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thing that might have kept Reynolds from receiving the death penalty. According to the judicial council rules, a defendant’s failure to show remorse for his or her actions was considered an aggravating factor.
    â€œThe coroner’s report states that little Brandon’s body remained in the trunk of his mother’s car for a minimum of three weeks.”Silverstein removed a handkerchief from his pocket and blotted the perspiration off his forehead. “What mother could be so calculating and cruel that she could drive around for three weeks with the corpse of her deceased child decomposing in the trunk of her Taurus? As inhuman as it sounds, the trunk had become Noelle Reynolds’s babysitter, more than likely for some time prior to Brandon’s demise. We know this because numerous sedatives were found in Ms. Reynolds’s medicine cabinet, many of which were found in Brandon’s tissues during autopsy. Noelle Reynolds drugged her son so she could drink and party with her friends, but with full knowledge that her actions could cause his death.
    â€œWe will also show you an emergency room report from August of last year when Dr. Reynolds took his grandson to the hospital because he was having trouble swallowing. The defendant told her father that the boy had accidentally eaten Ajax. I’ve been told by physicians that even if a child gets into an abrasive substance such as Comet or Ajax, they only consume a minute amount because it burns the sensitive tissues in their mouth and throat. The autopsy reports indicated that Brandon’s esophagus was scarred, which indicates a sizable amount of Ajax was more than likely fed to him. The coroner also found traces of arsenic in Brandon’s tissues, so it’s obvious the monster that sits before you had been actively experimenting with different ways to murder her child.”
    An audible gasp came from the courtroom and several members of the media scrambled toward the back door. Although Fowler knew what had just been described through discovery motions, the police and DA’s office had managed to keep the Ajax and arsenic information out of the hands of the media, and all the reporters wanted to be the first to break the story.
    A good prosecutor seldom released their most damning evidence during their opening statement, preferring to leave it for a later stage in the trial when their case might be lagging. Determined to convince the jury that Noelle Reynolds was guilty, Silverstein had placed all his cards on the table before he even called his first witness.
    A commotion arose in the rear of the courtroom as the reporters tried to push their way past one another. One thing led to another and a female was knocked to the ground. A man beside her grabbed another male around the neck, and a full-fledged fight broke out.
    Lily pounded her gavel. “Order!” she shouted, furious. Her bailiff raced to the back of the room and her clerk called for more officers. “I demand you come to order this minute! Anyone who isn’t in their seats or out of this courtroom immediately will spend the night in jail.”
    QUANTICO, VIRGINIA
    Special Agent Mary Stevens was working at her desk in the BAU (Behavioral Analysis Unit) of the FBI when John Adams, her SAC (Special Agent in Charge), called and asked her to report to his office.
    The BAU was housed at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia. A former homicide detective in Ventura, Mary had been recruited by the Bureau when she’d attended the National Academy Program, a tough twelve-week residential training course for upper-level law enforcement officers from around the world. After a year at the Bureau’s headquarters in Washington, she was hired by John Adams. Adams had been a close friend of her deceased father and was chief of the elite analysis and profiling unit. Most people knew it as the Behavior Science Unit, which still existed as part of the academy program but no longer