“He’s not alone, ma’am. He’s got a top legal team with him. Led by Tess.” Pearce steps up onto the riser and leans in close. “Madam President, think back to when Cole was playing football at Dartmouth.”

He shifts his gaze into the distance, as if he’s staring into the past. “I tell you, there were times when he caught a pass at midfield and it looked like he had nowhere to go. No way out. Cornerbacks chasing him. Safeties coming at him. Somehow, he always found a way through to the end zone. It was a beautiful thing to watch.”

Maddy takes a deep breath. “It was.” She closes her binder and steps off the podium. “Refresh me—how many cornerbacks and safeties are there?”

Pearce steps down and follows close behind. “Usually four on a team, ma’am.”

Maddy turns to face him. “Well, imagine if there were twelve! There could be twelve people against him in that jury room.”

“I doubt that, ma’am.” The Gray Ghost lowers his voice. “And remember, all we need for a hung jury is one undecided.”

Maddy knows that Cole wants a clean not-guilty verdict. She does too. But her old friend and chief of staff is right. If just one juror holds out on a guilty conviction, the judge will have to declare a mistrial.

Not a perfect outcome. But the Grand Bargain is already hanging in the balance. It can’t wait much longer.

And in the course of American history, that’s what matters more.

CHAPTER
124

Rockingham County Courthouse, New Hampshire

Dozens of TV cameras track the deputy attorney general, Hugh Bastinelli, as he walks to the lectern for his closing argument. He consults his notes, then flips the binder closed.

He doesn’t look nervous, but he must be, I think. No pressure. Just the whole country watching.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I told you at the beginning that this would be a circumstantial case, and I think you now have a better idea of what that means.

“The evidence tying Cole Wright to the killing of Suzanne Bonanno did not come tied up in a neat bow. It required you to listen. And I know you have. Now it requires you to think—to weave together the strands of evidence for yourselves. When you do, you will reach a conclusion so strong that even Cole Wright’s power and fame cannot overcome it.

“We know Cole Wright was in a tense relationship with Suzanne Bonanno at the time of her death. Suzanne’s mother, Felicia, confirmed it on the stand. And we have that from stadium worker Stacey Millett as well. We also know that the relationship was forbidden—that fraternization between players and cheerleaders was against the rules.