Chapter 15 Chapter fifteen

San Jose has quickly taken on a carnival-small-town vibe.Media flocked from all over the world.Every hotel was full, and some news outlets were forced to live in remote towns: Santa Clara, Sun Valley, Palo Alto.David was surrounded by reporters. "Mr. Singer, tell us about the case. Are you pleading not guilty for your client?" "Is it true that the District Attorney is willing to make a plea bargain?" "Is Dr. Paterson going to testify on his daughter's behalf?" "My magazine is willing to pay $50,000 to interview your client." ※※※ Mitch Brannan was also hot on the heels of the media.

"Mr. Branen, would you say a few words about this trial?" Blaine turned his head and smiled at the TV cameras: "Yes. I can sum up this trial in five words: 'We will win.' No comment on the rest." "Wait! Do you think she's crazy?" "Is the State Attorney going to call for the death penalty?" "Do you call this case a clear case?" ※※※ David rented an office near the courthouse in San Jose, where he could interview his witnesses and help prepare them for trial.He has decided that Sandra will remain in Quiller's office in San Francisco until the trial begins.Dr. Salem has arrived in San Jose.

"I want you to hypnotize Ashley one more time," David said. "Let's get as much information as possible from her and the other selves before the trial begins." ※※※ They met Ashley in a holding cell at the county detention center.She was trying to hide her nervousness.She looked to David like a fawn caught in the headlights of a giant van. "Good morning, Ashley. Do you remember Dr. Salem?" Ashley nodded. "He's going to hypnotize you again. Okay?" Ashley said, "He's going to talk to those... those?" "Yes. Do you mind?"

"No. But I... I don't want to talk to them." "That's good. You don't have to say it." "I hate this!" Ashley exploded angrily. "I know," David reassured, "don't worry. It'll be over soon." He nodded to Dr. Salem. "Make yourself comfortable, Ashley. Remember how easy it was? Close your eyes and relax. Just try to clear your mind of distracting thoughts. Feel your body relaxing. Listen to my voice. Don't Thinking about everything else. You're getting very sleepy. Your eyes are getting very heavy. You want to fall asleep. . . . to sleep..."

Ten minutes later, she was in a hypnotic state.Dr. Salem gestures to David.David walked over to Ashley. "I want to talk to Aliette. Are you there, Aliette?" They watched Ashley's face soften and undergo the same transformation they had seen earlier.Then, there's that soft, sweet Italian accent. "Good morning." "Good morning, Elliott. How are you feeling?" "It's bad. It's a very difficult time." "It's going to be hard for all of us," David assured her, "but it's going to be all right." "I hope so."

"Ai Lite, I want to ask you a few questions." "OK……" "Did you know Jim Cleary?" "No." "Do you know Richard Melton?" "Yes." There was a deep sadness in her voice. "What happened to him was... really terrible." David looked over at Dr. Salem. "Yes, it was terrible. When was the last time you saw him?" "I met him in San Francisco. We went to a museum, we had dinner together, and before I left, he asked me to come with him to his apartment." "So you went?" "No. I wish I had gone," Alette said ruefully, "I might have saved his life." There was a brief silence. "We said goodbye and I drove back to Cupertino."

"That was the last time you saw him?" "yes." "Thank you, Elliott." David moved closer to Ashley and said, "Toni? Are you there, Toni? I want to talk to you." As they watched, Ashley's face underwent another distinct transformation.Her visage changed before their eyes, there was a new self-confidence, a sexual awareness.She began to sing in that clear, deep voice: "Up and down the street, There the eagles come and go, That's the way money goes, Puchi!The weasel ran away. " She looked at David. "Do you know why I like to sing that song, honey?"

"No." "Because my mother hated it. She hated me." "Why does she hate you?" "Look, we can't ask her now, can we?" Toni laughed, "Not where she is. I can't do anything that's right for her. Your mother is What kind, David?" "My mother was an amazing person." "Then you're lucky, aren't you? It's just random luck, I suppose. God's playing with us, isn't he?" "Do you believe in God? Are you a religious man, Toni?" "I don't know. There might be a God. If so, he's got an odd sense of humor, doesn't he? Elliot's a religious one. She goes to church regularly, that girl."

"how about you?" Toni gave a short smile. "Well, if she's there, I'm there too." "Toni, do you think killing people is right?" "No, of course not." "So……" "Unless you have to." David and Dr. Salem exchanged glances. "What do you mean by that?" Suddenly, her tone changed.It sounded like she was being defensive. "Uh, you know, it's like you have to protect yourself if someone is hurting you." She became more and more exasperated, "if some idiot is trying to do something dirty to you." She became Getting hysterical.

"Tony..." She began to sob. "Why can't they not mess with me? Why do they have to push me?" she was screaming. "Tony..." silence. "Tony..." No reply. Dr. Salem said, "She's gone. I want to wake Ashley up." David sighed. "Ok." After a few minutes, Ashley opened her eyes. "How are you feeling?" David asked. "Tired. Is...is everything going well?" "Yes. We talked to Alette and Toni. They..." "I do not want to know." "Okay. Now, why don't you go and rest, Ashley? I'll be back to see you this afternoon."

They watched as a female prison guard led her away. Dr. Salem said, "You've got to put her on the stand, David. That'd convince any jury in the world..." "I've thought about it a lot," David said, "and I don't think I can." Dr. Salem watched him for a while. "why not?" "Branen, the prosecutor, is a cold-blooded killer. He'll break her. I can't take that chance." David and Sandra dined with the Quellers two days before the trial began. "We checked into the Wyndham Hotel," David said, "and the manager gave me a special offer. Sandra was going to come with me. The town was unbelievably crowded." "If it's that bad now," Emily said, "think about what it's going to be like when the trial starts." Quiller looked at David. "Is there anything I can do for you?" David shook his head. "I have an important decision to make. Whether to put Ashley on the witness stand." "It's a tricky question," said Jess Queller. "If you do it, you'll be condemned, but if you don't, you'll be condemned. The thing is, Bryant is going to put Ashley Paterson is portrayed as a sadistic, murderous demon. If you don't put her on the witness stand, that's the image of her that jurors have in their minds when they walk into the jury room to make their verdict .On the other hand, from what you've told me, if you do put Ashley on the witness stand, Brannon will ruin her again." "Bligh is ready to have all his medical professionals out there explaining the disbelief of multiple personality disorder." "You have to convince them it's real." "That's exactly what I'm going to do," said Davy. "You know what's bugging me, Jess? Those jokes. The latest one that's been around is that I asked for a trial venue to be changed, but I Decided not to change it because there's no place left where Ashley didn't kill someone. Do you remember the time when Johnny Carson hosted the TV show? He had a good sense of humor and he was always a gentleman. Now Well, the hosts of those night shows are all malicious. Their humor at the expense of others is just downright savage." "David..." "Ok." "It's going to get worse," Jess Queller said quietly. The night before court, David Singer couldn't sleep.He cannot root out the negative thoughts that linger in his mind.When he finally fell asleep, he heard a voice saying: You let your last client die.What if you let this one die too? He sat up on the bed, dripping with sweat. Sandra opened her eyes and asked, "Are you all right?" "Yes. It's all right. What the hell am I doing? All I had to do was say no to Dr. Paterson." Sandra grabbed his arm and said softly, "Why didn't you?" He muttered, "You're right. I can't." "That's all right? Now, how about going to sleep for a while, so that you can wake up refreshed in the morning?" "good idea." He stayed up all night. ※※※ Judge Williams was right about the media.Journalists are ruthless.Reporters flocked from all over the world, eager to tell the story of a beautiful young woman on trial for a serial killer (and also castrated her victim). Mitch Bly was discouraged by the restriction that he could not bring the names of Jim Cleary and Jean-Claude Parente to the trial, but the media helped him out.Horrific accounts of the five murders and castrations were carried on TV talk shows, magazines and newspapers.Mitch Bly can be happy. ※※※ When David arrived at the courthouse, the reporters were out in full force.David was surrounded. "Mr. Singer, are you still employed by the international law firm of Kincaid, Turner, Ross & Ripley?" "Look this way, Singer sits first." "Is it true that you were fired for taking on this case?" "Can you tell us about Helen Woodman? Didn't you take over the defense of her murder?" "Did Ashley Paterson say why she did it?" "Are you going to put your client on the witness stand?" "No comment!" said David curtly. ※※※ When Mitch Blynon drove to the courthouse, he was immediately mobbed by the media. "Mr. Branen, how do you think this trial will go?" "Have you tried another defendant before?" "No. I can't wait to talk to all the defendants," Bryant said with an amiable smile. He got the laugh he wanted. "If there are enough defendants, they could have their own baseball club." Another laugh. "I've got to go inside. I don't want any of the defendants waiting for me." ※※※ The prescreening of jurors begins with Judge Williams asking potential jurors some general questions.When she finished, it was the defendant's turn, then the accuser's. To the uninitiated, picking a jury might seem simple: Choose the one potential juror who seems friendly and dismiss the others.In fact, the pre-vetting of jurors is a scrupulous ceremony.Skillful trial lawyers do not ask direct questions that would elicit a "yes" or "no" answer.They ask general questions that encourage jurors to speak up, revealing something about themselves and their true emotions. Mitch Branen and David Singer each had different selection criteria.In this case, Branen wanted to make the jury a majority of men, especially men who would be disgusted and appalled at the thought of a woman stabbing and castrating multiple victims. Traditional minded people, those who are unlikely to believe in fairies and goblins, and those who claim to be possessed.David did the opposite. "Mr. Harris, yes? I'm David Singer. I represent the accused. Have you ever been a juror, Mr. Harris?" "No." "I appreciate your time and effort in doing this." "An important homicide trial like this should be interesting." "Yes. I think it will be interesting." "In fact, I've been looking forward to it." "yes?" "yes." "Where do you work, Mr. Harris?" "At Consolidated Steel." "I suppose you and your fellow workers have talked about the Paterson case." "Yes. Actually, we talked." David said: "That's understandable. Everyone seems to be talking about it. What's the general opinion? Do your co-workers think Ashley Paterson is guilty?" "Yes. I'd say they do think so." "And you think so too?" "Well, it seems so." "But are you willing to hear the evidence from all sides before you make up your mind?" "Yeah. I'll listen." "What's your favorite book, Mr. Harris?" "I don't read much. I like camping, hunting and fishing." "An outdoorsman. When you go camping at night and look at those stars, do you ever wonder if there are other civilizations on those stars?" "You mean the ridiculous UFO thing? I don't believe all that nonsense." David turned to Judge Williams. "Not this one, Your Honor." David asked another juror: "What do you like to do in your spare time, Mr. Allen?" "Well, I like reading and watching TV." "I like to do the same thing. What TV shows do you watch?" "There's some good shows every Thursday night. It's hard to pick. The damn network puts all the good shows at the same time." "You're right. What a pity. Have you seen The X-Files?" "Saw it. My kids loved it." "What about 'Sabrina: A Teenage Wizard'?" "Yes. We watch that show. It's a good show." "What books do you like to read?" "Ann Rice, Steven King..." This one can. ※※※ Next, ask the next juror: "What TV shows do you like to watch, Mr. Mel?" "'60 Minutes,' 'News Hour' with Jim Lehrer, documentaries..." "What books do you like to read?" "Mostly history and political books." "That's all, thank you." Neither does this one. ※※※ Judge Tessa Williams sat in her seat, listening to the questions, her face expressionless.But whenever she glanced at David, David could always feel her disapproval. The jury was finally selected, consisting of seven men and five women.Bryan glanced at David triumphantly.It will be a bloodbath.