-shirt were fresh enough that the second, rare, sample was also donated by the murderer.

When court closed at the end of the day, Ted and Martin both felt that they'd lost some important ground they had initially gained with Detective Bradford in the eyes of the Jury. Both attorneys watched as their client was led out of the courtroom by the Deputies then dejectedly left with the remainder of the large room's occupants.

St. Louis, MO

"Don't be ridiculous, you don't have to entertain me. You go on and get ready for your date with your new man, take a long hot bath with some of that bath oil you got, it'll make your skin so soft Mr. Durand won't be able to keep his hands off of you. Of course, if you'll take one more bit of advice from me don't put out all the way tonight, not on the first date. Make him wait 'til the weekend at least."

Both women broke out in laughter

"Come on, Marti, it's only an early dinner, it's not like I'm going to spend the night with him. I still can't believe he'd want to go out with me at all."

"Seriously though, you might want to invest in a couple dozen condoms and keep some in your purse, you'll be needing them.'

"But won't this interfere with your audit? I mean we missed the whole of yesterday afternoon and we're quitting early again today. I don't want you to have to stay away from your Ted any longer than you need to. If you end up having to stay another day or even longer to finish I'll feel awful!" Jordan lamented.

"We're only quitting an hour early and to be honest, I've seen enough that I'm comfortable making a positive recommendation to the Underwriters already, anything else I get will just be fluff."

Jordan looked unconvinced.

"If it makes you feel better I'll run you ragged tomorrow. Now go. I'm going to my hotel room to change into something more comfortable then I'm going to go exploring and touristing. I promised Ted I'd take pictures from the top of the arch and there's a lot of other things I want to see. Besides, Mr. Durand can't have you Saturday evening, you're taking me to the races. Ted agreed with you, he said I'll love them so now you both have my curiosity piqued."

Jordan donned a face-wide grin and radiated happiness as she said "I'll see you in the morning." then turned and walked toward the front door of the building.

Knoxville, TN

While Ted settled into his recliner with a glass of Maker's Mark Bourbon wearing nothing but a pair of boxers and an old AC/DC Back in Black tour shirt with his television tuned to ESPN, five hundred miles west in St. Louis, Marti was standing in a narrow room with a couple dozen other people milling around and leaning over against the strangely angled side walls inset with wide, short windows that strongly resembled arrow loops usually found in the walls of ancient castles that had been lain upon their sides. Marti had an undeniable sense of claustrophobia in the room with the pronounced bow from one end to the other of both the floor and the low ceiling. When she leaned over like the other tourists in the tight room to peer out the glass her feeling of claustrophobia was replaced by an immediate rush of vertigo. Marti pulled her Motorola Razr from her purse and flipped it open, dialing Ted's phone number as rapidly as her shaking fingers permitted.