“Yes, well. I have a wealthy sponsor for this trip.”

“Anyone I might know?” Paul asked. Did Lindy pay money to Diane to find out what was going on in the jury room? Did she pay her to guarantee a positive verdict?

“Nope. I have a dear ex-climbing buddy with wobbly knees who managed somehow to scrounge the money for this. She has nothing to do with the Markovs, if that’s what you’re suggesting.” She was getting defensive again.

“Well, you know and I know you’ll have to be extraordinary to get up there. There’s been so much publicity lately about the tragedies on Everest, but I hear you waltzed up Vinson in extreme conditions last January.”

“Waltzed?” She slapped her knee, laughing. “I staggered up and tottered down. I have never been so cold. But it was beautiful. I want to go back and climb in the Trans-Antarctics sometime. Incredible mountains, the bases buried in the ice sheet, whole ranges nobody’s ever set foot on.”

“You’re braver than me,” Paul said. “Would you be the first woman to make it up all seven?”

“No. Junko Tabei first did it in 1991.”

“How did you get into climbing?”

“A friend introduced me,” she said briefly. Then, as if she couldn’t resist, she added, “I used to be a professor of political science.”

“I know that. From the jury questionnaire. I figured you must have a social conscience, and that’s why you decided to serve rather than find some excuse to get out of it.”

She got up with a swift, lithe movement, turned to some items in the corner, and began sorting through them, her back to him. “Put this down in your report, if you want. I’ll never do it again. I’ve never seen such a bunch of goons.”

“Yeah, I’ve already heard a few stories.”

“You mean the scream? I was driven to that. But they were so irrational most of them, so taken in by that wolf in sheep’s clothing, Cliff Wright. I finally blew my stack. I hope the verdict stands up. Tell Mrs. Markov it was a near thing.”

Paul nodded his head, saying, “I heard about that, too. What do you think saved the day for us?”

Diane turned around and put her hands on her hips. “As you have no doubt also heard, we had Rasputin running the jury. He had them all hypnotized, all except Courtney and Mrs. Lim, and Sonny. I felt truly sorry for our system. And then Rasputin was gone and the alternate came in, and sanity was restored.”

“Are you talking about Cliff Wright? Incredible, him getting sick.”

“At such a pivotal moment, too. And I read it was peanut oil in his food. I wonder if it really was the restaurant, or if somebody didn’t just put a few drops on his egg roll.” A surprisingly direct person, she certainly wasn’t stupid, either.

“Why, who would do a thing like that?” Paul asked.

“Wish I’d thought of it. Mrs. Lim was seething, but she didn’t show it. Maybe she took him out. If so, I’ll testify in her defense. There were mitigating factors.”

She seemed quite matter-of-fact about these events. Sitting back down on the floor, she pulled her legs up into a full lotus. Her gray Ragg socks reminded Paul of his own half-forgotten days in the mountains. Noticing him watching, she said, “Suppleness is almost as important as strength.”

“You seem to have it all.” She really did. A woman like this didn’t worry about making a living, working night and day. Her job was to live. She had even found the right man for her, a fellow traveler. Sure, she was selfish, but she wouldn’t waste the best years of her life on clients that took and took and never paid on time. “But I’ll tell you what I think is the most important quality for a climber. It’s the ability to go one step further than anyone else would think possible. To do what has to be done in extreme conditions. To let nothing stop you. Do you think you have that ability?”

Diane smiled. “Definitely.”

Paul said, “Speaking of extreme conditions, it was getting pretty extreme there in the jury room. Cliff Wright was doing his number on everyone, and you seem to have been the only one capable of stopping him.”

“I’d already lost,” Diane, said, watching him. “There was nothing more I could do. We were about to vote.”

“And then, poof! Cliff was gone and in came the alternate with a fresh perspective, as you said.”

“Just in the nick of time.”

“You were out in the hall just before the food came in, weren’t you?”

“I think I know what you’re getting at.”

“You were standing there, and-”

Diane said, “You want me to come right out and say it? Is that what you want?”

“Please,” said Paul, his pulse racing.

“Okay. I’ll be brutally honest. Tell Mrs. Markov she doesn’t have to worry about me. I didn’t see her and I couldn’t testify against her. She must have done it right before I came out. Tell her-like you said, Paul. Tell her I understand it was extreme circumstances.

“Now, Paul, you tell me something. I promise I will keep it completely secret. I give you my word. I’ve been thinking this over and there’s just the one thing I don’t understand. How in the hell did she know what was going on in the jury room?”

Paul shook his head.

“Was it Courtney? Did she buy her off?”

“I don’t know that it was Mrs. Markov,” Paul said, finally finding his voice.

“Who else would care enough to do that to Wright?” Diane said. “I mean, come on.”

“But like you said, she’d have no way of knowing how much trouble her case was in.”

“It sure was a strange coincidence, then.”

“You knew, you cared, and you were outside.”

She laughed again. “I have better things to do with my life. I wouldn’t really hurt somebody to win. Even in extreme conditions. How old are you, Paul?”

“Me? Forty. And a half.”

“I was the same age, forty, when I started climbing, and these have been the best years of my life. I wouldn’t jeopardize that, even for Lindy Markov’s millions.”

“I admire what you’re doing. It’s the sort of thing most people don’t even dare dream about.” He thought for a minute and said, “What do you think? Did somebody kill him?”

“No,” Diane said. “It’s going to be the restaurant. It’s going to be the prosaic explanation.” But she stopped him at the door, saying, “What do you think? Really.”

“I thought it was you, Diane,” Paul said.

He stopped briefly at the courthouse for a chat with Deputy Kimura, who assured him that no one except court personnel were allowed into the private hallway. And then admitted that yes, there were exceptions here and there.

Almost everyone remotely connected with the case seemed to have passed through at some point, including Lindy’s friend, Alice, but Kimura did not recall seeing her or Lindy there on the day Wright died. “I watch for outsiders,” he had said. “I didn’t see anyone that day who didn’t belong.”

Alice looked at him through a peephole in the door. “Yes?” she said.

“I’m here to see Lindy Markov,” Paul said.

“Really.” She opened the door. In leopard-skin tights, a long yellow jersey, gold sandals, and disheveled blond hair, she had a gloss of perspiration on her brow that she wiped away with a kerchief. He recognized her from Mike’s birthday party.

She looked him over. “She’s just full of surprises these days.” She was out of breath. She must have been exercising. He heard music playing in the background, but it didn’t sound like exercise music.

“I work with Nina Reilly,” Paul said. “Paul Van Wagoner.” Lucky to run into Alice. She had reasons for wanting Lindy to win.

“Alice Boyd.” She shook his hand briefly. “I’m sorry but Lindy isn’t here at the moment. Mind telling me what this is about?”

“Just winding up loose ends.” Actually, he found himself listening to the sultry singer in the background, the way she stretched out a syllable over several notes in the scratchy recording. He recognized the song as one from the forties, “My Old Flame.” Give Alice one credit for good taste in music.