Page 177 - Labelle Gramercy, On the Case

Jury-rigged

“Yes, another juror died. But the case against—well, you’ll see
against whom—was thereby strengthened. This time we had very
little trouble finding the flaws in the murderer’s alibi.”
“I’ll be the judge of that,” she said. Well, she couldn’t fault my
notes. They weren’t far from what her own would have been. I’m not
an utter fool: when I see her doing something effective, I usually try
to adopt the technique as much as I can. If she ever noticed my use
of her methods, which is unlikely, I don’t think she’d be flattered by
the imitation; after all, would it not demonstrate that I need training
and improvement?
“Have you inferred anything from the choice of a religious holiday
for this crime, Duncan?”
“No. I mean, the Simulians have a background in the Eastern
Orthodox faith; we can document that from church records in their
hometown. But none of their other slayings—those we have
identified with them based on circumstantial evidence—took place
on dates of significance in the religious calendar. I concluded that it
was chosen as a date of opportunity: more people are at home on
such occasions, and they tend not to stay up late the night before.”
“I agree.” That was a surprise; I had half-expected her to
contradict me simply out of a perverse need to twist facts and logic to
justify every conceivable possibility.
“Juror number twelve, Mitchell N. Bowan, was the third victim.” I
could tell she was not pleased by the mounting body count. Actually,
no one in the department was, but it was great publicity for the chief
and his spokespeople. Along with the public criticism came a greater
willingness on the electorate’s part to vote for law enforcement bond
issues and to remove those legal restraints on police activity the civil
libertarians keep trying to strengthen. I suppose in that regard an
incentive always exists for our department, as an entrenched
bureaucracy rooting in the taxpayers’ trough, to become a protection
racket itself. Citizenry getting complacent? Nothing like a serial killer
to shake things up.
“I see you gave the photographer free rein again, Duncan. Did any
of this graphic material—for any of these killings—fall into the hands
of the media? I may have to see all the newspapers and TV newscasts
for the past four weeks.”

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