“Mr. Coleman,” Delilah cut in, “during this altercation did the defendant make any threats to you?”

“Yeah. He threatened to kill me. He said he’d rig explosives to my car or my apartment.”

“Moving to another subject, were you present at the Sunny Rest nursing home when the defendant was rearrested?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Coleman’s chest puffed up and he smiled at the jurors. “I captured him and saved Ashley Spencer’s life.”

“Please tell the jury what happened.”

“Casey had been in this coma for years. At first, I was really bummed out. I tried to convince myself that she’d wake up someday soon. I didn’t think visiting her would do any good. Her doctor told me she couldn’t hear me or say anything, and I was afraid I’d be too upset if I saw her like a vegetable. Plus her father was real hostile to me. I think he was the one who talked Casey into filing for divorce. He was very domineering.”

“Objection,” Swoboda said. “The witness isn’t answering the question.”

“Yes, Mr. Coleman,” the judge said, “you are getting pretty far afield.”

“Sorry, Judge.”

“Why don’t you tell the jury what happened during your visit to the Sunny Rest nursing home on the day of the defendant’s arrest?” Delilah said, praying that Coleman would stay on track.

“Okay. I was in town for the guardianship hearing and I decided to visit Casey. It was raining real heavy. I parked my car but I didn’t get out. At first I really wanted to visit Casey, but then I worried about what she’d look like. I mean she’d been knocked out for five years. So I was sitting in my car, wondering what to do, when I saw Ashley Spencer leaving the nursing home. I figured that she’d just come from visiting Casey and I’d ask her what it was like.”

Ashley looked over at Maxfield. He was sitting up and his eyes were drilling into Coleman. It was the first time in a while that he’d shown any signs of life.

“Lucky for her I decided I wanted to talk,” Coleman went on. “By the time I got out of my car, she was running toward hers. I ducked my head because of the rain and followed her. When I looked up, a guy was coming at her with a knife.”

“Could you see the assailant’s face?” Delilah asked.

“No. He was wearing a hood.”

“What happened next?”

“Ashley kicked him and ran. He went after her. I knew the guy had a knife, but I wasn’t gonna let that stop me. So I tackled him and wrestled him to the ground. Then, the cops arrived.”

“Did you finally get to see the face of the man who tried to murder Ashley Spencer?”

“Yes, I did.”

“And who was it?”

Coleman paused for effect before pointing at Joshua Maxfield. Maxfield glared at Coleman.

“The man who tried to stab Ashley Spencer to death is Joshua Maxfield, the defendant,” Coleman said, raising his voice dramatically.

“No further questions.”

Eric Swoboda crossed the room and stood a few inches from the witness.

“Mr. Coleman, I noticed that the prosecutor didn’t ask you what you do for a living. Is that because she doesn’t want the jury to know that you work for the Las Vegas mob?”

“That’s a lie. I’m a businessman. Just because I work in Las Vegas doesn’t make me a gangster.”

“What is the name of your company?”

“American Investments.”

“Hasn’t American Investments been the target of a federal grand jury looking into money laundering?”

“That was a mistake. Nothing came of that.”

“Is that because Myron Lemke, the government’s star witness, was murdered before he could testify?”

“Objection,” Delilah said. “Hearsay, irrelevant, and it violates the evidentiary rules on prior bad acts admissibility.”

“I’m going to sustain the objection. Move on, Mr. Swoboda.”

“Have you ever been convicted of a crime?”

“Yeah, years ago.”

“What was the crime?”

“Assault.”

“Were you ever convicted of theft?”

“That was a mistake. I thought I had money in my checking account and…”

“The jury didn’t agree with your defense, did it?” Swoboda asked.

“No,” Coleman answered reluctantly.

“Mr. Coleman, you testified that Mr. Maxfield attacked you at the Oregon Academy swimming pool?”

“Yeah, from behind.”

“At the time that he confronted you, were you holding Casey Van Meter’s wrist and calling her a bitch?”

“I don’t remember that.”

“You don’t remember attacking Ms. Van Meter?”

“No. We were talking.”

Delilah sighed inwardly but showed the jury none of what she was feeling. She’d needed Coleman to prove that Maxfield tried to knife Ashley at Sunny Rest and that point had been made. Fortunately, the jurors didn’t have to like Coleman to believe him.

“You’re saying that Mr. Maxfield attacked you from behind for no reason in front of scores of witnesses?”

“The guy’s a psycho. He didn’t need a reason.”

“Mr. Coleman, your wife is going to testify later in this case. Do you still contend that you were not assaulting her when Mr. Maxfield came to her rescue?”

“She’s had a serious head injury. I don’t think her memory is too good.”

“We are prepared to call several former students who were in the pool that day. Do you still want to maintain this fiction?”

“Call anyone you want. I don’t know what they’ll say. We may have been arguing. Casey could get upset over nothing.”

“What were you arguing about?”

“The divorce. I was trying to make her see reason.”

“That’s because Ms. Van Meter was rich and you couldn’t get your hands on her money if she divorced you?”

“No. I didn’t care about the money. I love her.”

“That’s why you didn’t go see her at any time while she was wasting away at the nursing home?”

“I already told you about that. It was too much for me to see her like that.”

“Yes, we can all see how sensitive you are,” Swoboda said.

“Objection,” Delilah said.

“Sustained,” Judge Shimazu answered.

Swoboda turned his back on Coleman and took a few steps down the jury box.

“So it was love, not Ms. Van Meter’s money, that caused you to seek an appointment as the guardian of her forty million dollars?”

Several jurors reacted when they heard the sum. Coleman didn’t answer. Swoboda turned back toward him.

“How long did you know Ms. Van Meter before you married?”

“Three days,” Coleman mumbled.

“I didn’t hear that, Mr. Coleman,” Swoboda said.

“Three days.”

“Gee, it must have been love at first sight.”

“Yeah.”

“And where did you meet?”

“The casino at the Mirage.”

“And in what church were you married?”

“It wasn’t a church.”

“Oh. Then where did you get hitched?”

“The, uh, Chapel of True Love.”

“I see. What time of day or night were the nuptials?”

“Four in the morning, I think.”

“Mr. Coleman, if Casey Van Meter died before coming out of her coma, you would have inherited millions of dollars, wouldn’t you?”

“I don’t know the exact amount.”

“In fact, since no one knew that Ashley Spencer was Ms. Van Meter’s daughter until recently, you would have inherited everything that Ms. Van Meter had, because she had no will and you were her husband.”

“What’s your question?” Coleman asked.

“My question? Okay, I’ll ask one. You had a good reason to want Casey Van Meter dead, didn’t you?”

“No. I love her.”

“More than forty million dollars?”

“Asked and answered,” Delilah cut in.

“Overruled,” the judge said. “Do you understand the question, Mr. Coleman?”

“No.”

“Miles Van Meter was trying to be appointed as Ms. Van Meter’s guardian, wasn’t he?” Swoboda asked.

“Yes.”

“He had made it clear that he wanted to end his sister’s suffering, had he not?”

“I heard something about that.”

“That would have let you inherit her money, right?”

“I guess.”

“You knew that Ashley Spencer was trying to be appointed Ms. Van Meter’s guardian, didn’t you?”