“During that ordeal, I loved and trusted my husband, a man I’ve known since I was a college student and with whom I’ve built a life—lately one in which my responsibilities are immense and the time we can spend together limited and so all the more precious.

“My faith in him was justified. He’s the same good man I’ve always known. Like all of us, not perfect but working every day to do better—not only for me but for our country.”

So far, Maddy has avoided looking at Cole so she can be sure to keep her voice strong and firm. But she steals a quick glance. Tears are streaming down his face.

“Throughout this administration I have trusted and deeply respected our vice president and am grateful for the care given to him by his incredible team at Walter Reed. My faith in his strength, wisdom, and tenacity was justified, and there’s nobody I’d rather have behind me”—she turns around and grins at the man sitting behind her—“including right this moment, come to think of it, than Ransom Faulkner. Welcome back, Mr. Vice President.”

The entire floor explodes in applause, and Faulkner, clearly moved, rises to his feet, bows slightly, and sits back down with the air of a judge who wants to calm the court. But the ovation lasts minutes, and Maddy lets it go on as long as she can before putting on a graver air.

“And I also trusted my chief of staff, a man I’ve known—or thought I knew—for decades. To say that I was shocked and horrified by his crimes is a profound understatement. To the family of Suzanne Bonanno, words cannot convey my sympathies for your loss, for the years of uncertainty about Suzanne’s fate, and for the pain caused by these past months of public spectacle, orchestrated so deviously by Burton Pearce. Let me assure you that the entire country shares your grief and outrage and hopes that with the truth known, as painful as it is, her memory can be a blessing.

“Yes, I trusted my chief of staff, but he deceived me and in doing so put the country in danger. He arranged or approved the deaths of innocent people who might have imperiled his plot and nearly sent my husband to jail for a long time. His cleverly concealed actions also misled the prosecutors and jury in Cole’s case, who did what they thought was right based on what they knew. The sole blame is on Burton Pearce and those whose criminal conduct enabled him, especially the mobster who killed Suzanne Bonanno and continued to kill to cover it up and shift the blame.

“We’ll never know when the dam of decency broke in Burton Pearce. I just thank God he didn’t succeed.