The elevator stopped and Jerry and the detectives brought Ashley to Delilah’s office. A few minutes later, Delilah joined them. There was a huge smile on her face.
“Come here, girlfriend,” she said as she wrapped Ashley in a warm embrace. After a moment, she stood back and held her witness at arm’s length.
“You can be mighty proud of yourself, young lady. You have single-handedly brought a terrible murderer to justice. I know we have a way to go but I was watching the faces of those twelve jurors and they are converted. It would take the intervention of the Almighty to work an acquittal for Joshua Maxfield, and he only has Eric Swoboda and Satan on his side.”
Ashley blushed at Delilah’s effusive praise.
“How you feelin’?” Delilah asked. “You feelin’ relieved?”
Ashley nodded.
“You’ll sleep good tonight, child, because you done good. You avenged your parents. You did them proud.”
“I’m so glad I don’t have to come to court anymore.”
Delilah’s smile disappeared. “I know you want to stay away and put this behind you, but I need you in court every day until the trial ends.”
Ashley looked stricken. Delilah looked right at her. When she spoke her tone was firm.
“Your parents need you in court to face down their killer. You represent Norman and Terri Spencer and Tanya Jones. It’s important that the jury see you every day. They have to know that you’re watching them and holding them to account.”
“All right.”
Delilah gave Ashley’s shoulders a gentle squeeze. “Your day of rest will come soon, but you have to play your part to make sure that Joshua Maxfield never has another peaceful day.”
Chapter Thirty
Jerry couldn’t go to court with Ashley the next day because he had an appearance in Washington County in a divorce case. He offered to try to set over the case, but Ashley wouldn’t hear of it. When she walked into the courtroom, Miles Van Meter was already in his front-row seat.
“I didn’t get a chance to talk to you yesterday,” Miles said. “Your testimony was excellent. I was watching the jurors. They hung on every word. I hope Casey holds up as well as you did.”
“I’m sure she will. She’s a very strong woman.”
“I appreciate the time you’re spending with her. It’s helped her recovery tremendously.”
“She is my mother,” Ashley responded. Thinking of Casey as her mother was getting easier.
“The way she treated you, you don’t owe her anything. That’s what makes what you’re doing so great.”
“Getting to know Casey has helped me, too. It’s like I’m starting to build a family again.”
Miles was about to respond when the bailiff rapped the gavel and called the courtroom to order.
Delilah began the day by calling three members of Joshua Maxfield’s writing seminar. They told the jurors how upset Terri Spencer was during Maxfield’s reading of the excerpt from his serial-killer novel. Delilah’s next witness was Dean Van Meter’s secretary, who established that Terri had met with the dean on the day of her death. After the secretary, Delilah called a representative of the phone company to prove that the dean had phoned Ashley’s mother within an hour of the meeting at the Academy.
During the testimony, Ashley would glance at Joshua Maxfield when a witness made an important point. He never looked back. His shoulders were hunched and he stared at the tabletop. It appeared to Ashley that he had given up.
Delilah’s next witness was Dr. Sally Grace, the medical examiner. It took a good part of the morning for her to explain the cause of death for Tanya Jones and Ashley’s father and mother. Dr. Grace’s explanation was accompanied by graphic photos, which were passed to the members of the jury. Fortunately for Ashley, the spectators could not see the autopsy and crime-scene photographs. The testimony about her parents’ and her friend’s injuries was gruesome enough. Even though Delilah had warned her about what she would hear, it took all of Ashley’s self-control to stay in the courtroom.
After the lunch break, Delilah used Tony Marx to introduce evidence that had been gathered at the boathouse and Joshua Maxfield’s cabin. Then she called Detective Birch, who introduced the evidence that had been discovered at the Spencer home crime scene. After an hour of this, Delilah asked a question about another subject.
“At some point in your investigation did you develop a theory that the man who committed these murders had committed murders in other states?”
“Yes,” Birch answered.
“What steps did you take to find out if you were right?”
“We sent information about the case to the FBI.”
“Why did you do that?”
“There is a division of the bureau that tracks serial killings from around the country.”
Delilah addressed Judge Shimazu. “I have no further questions of Detective Birch at this time. But I plan to recall him, Your Honor.”
“You may cross-examine, Mr. Swoboda.”
“May I reserve my cross until Detective Birch has completed all of his testimony?”
“Any objection to that, Miss Wallace?”
“No, Your Honor.”
“Call your next witness, Miss Wallace.”
“The State calls Bridget Booth, Your Honor.”
A moment later, a woman with short gray hair and a pale complexion walked down the aisle. Her bearing was military and she wore a gray business suit, white blouse, and practical shoes.
“What is your occupation, Mrs. Booth?” Delilah asked as soon as her witness had been sworn.
“I’m a special agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.”
“Where are you headquartered?”
“ Quantico, Virginia.”
“Would you please tell the jury your educational background?”
“I received a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in behavioral science from the University of Missouri.”
“Where did you work after obtaining your degrees?”
“I was a policewoman and a homicide detective in St. Louis, Missouri, for seven years. Actually, I obtained my master’s while I was on the force. During my seventh year in St. Louis, I applied to the FBI and was accepted. I completed basic training at Quantico, Virginia, and served four years as a special agent assigned to the Seattle office. Then I applied for VICAP and I’ve been there for thirteen years.”
“What is VICAP?”
“It’s an acronym for the FBI’s Violent Criminal Apprehension Program. The program originated from an idea developed in the 1950s by the late Pierce Brooks, a detective with the Los Angeles Police Department. Detective Brooks was investigating the murders of two Los Angeles women who were found bound by rope in the desert. They had both answered an ad for photographic models. Detective Brooks was convinced that this was the work of a killer who had murdered before and would strike again, so he used his off-duty hours to read out-of-town newspapers in hopes of finding an account of another similar murder. He did find such a case and it led to an arrest and conviction.
“Detective Brooks became convinced that putting information about open homicide cases on a computer would enable law enforcement officers from around the country to solve cases with similar modus operandi. In 1983, the National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime was created and placed under the direction and control of the FBI training center at Quantico. VICAP is a part of the center. Its goal is to collect, collate, and analyze all aspects of the investigation of similar-pattern multiple murders on a nationwide basis.”
“Approximately five years ago, did you receive a call from Detective Larry Birch of the Portland Police Bureau concerning some homicides that had occurred in Oregon?” Delilah asked.
“Yes.”
“Why did Detective Birch contact you?”
“The crimes were unusual, and he wondered if we were aware of other crimes with similar modus operandi. He was also in possession of an unpublished novel…”