"And did you notify Mr. Jones, who is, after all, representing these people?"

MP decided this was a perfectly good moment to help her out with this difficult question. "No, this is the first I've heard of it. I'm caught between shock and surprise. As Miss Parrish is no doubt aware, I'm prepared only to contest the charges I've been made aware of." MP looked so sad and disgusted it was impossible not to feel an ocean of pity for him.

"What do you have to say to that, Miss Parrish?"

"I tried to reach Mr. Jones."

"Did you?"

"Yes."

"How?"

"Phone."

"Once? Twice? How often?"

"I made multiple good-faith efforts. I can't recall the precise number. Unfortunately, there was no answer at his office."

"Do you have an answering machine, Mr. Jones?"

"Yes."

"Is it left on after office hours?"

"Yes. Always."

"Miss Parrish?"

"Maybe I dialed the wrong number."

"I'm sure that explains it."

Now that it was firmly established that she was lying, she pressed on. "We're now charging the Konevitches with immigration fraud."

"Is this charge likely to change in the next few minutes?" MP asked, looking at the judge.

"It will not." She was getting creamed, and like a good lawyer, taking it in cool stride.

Alex was almost lost. English wasn't his native tongue, and the parries and thrusts shot around the small courtroom like lightning bolts. The questions and replies came without time to breathe or think. Not a word was wasted, no "uhs," no hesitations. Three first-rate legal minds were playing hardball with each other, with his life at stake.

The judge removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes. "As this is the first this court has heard of this new charge, can you honor us with a little more specificity?"

"Mr. Konevitch was heavily involved in criminal activity in Russia before he fled and came to America. He presented himself to the Immigration Service as a victim of political persecution. He deliberately constructed false facts to verify this status. Further, he claimed permanent employment with a company that has subsequently been discovered to be a fraud. It is, in fact, a front for criminal activities, including money laundering. Given those un-lawful actions, we recommend that Mr. and Mrs. Konevitch be immediately deported back to Russia."

"Mr. Jones?"

"I'm not at all prepared to contest these absurd charges. They're obviously preposterous, and will be easily debunked."

"When will you be ready?"

"Two weeks, at a minimum."

"Then we'll reconvene in two weeks."

Like that, it was over. His Honor started to rise, before MP interrupted his progress. "I have another matter for your advisement, Your Honor."

His Honor sank back into his chair.

"My clients should be released on bond immediately. The charges that led to their arrest have already been disproved and disposed. They should not have to suffer a lack of freedom over what my colleague Miss Parrish has already confessed was gross negligence on the part of her department."

"Miss Parrish?"

"I did not state it was gross negligence. That's an outrageous distortion of what I said."

"Remind me. What did you say?"

"Simple bureaucratic oversight. Nearly two million immigrants a year enter our porous borders, legally or otherwise. As hard as our people work, well"-she stared down at her hapless associate again-"occasionally a few pieces of paper get misplaced in the shuffle."

The elbows landed on the bench again. "Miss Parrish, I admire your noble efforts to defend the reputation of your service. I surely do."

"Thank you, Your Honor."

"It is admirable and it definitely touches my heart. However, I spent fifteen long years in your shoes. So don't you ever utter such outlandish baloney in this court again. It was, unmistakably, gross negligence. The INS is overworked and severely understaffed, but that in no way excuses or ameliorates what happened here today. Now, what's your response to bond for these people?"

She never blinked. "We strongly advise that it be denied, Your Honor."

"Grounds?"

"According to the Russian attorney general, Mr. Konevitch embezzled many millions of dollars from the investors in his bank. He also fled with millions more that he stole from the Russian mob. He fled from there, and he will certainly flee from here. He is, by any stretch, a definite flight risk."

"Mr. Jones?"

MP paused and stared down at his legal pad for a long moment. Alex didn't have a prayer. MP knew this. Further, he knew better than to irritate the judge and risk losing his obvious sympathy by arguing otherwise. Alex seemed to understand this as well. He was vigorously nodding his head in Elena's direction.

"Mr. Jones?" the judge repeated, taking his tone up a notch.

"Those issues will be addressed in two weeks. Mrs. Konevitch, though, has been accused of nothing."

His Honor was tired of talking. He simply shifted his stare to Kim Parrish.

"The government," she replied, "would strongly prefer that she remain in custody as well."

"I do not react to preferences, Miss Parrish. You had better offer substantiation for denial."

"She's a flight risk as well."

"With her husband in jail?"

"Maybe."

"You need to do better than that, Miss Parrish."

"She was party to his falsehoods. She testified at his hearings, confirmed his lies, and served as his able co-conspirator."

His Honor bent far forward and peered down at his court reporter, who also happened to double as his appointments secretary. "Sally, what did I do last Sunday?"

"You played golf, Your Honor."

"I did?"

"Of course. You had your usual ten a.m. tee time at Washington Golf and Country."

"And were you to ask Mrs. Everston where I was, what do you think she'd say, Sally?"

Sally produced a shy smile and blushed nicely. "She'd say you were at your county school board meeting."

"Am I on the school board, Sally?"

"No, Your Honor. Not for about five years now. It's the same tired old alibi you give her every other Sunday."

He redirected his gaze to Kim Parrish. "Mrs. Everston and I have been married thirty-two years now. You'd think she'd be on to me by now, wouldn't you?"

"I have no idea. I'm not married."

"Then allow me to offer a little wisdom from the trenches. The state of matrimony, Miss Parrish, does not confer infinite or absolute knowledge of spousal activities. Believe it or not, lots of married people cheat on each other, hide money from each other, and, in cases, even have additional wives and husbands. So as much as you might wish it, the laws of this land do not yet assign mutual guilt on married couples. I am not responsible for the horrible quilts my wife knits and afflicts on our poor children every Christmas. She is certainly not responsible for the three times Sunday that I regrettably shifted the lay of my golf ball and thereby cheated my partners into buying my lunch."

"Moving a golf ball and stealing millions are wildly different offenses. I don't agree with your analogies, Your Honor."

"You don't?"

"Absolutely not."

"Bond will be set at $5,000."

"I protest, Your Honor."

"Of course you do."

Before Alex was led away, Elena squeezed his hand, but did not say, "I love you."

Instead she said, "Interactive Internet video?"

"Exactly. And call Mikhail for an update," he whispered before he was tugged away.