Chapter 91
I WATCHED SUTTER come up the aisle. Last time he took the stand, I thought what a regular guy he was, how credible, what freaking bad luck for Del Rio that the UPS man with the disappearing hair and the sunburned nose was going to testify against him.
Now, Sutter looked like bad shit had happened.
Both of his eyes were blackened, his nose was swollen and bandaged, and his right arm was in a cast and a sling. He was sworn in, then he took his seat. He saw me and gave me a hard look.
I reflexively massaged the bruised knuckles of my right hand.
My brother sat in the row in front of me with his right leg crossed over his left knee. He was jiggling his foot nervously, and he wasn’t smirking. Not today.
Caine approached the witness.
“Mr. Sutter, on the night of June fourteenth, did you see Mr. Del Rio at Vicky Carmody’s house?”
“Yes.”
“Please describe the circumstances.”
“He was coming to see Vicky.”
“And you knew that Ms. Carmody was expecting him, is that right?”
“Yes. Vicky had told me that Del Rio was coming over to return her camera.”
“Did you mention this date to someone else?”
“Yes.”
“And whom did you tell?”
“I refuse to answer on the grounds that an attempt has been made on my life and if I say who hired me, I will be erased.”
“Okay, Mr. Sutter. We’ll get back to that question later. Did you see Mr. Del Rio go into Ms. Carmody’s house?”
“Yes, like I said the last time, I was across the street making a pickup. I saw Del Rio go in, and I saw Vicky close the door.”
Caine asked, “And did you see Mr. Del Rio leave Ms. Carmody’s house?”
“Yes. About fifteen or twenty minutes later.”
“Then what happened?”
“After Del Rio left, I rang Vicky’s doorbell and she opened the door. I told her I was just making sure she was okay, and she said she was fine. I pushed her in, went inside with her, and locked the door.”
Sutter looked into space, touched his nose. Seemed lost in thought.
Caine said, “You went inside the house with Ms. Carmody. What happened after that, Mr. Sutter?”
Sutter came back to the moment.
“I beat her until I thought she was dead.”
The crowd in the gallery gasped as if it had taken a collective gut punch. The gasp was loud. It echoed.
The jury, too, looked severely shocked.
Caine paused to let Sutter’s testimony sink in. He did a half turn, looked at the jury, then turned back to Sutter. He said, “Why did you brutally assault Ms. Carmody?”
Sutter said, “Look, I didn’t do it for fun. I did it because I was between a rock and another rock. I was in debt to some sharks who were threatening my family. There’s a guy I knew from rehab who has a hate-on for Del Rio.
“We talked about Del Rio sometimes. So, anyway, I told him Del Rio was back in Vicky’s life, and he made me an offer. He said it right out. He would pay off my debt if I killed Vicky and made it look like Del Rio did it.”
Caine said, “And you agreed.”
“I had to. I snorted a little coke to get me going. Then I beat the crap out of her. My debt went away.”
“And so I’ll ask you again, Mr. Sutter. Who paid you to kill Vicky Carmody?”
“Look. I’m testifying to show good faith. But, on the advice of counsel, I refuse to name the guy who hired me until my family is in witness protection and I’ve got a deal. In writing. And that’s all I’m going to say.”