Kennedy told me he got a call about Christine, from one of his FBI buddies on the task force.
“I’m sorry, Eddie. This isn’t right. My guy told me Carmel and Amy are fine. They’re still in Grey’s Point. At least Amy is safe,” he said.
“She too young to see all of this. To watch her mother being taken away after what she’s been through…” I clamped my teeth and said no more. Whatever else happened, Dell would pay for putting my family through this.
It took Zader around five minutes to lead the security officer through most of his evidence. They covered the initial emergency call from Gershbaum, the response time, gaining access to Gershbaum’s apartment, and climbing over the small gap between the balconies. He was a good witness; he gave clear answers, and it was obvious from his answers, that he had once been a cop. Medrano told me that Forest had left the force because of a ball-busting sergeant. He didn’t take too well to that kind of authority but found a home, and better pay, at Central Park Eleven Security. A tall, lean officer with a starched collar and a red handkerchief in his blazer, Forest came across as an accurate, conscientious witness.
“Once you’d made it onto Mr. Child’s balcony, what did you see?” asked Zader.
“I saw the glass on the floor of the balcony first. I drew my weapon, hunkered down, and peered into the room. That’s when I saw the body of a young, blond female, lying facedown on the kitchen floor. I could tell that she’d sustained massive head injuries and in all likelihood she was already dead.”
“What did you do next?”
“I climbed over the balcony and moved into the room, trying not to tread on the glass too much, and I radioed my supervisor that he should enter Mr. Child’s apartment, that we had a body on our hands and the perp could still be in there.”
“Your supervisor had not entered the apartment prior to your call?”
“No. We can’t enter a resident’s dwelling without permission, ordinarily. Not unless we have evidence that their safety or the safety of others is at risk. We’re not the police. There are a lot of powerful people who live there, and they cherish their privacy more than most folks.”
“Please continue,” said Zader.
“My supervisor called 911 and informed them that we were entering the apartment to do an emergency search. He got clearance for that from the operator, and he entered through the front door with the response team. We swept the apartment, found no one else. Not long after we finished our search, NYPD finally showed up. Then we cleared the scene and I gave a statement to Detective Morgan.”
“Thank you,” said Zader, taking his papers from the lectern.
“Mr. Flynn, do you have any questions for Mr. Forest?” said Rollins.
“Yes, Your Honor. Mr. Forest, you entered the apartment and discovered the body. You then say you radioed for backup and your team performed a sweep of the apartment. Is that right?”
“That’s right.”
“Describe this search of the apartment.”
“We searched the kitchen, the living room, TV room, first-floor bathroom, ah—then we searched the bedrooms, bathroom, study.”
“Anywhere else?”
“No, well—there was nowhere else to search. Apart from the victim, the apartment was empty.”
My dad’s warm breath in my ear: People believe what they can see.
The next question was risky. I didn’t know the answer for sure. My mouth felt dry as I spoke.
“You didn’t search the panic room?”
Warning signs appeared in front of him, big as traffic signs and flashing red for danger. He searched for an answer.
“By the time the security team arrived, they’d already been informed that Mr. Child had left the apartment—so there was no point in searching the panic room. He’s the only one with access, and he’d already left.”
It was good enough. Time to move on.
“Mr. Forest, you are a former police officer, so you would have some training and experience in firearms?”
“Correct.”
“Considering your training and experience, how long would it take to aim and fire a whole magazine from a pistol, reload, and then spend the new cartridge?”
He blew out his cheeks and said, “I don’t know, maybe half a minute?”
“Half a minute. Could you do it faster? Would it be possible to do it in say fifteen or twenty seconds?”
“Fifteen would be very fast, maybe twenty seconds.”
“Twenty seconds, okay. I see that you wear a watch, Mr. Forest.”
He was a little taken aback. He screwed up his eyes, let his lips fold down. “Yes, my wife gave it to me for our anniversary.”
“Do you have your cell phone with you?”
“Yes, it’s powered down.”
“With His Honor’s permission, I’d like you to turn on your cell phone, just for a moment.”
“Your Honor, objection, relevance?” said Zader.
“I’ll be quick, Your Honor. This is relevant and I’m coming to the point shortly.”
“Go faster, Mr. Flynn,” said Rollins.
We waited while Forest switched on his phone. That delay gave me enough time to doubt the next set of questions. I decided it was worth the risk.
“While we’re waiting for it to power up, can you tell me what time it is, Mr. Forest?”
Zader threw his hands up at the judge. Rollins nodded, looked at me. I stared at him hard, my jaw set and tense. I shook my head slightly as my eyes flitted between Rollins and Zader. Like I was waiting for the judge to back Zader, and then I’d be ready to jump in and claim bias.
“Let’s give Mr. Flynn the benefit of the doubt for now, Mr. Zader.”
“Thank you, Your Honor. Mr. Forest, the time by your watch is?”
“Eleven oh two.”
“Can you read the time for me from the wall clock just behind you?”
He swiveled around, stared, and said, “Eleven oh five.”
“And what is the time by your cell phone?”
Pressing a button, he sighed and said, “Ten fifty-nine.”
“So that’s three different times, on three different devices just in this room. Mr. Forest, the security log at Central Park Eleven operates on a different system from the security camera system, isn’t that right?”
“Yes. They run on two different pieces of software, on different systems.”
“Mr. Forest, you did not, at any time subsequent to this murder, check whether the time code on the security footage camera system was synchronized with the time code on your security log, did you?”
He pursed his lips, straightened in his chair.
“No, I did not.”
I lifted the first document from the pile Kennedy had given to me, passed out copies to Judge Rollins, Zader, and the witness.
“Mr. Forest, this is a copy of the 911 emergency log for that night. I take it you are aware that when a resident makes an emergency call, a text registering that call is simultaneously sent to 911?”
“I knew that,” he said.
“And from this document, can you read the time that the text was received?”
His eyes flared, and he read, “Twenty oh four.”
“Thank you,” I said.
I sat down, and Zader was on his feet right away.
Suddenly I was aware of the sheer weight of the evidence against David. And the defense was no thicker than a sheet of ice. I had to tread carefully, slowly, or David, Christine, and I would fall into the cold, dark depths.
Zader was about to send a huge crack across the ice.
“Mr. Forest, if there was a difference in the time signatures, would it be possible for the defendant to have left his apartment before the murder occurred?”
Judge Rollins nodded enthusiastically—he’d been thinking the same thing.
The witness shook his head.
“No. It’s not possible for the murder to have occurred after the defendant left the apartment. There is only one way in and one way out—the front door. The footage from the security camera showed Mr. Child and the victim enter the apartment, and then Mr. Child leaves. I spoke to Mr. Gershbaum personally. No one entered his apartment via the balcony, and it’s twenty-five stories high. When I swept the apartment, it was empty. It’s not possible because the victim had injuries that could not have been self-inflicted, and nobody but the defendant left the apartment. The only person who could’ve killed Clara Reece was David Child.”