When Barker spoke, his words were slurred. “I am, your honor.”
“Are you fully aware of what is going on in this courtroom?”
“Yes, your honor.” He looked over to where Paige was seated. “That woman is being tried for the murder of a patient.”
Paige winced. That woman!
Judge Young made her decision. She turned to the bailiff. “Would you swear the witness in, please?”
When Dr. Barker had been sworn in, Judge Young said, “You may stay in the chair, Dr. Barker. The prosecutor will proceed, and I will allow the defense to crossexamine.”
Gus Venable smiled. “Thank you, your honor.” He strolled over to the wheelchair. “We won’t keep you very long, doctor, and the court deeply appreciates your coming in to testify under these trying circumstances. Are you familiar with any of the testimony that has been given here over the past month?”
Dr. Barker nodded. “I’ve been following it on television and in the newspapers, and it made me sick to my stomach.”
Paige buried her head in her hands.
It was all Gus Venable could do to hide his feeling of triumph. “I’m sure a lot of us feel the same way, doctor,” the prosecutor said piously.
“I came here because I want to see justice done.”
Venable smiled. “Exactly. So do we.”
Lawrence Barker took a deep breath, and when he spoke, his voice was filled with outrage. “Then how the hell could you bring Dr. Taylor to trial?”
Venable thought he had misunderstood him. “I beg your pardon?”
“This trial is a farce!”
Paige and Alan Penn exchanged a stunned look.
Gus Venable turned pale. “Dr. Barker…”
“Don’t interrupt me,” Barker snapped. “You’ve used the testimony of a lot of biased, jealous people to attack a brilliant surgeon. She—”
“Just a minute!” Venable was beginning to panic. “Isn’t it true that you criticized Dr. Taylor’s ability so severely that she was finally ready to quit Embarcadero Hospital?”
“Yes.”
Gus Venable was starting to feel better. “Well, then,” he said patronizingly, “how can you say that Paige Taylor is a brilliant doctor?”
“Because it happens to be the truth.” Barker turned to look at Paige, and when he spoke again, he was talking to her as though they were the only two people in the courtroom: “Some people are born to be doctors. You were one of those rare ones. I knew from the beginning how capable you were. I was hard on you—maybe too hard—because you were good. I was tough on you because I wanted you to be tougher on yourself. I wanted you to be perfect, because in our profession, there’s no room for error. None.”
Paige was staring at him, mesmerized, her mind spinning. It was all happening too fast.
The courtroom was hushed.
“I wasn’t about to let you quit.”
Gus Venable could feel his victory slipping away. His prize witness had become his worst nightmare. “Dr. Barker—it has been testified that you accused Dr. Taylor of killing your patient Lance Kelly. How…?”
“I told her that because she was the surgeon in charge. It was her ultimate responsibility. In fact, the anesthetist caused Mr. Kelly’s death.”
By now the court was in an uproar.
Paige sat there, stunned.
Dr. Barker went on speaking slowly, with an effort. “And as for John Cronin leaving her that money, Dr. Taylor knew nothing about it. I talked to Mr. Cronin myself. He told me that he was going to leave Dr. Taylor that money because he hated his family, and he said he was going to ask Dr. Taylor to release him from his misery. I agreed.”
There was an uproar from the spectators. Gus Venable was standing there, a look of total bewilderment on his face.
Alan Penn leaped to his feet. “Your honor, I move for a dismissal!”
Judge Young was slamming her gavel down. “Quiet!” she yelled. She looked at the two attorneys. “Into my chambers.”
Judge Young, Alan Penn, and Gus Venable were seated in Judge Young’s chambers.
Gus Venable was in a state of shock. “I…I don’t know what to say. He’s obviously a sick man, your honor. He’s confused. I want a battery of psychiatrists to examine him and—”