“And who was the person who hired him?”
“Christopher Nelson, via Stanley Ritter.”
“Objection,” the defense attorney said. “Speculative.”
“Your Honor,” Faith replied, “please accept people’s exhibits forty and forty-one into evidence.” She placed copies on the defense table and handed another set to the judge. “These show Mr. Fields’s own words in the transcript from his initial interview.”
“Overruled,” the judge said.
“Your Honor?—”
“Sit down, Mr. Wells. Your objection has been overruled.”
“Were you able to corroborate Mr. Fields’s statements?” Faith asked Sam.
“We executed search warrants at the homes and offices of the defendants, seized computers and electronic devices and established a connection between Mr. Ritter and Mr. Fields and between Mr. Ritter and Mr. Nelson.”
“What do you believe the motive of this crime was?”
“Objection. Speculative.”
“I’d like to hear the lieutenant’s answer,” the judge said.
“We believe Mr. Nelson objected to his father’s choice of Nick Cappuano to be his new vice president after Vice President Gooding resigned due to health challenges. We believe Mr. Nelson was further outraged by Vice President Cappuano’s soaring popularity, as he had presidential aspirations of his own that would be derailed by a popular vice president who’d be the standard bearer in the next election cycle.”
“Objection! This is pure fiction!”
Faith returned to the prosecution table for more documents that she again delivered to the defense and the judge. “People’s exhibit forty-two is the incorporation documents for Christopher Nelson’s presidential campaign exploratory committee.”
“Overruled,” the judge said.
The defense attorney was sputtering with outrage when he sat back down.
“Were you able to tie other associated crimes to Mr. Nelson and Mr. Ritter during your investigation?” Faith asked.
“Yes, we found they had retained an investigator to photograph the children in our lives and used the photos to make threats against us that we believe were intended to drive my husband out of office to clear the way for Mr. Nelson to step up to the plate. In addition, they paid my mother-in-law twenty-five thousand dollars to go on TV and spew lies about her son to try to further impugn his character.”
“Were they successful in driving your husband out of office?”
“No.” Sam laughed to herself at the understatement of that single word. “They were not, although, ironically, prior to President Nelson’s death, Vice President Cappuano had announced he would not run for the presidency in the next election due to his desire to be with his young family.” She looked directly at Nelson and Ritter when she added, “So in the end, all this was for naught.”
“Nothing further,” Faith said.
Wells stood and applauded. “What a performance, Lieutenant. The way you talk about Vice President Cappuano as if he isn’t your husband. He is your husband, correct?”
She wanted to roll her eyes to high heaven, but she just said, “Yes.”
“So let me get this straight… You think the son of the president and his associate tortured your ex-husband for information he could use against you and your current husband. Do I have that right?”
“Yes.”
“I mean, I’ve heard you were full of yourself, but this…”
“Objection,” Faith said.
“Sustained. Quit the editorializing, Mr. Wells, and stick to the facts of the case.”
“Ah, yes, the facts of the case as presented by the ex-wife of the alleged victim and the current wife of the man my clients were supposedly trying to run out of office. Does anyone else see the insanity of this case?”
