her, but based on how contrite he seemed, it was hard to believe that Steve had really meant to hurt her.
Peter was also troubled by his part in the Mancinis' marital problems. He should never have barged into their house the way he did, throwing accusations at his friend in front of Donna. He had made it sound as if Steve was intentionally sabotaging Gary's case. The more Peter thought about it, the more he decided that he owed it to Steve to tell Donna how sorry he seemed in court.
As soon as he wrapped up his work, Peter drove across town. Rhonda Kates lived near the hospital in a garden apartment on the other side of the Whitaker campus from city center. Peter rang the doorbell and noticed the curtain that covered the kitchen window move.
Donna looked apprehensive when she opened the door.
She had been afraid to go back to her house for her own clothes, so she was wearing shorts and a green tank top that belonged to Rhonda.
'I thought I'd drop by to see how you're doing.'
Donna's apprehensive look turned into a smile of relief and she ushered him in.
'You all alone?' Peter asked.
'Rhonda has an evening shift at the hospital.'
'How are your ribs?'
'Nothing's broken. I'm still sore, but it could have been worse.'
They sat down in the living room.
'I was too upset to thank you last night,' Donna said.
'Oh, hey ... 'No. Some men wouldn't have wanted to get involved. Especially with the wife of a friend.' She paused. 'You haven't said anything to Steve, have you?
About where I am.'
'No. He doesn't know I helped you. I was afraid if I said anything, he'd want to know where you are. That would have put me in the middle. I like both of you and I ... Well, I really find it hard to believe that Steve hit you like that.'
'I know what you mean,' Donna answered bitterly.
'Actually, Steve did talk to me today at the courthouse. He's a mess. I think he's really sorry for what he did.'
'Sorry isn't good enough. I am not going to be Steve's punching bag. If you love someone.. .'
Donna left the thought unfinished. They sat quietly for a moment. Then, Donna asked, 'Are you hungry?
I'm fixing some dinner for myself.'
'I'm starved.'
Peter followed Donna into a kitchen separated from the living room by an L-shaped, waist-high counter. Tomatoes, lettuce, an avocado and pods of fresh green peas were spread out near a large salad bowl on a co next to the sink.
I 'I was going to make myself a steak and salad got another steak. Is that okay?'
'Great.'
'Do you want a drink?'
'Does Rhonda have the fixings for algin and tonic?'
'Let me check,' she answered as she looked in a cabinet over the stove. 'You're on,' she said, handing a bottle to Peter. 'I saw the tonic in the refrigerator. Why don't you fix me one, too,' Peter found the ice and fixed the drinks. When he set down Donna's glass on the counter, she asked, 'How did the trial go today?'
Peter told Donna about judge Kuffel's decision to keep out evidence of the other murders. Then he recounted the testimony concerning the sex magazines and the peeping incident and Gary's reaction to it. The heat in the apartment caused sweat to bead on Donna's body. While Peter talked, she picked up the cold glass of gin and touched it to her forehead. With her hair in casual disarray, she looked attractive even with her split lip and bruises. The cruel reminders of Steve's beating made Peter want to protect her from any further harm.
When he realized that he was staring, Peter averted his eyes, hoping that Donna had not noticed.
'Poor kid,' Peter finished. 'Here he is facing a death sentence and all he can think about is your mom knowing he's been reading Playboy.'
'How do you think the jury reacted to the books and the peeping?'
'Tough to say. A couple of them looked upset about the peeping. I don't know what they thought about the magazines. I did see a couple of kindly looks when Gary started bawling.', 'Give Gary my love, will you. Tell him ... tell him I have to go out of town for a few days so he won't wonder why I'm not in court.'
'I will.'
Donna paused. She looked worried.
'If I ask you a question, will you give me an honest answer?'
'Of course,' Peter said.
'Is Gary going to be convicted?'
Peter's first thought was to assure Donna that he would win Gary's case, but he found that he could not lie to her.
'I don't know, Donna. I wish I could assure you that he'll be okay, but I just don't know.'
Chapter TWENTY-ONE.
Peter began his cross-examination of Dennis Downes by asking, 'How well do you know the Harmon family, Sergeant?'
'Not all that well. I know them to say hello to, but we don't socialize.'
'Have you met Gary Harmon in a social setting?'
'No' 'Are you aware that Gary is mildly retarded?'
'I never heard that.'
'But you knew he was slow?'
'Well, I knew he wasn't a scholar.'
'That's obviously true,' Peter said, 'because you would have had some trouble convincing a scholar that he had supernatural powers, wouldn't you?'
Downes shrugged uneasily and Peter did not press him for a verbal answer.
'In fact, you had a pretty easy time convincing Gary that he had psychic powers, didn't you?'
'I guess.'
'That's because he trusted you, didn't he, Sergeant?'
'I suppose he did.'
'There's no doubt in your mind about that, is there?
After all, when he was arrested for peeping at that girl at the college, you fixed it so he wasn't charged.'
'I did.'
'You must not have felt Gary was very dangerous, or you wouldn't have let him go, would you?'
Downes suddenly saw where Peter had led him. He hesitated before answering 'No' and Peter noted with satisfaction that several of the jurors took notes when they saw Downes hesitate.
'Let's discuss Gary's supernatural powers, Sergeant.
Until you came up with that idea, didn't Gary insist that he knew nothing about the murder of Sandra Whiley?'
'No, that's not true. He said he saw her and the killer by the park entrance.'
'That's not really accurate, is it?' Peter asked as he walked across the courtroom and handed the witness a two-volume transcript of the interrogation. Sticking out of several ages were yellow Post-its with numbers on p them. Peter carried his own copy of the transcript with similarly marked Post-its.
'Let me direct your attention to the page marked by the Post-it labeled number one. Have you got that?'
Downes nodded.
'What Gary told you initially was that he had seen a man and a woman hugging in the park, did he not?'
'Yes, but later ..
'I'm not concerned with 'later,' Sergeant. I'm concerned with what Gary told you at first. And that was simply that he had seen a man and a woman hugging.'
