“Handcuffs and shackles are a normal security precaution. Nothing will take place that could possibly be construed as a threat of physical violence.
“His attorney will next appear. Mr. Daniels will almost certainly ask him what’s going on, to which Mr. Bernhardt will give the only reply he knows, that they are waiting for the police-I hope the word ‘homicide’ is used-and another ten minutes will pass.
“Then Sergeant Payne will enter the room and prepare to begin the first interview-”
“Sergeant Payne?” Cohen asked, incredulously, “and where am I?”
“Pray indulge me. I will be grateful for any objections or suggestions you might have, but let me finish, please, first.”
“Go ahead.”
“Payne will unlimber a recording device, not hurrying at all. One with two microphones would be good, and if we can find one with four, that would be even better.”
“A little theater, Jason?”
Washington nodded.
“When the recording device is set up, Matt will respectfully summon you from the corridor. When you come in, Matt will say, ‘Mr. Daniels, this is Mr. Cohen, an assistant district attorney for Philadelphia, who specializes in prosecution of those charged with murder.’
“And then he will turn on the tape recorder, and go through the routine there… ‘This interview of Mr. Homer C. Daniels, in connection with the murder of Cheryl Williamson,’ et cetera. You both know the routine.”
Both nodded.
“And then Matt will say, ‘Mr. Daniels, I understand that you have been advised of your rights as established by the United States Supreme Court, commonly called ‘the Miranda Decision,’ but just to make sure that you are fully aware of your constitutional rights in this situation, I’m going to go over them again with you in the presence of your attorney.”
“And re-Miranda-ize him?” Cohen said. He was now smiling.
Washington nodded.
“And then Matt will say something to this effect: ‘Mr. Daniels, I’m Sergeant Matthew Payne, Badge Number, of the Homicide Unit of the Philadelphia-’ ”
“Won’t he have already said that?” Cohen interrupted.
“Possibly, but redundancy is sometimes useful,” Washington said, and went on: " ’-and what I am going to do now is tell you why we believe, beyond any reasonable doubt, that in taking the life of Miss Cheryl Williamson you are in violation of Paragraph 2502(b) of the Criminal Code of Pennsylvania; that, in other words, you are guilty of Murder of the Second Degree.’
“At this point, I really hope Mr. Daniels will think he sees a slight glimmer of hope. ‘Second Degree? That can’t be as bad as First. Maybe I’m not going to be executed after all.’ ”
“I think I see where you’re going, Jason,” Cohen said.
“At this point, Steve, you will disabuse him of this hope by interrupting Matt and handing Mr. Bernhardt a xerox of page thirty-four of the Crime Codes, and saying, one lawyer to another, ‘I didn’t know if this was readily available to you, Counselor, you might want to look it over.’ And when he has had a moment to do so, you will add, collegially, ‘You’ll see that the only difference between Murder of the First Degree and of the Second, is that the First is premeditated, and Second while the accused was engaged in the perpetration of a felony. A little farther down the page, you’ll see that perpetration of a felony is defined as-’ ”
" ’- engaging in, or being an accomplice in the commission of,’ ” Cohen picked up, quoting from memory, “ ‘or an attempt to commit, or flight after committing, or attempting to commit robbery, rape, or deviate sexual intercourse, by force or threat of force, arson, burglary, or kidnapping.’ ”
“So by now he understands he’s really in trouble,” Matt said.
“Which understanding you will then buttress,” Washington said, “by proceeding something like this: ‘Mr. Daniels, I’m not going to be asking you, right now, many questions, because frankly I don’t have to. What I’m going to do is run through what we know right now, and then give you the opportunity to confer with your attorney, and after that you and he, and Mr. Cohen, can confer, if you like.’ ”
“And then I go down what we do have,” Matt said. “Starting with what?”
“I would suggest the camera. ‘We have the camera you left at the scene, Mr. Daniels, and the images it contained. We know that you bought the camera at Times Square Photo and Electronics, on…’ Do you have the date?”
“It’s in here,” Matt said, indicating his laptop.
Washington nodded.
“… ‘and we have your signature on the sales slip. Among the images in the camera are those of the knife you used, and which the police took away from you here. One of the images shows sperm on the blade of the knife. We think it’s reasonable to believe it’s yours, and that we can convince a judge there is sufficient cause for him to issue a search warrant, which will give us a sample of your tissue so that a DNA comparison can be made’…”
“I get the picture,” Matt said.
“Overconfidence is dangerous, as I’ve tried to point out to you before,” Washington said. “That is especially true of someone like you, who has an abundance of confidence in himself that is not entirely justified.”
Matt looked at him but didn’t say anything.
“Does this scenario have any appeal at all to you, Counselor? ” Washington said.
“It might even work, Jason,” Cohen said.
“I will accept that as meaning it has your full approval,” Washington said, but it was more a question than a statement.
Cohen thought this over for a moment, then nodded.
“Matt, you go someplace quiet-Mickey’s car, perhaps- with your laptop, and refresh your memory about the details. Your performance will be more effective if you can readily recite from memory, for example, the date he bought the camera.”
“Yes, sir.”
“I don’t have to tell you, do I, not to have your laptop with you? I don’t want it subpoenaed.”
“No, sir.”
“Refreshing your memory should take no more than ten minutes, and during that time, I will set the stage in here and give Sergeant Kenny an understanding of his role-and how important it is-in our theatrical production.”
“Yes, sir,” Matt said.
Cohen waited until he was gone and the door had closed behind him.
“Jason, you and I have marched down this path together for a long time,” he said. “And you know I’ll go to the wire and beyond for you. But will you tell me why you’re sending Matt to do this? He’s a nice kid, and I really like him, but…”
“Primarily, Steve, for the educational aspects of it. This is his first homicide job.”
“And if he blows it?”
“I don’t think he will. He’s smart, he can think on his feet, et cetera.”
“But if he does?”
“Then we will both-Matt and I, I mean-know he doesn’t belong in Homicide, won’t we?”
“Then it’s sink or swim time, right?”
“I shall have to make note of that phrase,” Washington said. “It is so profound.”
“What about Daniels, if Matt blows it?”
“Then, psychologically guided interrogation having proven ineffective, I fear I shall be forced to revert to the rubber hose system.”
Cohen chuckled.
“That’s really not so funny,” Washington said. “I really would like to work that walking obscenity over with a rubber hose.”
NINETEEN
When Sergeant Kenny led Homer C. Daniels from what the Daphne police department called the detention area into the administrative area and toward the chief’s office, Daniels was even more firmly cuffed and shackled than Jason Washington thought he would be.
The chief of police had gone into his supply room and come out with a white canvas bag labeled “Prisoner Restraint System.” It held three belts made of thick saddle leather and heavy canvas, a Y-shaped chain, and some other accessories. The system looked as if it was rarely used, if it ever had been.
Washington could now see how it worked when installed. The waist belt buckled in the back. On the front, connected to it with heavy chains, were handcuffs. Daniels could move his cuffed wrists no more than a few inches. Daniels’s ankles had smaller versions of the waist belt around them. A short length of chain connected the two ankle restraints together, so that he had to walk with small steps. Another chain ran up his back, split into two, then went over his shoulders and connected with the waist belt. His ability to bend was severely restricted. Washington wondered how he was going to sit down in the restraint.