He ushers us into the foyer, a sleek reception space with hardwood floors and Tiffany lamps. Behind that, there’s a plush library with built-in shelves, oversized couches, colorful pillows, and leafy plants. Floor-to-ceiling windows wash the room in natural light.

“I call this room my lounge-brary,” DeFiore says. “Nice, right?”

“Wow.” Lawrence can’t hide his shock. “This looks like a luxury hotel.”

“You got the eye, Lar. The building used to be a bed and breakfast. But we gutted it from the basement to the roof. We stripped this baby down to the studs.”

“Really cool offices,” Nate says, following DeFiore into the biggest glass-enclosed conference room on the main floor.

“You’ve surprised me, Mr. DeFiore.” Smiling, Eleanor sinks into a leather chair. “I’m not easily surprised.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment, Mrs. Quinn. The build-out cost me a fucking fortune. One-point-five mil for the architect alone. But who cares? It’s just money.”

DeFiore’s associate, Mitchell Manzano, shakes our hands. Up close, he looks less like DeFiore’s son than he did in court. He’s in his late thirties, older than I thought. Today he has on sexy black labor-union glasses, which add an air of maturity. “You should wear those all the time,” I tell him. “Women love men in glasses.”

He smiles. “I’ll take that under advisement.”

Beside me, Nate is heads down with Abby Friedman, the trial consultant, who’s around Eleanor’s age. He says something I can’t hear, and when she cracks up, I catch the sparkle in his eyes. Not that I blame him. Abby is a knockout, a voluptuous brunette with great legs. She’s wearing an Armani coatdress that emphasizes her curves, but in a tasteful way, and her sky-high Louboutin heels are expertly polished. Striking yet formidable, she projects trust and authority.

DeFiore turns to Billy, who’s in pressed khakis and a sport coat. His hair’s been trimmed, but his bangs still brush his eyes. “You clean up nice, kiddo. Those jumpsuits make everyone look guilty, unfortunately.”

Billy lifts his pant leg to show off his bracelet. “This makes me look guilty too.”

“We’ll get that off before you know it. Speaking of, let’s start. Mitch, the door?”

For the next hour, DeFiore walks us through where we are and what’s ahead. He’s been working the phones since Monday, trying to sort out the facts. Myriad issues come into play during a trial, but from his perspective, there are three primary questions at stake in this case: when, specifically, Diana went from being conscious to being unconscious; if Diana was unconscious, did Billy know; and if Billy did know, when exactly did this realization occur?