“May we approach, Your Honor?” I said. Saul waved us forward.
Judge Saul leaned over the side of her bench and covered her microphone.
“What are you doing, Mr. Cutler?”
“Dane Fischer isn’t on trial,” I said. “I think it’s patently obvious what Mr. Cutler is trying to do.”
“I didn’t manufacture Dane Fischer,” Cutler spat. “I didn’t bring him into this. Detective Ritter did. It is absolutely within my client’s rights to explore whether there were any alternative suspects to the crime he’s been accused of and what evidence there was against those alternative suspects.”
“I’m inclined to agree with him, Ms. Brent,” Judge Saul said. “Detective Ritter’s investigation is fair game. It’s part of this. But we aren’t going to slander a man, Mr. Cutler. Ms. Brent is right. Dane Fischer isn’t on trial.”
“He should be,” Cutler said, earning him a withering glance from the judge. We went back to our positions.
“Detective Ritter,” Cutler said. “What caused you to view Dane Fischer as a person of interest?”
“Ellie Luke’s mother indicated Mr. Fischer and her family had a complicated history. That he had some substance abuse issues. When Mrs. Luke’s cousin threw him out of her home, the Lukes took him in for a brief period. Mrs. Luke later learned that Mr. Fischer may have stolen some things from the house.”
“How did she learn that?”
“Ellie Luke brought it to her attention. I believe that was the source of the friction between the families at that point.”
“Friction. But that’s not really a strong enough word for what happened, is it? Isn’t it true that Dane Fischer threatened to hurt Ellie Luke if she went to the police with what she knew?”
“I don’t know if that’s true. I know that’s what Mrs. Luke believed.”
“And you brought Dane Fischer in for questioning based on Mrs. Luke’s belief, didn’t you?”
“I questioned Dane Fischer, yes.”
“You did more than question him, didn’t you?”
“I don’t know what you’re implying?”
“I mean you asked him to submit to a polygraph, isn’t that right?”
“Objection! Do I even have to explain?”
“No,” Judge Saul said. “Mr. Cutler, you’re on thin ice. Defense counsel’s last question should be stricken. The witness is instructed not to answer.”
“Your Honor, the results of any polygraph are inadmissible. I didn’t ask about the results. I only asked if Detective Ritter asked Mr. Fischer to submit to one.”
“Enough,” Judge Saul said. “My ruling stands. Move on.”
God. The smug bastard had done it. It didn’t matter that the question was stricken. The jury heard it, just as Cutler intended. They would assume the rest of it, that Fischer had failed one. Gus’s expression turned even more sour.
“You interrogated Dane Fischer about his whereabouts the night Ellie Luke went missing, didn’t you?”
“Of course.”
“Did Mr. Fischer’s alibi check out?”
“No.”
“No. According to your report, Mr. Fischer claimed he was at the Lakeside Bar in Rossford?”
“That’s what he said, yes.”
“But his alibi didn’t check out, did it?”
