That’s enough of that, Christina thought. Move on.

“I don’t want to sound self-righteous,” Glancy continued, still maintaining his cool, measured tone, “but this really is a case of no good turn going unpunished. If I had forsaken Veronica for one of those spoiled rich kids that usually get these positions, none of this would ever have happened.”

Christina tried the Ben trick-watching the jury out the corner of her eye. Were they buying any of this? Too soon to tell.

“The detective who previously testified indicated that in the months preceding Veronica Cooper’s death, you had romantic liaisons with other women as well.”

“And in most of those cases, he’s wrong.” Glancy raised his chin, adding a bit of strength to his demeanor. “That’s so typical of a detective. Anytime they see a man and a woman enter a room together alone, they assume there’s going to be hanky-panky. I find his assumptions sexist and offensive, particularly in this day and age. I notice he didn’t claim to have seen anything through a window, even though he appears to be a career Peeping Tom. What he saw, for the most part, was business meetings. I am a workaholic-anyone who knows me can tell you that-and I often work late into the night. Sometimes that work involves meeting people, and sometimes those people are women. Is that a surprise when there are so many female professionals in DC these days? Sometimes those meetings are in hotels, especially when the guests are out-of-towners, but we’re talking about places like the Watergate, not Motel 6. I mean, honestly-if I wanted to have an affair with someone, would I go to a hotel? In this town? Of course not. Everyone here knows me on sight. I never did that with Veronica and I would never do it with anyone else.”

“I noticed you said most of the detective’s accusations were untrue,” Christina said, anticipating Padolino’s cross. “Was there an exception?”

“One, yes.” He lowered his head and seemed supremely ashamed. “A one-night stand. With another Senate employee. I am not going to give her name for obvious reasons. But I have told my wife about it. We’ve discussed it and come to terms with it. I’ve agreed to get some help. As soon as this trial is over-if I’m able-I plan to obtain counseling for sex addiction. Or maybe it’s power addiction, I don’t know. Whatever it is, I understand that I have a problem, and with my wife’s help I’m going to overcome it.” He raised his hands. “And that’s the way it should be. This is a family matter. It’s private, or should be, even when it involves public figures. It’s really nobody else’s business.”

Christina paused, letting the jury soak that in. She knew he wouldn’t change any minds in the press gallery, but it was just possible he might speak to one of the jurors-especially any who might’ve had an affair themselves, or who’d had a secret revealed they’d just as soon had stayed private.

“I appreciate what you’re saying, Senator. But I’m afraid there is one other matter I have to ask you about. One other woman. One of the prosecution witnesses, Steve Melanfield, the lobbyist who admitted he was a political opponent of yours, claims to have seen you engaged in a sexual act with a woman named Delia Collins.”

“Absolutely untrue,” Glancy said defiantly. “I met with Ms. Collins on many occasions. My heart bled for her. She had a terminal illness, but she just couldn’t accept her fate. She was chasing after all these quack miracle cures-you can’t believe how many leeches there are taking advantage of people who have been diagnosed with terminal illnesses. She wanted her insurance company to pay for these treatments. I understood where she was coming from, but if an insurance company gave in to that once, they’d soon have a landslide of similar claims. Everyone’s premiums would go up. The companies might well go bankrupt.”

“To be specific,” Christina said, drawing him out of politics and back to the case, “Mr. Melanfield testified that he saw you in your office receiving sexual favors from Ms. Collins.”

“He’s wrong,” Glancy replied. “And as I recall, he admitted he never saw my face. I don’t know what he saw or indeed if he saw anything at all. But I know this-it wasn’t me.” He stopped, lowering his eyes. “I would never have taken advantage of that dear, strong woman. I was devastated a few months later when I read that she had succumbed to her illness.”

Well, they had pretty well covered sex, Christina thought. Now could they possibly talk about the murder?

“Senator Glancy, your wife has testified that when she learned of the existence of the videotape, she gathered funds for the purpose of paying off Ms. Cooper. And she also says she told you about her plan. Is this true?”

“It is. But I disagreed with her actions. I didn’t want to pay the woman a cent.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t think it’s appropriate to pay blackmail, especially when you’re an elected official. Or married to one. It only encourages more of the same. And it seems clear now that Veronica intended to blow the money on drugs. With all due respect to my dear wife, paying Veronica off was a mistake.”

“Did you attempt to prevent your wife from making the payoff?”

Glancy smiled a little. “Christina, I don’t have the power to prevent my wife from doing anything. I’m not sure there’s anyone on earth who does. But I took actions of my own.”

“And what would that be?”

“I called Veronica. Made an appointment to meet her at the Senate the next day. The day she was killed.”

Now that got a reaction from the jury. Christina wasn’t sure if they believed him, but at least they were listening.

“Did she agree to meet with you?”

“She did. That’s why I made the notation in the Gutenberg-my day planner. That’s why she was at the Senate that day, even though she didn’t come in for work. And that’s why I left the Health Committee meeting.”

“Then you admit that you met her that day.”

“I admit that I tried. But I didn’t set up any rendezvous in my hideaway. That would be stupid. I arranged to meet her in the Senate Dining Room. A public place, but one where reporters are not allowed and the staff can be counted on to be discreet. I left by the backstairs door, true, but I turned right, not left, and made my way to the dining room, not to the basement. I don’t know who Shandy saw or heard when she was doing her Mata Hari routine, but it wasn’t me. I was in the dining room wondering why Veronica hadn’t shown up.”

“She never arrived?”

“Never. After a while, I returned to the committee meeting, but when it broke for lunch I went back to the dining room, just in case she came late. Stayed there for a long time-you remember. That was when I first met you. I finally returned to my office, and that was when I learned to my horror that Veronica was dead.”

Christina closed her notebook. That about covered it. Just one more very important question to ask. “Senator Glancy, did you kill Veronica Cooper?”

“Absolutely not. I would never do that. Never. Not to her or anyone else.”

“Thank you, sir,” Christina said. That had gone well, she thought. But of course, the hard part was yet to come.

She looked across the courtroom to the prosecution table. “Pass the witness.”

“Wha-wha-where am I?”

Slowly the opaque haze lifted from his head, his eyes. Everything throbbed, every part of him. The light hurt his eyes, so he closed them. He had no idea where he was or what had happened. All he knew for sure was that he was alive. And very surprised to be.

“Take it easy. You’re still weak. You need rest.”

Loving forced his eyes open again. Deep Throat? They were still in that musty basement room. But he wasn’t hanging from the ceiling anymore. He was lying on the hard concrete floor. And he was alive!

“You really did start to go into seizure. Too much electricity will do that.”