“Now remember,” he said. “Your fried Mr. Patterson decides who’s going in and who isn’t, so we’ve got to depend on the jurors to intervene, and that’s going to be up to you. You’ve got to connect with them, Kay. You’ve got to make friends with ten or eleven strangers the instant you walk into that room. No matter what they want to chat with you about, don’t put up a wall. Be accessible.”

“I understand,” I said.

“We’re going for broke. A deal?”

“A deal.”

“Good luck, Doctor.”

He smiled and patted my arm.

Inside the courthouse, we were stopped by a deputy with a scanner. He went through my pocketbook and briefcase as he had a hundred times before when I had come to testify as an expert witness. But this time he said nothing to me and avoided my eyes. Grueman’s cane set off the scanner, and he was the paragon of patience and courtesy as he explained that the silver top and tip would not come off, and that there truly was nothing concealed inside the dark wood shaft.

“What does he think I have here, a blowgun?” he remarked as we boarded the elevator.

The instant the doors opened on the third floor, reporters descended with the predicted predatory vigor. My counselor moved quickly for a man with gout, his strides punctuated by taps of his cane. I felt surprisingly detached and out of focus until we were inside the nearly deserted courtroom, where Benton Wesley sat in a corner with a slight young man I knew was Charlie Hale. The right side of his face was a road map of fine pink scars. When he stood and self-consciously slipped his right hand into his jacket pocket, I saw that he was missing several fingers. Dressed in an ill-fitting somber suit and tie, he glanced around while I preoccupied myself with the mechanics of being seated and sorting through my briefcase. I could not speak to him, and the three men had the presence of mind to pretend they did not notice that I was upset.

“Let’s talk for a minute about what they have,” Grueman said. “I believe we can count on Jason Story testifying, and Officer Lucero. And, of course, Marino. I don’t know who else Patterson will include in this Star Chamber proceeding of his.”

“For the record,” Wesley said, looking at me, “I have spoken to Patterson. I’ve told him he doesn’t have a case and I’ll testify to that at the trial”