Page 152 - Labelle Gramercy, On the Case

Jury-rigged

cheating in their underworld dealings. That led her to put the family
under a microscope, sifting the forensic data and the Simulians’ alibis
for something substantial enough to lead to an indictment. It turned
out that Sherman superstitiously kept his nail clippings in a small
silver casket for ultimate burial with the rest of his remains, and an
extremely minute amount of match-head sulfur had adhered to one
of those parings. Labelle, relying on the scientific expertise of a series
of academic eggheads she spoon-fed to the D.A., was able to date
that clipping based on the varying diet the Simulians ingested in their
travels and to tie the precise chemical composition of the pyrosulfate
to a specific box of matches purchased by Sherman the day before
the crime.
That box had been opened. Only one match had been removed, a
conclusion based on an independent analysis of the manufacturer’s
mechanical quantity and quality control and the dramatic opening of
twenty similar boxes and counting of their contents in front of the
jury. It was also scientifically demonstrated that the striking surface
on the side of the box had not been used. Finally, Sherman’s habit of
lighting matches with his thumbnail was established, and the account
he had given of his whereabouts during the crucial time frame fell
apart under Labelle’s systematic dissection.
He and the other Simulians, after agreeing on a date and time,
evidently drew lots to determine who would carry out an
assassination; only the executioner thus chosen knew who would do
the killing, so it would be impossible for the others to reveal his
identity—period. Further, knowing the appointed hour permitted
each to plan his alibi without involving any of the others. Sherman’s
story seemed as airtight as his cohorts’—until Lieutenant Gramercy
painstakingly punctured it. At the time of the murder he had been on
an overnight train to another city, he swore, and produced the
punched ticket as proof. The ticket seller remembered the heavyset
man with a thick accent wearing a bright Hawaiian shirt, and so did
the man at the wicket. The conductor testified that he punched all the
tickets after the train left the station, and that it did not stop until six
hours later at its final destination. Sherman said—and produced more
witnesses, including fellow passengers and the same conductor—that
he returned the next day, again retaining his ticket (a practice, he told
the judge with a straight face, he followed in order to produce

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