been sent for?”
“Yes.”
“And did he come into the operating room while the operation was going on?”
“Toward the end. Yes. But it was too late to do anything. We were unable to revive the patient.”
“And did Dr. Barker say anything to Dr. Taylor at that time?”
“Well, we were all pretty upset, and …”
“I asked you if Dr. Barker said anything to Dr. Taylor.”
“Yes.”
“And what did Dr. Barker say?”
There was a pause, and in the middle of the pause, there was a crack of thunder outside, like the voice of God. A moment later, the storm broke, nailing raindrops to the roof of the courthouse.
“Dr. Barker said, ‘You killed him.’ ”
The spectators were in an uproar. Judge Young slammed her gavel down. “That’s enough! Do you people live in caves? One more outburst like that and you’ll all be standing outside in the rain.”
Gus Venable waited for the noise to die down. In the hushed silence he said, “Are you sure that’s what Dr. Barker said to Dr. Taylor? ‘You killed him’?”
“Yes.”
“And you have testified that Dr. Barker was a man whose medical opinion was valued?”
“Oh, yes.”
“Thank you. That’s all, doctor.” He turned to Alan Penn. “Your witness.”
Penn rose and approached the witness box.
“Dr. Peterson, I’ve never watched an operation, but I imagine there’s enormous tension, especially when it’s something as serious as a heart operation.”
“There’s a great deal of tension.”
“At a time like that, how many people are in the room? Three or four?”
“Oh, no. Always half a dozen or more.”
“Really?”
“Yes. There are usually two surgeons, one assisting, sometimes two anesthesiologists, a scrub nurse, and at least one circulating nurse.”
“I see. Then there must be a lot of noise and excitement going on. People calling out instructions and so on.”
“Yes.”
“And I understand that it’s a common practice for music to be playing during an operation.”
“It is.”
“When Dr. Barker came in and saw that Lance Kelly was dying, that probably added to the confusion.”
“Well, everybody was pretty busy trying to save the patient.”
“Making a lot of noise?”
“There was plenty of noise, yes.”
“And yet, in all that confusion and noise, and over the music, you could hear Dr. Barker say that Dr. Taylor had killed the patient. With all that excitement, you could have been wrong, couldn’t you?”
“No, sir. I could not be wrong.”
“What makes you so sure?”
Dr. Peterson sighed. “Because I was standing right next to Dr. Barker when he said it.”
There was no graceful way out.
“No more questions.”
The case was falling apart, and there was nothing he could do about it. It was about to get worse.
Denise Berry took the witness stand.
“You’re a nurse at Embarcadero County Hospital?”
“Yes.”
“How long have you worked there?”
“Five years.”
“During that time, did you ever hear any conversations between Dr. Taylor and Dr. Barker?”
“Sure. Lots of times.”
“Can you repeat some of them?”
Nurse Berry looked at Dr. Taylor and hesitated. “Well, Dr. Barker could be very sharp …”
“I didn’t ask you that, Nurse Berry. I asked you to tell us some specific things you heard him say to Dr. Taylor.“
There was a long pause. “Well, one time he said she was incompetent, and …”
Gus Venable put on a show of surprise. “You heard Dr. Barker say that Dr. Taylor was incompetent?”
“Yes, sir. But he was always …”
“What other comments did you hear him make about Dr. Taylor?”
The witness was reluctant to speak. “I really can’t remember.”
“Miss Berry, you’re under oath.”
“Well, once I heard him say …” The rest of the sentence was a mumble.
“We can’t hear you. Speak up, please. You heard him say what?”
“He said he … he wouldn’t let Dr. Taylor operate on his dog.”
There was a collective gasp from the courtroom.
“But I’m sure he only meant …”
“I think we can all assume that Dr. Barker meant what he said.”
All eyes were fixed on Paige Taylor.
The prosecutor’s case against Paige seemed overwhelming. Yet Alan Penn had the reputation of being a master magician in the courtroom. Now it was his turn to present the defendant’s case. Could he pull another rabbit out of his hat?
Paige Taylor was on the witness stand, being questioned by Alan Penn. This was the moment everyone had been waiting for.
“John Cronin was a patient of yours, Dr. Taylor?”
“Yes, he was.”
“And what were your feelings toward him?”
“I liked him. He knew how ill he was, but he was very courageous. He had surgery for a cardiac tumor.”
“You performed the heart surgery?”
“Yes.”
“And
