Perfect Victim by Carla Norton, Christine McGuire Page A

holding down a full-time job, going to church, and meeting new people. She commuted daily to her job at a hospital where she was doing what she’d learned to do so well over the past several years: She cleaned. It seemed that Colleen was putting her life in the most mundane and normal configuration she could muster.
    Not until much later would the prosecutor understand that while she was attempting to probe beneath the surface of those seven years, Colleen was doing her best to bury them.
    Rolland Papendick had presented a motion to bar the press from the preliminary hearing, but attorneys representing major newspapers flew up from Sacramento to file counter arguments.
    Soon it seemed that every newsperson who could figure out how was filing a supporting brief before Judge Dennis E. Murray.
    At thirty-four, Murray was young for a judge. He ran a conservative courtroom, legally straight and narrow, but he had a sympathetic nature and was concerned about protecting the witnesses, who would be offering very personal and emotional testimony in this case. He denied Papendick’s motion to exclude the press, but when the media requested permission to film the proceedings, the baby-faced judge said he hoped to control “the circus atmosphere” and denied this request as well.
    Freedom of the press had prevailed, and when Deputy DA Mcguire entered the courtroom the morning of December 5, she was stunned to find it filled — camerapersons and newspeople occupying every seat and lining the walls. Standing room only.
    This just never happened in Red Bluff. She was nervous. The baby had kept her up part of the night, and she’d tossed and turned the rest. She was acutely aware of gaps in law enforcement’s knowledge of this case, and during the night the gaps, had grown into huge chasms. She had the feeling that anything could happen.
    There was rampant skepticism about the case. Lt. Jerry Brown had told her that he’d heard nothing but dubious remarks from the media after the press conference, and it seemed that she and the police were the only ones who believed in the charges against Hooker.
    But the purpose of a preliminary hearing is to determine whether there is enough evidence to bring the defendant to trial, not to convert disbelievers, and the judge would be the one to decide whether to try Cameron Hooker.
    Several issues had to be discussed in chambers before the preliminary hearing began, but at last all was in order and the two attorneys entered the courtroom and took their seats.
    Hooker, wearing a flannel shirt, gray cords, and a two-tone blue ski jacket, was brought over from the jail to take his seat next to Papendick at the defense table. He flashed a brave smile at his parents, younger brother, and sister-in-law, who sat in the spectators’ seats behind him. With his round face and wirerim spectacles, he looked more like a boyish country accountant than a sadistic criminal.
    At the table for the prosecution, Officer Shamblin sat jiggling his leg nervously while Deputy DA Mcguire shifted papers and fidgeted. Janice’s attorney, Ron Mclver, took a seat in the empty jury box.
    It was after ten-thirty by the time order was called and the proceedings began.
    The Court: People of the State of California versus Cameron M. Hooker. This is the time and place for the preliminary hearing in Case No. 13961. Are the People ready to proceed?
    Ms. Mcguire: Yes, Your Honor, we are.
    The Court: Mr. Papendick, is the Defendant ready?
    Mr. Papendick: Yes, we’re ready, Your Honor.
    The Court: Ms. Mcguire, you may call your first witness.
    Ms. Mcguire: Call Janice Hooker.
    Janice Hooker was brought in, and everyone scrutinized her as she was sworn in. Wearing, again, jeans and a sweatshirt, her long, wavy hair partially obscuring her round face, she doubtless disappointed those expecting leather and chains. There was nothing at all racy about her. She looked like some overweight shopper you’d see pushing a cart at a discount