Vanishing Acts by Phillip Margolin, Ami Margolin Rome Page B

first time. “I may have made a mistake or two, but Mr. Shelby was arrested.”
    â€œIf we don’t include Mr. Shelby, would it be correct to say that all of your crime reports turned out to be mistakes?”
    â€œI, well, that may be true.”
    â€œIs it fair to say that you frequently imagine a crime is being committed when there is a perfectly innocent explanation for what has happened?”
    â€œI . . . I guess so.”
    â€œThank you for your honesty, Miss Bauer. Moving on, you testified that you saw Mr. Shelby carrying a body to his car?”
    â€œYes, he put it in his trunk.”
    â€œDid you see the body?”
    â€œWell, yes. The car was blocking my view a little, but I could see he was carrying a body.”
    â€œDid you see a limb, an arm or a leg?”
    â€œWell, no.”
    â€œA head or a foot?”
    â€œNo, but he definitely put poor Mrs. Shelby in the trunk. May she rest in peace.”
    Hamilton nodded to the clerk and he rolled out a television set and positioned it so the judge, Miss Bauer, and the spectators could see the screen.
    â€œI would like to show a brief video, Defense Exhibit Two.”
    â€œObjection,” the DA said.
    â€œWe’ve been over this in chambers, Mr. Payne,” Judge Young said. “I’m going to allow it.”
    Jake and Madison exchanged glances and leaned forward. Madison could feel the anticipation of the other people in the courtroom as well. Hamilton pressed Play on the remote and a picture of the front of a house appeared. A station wagon was parked in the driveway with the front of the car pointing to the street. Its rear gate was down, and there was a short space between the gate and the garage. Hamilton hit Pause.
    â€œDo you recognize this scene, Miss Bauer?” Madison’s father asked.
    â€œIt’s Mark Shelby’s house as seen from my front yard.”
    â€œAnd this is the view you had when you saw Mr. Shelby put his wife’s body in the trunk of his car?”
    â€œYes.”
    Hamilton pushed Play and a man who was roughly the size of the defendant stepped out of the garage with his back to Miss Bauer’s house. He was carrying something large, and he put it into the trunk of Shelby’s car. Hamilton hit Pause again.
    â€œIs this what you saw on the day Mr. Shelby murdered his wife, Miss Bauer?”
    â€œOh yes, that is exactly what I saw!”
    Hamilton then pressed Play. The actor pulled the large object out of the car and showed a set of golf clubs to the camera.
    â€œWow!” whispered Jake into Madison’s ear. “This is like a Max Stone novel!”
    Madison’s head snapped toward Jake. “You like Max Stone?”
    â€œMy dad loves those books. I’ve read a couple. They’re pretty good.”
    Thelma Bauer’s heavily rouged cheeks turned redder, and she gripped her skirt with her hands.
    â€œThat’s . . . It was a body.”
    â€œYou may have thought you saw Mr. Shelby put a body in his car, but might it not have been a set of golf clubs? A golf bag is about the size of a body, and you testified that you never saw any part of the body.”
    â€œI saw a body,” the witness insisted stubbornly.
    â€œI wonder when Miss Bauer had her eyes checked last,” Madison whispered to Jake.
    â€œCan you admit that you might have been mistaken?” Hamilton asked. “After all, it was early morning and you were awakened from your sleep.”
    Miss Bauer looked at the DA, but Mr. Payne was not allowed to coach his witness. He couldn’t do anything but sit with a stone face.
    â€œI guess it’s possible,” Miss Bauer conceded.
    â€œNo further questions, Your Honor.”
    â€œAnything more you’d like to ask, Mr. Payne?”
    â€œI have nothing further of this witness,” the DA said. “May she be excused?”
    â€œMiss Bauer, you may step down,” Judge Young said.
    Thelma Bauer had