Hewitt turned and bowed solemnly to the bench, then turned back to the jury. “Gentlemen, the prosecution has not presented one whit of convincing evidence today—no evidence that a murder even took place, let alone that my client committed it. To call the prosecution’s case circumstantial would be to elevate it to the realm of possibility, and the events aboard the yacht as Sir Winston has described them are not even remotely possible.

“He would ask you to believe, on the basis of no physical evidence, no witnesses, and no common sense, that this lovely woman deliberately caused her beloved husband’s death—and for money. As weak as his case is, I will address the points he has attempted to make. First, the so-called diary has been convincingly shown to be notes for Mr. Manning’s next novel; second, the presence of knives and harpoons aboard the yacht has been made out to be sinister, but does not each of you have a kitchen where a number of knives reside? And are you murderers because of it? Of course not. You are no more murderers than is Mrs. Manning. Sir Winston has said that Mrs. Manning must be a murderer because she had the opportunity, but each of us has opportunities to kill every day, and we do not kill. Neither did Mrs. Manning.

“The very last person to see Paul Manning alive other than Mrs. Manning, Mr. Forrester, someone who knew Mr. Manning well, has testified that he witnessed a happy marriage in the days before the couple sailed from the Canaries. Not one witness has been brought forward to testify to the contrary, because there is no such witness. If there were, Sir Winston would have found him, believe me.

“But the greatest proof of Mrs. Manning’s innocence is Mrs. Manning herself. You have heard her describe her life with her husband, their delight in his success, their wonderful sailing adventure which they both enjoyed so much. You have heard her words, and every man of you can surely recognize the truth when he hears it. The prosecution has offered nothing but bluster and posturing to refute her patently truthful testimony, because the prosecution has nothing else to offer.

“Each of you, when his duty is done in this courtroom, will return to his daily life, and each of you will have to live with himself every day after that. Do you wish to spend the rest of your days in the knowledge that you convicted an honest woman on no evidence? Of course not! When you have declared this woman innocent you can walk from this courtroom with your heads held high, knowing that you have done right in the eyes of God and man, and no one can take that from you, not even Sir Winston and his ministry. Go, gentlemen, and do right!”

Sir Leslie returned to the defense table and sat down.

“Well done,” Stone whispered to him.