“Your father will still be held in his own private cell,” Judge Elder assures me. “I’m well aware of the danger, Mayor Cage. I’ve also made the sheriff aware that I am aware.”

“Thank you, Judge.”

“What about the death of my star witness?” Quentin asks.

Judge Elder’s lips draw tight before he speaks. “That was a regrettable tragedy, Mr. Avery. I suspect Mr. Devine’s murder dealt a serious blow to your case. However, unless you can bring Mr. Devine back from the grave, there’s nothing to be done. Not unless you want to move for a mistrial.”

“I’ve resurrected a few dead cases in my time,” Quentin says, “but never a dead man.”

The hint of a smile touches Judge Elder’s lips. “You’re being modest. I know of two men, at least, who were within hours of execution when you saved them from the gas chamber.”

“In my prime,” Quentin says wearily, but not without pride. “But I’m willing to continue in this case, in spite of Mr. Devine’s murder. As I’ve told the mayor several times during this trial: I don’t want a mistrial, I want a fair trial.”

Judge Elder sits up straight and smiles with relief. “Excellent. And I’m going to do everything within my power to ensure that your client gets that.”

A little late, isn’t it? I want to say, but I stifle myself.

“Now,” Judge Elder says, “let’s discuss the matter of these videotapes.”

Quentin settles into watchful stillness in his wheelchair.

“This opportunity to restore this type of media is unprecedented in my experience, and I want us all to be on the same page. Mr. Kaiser?”

“It’s unprecedented in my experience as well, Judge. We’re talking about highly classified technology.”

Joe Elder cocks his head to the side. “That certainly begs the question of why the FBI is willing to rush a forensic process on a tape for a state murder case.”

Kaiser clears his throat. “I think it’s because this case has connections to civil rights murders involving the Double Eagle group, both past and present. Depending on what those erased tapes contain, they could have direct bearing on major federal cases. Obviously, we were involved in the plea negotiations that allowed Will Devine to testify today—or to attempt to. After his murder, my superiors instructed me to speak to the district attorney about getting those tapes to our crime lab for special processing. When I did, Mr. Johnson made a good guess about my intentions. Then he made some calls to an old Harvard classmate, and now we find ourselves here.”

“That’s interesting,” says Judge Elder. “But we’re pretty late in these proceedings. Is it remotely possible that these tapes could be processed and restored in a reasonable time frame?”

“Your Honor, I’m told that it might be,” Shad answers.