Mortal Crimes: 7 Novels of Suspense (262 page)

"Did she talk at all about this chance meeting?"

"Yes."

"And what did she say?"

"That at first she was happy to see Ms. Baldacci, but things had gotten awkward."

Abernathy nodded. "Did she say why?"

"Yes. Over the course of their conversation, Jenny mentioned that she was working for Treacher and Pine and Ms. Baldacci became visibly upset by this revelation."

"Objection," Waverly said. "Hearsay as to my client's frame of mind."

"Sustained."

"What about Ms. Keating?" Abernathy asked. "Did
she
say she was upset about the meeting?"

"She said she felt surprised and uncomfortable because she hadn't realized that the firm was representing Ms. Baldacci's ex-husband in their custody case."

"I don't understand," Abernathy said. "If Treacher and Pine was representing the ex-husband, wouldn't it stand to reason that Ms. Keating would know this?"

Harding shook her head. "Treacher and Pine is a very large law firm with over a hundred and fifty attorneys in several different departments on three separate floors. Jenny worked in contracts, not the family law division, and the firm is very strict about client confidentiality. Unless there's a legal question involved, sharing of case files is strongly discouraged."

"So Ms. Keating wouldn't have access to the ex-husband's files?"

"No," Harding said. "In fact, Jenny was a stickler about ethics and stayed as far away from the case as humanly possible. To the point where she instructed me to refer any calls she might get from Ms. Baldacci to the attorney handling it."

"Even though there was no real conflict of interest?"

Harding shrugged. "Like I said, she was a stickler."

"And did she get any calls?"

"Yes, several."

"When was this?"

"The first came about two days after their encounter, when I was out sick."

Abernathy's eyebrows went up. "If you were out sick, then how did you know about it?"

"Because the woman who replaced me that day didn't know about Jenny's instructions, and mistakenly sent the call through to her. When I saw Jenny the next day, she was quite upset about the whole thing. Said she hated to treat Ms. Baldacci like a leper, but felt she had no choice until the case was resolved."

"Did she characterize the nature of the call?"

"Objection."

"Overruled. Answer the question, Ms. Harding."

Harding looked at Abernathy. "She said it was contentious, but she didn't go into detail."

"Fair enough," Abernathy said. "But you told us there were several calls. Did you personally receive any of them?"

Harding nodded. "All of them."

"And did you make any kind of notation's regarding these calls?"

"Not at first," Harding said. "But after a while I started marking them on my computer calendar."

"And when was this?"

"In the week before Jenny was murdered."

Abernathy moved to the prosecution table and picked up a stack of papers. Holding them up he said, "Your Honor, I have here a printout of the calendar in question, which I'd like to enter into the record as State's Exhibit 2."

"So entered," O'Donnell said.

Abernathy handed a copy to the court clerk, then turned to his witness. "Ms. Harding, can you elaborate on these phone calls?"

Harding took a breath. "They were fairly innocuous at first. Ms. Baldacci called, identified herself, and I told her Jenny wasn't available, then transferred her to the family law department."

"You say they were innocuous at first. Did that change?"

"Oh, yes," Harding said. "Very much so."

"In what way?"

"Ms. Baldacci became increasingly hostile and demanding on the phone and began calling with more frequency, several times a day, asking to be put through to Jenny. That's why I started marking it down."

"And what do you consider hostile behavior?"

"Calling me names, for one thing."

"Oh?" Abernathy said. "Can you give us an example?"

Harding seemed to steel herself, no longer the unruffled witness she was when she first sat in the box. "The worst one was about two days before Jenny was murdered. It was late in the afternoon and I had already fielded several calls from Ms. Baldacci during the day. Then she called again, and while I can't be sure what was going through her mind, she was very frank about what she thought of me."

"What did she say?"

Harding straightened in her chair, looking directly at the jury. "She said—and I'm quoting here—'Put me through to Jenny you uppity black bitch or I'll gut you where you sit.'"

For a moment the courtroom seemed frozen in time. Not a sound was uttered, all eyes on Ronnie as the words sank in.

Then Abernathy turned to Waverly, a small, self-satisfied smile on his face. "Your witness, counsel."

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

"PUT ME THROUGH to Jenny, you uppity black bitch, or I'll gut you where you sit," Waverly repeated as she got to her feet and moved to the podium. "Did the caller really say that?"

Looking wary, Harding sat up even straighter, and Hutch could see that she was bracing for an attack. "Yes. Yes she did."

"Those exact words?"

"Yes. It's not something I'm likely to forget. It frightened me."

"I don't blame you. I think we can all agree it's a pretty disgusting thing to say. But are you sure it was my
client
who said it?" She gestured to Ronnie. "Ms. Baldacci?"

Harding cocked a brow at her as if to say,
you're kidding right?

"Why wouldn't I be? She called at least five times that day. And more than twice that during the week."

"That's a lot of calls," Waverly said. "But let's go back for a moment. You testified that the first time you heard the name Veronica Baldacci was about a month before Ms. Keating was killed. Is that correct?"

"Yes."

"And Ms. Keating pointed her out in a photograph on her desk."

"Her credenza," Harding said forcefully, as if she were a teacher correcting a student.

"Her credenza," Waverly repeated with a nod. "And that was the first time you
heard
the name Veronica Baldacci. But what about the first time you actually met her? When was that?"

Harding looked confused. "I beg your pardon?"

Waverly gestured to Ronnie again. "When did you first meet my client?"

"I've never met her," Harding said. "We've never even been in the same room together until now."

Waverly frowned. "I don't understand. Detective Meyer testified that the majority of the phone calls came from the Dumont Hotel, directly across the street from your office."

"So they tell me."

"Yet in all that time, Ms. Baldacci never once crossed the street to try to speak to Ms. Keating in person?"

"Not that I'm aware of, no."

"So let me get this straight," Waverly said. "Are you claiming, under oath, that you've never met or spoken to my client face to face? In the flesh, so to speak?"

Harding stiffened, a quiet hostility creeping into her eyes, as if she thought her integrity were being impugned. "Not a claim, it's the truth."

Waverly nodded, then said, "So tell me this, Ms. Harding. If you've never seen or spoken to my client before today, how could you possibly know that the person on the telephone was Veronica Baldacci?"

Murmurs rumbled through the courtroom, Hutch and his friends exchanging looks. Waverly had played this one perfectly.

But Harding had an answer. "Because she identified herself, that's how."

"Oh? In what way?"

"She said, 'This is Ronnie Baldacci, put me through to Jenny.'"

"Really? Exactly like that?"

Harding shrugged. "More or less. Sometimes she said, 'This is Ronnie Baldacci, don't transfer me to that other clueless bitch, let me talk to Jenny.' This was usually accompanied by a several expletives."

"So you're saying she identified herself every time she called?"

"I can't swear to it, but it certainly seemed that way. Believe me, I got awfully tired of hearing the name."

Scattered laughter rang out but quickly died when Judge O'Donnell shot his gaze toward the gallery.

Waverly said, "Doesn't it seem strange to you that someone who was desperate to have her calls put through to Ms. Keating would always state her name, even after she'd repeatedly been denied?"

"I wouldn't know, but that's what she did."

"If you were making such calls yourself, wouldn't you resort to some type of subterfuge to get through?"

"Objection, Your Honor. The witness's opinion in that regard is irrelevant to these proceedings."

"Sustained. Move it along, counsel."

Waverly nodded to him. "Sorry, Your Honor. Ms. Harding, did you ever speak to your boss about these calls?"

"To Jenny? Yes, of course."

"And what did she say?"

Harding sighed. "She told me to keep transferring them to the family law department. It was a bit frustrating, to say the least. I just wanted to be rid of them. I was tired of dealing with it and I thought she should speak to Ms. Baldacci and make it clear that she should no longer try to contact her."

"So she never took
any
of the calls?"

"Not that I know of, other than that first one, when I was out sick."

Waverly paused. "So let me understand this. The one person who knew Ronnie Baldacci and could positively identify her voice had never taken any of the calls you handled. Is that correct?"

"Yes," Harding said.

"Yet when this caller identified
herself
as Ronnie Baldacci, you assumed she was telling the truth. Is that right?"

"Yes," Harding said, looking impatient now. "Why wouldn't I?"

"No reason you shouldn't. But if I were to call you up and identify myself as Martha Stewart, would you believe that as well?"

Laughter in the courtroom. Even the judge joined in this time.

"Of course not," Harding said. "That's ridiculous."

"Why?"

"Because I know you're not her. I know what you sound…" She caught herself, her expression shifting, growing uncertain.

"Yes, Ms. Harding? Please continue."

Abernathy jumped to the rescue. "Objection. I've been fairly tolerant until now, but this game is getting tedious. These questions have been asked and answered numerous times already."

"I tend to agree," the Judge said. "Ms. Waverly, either find a new angle or wrap it up."

"Just a couple more, Your Honor, and I'll be done with this witness."

"Make it quick."

Waverly thanked him, then said, "Ms. Harding, you've testified quite adamantly that you've never met my client face to face. That you've never been in a room together before today."

Harding sighed again. "That's right."

"So, please, tell the jury this," Waverly said. "In light of that testimony, how could someone who continually claimed to be Ronnie Baldacci possibly know to use such a hateful slur as uppity black bitch?"