Kelsey gasped and partially stood.
I pressed her arm and she sat back down. Crap. There was only one reason Orrin would want Krissy on the stand.
A few weeks in prison hadn’t made Krissy Walker lose any of her luster. Her thick black hair wound around her shoulders, and her eyes were clear. Somehow, she looked good in the orange jumpsuit. She was sworn in and then sat patiently, looking only at Orrin.
Orrin stood. “Ms. Walker, let’s make this easy. Did your sister assist you in the murder of Danny Pucci?”
Krissy swallowed. “Yes.”
Ah, shoot.
Chapter 24
It took me nearly an hour to calm Kelsey down in my office after the hearing. After Orrin had finished questioning Krissy, I’d asked many questions to make sure I could lock her in to the statement if we made it to trial. My final question was what the state had given her in exchange for her testimony, which was a reduced sentence.
Now I sat at the conference table with a puffy-faced Kelsey. She was not a pretty crier. “It’s okay, Kelsey. If Krissy testifies against you, all I have to do on cross-examination is establish that she’s getting a benefit out of everything she says. The jury will discount her testimony.”
Kelsey held up a hand. “It’s not that.” She leaned into Kurt’s side as he was sitting right next to her. She fluttered her eyelashes and sniffed delicately, even though her face was beet red from sobbing.
He slid an arm over her shoulders and tucked her close. “What is it, beautiful?”
Geez. Was she a guy magnet or what? Why did men like damsels in distress so much? It had to be biological. I’d always thought that a woman should be able to save herself. Although having a hot guy around was a nice benefit sometimes.
Kelsey hiccupped. “She’s my sister.”
Oh. Yeah. My heart hurt for her. That had to be excruciating during the hearing. Not once had Krissy even looked at Kelsey during the testimony. “I’m sorry. I’m sure Krissy is just trying to get herself the best deal and hasn’t thought it all the way through. She has to be scared.”
“Would you ever do that to your sisters?” Kelsey shrieked.
“No,” I answered honestly, my ears ringing. “I have to ask you how your DNA got into the scratches on Danny.”
Now she blushed even brighter, making her face several colors of red. A motley red. “We might have gotten together the night before, and it was a little wild. The scratches on his back were from sex.” Then she lowered her gaze. “We got into a fight after that and he pushed me. I scratched him in response and then ran out. I never saw him again.”
I sighed. None of that was good news for her case. “All right. We’ll attend the arraignment as scheduled and hopefully we can talk to Krissy before that. If she’d just recant her testimony, this will all go away.”
Kelsey stood. “I just want to go eat a gallon of ice cream and then go to bed. Krissy might not recant her testimony, and you know it. The judge said there was enough evidence for us to go to trial. When will that be?”
“First, we’ll have a quick arraignment where you can plead not-guilty again and then know all the charges against you. Then a trial date will be set at the pre-trial conference,” I said. “With the court’s docket right now, I think we’re looking at December for trial. Don’t worry. That gives us a lot of time to work on this, and both of us will need to go talk to your sister at the prison.”
Kelsey walked to the doorway like boulders weighed her down. “Okay. I’ll be in touch.”
Kurt stood. “You shouldn’t drive like this.” He looked at me, indecision on his handsome face.
I waved a hand in the air. “Feel free to drive her home. I’ll stay here and get paperwork done until you return.” I looked toward my office. “I have a nine-millimeter in my drawer and know how to shoot it. If anything goes wrong, I’ll take care of it. I’ll be fine.”
Relief softened the planes of his face. “Okay. I’ll just take Kelsey home and be right back. Thanks.” He set a hand beneath her arm and escorted her out, even his movements somehow gentle.
Maybe Kelsey would need three columns for that dating pro and con list. Shaking my head, I walked to the kitchen for a warm Diet Coke before heading to my office to conduct some research for my other cases. Zena sprawled across my feet and under my desk. I loved having the dog close. Soon my phone dinged. I glanced at my calendar to see no appointments set for another hour when I’d meet with somebody named Mr. Smith about a land boundary dispute. “Hi, Oliver.”
“Hi. Mr. Basanelli from the prosecuting attorney’s office is here and says he has an appointment, but I don’t see him on the calendar. Did you make an entry without telling me? It’s not on there.” Oliver sounded slightly peeved.
I searched my memory. “I don’t know anything about an appointment, but go ahead and send him back.” We didn’t have any cases against each other right now, considering Orrin was handling Kelsey’s case.
Oliver brought Nick down the hallway and left him at the door.
“Come on in,” I said.
Nick looked around the office. He must not have had court today because he wore dark jeans with a blue Lilac Lake Country Club golf shirt. “This is nice.”
