“What’s that, Doctor?”

“If Dr. Cage meant to murder Mrs. Turner, as you’ve postulated, and he ran out of morphine, which the evidence indicates—”

“Proves.”

“Yes, all right. Well, even if everything went as you’ve suggested, once the whole thing went wrong and the doctor knew he was going to be charged with first-degree murder . . .”

“Yes?”

“Why didn’t he just say, ‘All right, yes, we had an assisted-suicide pact. I provided the morphine for her to euthanize herself, but she botched the injection, so I let her inject the adrenaline to stop her heart. It wasn’t ideal, but it was all I had.’? Why didn’t he say that? The penalty for physician-assisted suicide is ten years, isn’t it? A murder conviction means life in prison.”

Shad takes so long with this question that I find myself hoping the pathologist has stunned him into losing his composure. But then Shad comes through with his customary tactical proficiency.

“He may well intend to say that when he testifies, Doctor. Or if he didn’t intend to say that, he may decide to now. But the fact is, when questioned by the authorities, Dr. Cage said nothing of the sort. In fact, he refused to say anything at all. And that is why we find ourselves here today. I tender the witness.”

Less than five seconds pass before Quentin Avery says, “No questions, Your Honor,” and I shut my eyes with the dread of a man watching a replay of a fatal accident.

“We’re here,” Rusty says in my ear. “Finally.”

“Good.”

Chapter 26

I’ve just made a round of all the security guards, making sure they know to expect John Kaiser and that he could appear from anywhere. Tim and I are standing near the back door, discussing the possibility of bringing more men from Texas, when Rusty marches halfway up the hall and waves at me.

“Dude. I’ve got the whole crowd in there, and we need to get the Quentin issue sorted out before your mom has a real stroke and your dad gets sent up the river.”

Following Rusty to the den, I find not only my mother but Jenny, Annie, and to my surprise, Miriam Masters. Everyone’s talking at once, but the theme is universal: Quentin Avery has lost his mind.

“Penn, I can’t calm down,” Mom says in a quavering voice. “My hands have been shaking for the past hour.”

“Take it easy, now.” I lean down to hug her, but she pushes me away.

“Take it easy? You’ve got to fire Quentin, son. You’ve got to take over Tom’s defense!”

“Mom, I can’t fire Quentin. Only Dad can do that.”

“Then somebody take me to the jail, and I’ll tell him he’s got to do it. Is that where Tom is now? Or do they give him lunch in the courthouse?”