She turned to David. “I’m giving you your ten minutes. What is it, Counselor?”
“I want to show you a piece of film, Your Honor.”
Brennan said, “I don’t see what this has to do with—”
Judge Williams said to Brennan, “I don’t, either.” She turned to David. “You now have nine minutes.”
David hurried over to the door leading to the hallway and opened it. “Come in.”
Hugh Iverson walked in, carrying a sixteen-millimeter projector and a portable screen. “Where should I set it up?”
David pointed to a corner of the room. “Over there.”
They watched as the man set up the equipment and plugged in the projector.
“May I pull down the shades?” David asked.
It was all Judge Williams could do to hold back her anger. “Yes, you go right ahead, Mr. Singer.” She looked at her watch. “You have seven minutes.”
The projector was turned on. Judge Goldberg’s chambers flickered onto the screen. David and Dr. Salem were watching Ashley, who was seated in a chair.
On the screen, Dr. Salem said, “She’s completely under.”
David walked up to Ashley. “I want to talk to Toni… Toni, I want you to come out. Do you hear me? Alette…I want you both to talk to me.”
Silence.
Judge Williams sat there, her face tight, watching the film.
David was yelling now. “What’s the matter with you? Are you too frightened? That’s what happened in the courtroom, isn’t it? Did you hear what the jury said? Ashley’s guilty. You were afraid to come out. You’re a coward, Toni!”
Judge Williams got to her feet. “I’ve had enough of this! I’ve seen this disgusting performance before. Your time is up, Mr. Singer.”
“Wait,” David said. “You haven’t—”
“It’s finished,” Judge Williams told him and started for the door.
Suddenly, a song began to fill the room.
“A penny for a spool of thread.
A penny for a needle.
That’s the way the money goes,
Pop! goes the weasel.”
Puzzled, Judge Williams turned around. She looked at the picture on the screen.
Ashley’s face had completely changed. It was Toni.
Toni said angrily, “Too frightened to come out in court? Did you really think I would come out just because you ordered me to? What do you think I am, a trained pony?”
Judge Williams slowly moved back into the room, staring at the film.
“I listened to all those bloody gits making fools of themselves.” She mimicked one of their voices. “’I don’t think that multiple personality disorder exists.’ What idiots. I’ve never seen such—”
As they watched, Ashley’s face changed again. She seemed to relax in her chair, and her face took on a shy look. In her Italian accent, Alette said, “Mr. Singer, I know you did the best you could. I wanted to appear in court and help you, but Toni wouldn’t let me.”
Judge Williams was watching, her face blank.
The face and voice changed again. “You’re bleeding right I wouldn’t,” Toni said.
David said, “Toni, what do you think is going to happen to you if the judge gives Ashley the death sentence?”
“She’s not going to give her the death sentence. Ashley didn’t even know one of the men. Remember?”
David said, “But Alette knew them all. You committed those murders, Alette. You had sex with those men and then you stabbed them to death and castrated them.…”
Toni said, “You bloody idiot! You don’t know anything, do you? Alette would never have had the nerve to do that. I did it. They deserved to die. All they wanted to do was have sex.” She was breathing hard. “But I made them all pay for it, didn’t I? And no one can ever prove I did it. Let little Miss Goody Two-shoes take the blame. We’ll all go to a nice cozy asylum and—”
In the background, behind the Chinese screen in the corner, there was a loud click.
Toni turned. “What was that?”
“Nothing,” David said quickly. “It was just—”
Toni rose and started running toward the camera until her face filled the screen. She pushed against something, and the scene tilted; part of the folding Chinese screen fell into the picture. A small hole had been cut in the center.