Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer by John Grisham Read Free Book Online

Though he rarely smiled, he began his opening statement with a friendly “good morning” and introduced himself and the two younger prosecutors at his table. He did a nice job of breaking the ice.
    Then he got down to business. He introduced the victim, Myra Duffy, by showing the jury a large color portrait of her. “She was only forty-six years old when she was murdered,” he said gravely. “The mother of two sons, Will and Clark, both college students. I’d like for them to stand.” He pointed to the front row, directly behind the prosecution’s table, and the two young men stood awkwardly and looked at the jurors.
    Theo knew from the newspaper reports that their father, her first husband, had been killed in a plane crash when they were little boys. Mr. Duffy was her second husband, and she was his second wife.
    People liked to say that there was a lot of remarrying “out at The Creek.”
    Mr. Hogan was describing the crime. Mrs. Duffy had been found in the living room of the large contemporary home she shared with Mr. Duffy. It was a new home, less than three years old, and it was on a wooded lot that backed up to the golf course. Because of all the trees, the house was barely visible from the street, but then the same could be said of most of the homes at Waverly Creek. Privacy was important out there.
    When her body was found, the front door of their home was unlocked and slightly open. The alarm system was in Standby mode. Someone had taken her jewelry from her closet, a set of antique watches owned by Mr. Duffy, and three handguns from a drawer by the television in the den. The estimated value of the missing loot was about thirty thousand dollars.
    The cause of death was strangulation. With the approval of Judge Gantry, Mr. Hogan stepped to a projector, hit a button, and a large color photo appeared on a screen opposite the jury. It showed Mrs. Duffy lying on the carpeted floor, well dressed, seemingly untouched, her high-heeled shoes still on her feet. Mr. Hogan explained that on the day she was murdered, a Thursday, she’d had a luncheon date at noon with her sister. Apparently, she was ready to leave the house when she was attacked and killed. Her murderer then went through the house, took the items that were missing, and left. Her sister began calling Mrs. Duffy’s cell phone, ten calls over the next two hours, and became concerned enough that she drove to Waverly Creek, to the Duffy home, and found her sister. As far as crime scenes go, this one looked rather peaceful. The victim could’ve simply fainted. At first, her sister and the police thought she had died of a heart attack or a stroke or some other natural cause. But given her age, fitness, and no history of drug abuse, they quickly became suspicious.
    An autopsy revealed the true cause of death. The person who killed Mrs. Duffy grabbed her from behind and pressed firmly on her carotid artery. Mr. Hogan placed his fingers against his own carotid artery, on the right side of his neck. “Ten seconds of firm pressure in just the right place and you lose consciousness,” he said, then waited while everyone else waited to see if he might just collapse himself right there in open court. He did not. He continued, “Once Mrs. Duffy passed out, her killer kept pressing, firmer and firmer, and sixty seconds later she was dead. There are no signs of struggle—no broken fingernails, no scratches, nothing. Why? Because Mrs. Duffy knew the man who killed her.”
    Mr. Hogan dramatically turned and glared at Mr. Duffy, who was seated between Clifford Nance and another defense lawyer.
    “She knew him because she was married to him.”
    There was a long, heavy pause as the entire courtroom looked at Mr. Duffy. Theo could see the back of his head. He wanted desperately to see his face.
    Mr. Hogan continued, “He was able to get so close because she trusted him.”
    Mr. Hogan stood by the projector and displayed more photographs. Using them, he laid out the