"Avis Richardson is missing," the dean told me. "She came back to school yesterday, but she wasn't in her dorm room this morning. Now I just found out that one of our teachers is missing, too. Jordan Ritter didn't show up to cla.s.s this morning. That's very unusual for him. Both of them are gone. No note, no nothing. They're just gone."

Chapter 63.

LESS THAN TWENTY-FOUR hours earlier, Phil Hoffman had been in his office, rehearsing his defense strategy, when a phone call from the SFPD radically upped his client's chances for acquittal. It had sure felt to him like an act of G.o.d.

Now he stood behind the defense table in Judge LaVan's courtroom and said, "The defense calls Bernard St. John."

Bernard St. John entered the courtroom. He was wearing an expensive chalk-striped suit and a blue silk shirt. Not a spiked hair was out of place. After he had been sworn in and was seated, Hoffman approached the witness stand.

As expected, Yuki shot to her feet. "Your Honor," she said, "we only learned about this witness last night and haven't had a chance to do any investigation."

Hoffman said to the judge, "I only became aware of this witness myself yesterday evening, and we sent an e-mail to Ms. Castellano immediately."

LaVan peered through his gla.s.ses, looking down from the bench, and said, "Ms. Castellano, you'll have your chance to question the witness. Mr. Hoffman, you may proceed."

"Thank you, Your Honor. Mr. St. John, what kind of work do you do?"

"I play the piano for events, and I am also a piano teacher."

"Are you currently employed as the Martin children's piano teacher?"

"No. I was let go four months ago. The children were busy with a number of activities, and piano lessons were apparently not a priority."

"What was your job with the Martins before you were let go?"

"I mostly taught Caitlin," St. John said. "But Duncan was learning his scales and some beginners' songs."

"When did you first start working for the Martin family?"

"Two years ago last month."

"And do you have a friendship with other people who worked for the Martins?" Hoffman asked.

"Yes, I do," said St. John.

"Were you friends with Ellen Lafferty, the children's nanny?"

"Yes, sir."

"And did Ms. Lafferty confide in you about a connection she had with Mr. Martin?"

"Yes. A little over a year ago."

"What did she tell you at that time?"

"She said that she'd been having an affair with Mr. Martin. It had begun when Dr. Martin had surgery for breast cancer and was undergoing chemotherapy. Ellen said that at first she was just sleeping with Mr. Martin because he seemed so sad."

Hoffman waited out the t.i.tters that rippled across the gallery then asked his witness to continue.

St. John said, "By the time Ellen told me about the affair, she said she had fallen in love with Dennis and didn't know what to do."

"Hearsay, Your Honor," Yuki said.

"I'm going to allow it, Ms. Castellano. Go ahead, Mr. Hoffman."

"Did Ms. Lafferty ever mention this romantic relationship with Mr. Martin again?"

"Yes. She showed me gifts he gave her. And before he ... died, Ellen told me again that she was painfully painfully in love with him - her word - and in love with the children, too." in love with him - her word - and in love with the children, too."

"And why didn't you come forward with this earlier, Mr. St. John?"

"The police only asked me if I had witnessed any hostility between Dr. Martin and her husband. I said that I'd overheard fights. And they wanted to know if I was in the house the night of the murder. I wasn't. I hadn't been there in days."

"Did you tell the police that you thought Dr. Martin had killed her husband?"

St. John said, "No. I told them I didn't didn't think she had killed her husband. The Martins were both under pressure, but I knew Candace wouldn't kill the children's father, and think she had killed her husband. The Martins were both under pressure, but I knew Candace wouldn't kill the children's father, and that's that's what I told the police." what I told the police."

"Do you think Ms. Lafferty was angry about being the other woman?"

Yuki stood up. "Speculation, Your Honor. Speculation, leading the witness, as well as sneakiness and calculation."

"The jury will disregard," LaVan said. He pointed his gavel at Hoffman. "No more of that."

"Yes, Your Honor." Hoffman dipped his head, hid a smile from the judge, and said, "I'm finished with this witness."

Chapter 64.

YUKI SCRIBBLED A NOTE to Nicky on her pad: "Do you know anything about this piano man?"

Gaines scribbled back, "Not one thing."

Christ. St. John hadn't supported the cops' theory of the case, so he'd been ignored. Now she'd been blindsided. Clearly, Hoffman had been trying to tell her about Ellen's affair with Dennis Martin when she'd blown him off.

Yuki fought the panic that was rising from her stomach and busied herself with her note cards as she thought through this surprise bombsh.e.l.l.

What St. John's testimony meant was that Ellen Lafferty had motive. And since Dennis Martin had a gun - evidence that Yuki herself had introduced - it followed that Ellen could have found the gun. If so, Lafferty had had the means to shoot Dennis Martin. Motive? Maybe. Opportunity? Every single day.

Dammit.

First rule any litigator learned was you don't ask questions if you don't know the answers. She was flying absolutely blind.

Yuki got to her feet and said, "Good morning, Mr. St. John."

"Good morning."

Yuki rounded the prosecution table, talking as she walked toward the witness.

"All I want from you are facts," Yuki said. "Not what someone told you. Not what you heard."

"Ms. Castellano," LaVan said wearily. "I'm wearing the robes, not you. I give the instructions, not you. If you have a question, I suggest you ask it."

"Yes, Your Honor. Mr. St. John, please answer my questions with what you know firsthand."

"Sure. Okay. I understand that," St. John said.

Yuki sent up a quick prayer to her dead mother, then said, "Mr. St. John, did you ever see Mr. Martin and Ms. Lafferty in what would be called a compromising position?"

"Having s.e.x, you mean?"

"Yes. Or kissing. Overtly s.e.xual behavior."

"No. I only know what Ellen told me."

"Thank you. That's all I have for this witness, Your Honor."

"You may stand down," said the judge.

Chapter 65.

PHIL HOFFMAN STOOD UP from his chair beside Candace Martin. "Your Honor, we call Ellen Lafferty to the stand."

Ellen Lafferty entered the courtroom with her head up and confidently strode down the center aisle.

All eyes were on the pretty, young woman, impeccably and modestly dressed in a dark gray suit, a gold cross hanging at her throat. She looked to be just the kind of person you would entrust with your children.

Phil Hoffman did his best to hide his antic.i.p.ation. Ellen Lafferty had been Yuki Castellano's star witness against his client. With the information he now had, he was going to destroy Lafferty on the stand and turn her into a witness for the defense. But he had to do it in such a way that the jury didn't see him as a monster.

After Lafferty had been sworn in and was seated, Phil approached the witness box. He greeted his new witness and then asked his first question.

"Ms. Lafferty, how would you describe your relationship with Dennis Martin?"

"In what regard, Mr. Hoffman?"

"I think that my question was pretty clear. Let me repeat it. What kind of relationship did you have with Dennis Martin?"

"He was the children's father. And I took care of the children. That was all that mattered to me."

"Your Honor, permission to treat the witness as hostile."

LaVan swiveled his chair ninety degrees and said, "Ms. Lafferty, for you as well as for the members of the jury to know, a hostile witness is one for the opposing side - in this case, a witness for the prosecution - who when examined by the other side - in this case, the defense - might not be forthcoming.

"In designating you a hostile witness, Ms. Lafferty, I'm giving Mr. Hoffman permission to ask leading questions. You have sworn to tell the truth. Don't forget that."

"I won't, Your Honor."

Hoffman fixed his eyes on Lafferty and said, "Were you having an affair with Mr. Martin?"

"Oh my G.o.d."

"Yes or no? Were the two of you having an affair?"

"Yes."

"Could you speak loudly enough for the jury to hear you?"

"Yes. I was. We were."

"And when did this s.e.xual relationship begin?"

Tears welled up in Ellen Lafferty's eyes and spilled down her cheeks. "Two years ago last April."

"So, more than a year before Mr. Martin was shot?"

"Uh-huh. Yes."

"And were you still seeing Mr. Martin at the time of his death?"

"Yes."

"You admit you were having a s.e.xual relationship with a married man in the home where he lived with his wife and children. Isn't that right?"

"Yes."

"And when Ms. Castellano had you on the stand, you didn't think it was important to tell us about this affair?"

"No, I didn't."

"And how did you feel about Dr. Candace Martin?"

"I think she's cruel."