A Hole In One, Paul Weininger [top novels to read txt] 📗

true that at one point you handcuffed and arrested my client Rabbi Bloom?”

“No, it was Detective Sommerville who handcuffed the Rabbi because there was a dead body in his backyard in Sommerville’s own town.”

“So, Detective Pratt, “do you always arrest people when a dead body is found in their home’s proximity?”

“Not necessarily, it depends on extenuating circumstances.”

“What kind of extenuating circumstances could there be?” Jaxson asked.

“For example, as in this situation,” Pratt replied, “I have one corroborating witness who saw the Rabbi leave the back door of his house that morning and watched him haul a large parcel that seemed to have something rolled up in it. He then placed it on a pile of leaves in his backyard. Then he saw him rake a huge abundance of leaves and pine needles over the bundle, pour some liquid over it and set it ablaze. Once he did this, he returned to his front door. He even waved at the witnesses who by this time included the witness’ wife, who also saw the bundle which had been set on fire.”

“Was this wife you mention able to identify both the Rabbi and what was on fire or just that she was able to confirm that she saw the Rabbi in his own backyard burning leaves?” asked Jaxson.

“Yes, and she also stated that she saw a skull sticking out of the ashes.”

“Tell me, Detective, when would you not arrest a homeowner if a dead body were to be found on their front lawn, for example?”

“If that’s all the information we had at the time, we would only question the homeowner, have the body removed and investigate further to see if the homeowner may have had anything to do with that body, or if it was just a neighbor who had a heart attack while walking along the sidewalk and fell on their front lawn, or maybe something else more sinister was done to them by another person,” said Pratt.

“No more questions for this witness, Your Honor.” said the defense attorney.

Because his lawyer didn’t crush the detective during the questioning, his client stared harshly at Jaxson. He meant the stare to be unmistakable and it was, even some members of the jury noticed it.

After a brief recess, D.A. Stanford once again stood up to face the court. “The people call Frank Weissman to the stand.” Weissman was sworn in while his wife Colleen remained on a bench outside of the courtroom. “Mr. Weissman, I am handing you a copy of prosecution exhibit P-1. Would you please describe how you came upon seeing in person what is presented in this photo?” asked the D.A.

“Well, I was taking my trash out to the curb where the trash men would pick it up the next day. As I turned back toward my house, I was about halfway up to my front door, and was able to see the Rabbi’s backyard clearly from that angle. I noticed the Rabbi drag a large bundle out of what I believe were his back doors and into his backyard. I saw him place it on the ground on top of a layer of leaves and pine needles. Then he raked many more leaves and pine needles to make the pile too high in my opinion just to get rid of, what I believed as a Jew myself, old Torahs. Once done raking, he poured a clear liquid over everything, and discarded a pair of gloves into the fire. At this point I ran to get my wife so that she could see what I had just seen. Having finished lighting the fire, he was returning to his house by way of his side yard to the front door. I called out to him to say hello. He waved back, though there was something quite different about him.”

“What do you mean there was something different about him?”

“The Rabbi turned to face me after hearing me calling out to him, ‘Good afternoon, Rabbi.’He waved at me and my wife and we waved back.”

“Why did you say there was something different about the Rabbi?”

“First of all, he had made a large fire in his backyard, which I had never seen him do before. His posture was vastly different than it had always been. I mean as he returned from the backyard, he was still slightly crouched over as if he had been carrying a fifty-pound bag of concrete, not just some trash Torah. Plus, his wave back to us was different than it usually is. Whenever we see each other, as he waves back at us, he always raises his arm above his head and waves while smiling at us. This time, his wave was at his chest level and he never called out our names in a greeting, nor did he smile as he usually does.”

“What else seemed different about him to you?”

“About an hour after he entered his house and closed the door, I snuck into his backyard to assure myself the fire wasn’t crossing over to my yard and saw that the flames had ebbed. So, I looked closer and almost passed out. At first, I thought he had maybe burned an old Torah, a Jewish custom like what Americans do when we need to dispose of an old, tattered U.S. flag. But what I saw was a large pile of ashes and sticking slightly above them was a skull. I couldn’t tell if it was a human or animal skull that had also been burned but it obviously did not fully deteriorate. We then ran to our home and I called 911.”

“Thank you, Mr. Weissman. No further questions for this witness your honor.”

“Does the defense wish to question this witness?” asked the judge.

“We do, Your Honor,” said Albert Jaxson. “May I approach the witness, Your Honor?” He was granted permission and walked towards his target, standing approximately ten feet directly in front of the witness. “Mr. Weissman, you stated that you saw things about the Rabbi that looked different. You