Page 2 of Mob Saint

“Apologies. During your time in the field as an arson investigator and now as an actuary, what is the likelihood of an office building catching fire at night while not even the custodial crew is present?”

“Thirty-one percent of office fires occur between seven p.m. and seven a.m.”

“What is the leading cause of these fires?”

“Office kitchen equipment followed by electrical.”

“What caused the fire that destroyed the RK Capital Group building?”

“Objection, your honor.” I’m out of my chair like a jack-in-the-box. “Calls for speculation. The prosecution has not established Ms. Furey’s presence at the scene, let alone her examination.”

Here we go. This is where they expect to impeach the witness who flopped around like a beached bass.

“Sustained.” The judge is quick to decide.

“Ms. Furey, what did you find at the scene when you examined it?”

“Objection, your honor. Calls for speculation. The prosecution hasn’t established when Ms. Furey or at what stage she examined the area in question.”

“Sustained.” The judge is already looking annoyed, but she’s looking at Dickster.

Dickie is staring at me like he’s the one who’d commit murder, not me. I watch him clench his jaw then catch himself before he turns back to his witness.

“Ms. Furey, when did you visit the scene?”

“Forty-eight hours after the department extinguished it.”

“What measures were already in place by the fire department to analyze the scene?”

“The New York City Fire Department already had their crime scene investigators examine the area for any evidence of human remains. The fire department’s inspector had done a cursory and a more extensive search for the cause.”

“What were the fire inspector’s findings about the fire’s cause?”

“It was likely an electrical problem with one of the perimeter fan-coiled units for the central heated and cooled water system.”

Likely.

“What evidence led the inspector to that conclusion?”

“There appeared to be unnatural wear on the unit, suggesting someone tampered with it while attempting to make it appear like it was simply an old piece of equipment that had worn out.”

“That contradicts the testimony we heard yesterday by a member of the New York Fire Department. That witness claimed it was an issue with a stove in an office kitchen. You’re testifying with your expertise that an electrical unit that had been tampered with caused the fire. Is that correct?”

“Objection, your honor. Calls for hearsay.”

Dickie spins toward me. “It does not.”

I cock an eyebrow. He sounds like the whiney bitch he is. I look at the judge and raise both eyebrows.

“Explain, Mr. O’Rourke.”

“The prosecution asked the witness for what the fire inspector led her to believe. He did not establish that she came to the conclusion the prosecution is prompting by her own examination. The prosecution wishes Ms. Furey to make a claim that she’s repeating and pass it off as her own sworn statement. Hearsay, your honor.”

At the least. Let’s plant the seed that the prosecution is inept or trying to dupe the jury.

“Sustained. Let’s move this along, Mr. Hofstadter.”

“Ms. Furey, did you examine the scene personally and gather evidence?”

---