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If the spectators were searching for any telltale sign of ee Taylor's face, they were disappointed

Cold as ice, the fore

Gus Venable turned to the bench "Your honor, as you know, one of the witnesses I had hoped to call is Dr Lawrence Barker Unfortunately, he is still suffering from the effects of a stroke and is unable to be in this courtroom to testify Instead I will now question some of the hospital staff who have worked with Dr Barker"

Penn stood up "I object I don't see the relevance Dr Barker is not here, nor is Dr Barker on trial here If"

Venable interrupted "Your honor, I assure you thatis very relevant to the testimony we have just heard It also has to do with the defendant's competency as a doctor"

Judge Young said skeptically, "We'll see This is a courtroo expeditions You may call your witnesses"

"Thank you"

Gus Venable turned to the bailiff "I would like to call Dr Matthew Peterson"

An elegant-looking man in his sixties approached the witness box He orn in, and when he took his seat, Gus Venable said, "Dr Peterson, how long have you worked at Embarcadero County Hospital?"

"Eight years"

"And what is your specialty?"

"I'eon"

"And during the years you've been at Embarcadero County Hospital, did you ever have occasion to ith Dr Lawrence Barker?"

"Oh, yes Many times"

"What was your opinion of him?"

"The same as everyone else's Aside, possibly, froeon in the world"

"Were you present in the operating roo that Dr Taylor operated on a patient named " He pretended to consult a slip of paper " Lance Kelly?"

The witness's tone changed "Yes, I was there" "Would you describe what happened that s started to go wrong We began losing the patient" When you say "losing the patientHis heart stopped We were trying to bring him back, and "

"Had Dr Barker been sent for?"

"Yes"

"And did he co on?"

"Toward the end Yes But it was too late to do anything We were unable to revive the patient"

"And did Dr Barker say anything to Dr Taylor at that time?"

"Well, ere all pretty upset, and "

"I asked you if Dr Barker said anything to Dr Taylor"

"Yes"

"And what did Dr Barker say?"

There was a pause, and in the middle of the pause, there was a crack of thunder outside, like the voice of God Araindrops to the roof of the courthouse

"Dr Barker said, 'You killed him' "

The spectators were in an uproar Judge Young slah! Do you people live in caves? Oneoutside in the rain"

Gus Venable waited for the noise to die down In the hushed silence he said, "Are you sure that's what Dr Barker said to Dr Taylor? 'You killed him'?"

"Yes"

"And you have testified that Dr Barker was a man whose medical opinion was valued?"

"Oh, yes"

"Thank you That's all, doctor" He turned to Alan Penn " Your witness"

Penn rose and approached the witness box

"Dr Peterson, I've never watched an operation, but I iine there's enor as serious as a heart operation"

"There's a great deal of tension"

"At a time like that, how many people are in the room? Three or four?"

"Oh, no Always half a dozen or more"

"Really?"

"Yes There are usually two surgeons, one assisting, soists, a scrub nurse, and at least one circulating nurse"

"I see Then thereout instructions and so on"

"Yes"

"And I understand that it's a co an operation"

"It is"

"When Dr Barker ca, that probably added to the confusion"

"Well, everybody was pretty busy trying to save the patient"

"Making a lot of noise?"

"There was plenty of noise, yes"

"And yet, in all that confusion and noise, and over the music, you could hear Dr Barker say that Dr Taylor had killed the patient With all that excite, couldn't you?"

"No, sir I could not be wrong"

"What makes you so sure?"

Dr Peterson sighed "Because I was standing right next to Dr Barker when he said it"

There was no graceful way out

"No more questions"

The case was falling apart, and there was nothing he could do about it It was about to get worse

Denise Berry took the witness stand

"You're a nurse at Embarcadero County Hospital?"

"Yes"

"How long have you worked there?"

"Five years"

"During that time, did you ever hear any conversations between Dr Taylor and Dr Barker?"

"Sure Lots of times"

"Can you repeat some of them?"

Nurse Berry looked at Dr Taylor and hesitated "Well, Dr Barker could be very sharp "

"I didn't ask you that, Nurse Berry I asked you to tell us sos you heard him say to Dr Taylor"

There was a long pause "Well, one time he said she was incompetent, and "

Gus Venable put on a show of surprise "You heard Dr Barker say that Dr Taylor was incompetent?"

"Yes, sir But he was always "

"What other comments did you hear him make about Dr Taylor?"

The witness was reluctant to speak "I really can't remember"

"Miss Berry, you're under oath"

"Well, once I heard him say " The rest of the sentence was a mumble

"We can't hear you Speak up, please You heard him say what?"

"He said hehe wouldn't let Dr Taylor operate on his dog"

There was a collective gasp frorn the courtroom

"But I'm sure he only meant "

"I think we can all assume that Dr Barker meant what he said"

All eyes were fixed on Paige Taylor

The prosecutor's case against Paige see a ician in the courtroom Noas his turn to present the defendant's case Could he pull another rabbit out of his hat?

Paige Taylor was on the witness stand, being questioned by Alan Penn This was thefor

"John Cronin was a patient of yours, Dr Taylor?"

"Yes, he was"

"And ere your feelings toward him?" "I liked hieous He had surgery for a cardiac tuery?"

"Yes"

"And what did you find during the operation?" "When we opened up his chest, we found that he had melanoma that had metastasized"

"In other words, cancer that had spread throughout his body"

"Yes It had lands"

"Meaning that there was no hope for hi him back to health?"

"None"

"John Cronin was put on life-support systems?"

"That's correct"

"Dr Taylor, did you deliberately administer a fatal dose of insulin to end John Cronin's life?"

"I did"

There was a sudden buzz in the courtroom

She's really a cool one, Gus Venable thought She ave him a cup of tea

"Would you tell the jury why you ended John Cronin's life?"

"Because he asked ed ht, in terrible pain The " Her voice was steady "He said he didn't warn to suffer anymore His death was only a few days away He pleaded with me to end it for him I did"

"Doctor, did you have any reluctance to let hiuilt?"

Dr Paige Taylor shook her head "No If you could have seenThere was si"

"How did you administer the insulin?"

"I injected it into his IV"

"And did that cause him any additional pain?"

"No He simply drifted off to sleep"

Gus Venable was on his feet "Objection! I think the defendant means he drifted off to his death! I - "

Judge Young slaavel "Mr Venable, you're out of order You'll have your chance to cross-examine the witness Sit down"

The prosecutor looked over at the jury, shook his head, and took his seat

"Dr Taylor, when you administered the insulin to John Cronin, were you aware that he had put you in his will for one million dollars?"

"No I was stunned when I learned about it"

Her nose should be growing, Gus Venable thought

"You never discussed ?"

A faint flush came to her cheeks "Never!"

"But you were on friendly terms with him?"

"Yes When a patient is that ill, the doctor-patient relationship changes We discussed his business problems and his family problems"

"But you had no reason to expect anything from him?"

"No"

"He left that rown to respect you and trust you Thank you, Dr Taylor" Penn turned to Gus Venable "Your witness"

As Penn returned to the defense table, Paige Taylor glanced toward the back of the courtroo Next to hi next to Honey in the seat that Kat should have occupied If she were still alive But Kat is dead, Paige thought I killed her, too

Gus Venable rose and slowly shuffled over to the witness box He glanced at the rows of press Every seat was filled, and the reporters were all busily scribbling I'ht

He stood in front of the defendant for a longher Then he said casually, "Dr Taylorwas John Cronin the first patient you murdered at Embarcadero County Hospital?"

Alan Penn was on his feet, furious "Your honor, I - !"

Judge Young had already slaavel down "Objection sustained!" She turned to the two attorneys "There will be a fifteen-minute recess I want to see counsel in my chambers"

When the two attorneys were in her chao to law school, didn't you, Gus?"

"I'm sorry, your honor I - "

"Did you see a tent out there?"

"I beg your pardon?"

Her voice was a whiplash "My courtroom is not a circus, and I don't intend to let you turn it into one How dare you ask an inflammatory question like that!"

"I apologize, your honor I'll rephrase the question and - "

"You'll dosnapped "You'll rephrase your attitude I' you, you pull one more stunt like that and I'll declare a mistrial"

"Yes, your honor"

When they returned to the courtroo said to the jury, "The jury will coard the prosecutor's last question" She turned to the prosecutor "You o on"

Gus Venable walked back to the witness box "Dr Taylor, you must have been very surprised when you were informed that the man you murdered left you one million dollars"

Alan Penn was on his feet "Objection!"

"Sustained" Judge Young turned to Venable "You're trying my patience"

"I apologize, your honor" He turned back to the witness "You must have been on very friendly terms with your patient I er leaves us a million dollars, is it?"

Paige Taylor flushed slightly "Our friendship was in the context of a doctor-patient relationship"

"Wasn't it a little more than that? A man doesn't cut his beloved wife and faer without some kind of persuasion Those talks you claimed to have had with him about his business problems "

Judge Young leaned forward and said warningly, "Mr Venable " The prosecutor raised his hands in a gesture of surrender He turned back to the defendant "So you and John Cronin had a friendly chat He told you personal things about himself, and he liked you and respected you Would you say that's a fair summation, doctor?"

"Yes"

"And for doing that he gave you a million dollars?"

Paige looked out at the courtroo She had no answer

Venable started to walk back toward the prosecutor's table, then suddenly turned to face the defendant again

"Dr Taylor, you testified earlier that you had no idea that John Cronin was going to leave you anyto cut his family out of his will"

"That's correct"

"How much does a resident doctor make at Embar-cadero County Hospital?"

Alan Penn was on his feet "Objection! I don't see"

"It's a proper question The witness ht thousand dollars a year" Venable said sympathetically, "That's not very much these days, is it? And out of that, there are deductions and taxes and living expenses That wouldn't leave enough to take a luxury vacation trip, say, to London or Paris or Venice, would it?" "I suppose not"

"No So you didn't plan to take a vacation like that, because you knew you couldn't afford it" "That's correct"

Alan Penn was on his feet again "Your honor "

Judge Young turned to the prosecutor "Where is this leading, Mr Venable?"

"I just want to establish that the defendant could not plan a luxury trip without getting the money from someone"

"She's already answered the question"

Alan Penn knew he had to do so His heart wasn't in it, but he approached the witness box with all the good cheer of a man who had just won the lottery

"Dr Taylor, do you re up these travel brochures?"

"Yes"

"Were you planning to go to Europe or to charter a yacht?"

"Of course not It was all sort of a joke, an iht it would lift our spirits We were very tired, andit seeood idea at the time" Her voice trailed off

Alan Penn glanced covertly at the jury Their faces registered pure disbelief

Gus Venable was questioning the defendant on reex-amination "Dr Taylor, are you acquainted with Dr Lawrence Barker?"

She had a suddento kill Lawrence Barker I'll do it slowly I'll let him suffer first then I'll kill him "Yes I know Dr Barker"

"In what connection?"

"Dr Barker and I have often worked together during the past two years"

"Would you say that he's a competent doctor?"

Alan Penn jumped up from his chair "I object, your honor The witness "

But before he could finish or Judge Young could rule, Paige answered, "He's more than competent He's brilliant"

Penn sank back in his chair, too stunned to speak

"Would you care to elaborate on that?"

"Dr Barker is one of the eons in the world He has a large private practice, but he donates three days a week to Embarcadero County Hospital"

"So you have a high regard for his judgment in medical matters?"

"Yes"

"And do you feel he would be capable of judging another doctor's competence?"

Penn willed Paige to say I don't know

She hesitated "Yes"

Gus Venable turned to the jury, "You've heard the defendant testify that she had a high regard for Dr Barker's ment about her competenceor the lack of it"

Alan Penn was on his feet, furious "Objection!"

"Sustained"

But it was too late The dae had been done

During the next recess, Alan Penn pulled Jason into the men's room

"What the hell have you gotten rily "John Cronin hated her, Barker hated her I insist onme the truth, and the whole truth That's the only way I can help theiven me a snow job so deep I need skis Every time she opens hercase is in free fall!"

That afternoon, Jason Curtis went to see Paige

"You have a visitor, Dr Taylor"

Jason walked into Paige's cell

"Paige "

She turned to hi back tears "It looks pretty bad, doesn't it?"

Jason forced a smile "You knohat the man said - 'It's not over till it's over' "

"Jason, you don't believe that I killed John Cronin for his money, do you? What I did, I did only to help him"

"I believe you," Jason said quietly "I love you"

He took her into his arht I can't She's the best thing in ht I proether forever"

Paige held hi How could everything have gone so wrongso wrongso wrong