“It’s nice to see you again, Jim,” Allison said. “Paul and I enjoyed your company in Las Palmas, and we were sorry not to know you were in Puerto Rico until we saw you as we were leaving port.”

“I was sorry, too, Allison,” the journalist replied. “Do you think we could get together later today or early tomorrow for a few minutes? I have some more things to ask you.”

“I’m sure we can,” she replied. “Let me talk to Stone about my schedule, and I’ll get back to you. Where are you staying?”

“At the Shipwright’s Arms.”

“Good. I’ll call you.”

Wheaton and Burrows thanked her for her time and, with Jim Forrester, left the boat. As they were walking up the pontoon, Chris Wheaton stopped and spoke quietly to Stone. “That was some performance,” she said. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“I’m glad it went well,” Stone replied. “You should be able to get an awfully good segment out of that.”

“You bet I will,” Wheaton said, then she looked back at Allison, who was standing in the cockpit, looking out over the harbor, sipping her orange juice. “She’s really something,” she said. “You won’t have any trouble getting her off.”

“I wish I could believe that,” Stone said, “but from what I’ve seen so far, I think the odds are heavily against her. Sir Winston Sutherland wants her neck in a noose, for whatever reason, and I don’t know if I’m going to be able to stop him.”

Wheaton looked at him closely. “Jesus,” she said with wonder, “you really think she’s innocent, don’t you?”

Stone looked at her in amazement. “Of course I do; after all that questioning, don’t you?”

“Not for a minute,” Wheaton replied. “Listen, over the years I’ve interviewed a couple of hundred people who were either accused of murder or who had just been convicted or acquitted; I learned to tell the guilty from the innocent, and let me tell you, not more than ten of them were innocent.” She pointed her chin at Allison. “And she’s not one of them.”

“Show me one hole in her story,” Stone said.

“There isn’t one. But she’s guilty just the same. Call it a woman-to-woman thing, if you like, but I look in those beautiful blue eyes and I know.”

“Is that what you’re going to say on 60 Minutes?”

“Are you kidding? I’d be fired out of hand. No sir, I’m going to play it straight, let her answers speak for themselves, and ninety-nine percent of the audience is going to be outraged that this beautiful, innocent young woman could be charged with murder. That’s what you want, isn’t it?”

“Certainly, that’s what I want.”