“Dad . . . Quentin can’t represent you any longer. I know you had your own reasons for hiring him, but if you let him continue like this, you’ll never hold Annie in your arms again outside a prison.”

He blinks as though this prospect has finally begun to sink in. “What would you do if I fired Quentin?”

“Ask for a mistrial. If I don’t get that, I’ll cross-examine every witness and keep out all inadmissible testimony. The jury should never have heard Major Powers’s story, and Judge Elder knows it. The circuit clerk just told me we need to fire Quentin.”

“But Shad’s almost finished his case.”

“Has he? I’m afraid he’s going to parade a dozen relatives of dead patients through there and have them accuse you of euthanizing their sainted mothers. And Quentin will let him do it.”

Dad shakes his head. “There won’t be any of that.”

“How do you know?”

“Because by the time a patient reaches the point where they need some help crossing over—in those very rare cases—the family wants it, too. Often the patient’s too far gone to know. And those times . . . well, they’re sacred. Nobody’s going to come in here and talk about that.”

A cautious sense of relief eases some of the pressure in my chest. “I hope you’re right. Tell me this. If Walt were called as a witness, could he provide any details that might make the two of you look better than you did in Powers’s account?”

While Dad thinks about it, I say, “I think Walt would have killed Major Powers if he met him in the hallway after his testimony.”

“Walt suffered a lot that night, and the days after. A lot more than Powers did.”

“So, could Walt make up some of that ground in the courtroom?”

Dad finally shakes his head. “No. What happened that night happened pretty much the way Powers described it. But it doesn’t matter. Quentin’s not going to call Walt as a witness.”

“Forget Quentin, Dad. Given his erratic behavior up to now, I’m sure Judge Elder would give me at least a day to prepare a proper defense. Every lawyer in that courtroom thinks Quentin has either lost his mind or is throwing the case on purpose.”

Dad looks away.

“Which is it? I know you know.”

“He hasn’t lost his mind.”

“Then he’s throwing the case?”

“He’s doing what he has to do. What I’ve told him to do.”

“You wanted Major Powers to say those things he said in there today?”