Black and Blueberry Die (A Fresh-Baked Mystery Book 11) Read Online Free PDF Page B

said, “and it got outta hand.”
    “That’s certainly how the prosecution made it sound,” Phyllis agreed. “And of course, it could have easily happened just that way.”
    “Yep. Mike doesn’t believe it, though.”
    Phyllis went back to the transcript. The prosecution had rested its case. Danny’s attorney hadn’t mounted much of a defense. A couple of Danny’s friends and his business partner, Brian Flynn, had testified that he was a great guy and was devoted to Roxanne and would never hurt her. But under cross-examination by the prosecution, even they had admitted that the couple had argued in the past.
    To cap things off, Danny had taken the stand in his own defense, telling his version of what had happened that terrible evening in what came across, even in the printed transcript, as a calm, steady voice. But there had been more hesitation the farther he went in the story, and Phyllis could almost see him there in the witness chair, his voice breaking slightly as the strain deepened on his face.
    When asked about the wounds on his hand, he had explained that he’d banged it up when a fender he was working on had fallen on it. That seemed reasonable enough, but there was no way to prove it because it had happened after his partner left the shop that day. When pressed on cross-examination about the arguments, he’d had no choice but to admit that he and Roxanne had had a few fights about money.
    “Like any married couple that’s struggling to get ahead,” he had declared. “With the economy the way it is now and just getting worse all the time, not that many people our age even try anymore. Of course we fussed at each other some. That doesn’t mean I didn’t love her or that I would...that I would...”
    Danny hadn’t been able to go on. His emotions had gotten the better of him. But of course the prosecutor had implied that was just an act to get the jury to feel sorry for him.
    If that was true, it hadn’t worked. Less than an hour after both sides had rested, made their closing statements, and the judge had given his instructions to the jury, those twelve peers had been back with a verdict of guilty on one count of second-degree murder. The next day, that same jury had sentenced Danny to thirty years in prison...a sentence he would start serving at the penitentiary in Huntsville as soon as the paperwork got straightened out.
    Phyllis handed the last page of the transcript to Sam. It took him only a moment to read it, turn it over, and add it to the stack of papers he’d made in front of him.
    “Who’s goin’ first?” he asked.
    “You can,” Phyllis said.
    “There’s nothing that jumps out at me. Looks like the cops made a good, solid case. Not air-tight, mind you. There aren’t any eyewitnesses, and there’s not a lot of physical evidence. But what is there points to Danny.” Sam tapped the stack of papers. “From the looks of this, his lawyer didn’t do much to help him, but he didn’t foul up anything, either.”
    Phyllis nodded slowly and said, “That’s the way I see it, too. But there’s no indication that anyone—either the sheriff’s department investigator or Danny’s attorney—looked into the question of who else might have had a reason for wanting Roxanne dead. They also didn’t check for Danny’s blood on the bumper to see if his story was true.”
    Sam frowned and thought about that, then said, “Everybody just went with the conventional wisdom that the spouse is always the prime suspect. What evidence there was, matched up with Danny just fine, so that was that. Can’t blame ’em too much. There’s a reason something becomes conventional wisdom.”
    “Because it’s usually right,” Phyllis said. “But not always.”
    “Nope,” Sam said. “Not always.”
    “And there’s something else...”
    Sam leaned toward her and asked, “You got an idea?”
    “No, it’s not clear enough in my head to call it an idea. It’s more just a...sense...that