“You think someone could’ve paid Pendleton for the body?” I asked.
“They say everyone has a price,” said Claire. “Tracey Pendleton makes fifteen dollars an hour. I guess her tipping point wouldn’t be too high.”
Chapter 31
FLOYD MESERVE WAS clean-shaven, neatly dressed, his hair in a ponytail short enough to reveal the tattoo of a naked woman just above his collar.
Yuki approached her witness and said, “Lieutenant Meserve, what is your job title?”
“Lieutenant, Crimes Against Persons Division, Northern District, SFPD.”
“Do you know the defendant?”
“Yes. I met with him on February twentieth of last year.”
“What were the circumstances of your meeting?”
The jurors were attentive, some of them leaning forward in their seats. The gallery was still. Yuki was absolutely sure there would be no surprises with Floyd Meserve.
“I was working undercover at the time,” said Meserve. “One of my CIs told me that a lawyer was looking for a hit man. I told him that I could pose as such.”
“Did this confidential informant give your contact number to the defendant?”
“Yes.”
“And did the defendant contact you?”
“Yes, the same day. We set up a meeting.”
“When did you meet the defendant?”
“I met the defendant in a parking lot outside the Westlake Shopping Center on Southgate Avenue at five in the evening. We each drove there in our own vehicle. The defendant wanted me to talk to him inside his car, but I told him I don’t do that. He had to get into my vehicle.”
“And why did you want him to get into your vehicle?”
“I had a video recorder set up.”
“I see. So did Mr. Herman get into your car?”
“Yes. He got straight to the point.”
“What did he say?” Yuki asked.
“He said he wanted me to dispose of his wife because she was abusing their daughter. And he said he wanted me to kill his daughter, too, because he said his wife had ruined her.”
“He wanted you to kill a seven-year-old?”
“That’s what he said.”
“And what did you say to this proposition?”
“I asked him if he was sure. He said he had thought about it for a long time. So I told him it would cost him a lot to take out a woman and a child.”
“Was a dollar amount discussed?” Yuki asked.
“We negotiated the price of one hundred thousand for both people. Half down, half after proof of the hits.”
“Did your recording equipment capture this conversation?”