Balance of Power

    Once more, Mary looked away, confirming, by her silence, what Sarah believed to be the truth: that neither Mary nor Inez could bring themselves to verbalize their fears. At length, Mary said, "We both thought it was sad that we barely saw them. But we didn't know the reason until Lara told us. After that, we knew that Lara and Kerry were talking to her, and that Kerry could give Joan good advice."

    "But you were in San Francisco." Nolan's tone was mild yet argumentative. "Did you or your mother offer Joan and Marie a home—some shelter from the abuse you belatedly discovered?"

    In vain, Sarah searched for an objection. But Nolan's legal point, however offensive, was clear enough: that Mary's neglect had helped enable Bowden to slaughter three members of her family. Briefly, Mary closed her eyes. "Not in those words. But Joanie knew she could always come to us. She was depending on Lara and Kerry."

    The last phrase, Sarah thought, held the faintest tinge of an emotion somewhere between resentment and regret. From his newly keen expression, John Nolan had heard it, too. "You've referred to the President and First Lady several times now. Prior to the interview where they exposed John Bowden as an abuser, did you know they were going to do that?"

    "Yes."

    "Did you approve?"

    Mary paused, as though to parse the question. "Lara told us what would be happening, and that the Chronicle already had the story. It seemed like everyone was stuck."

    "Didn't you ask yourself whether shaming Bowden on national TV might inflame him?"

    "I worried about it." Now Mary sounded tired, as though envisioning the tragedy which followed. "But Kerry and Lara knew that world. I didn't. So I decided to trust them."

    Nolan propped his chin in the palm of his hand. Softly, he asked, "How do you feel about that now?"

    This, Sarah knew, was the second prong of Nolan's strategy: to divide Mary and Lara by exploiting the younger sister's shame and envy. But he risked being too obvious, turning Mary's resentment back against him. Sarah decided to help this process along. "Bad taste, Mr. Nolan, truly knows no bounds. The witness lost most of her family. She watched Marie slowly dying from the hideous internal damage your client

designed the Eagle's Claw to inflict. Why not just ask her if the President and First Lady caused her six-year-old niece's vena cava to shred."

    Nolan's eyes glinted with the resentment of an advocate thwarted in his mission—exacerbated, Sarah was certain, by the fact that his opponent was young, a woman, and a former underling now wholly lacking in deference. She herself, Sarah concluded, was Nolan's Achilles' heel. "Your comments," he shot back, "are improper and grossly unprofessional. If you persist, I'll be forced to bring them to the attention of Judge Bond."

    Over drinks at one of your boys' clubs? Sarah was tempted to ask. In her most indifferent tone, she answered, "Your outrage is duly noted. Please move on."

    Momentum broken, Nolan paused before turning to Mary. "Did your sister Lara mention that the Kilcannons' exposure of John Bowden was intended to spare the President political embarrassment?"

    " 'Mention,' " Sarah repeated. "I certainly object to that

. It implies that slander contained in your question is a matter of established fact."

    "A slander on whom?" Nolan shot back. "The Kilcannons? I thought you were here to represent Mary Costello."

    Sarah flushed: Nolan's thrust was calculated to exploit Mary's fear of being controlled by Lara, which complicated Sarah's own relationship to Lara's surviving sister. "I'm here," Sarah answered with tenuous calm, "to point out when your questions lack foundation in fact."

    Nolan smiled faintly. "As to what? The President's motives for the interview? Or your own allegiances?" Turning to Mary, he asked, "Did your sister discuss with you whether exposing your sister's abusive marriage served some interest of the President?"

    Pensive, Mary gazed at the table. "What I remember is that the Chronicle would be printing that already, because he was

the President, and because Kerry was involved with Joan's case. This was more about the best way to deal with that."

    "But how did exposing Bowden serve Joan's interests?"

    Mary hesitated. "Just by getting it over with, I guess."

    Nolan paused, as though seeking a way to probe the answer. Then, abruptly, he switched topics. "You attended the University of San Francisco, a private school. Who paid your tuition and expenses?"

    Though she could not acknowledge the lethal psychology of such a question, Sarah knew at once that she must object. With an air of faux mystification, she asked, "What is the possible relevance of that?"

    This time, Nolan appeared unruffled. "Humor me, Ms. Dash. Or are you directing your client not to answer?"