Jack's eyes moved staccato down the line of jurors as they filed into the jury box. It was obviously a diverse group, which he thought appropriate. It struck him that if he ducked out of the court and strolled down the street, the first twelve people he'd confront would be an equivalent group.

While Jack was studying the jurors, Tony Fasano called the first witness of the day. It was Marlene Richardt, Craig's matronly secretary-cum-receptionist, and she was duly sworn and seated in the witness box.

Jack turned his attention to the woman. To him, she looked like the strong-willed Frau that her German name suggested. She was of sizable proportions and built square, not too dissimilar from Tony. Her hair was up in a tight bun. Her mouth was set bulldog-style, and her eyes sparkled with defiance. It wasn't hard to sense she was a reluctant witness, whom Tony had the judge declare a hostile witness.

From the podium, Tony started out slowly, trying to joke with the woman, but he was unsuccessful, at least that's what Jack thought until he switched his attention to the jurors. In contrast to the witness, most of them smiled at Tony's attempts at humor. All at once, Jack could see what Alexis had implied, namely that Tony Fasano had a flair for connecting with the jury.

Jack had read Marlene's deposition, which had very little connection to the case, since the day of Patience Stanhope's demise she'd not been in contact with the patient, because the patient had not come into the office. The two times Craig had seen the patient had been at her home. So Jack was surprised that Tony was taking as long as he was with Marlene, painstakingly charting her association with Craig and her own troubled personal life. Since she and Craig had worked together for fifteen years, there was a lot to talk about.

Tony maintained his humorous style. Marlene ignored it at first, but after about an hour of what was starting to smack of a filibuster on Tony's part, she began to get angry, and as she did so she started to respond emotionally. It was at that point that Jack correctly sensed that the jokey style was a deliberate ploy on Tony's part. Tony wanted her off-balance and angry. As if sensing something unexpected was coming, Randolph tried to object that the testimony was endless and immaterial. The judge seemed to agree, but after a short sidebar conversation, which Jack could not hear, the questioning resumed and quickly hit pay dirt for the plaintiff's cause.

"Your Honor, may I approach the witness?" Tony asked. He was holding a folder in the air.

"You may," Judge Davidson said.

Tony stepped up to the witness box and handed the folder to Marlene. "Could you tell the jury what you are holding?"

"A patient file from the office."

"And whose file is it?"

"Patience Stanhope."

"Now there is a file number on the file."

"Of course there's a file number!" Marlene snapped. "How would we find it otherwise?"

"Could you read it aloud for the jury," Tony said, ignoring Marlene's mini-outburst.

"PP eight."

"Thank you," Tony said. He retrieved the file and returned to the podium.

Expectantly, several of the jurors leaned forward.

"Mrs. Richardt, would you explain to the jury what the initials PP stand for."

Like a cornered cat, Marlene's eyes darted around the room before settling for a moment on Craig.

"Mrs. Richardt," Tony prodded. "Hello! Anybody home?"

"They are letters," Marlene snapped.

"Well, thank you," Tony said sarcastically. "I believe most of the jurors recognized them as letters. What I'm asking is what they stand for. And permit me to remind you that you are sworn, and giving false testimony is perjury, which carries a severe penalty."

Marlene's face, which had become progressively red during her testimony, got redder still. Even her cheeks swelled as if she were straining.

"If it will help you remember, later testimony will suggest that you and Dr. Craig Bowman came up with this filing designation, which is not typical in your office. In fact, I have two other patient file numbers from your office." Tony held up the two additional folders. "The first one is Peter Sager's, and the number is PS one twenty-one. We chose this particular file since the individual's first initials are the same as the deceased, yet the letters on her file are PP, not PS.

"And my third file is Katherine Baxter, and this number is KB two thirty-three. There were others as well, and in each instance, the two first letters corresponded with the patient's initials. Now, we are aware that there are a few other PPs, but very few. So I ask again. What does the PP stand for, since it is not the patient's initials?"

"PP stands for 'problem patient,' " Marlene snapped defiantly.

Tony's face twisted into a wry smile for the jury's benefit. "Problem patient!" he repeated slowly but loudly. "What in heaven's name does that mean? Do they act up in the office?"

"Yes, they act up in the office," Marlene spat. "They're hypochondriacs. They have a bunch of stupid complaints that they make up and take the doctor's time away from the people who are really sick."

"And Dr. Bowman agreed with your giving the patients this designation."

"Of course. He's the one who told us which ones."

"And just so there is no misunderstanding, Patience Stanhope's file was a PP file, meaning she was a problem patient. Is that true?"

"Yes!"

"No further questions."

Jack leaned over toward Alexis and whispered, "This is a public-relations nightmare. What was Craig thinking?"

"I haven't the slightest idea. But something like this is not helping. In fact, things are looking even bleaker."

Jack nodded but didn't say anything more. He couldn't believe Craig could be so foolish. Every doctor had patients he or she labeled "problem patients," but it was never indicated in the record. Every practice had patients that were hated or despised, and that the doctors would try to get rid of as patients but often couldn't. Jack could remember in his own ophthalmology practice he'd had two or three who were so unpleasant that when he saw their names on the schedule, it would influence his mood for the whole day. He knew such a response was human nature, and being a doctor does not absolve the physician from such feelings. It was an issue that was swept under the rug during training, except in psychiatry.

Randolph smoothly tried on cross-examination to repair the damage as best he could, although it was clear the issue had blindsided him. With the ritualized process of discovery, such surprises were rare. Tony sported a smug smile.

"Labeling a patient as a 'problem patient' is not necessarily disparaging, is it, Mrs. Richardt?"

"I guess not."

"In fact, the reason to flag such a patient is to plan on giving them more attention rather than less."

"We did schedule them more time."

"That's exactly my point. Is it correct to say that as soon as you spotted PP, you scheduled the doctor to be with the patient longer?"

"Yes."

"So it was for the patient's benefit to have the PP designation."

"Yes."

"No more questions."

Jack leaned over to Alexis again. "I'm going to head over to the medical examiner's office. This has given me a bit more motivation."

"Thank you," Alexis whispered back.

Jack felt definite relief as he emerged from the courthouse. Being ensnared in the legal system had always been one of his phobias, and having it happen to his brother-in-law hit too close to home. The notion that justice would miraculously prevail was unreasonably idealistic, as Craig's case was threatening to show. Jack didn't trust the system, although he couldn't think of a better one.

He retrieved his rented Hyundai from beneath the Boston Common. He'd parked it there that morning, having stumbled on the public garage after vainly looking for street parking in Boston 's Government Center district. He had no idea where Craig and Alexis had parked. The original idea had been for him to follow them into the city, but whenever he let so much as a car length develop between himself and the Bowmans' Lexus, another car always immediately slid in. It was especially true once they got on the turnpike, and, not willing to be as aggressive at highway speeds as would have been necessary to stay directly behind Craig and Alexis, he lost them in the sea of commuters. From his perspective, the Boston driving, which had been difficult the night before, was a hundred times more challenging in true rush-hour traffic.