A Murder Over a Girl by Ken Corbett

Author:Ken Corbett
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780805099218
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.

FIGURE 11

Mr. Wippert referred to Detective Swanson’s earlier testimony, regathering Swanson’s claim about the eyeball and the lone wolf theory. Mr. Wippert then moved to his overhead projector.

He said, “Let me ask you this, what if you had found a picture of a duck in Brandon’s cell, would that make any difference to you?”

Detective Swanson asked, “Are you serious?”

Mr. Wippert, grinning, replied, “Yes.”

Detective Swanson, his tone rising, said, “I mean that most professionally, sir, but that sounds like a joke.”

Mr. Wippert, making a backhand gesture, as though to dismiss the detective’s tone, asserted, “I am serious.”

Detective Swanson said, “Of course not. It’s a duck. It would be meaningless in this case.”

Mr. Wippert, turning on the overhead projector, asked, “Well, could you turn around and look at this exhibit? You wouldn’t think it was a lone duck theory? There’s swastikas in the duck’s eyes, right?”

Mr. Wippert had projected an image of Donald Duck with swastikas in his eyes, although his projector and his image were so poor it was difficult to see. At first, I thought they were a pair of gray bedroom slippers.

Detective Swanson, searching the image, concluded, “I have no idea what that is.”

Mr. Wippert, laughing, said, “Never seen that one before, huh? Let me bring it to you. Have you heard of the lone duck theory?”

Detective Swanson repeated, “I just want to clarify that you’re being serious. I have not testified to anything that I thought was a joke about this case or white supremacy, sir.”

Moving quickly, returning to the projector, having never handed Detective Swanson the image of the duck, telling Detective Swanson that he, Mr. Wippert, “was asking the questions,” Mr. Wippert put a second image on the projector.

He continued, “Just so you know, sir, a photo of President Obama with swastikas in his eyes. Have you ever seen that?”

Detective Swanson, looking around the room, as if to locate himself, answered, “Never seen that before, and I wonder where the inspiration for that photo came from, though.”

Mr. Wippert: “You don’t know what the inspiration for that photo was, but it’s swastikas in the eyes of our president.”

Detective Swanson: “I’ve never seen that photo. I have no idea where it came from, who created it, or when it was created.”

Pacing, brandishing a stack of papers, Mr. Wippert put another image on the projector, this one of Queen Elizabeth with swastikas in her eyes.

“What in the hell is he doing?” an elderly man in the front row asked loudly.

“Going crazy,” his friend said.

Mr. Wippert put yet another image on the projector and said, “All right. This one actually might be more appropriate. This is President Bush with some swastikas in his eyes. You ever see this photo?”

Detective Swanson, again searching the room, looking at the judge as if he might act to restore some order, asked, “How is that appropriate?”

“Answer the question. Have you ever seen it?” Mr. Wippert said emphatically.

“No,” Detective Swanson said.

Mr. Wippert asked, “Never seen any other photos with swastikas in his eyes?”

Detective Swanson: “No. And I’m still not sure if you’re doing this as a joke or not.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.