“I told Butch that I had an abortion, and then I left school after my first semester of my third year of law school. I had more than enough credits to graduate, so I left. After traveling to New York and Las Vegas, I went to Los Angeles, California, and had the baby at a hospital there on June 16, 1978.” Her lip began to tremble, but she finished. “I immediately gave my child up for adoption.”

The blood appeared to have drained from Sack Glover’s face, he was so pale. Now that he had stepped in it, he knew there was no turning back. “Why did you lie to Butch?”

“Because I was raped after the Alabama-Tennessee football game in October 1977, and I was afraid the baby would not be Butch’s.”

Silence permeated every inch of the circuit courtroom. Helen had been to the morgue at the hospital countless times, and the overwhelming sense of quiet in that place of death was what the courtroom felt like to her now. An apt analogy, she thought.

A lie she had been perpetuating for almost forty years had just died.

“Did you press charges against the rapist?” Sack finally asked. His voice was so high it sounded as if Helen’s high heel was scrunching his balls.

“No. He used a date rape drug.” She sighed. “I didn’t think anyone would believe me.” She paused and made eye contact with as many jurors as she could. “That’s why I went on to become a cop and later the district attorney general of this county.” She paused. “I wanted to make sure what happened to me never happened to anyone else.”

Sack took a couple of steps backward, and the back of his knees hit the prosecution table, nearly causing him to stumble. Helen could tell he wanted to ask another question, but he was terrified of losing any more ground.

“You lied to your ex-husband, didn’t you, Ms. Lewis?”

Helen scowled back at the prosecutor. “And he lied to me.”

Sack turned his head upward to Judge Connelly. “No further questions, Your Honor.”

“No redirect,” Bo said.

“The witness is excused,” Judge Connelly said.

As Helen left the witness chair and returned to her seat, Bo watched her with shock and wonder.

“At this time, we’re going to take a short recess,” Judge Connelly said. “I think everyone could use a break.”

After the jury filed out, Bo turned to his client, but Helen had her face in her hands. She tried to stifle her anguish but wasn’t very successful. Bo looked beyond the table to the gallery and caught Lona Burks’s eye on the front row. He motioned her over. “Can you . . .” Bo trailed off and gestured to the General.

“Yes,” Lona said, putting her arm around Helen. She looked at Bo and mouthed the words, “That was incredible.”

“I know,” Bo mouthed back.