The Victim's Wife Page 31

  Ms. Anderson shook her head. “I’ll answer your last question first. No, we do not have any more blood or tissue samples. Those were all either consumed during the lab testing or destroyed afterward. I don’t believe I know enough about the situation to make a recommendation about exhuming the body.”

  I nodded, making a note of how I was going to present this in my closing statement.

  “So just to be clear, you never checked Max’s blood for the poisons that were found in Penny’s home.”

  “Yes, that is correct.” A thin line crawled across her face, and I thought that there was more, so I waited to see if she would elaborate, but she didn’t speak up.

  “Do you have anything else you wish to say about this?”

  Ms. Anderson hesitated. “I do believe that there might be some value in exhuming the body, but from what I know about the facts of this situation, it seemed like Max had full use of his faculties prior to his death.”

  I glanced over at Cindy, who frowned. It was clear the medical examiner was conflicted about this last bit. I was glad I’d given her further opportunity to elaborate.

  “So why would you want to see his body re-examined?”

  “Just to test for the poisons found in his home.”

  “Thank you, no further questions for this witness,” I said as I sat down.

  Steve began his questioning, but there wasn’t anything interesting that developed.

  Before long, Cindy was soon back up at the lectern.

  “I call Office Peter J. Baranski to the stand.”

  I leaned back in my chair. This was one of the pretrial battles I had lost. My motion to exclude Baranski’s testimony had been ignored by the judge even though Cindy had phoned in her response.

  Cindy spent half an hour with Officer Baranski, asking him questions that made it sound like Mason had done something awful that day without actually disclosing the result of the officer’s visit.

  When it was my turn to cross-examine him, I asked only one question.

  “If things were as dire as you said, why didn’t you arrest Mason or charge him with anything?”

  Baranski went red. “I lacked sufficient evidence.”

  “No further questions, Your Honor.”

  Steve Barnum didn’t have any questions for Officer Baranski, so he was excused.

  “The prosecution rests its case,” Cindy said a moment later after reviewing her notes.

  “Counselor,” Judge Lewis looked at me and said, “are you ready to begin?”

  I nodded. “Yes, Your Honor, for my first witness, I call Mason Harwood to the stand.”

  60

  I glanced over at Mason as I called his name, half expecting the man to look hesitant or in some other way to show that he was not on board with what we were planning. He looked confident as he walked up to the witness stand and was sworn in.

  I wished he would’ve looked more indignant about having to face the trial, but I would take what I was given.

  “Can you tell us what you did for Meridian Solutions, Mr. Harwood?”

  “Yes, I was a high-level executive for the company; specifically, I was the Chief Financial Officer, which meant I was in charge of managing the company’s money. I was also an owner of the company.”

  “During the course of this trial, it has come out that you had the majority of the voting rights, at least as it pertained to the day-to-day operation of the business. Is this accurate?”

  “Yes.”

  “It also has been said that you did not often throw your weight around to get your way all the time. Why was that?”

  Mason shrugged. “I guess I just believed that there was value in having everybody present their own ideas. I didn’t want people to feel like Meridian Solutions was a dictatorship. I wanted everybody to bring their ideas to the table so that they could be vetted on merit, not because it was something I wanted to do. The group consensus was usually better than just one person making a decision alone. It was rare when I felt like I needed to go against a group consensus.”

  “Why did you operate this way?”

  “Objection, Your Honor,” Cindy was on her feet now. “Is there a point to this line of questioning?”

  Judge Lewis looked at me. “Counselor?”

  “Yes, the very heart of the matter is whether or not there was enough contention between Mason and Max to give rise to murder. I think it’s essential the jury hear the usual way of running the business because it gives them an inside view into the contentions that occasionally marred the company’s operating procedures.”

  “Overruled, but be careful, counselor. Don’t waste our time. The witness will answer the question.”

  “I guess I believe in democracy, even within the hierarchy of a company. I’m not the smartest guy in the room. I know that, so I allow everybody to say what they think. I want to hear their opinions because I believe there are things they see that I don’t. I also believe there are things I might see that they won’t. It is imperative to run a business in this way.”

  “Can you tell us about the first time contention arose between you and Max?”

  “I don’t know that I can remember back that far,” Mason said, “Max and I were partners for the better part of fifteen years. I will say this, for the first half-decade or so of our relationship, we got along pretty well.”

  “What changed?”

  “It could’ve been for any number of reasons,” Mason said, “but to be frank, I had a relationship with Max’s wife Penny before he dated her. It’s probably accurate to say he met her through me.”

  “Who ended that relationship?”

  “I did.”

  “Why?”

  “A variety of reasons. It just didn’t seem like we were a good fit.” Mason looked uncomfortable, and I could tell he wanted to avoid saying anything negative about Penny, but at the same time, he wanted to answer the questions as honestly as he could.

  “Did you ever resume that relationship?”

  Mason nodded and even managed to look ashamed. “Briefly, when I was separated from my wife.”

  “Why?”

  “I don’t know. It was a mistake. I recognized it for what it was and soon ended things with Penny. I decided to make a go of it with my wife. I wanted to make sure our marriage worked.”

  “And since that time, have you ever had a relationship with Penny again?”

  “No, I have not.”

  I hesitated, uncertain how that answer would play with the jury when the prosecution was trying to argue the opposite. I resisted my desire to look at them because I didn’t want to make it obvious this was a point that I was concerned about in our case.

  Either the jury believes him or they don’t.

  “Were there communications between you and Penny after you broke up with her the second time?”

  “Yes, there were.”

  “How did you communicate?”

  “Usually through text messages. Sometimes she would call me and leave a message. I don’t know that I ever called her back, at least not until after Max died.”

  I groaned inside. He had spoken about Max’s death a little too perfunctorily. I wished he would have worded that differently. He had come off cold and callous.

  “What was the nature of these communications?”

  “Penny wanted to talk about us getting back together. She would talk about us leaving our spouses and forming a long-term relationship.”

  “Was that something you wanted?”

  “No. It was not interesting to me. I made it clear I would not do that.”

  “And how did she take it?”

  “She was relentless. She did not take no for an answer. She kept trying to convince me.”

  “In the six months before Max’s death, there does not appear to be any communication between you and Penny. Is that accurate?”

  “Yes, it is.”

  “You had QuickSend installed on your phone, is that correct?”

  “Yes, it is t
rue.”

  “Did you ever contact Penny through QuickSend?”

  “Yes, when we were dating the second time. I don’t think QuickSend was around when we dated the first time.”

  “Did you ever contact her through QuickSend after you broke up with her the second time?”

  “No. I never did.”

  “Did Penny ever contact you?”

  “Yes, she did.”

  “Did you ever view the messages?”

  “No. Whenever I got a message from her, I would delete it without viewing it. I’d made it clear that I was done with her.”

  I hesitated, wondering if I should push this issue any further, but decided that I’d made a good enough case. It was time to move on.

  “Let’s return to the tension that existed between you and Max. Would it be fair to say that the conflict started after Max began a relationship with Penny?”

  “It might be. I don’t know if there’s a direct correlation there or not. I wasn’t paying close attention at the time. Max and I are very different people. Perhaps that was why things did not work out between Penny and me, but they worked out between her and Max. Penny just wasn’t the type of person I was looking for. My wife is.”

  I could’ve done without this last bit, but I had no choice but to roll with it.

  “So you’re saying that personality differences caused the tension between you and Max?”

  “He tended to be flashier than me. He liked bigger homes, flashier cars. He liked to spend money and live large.”

  “What was the first major disagreement you had with Max that you remember as indicative of this tension?”

  “When he bought the company jet.”

  “And why did you disagree with him on that?”

  “Meridian Solutions had grown to a point where Max felt it was important the company maintained a certain image. As part of that image, he wanted us to have a jet.”

  “Did you agree with this?”

  “No, I thought it was a spurious waste of money and that we should spend our resources elsewhere. When it came to talking about venture capital, one of the things I suggested was that we could sell the jet to raise part of the funds we needed to go after the opportunity that Vivian referred to earlier.”

  “How was that idea received?”

  “I think some of the other partners could’ve been brought around, but Max would not consider it. He liked having the ability to hop in a jet and fly anywhere in the world anytime he wanted.”

  “This annoyed you?”

  “Yes, it did.”

  “Could you have stopped him from getting the jet?”

  “Yes, I could have.”

  “Why didn’t you?”

  “I had recognized by that point that Max and I were different in how we approached money and power. The vestiges of his executive office and status symbols were important to him. I saw value in keeping him happy because he brought new money into our company. Because of this, I did not push back on him when we bought the company jet. I decided to let him have it. And let me just cut to the chase, most of the time when he and I fought, it was usually about money. Max wanted to spend money a little bit more frequently than I did. I like to be a penny pincher.”

  “Let’s talk now about the venture capital. When did you first hear about the venture capital as an option?”

  “It came up within the last year as we discussed pursuing the opportunity.”

  “When you guys first talked about the venture capital, how did the discussion go?”

  “It was a perfunctory discussion. Max brought it to the partnership. We talked about it. We voted him down.”

  “He didn’t like that?”

  “No, he did not, but he accepted it. It wasn’t just me telling him no.”

  “Did Max have the authority to take venture capital without your permission?”

  “No, he could not do it without the proper assembly of voting shares. The most he could have done would be to sell his own shares, but he couldn’t have done this without first giving us each a first right of refusal. If he had wanted to sell, I would’ve bought him out.”

  “When did the issue of venture capital next come up? Was it January 23rd?”

  “Yes. It was the meeting we had scheduled for 3:00 in the afternoon of that day.”

  “So from the first time it arose as an issue until that meeting, it was never talked about again in your presence?”

  “That is correct.”

  “Why do you think that was?”

  “Objection,” Cindy was on her feet, “calls for speculation.”

  Judge Lewis frowned. “I’m going to give him a degree of latitude on this. I want to hear the witness answer the question.”

  “I don’t know. It was news to me that Vivian and the others had been talking about it. They never once approached me.”

  “If they would’ve talked with you, what would your response have been?”

  “I don’t know, they didn’t, so I guess we’ll never know.”

  “Do you find this strange now in retrospect?”

  “Yes, I was the Chief Financial Officer of Meridian Solutions. It was my business to manage company money. It was my responsibility to make sure the company was adequately funded. I pay the bills. You better believe I was angry when this happened without my knowledge.”

  “How did you feel at the meeting that day?”

  “I’m not gonna lie to you. I was pretty mad.”

  “Did you yell during that meeting?”

  “No, I did not.”

  “Did you yell at dinner that night?”

  “No, I did not.”

  “And did you yell at the second meeting?”

  “No, I did not.”

  Vivian and Mason both agreed on this point. Hopefully, the jury would recognize this.

  “Let’s talk now about what happened after that meeting. Did Vivian come and talk with you as she testified?”

  “Yes, she did.”

  “She could not recall if you spoke about the venture capital. Do you remember what you talked about?”

  “Objection!” Cindy said. “Hearsay.”

  “Your Honor,” I said, “this is at the heart of the matter. Vivian had a chance to tell us what she said, and she refused, claiming she couldn’t remember. My client should be afforded the opportunity to speak about what happened.”

  The judge studied me. “Why?”

  “May we approach, Your Honor?”

  He waved us all forward and then gave me an expectant look.

  “It is our contention that Vivian was stoking the fire, so to speak,” I said. “Her words that night were intended to inflame my client’s passions.”

  Judge Lewis frowned as he studied Cindy. “I’ll allow it.”

  “Your Honor—” Cindy began, but Judge Lewis cut her off.

  “I am persuaded by Mr. Turner’s argument. You are, of course, welcome to put Vivian on the stand to refute his testimony if she can recall what she said that night.”

  We returned to our places and I repeated the question.

  “She apologized,” Mason said in answer. “In retrospect, she said she wished that she would’ve urged the other partners to talk to me instead of waiting until the meeting. She blamed Max, saying that Max had intentionally excluded me from the other discussions.”

  I paused to let his answer sink in.

  “After she left, how did you feel about things?”

  “I had started to calm down, but I was getting angry again. I decided it was smart for me to get some air before finishing a couple of things I needed to get done. I grabbed a handful of candy bars from the jar on my desk and went for a walk.”

  “Did you eat those candy bars?”

  “Yes. I did. Every one. Must have been about four of them. They are the fun size.”

  “What did you do with the wrappers after you ate them?”

  “I don’t know. There’s trash cans along the walkway. I probably threw them in ther
e.”

  “And how did you feel after you ate the candy bars?”

  “I felt angrier. Angrier and angrier. After I came back from my walk, instead of having worked through my aggression, I was more worked up about it than I had been before I left.”

  “What happened next?”

  “I have to be honest. It’s like it all happened to somebody else. It’s like I was watching it from a different perspective.”

  “How do you mean?”

  “It’s like I wasn’t myself. I saw that Max’s light was on, and so I went up to his office.”

  “Did you knock?”

  “I did. He told me to come in.”

  “What happened when you entered?”

  “He was angry. He was yelling.”

  “How did you respond?”

  “I yelled back.”

  “Do you remember what he was saying?”

  “Objection,” Cindy was on her feet again, “this is hearsay.”

  “Considering how the witness is not here,” I said, “we should treat this as an excited utterance, especially, as it was moments before his death. It also shows his state of mind.”

  “Your Honor, it is because of Mr. Harwood that Max is not here. By counsel’s own admission, Mason Harwood murdered—”

  “Your Honor,” I said, speaking over Cindy. “We admitted no such thing. We admit that Mason killed Max, but that doesn’t make it murder.”

  The courtroom fell silent.

  The judge thought about it as he looked between us. “I want to hear what the witness has to say.” He looked at the jury. “Please keep an open mind. I might instruct you to disregard this witness’s testimony on this particular point.” He looked at Mason. “You may answer the question.”

  Mason nodded and became sullen. “Yes, if only I would have listened. He said that Vivian had just come to meet with him. Vivian had told him—”

  “I renew my objection, Your Honor,” Cindy said. “This is hearsay. It should not be admissible.”

  “Mason has the right to tell people what he heard,” I said. “It goes to his state of mind. Max made an excited utterance. We’ve already been over this.”

  “I’m going to continue to allow it for now,” Judge Lewis said. “Please finish answering the question, Mr. Harwood.”

  “Vivian had told him that we had just taken a vote and changed our minds about the venture capital. Vivian blamed me. She said that I had convinced them we didn’t need the venture capital after all.”