Zimmer stepped down. He walked directly to the communications station and yanked the headphones off Agent Gioia’s head.

“Thanks for the help. Now scram.”

Gioia did as he was told.

“Anything else?” Cartwright asked. “Or are we done?”

“Just one more witness, I think,” Ben said. “But I have to talk to my client first. It’s absolutely essential. I promise to keep it brief.”

“Kincaid, we don’t have time.”

“Your honor, please.” Ben lowered his voice. “I need to ask if he’s willing to testify.”

President Kyler’s back stiffened.

“He has a constitutional right to remain silent, as I’m sure the court knows. If he’s going to waive it, it has to be an informed decision. I’m sorry for the delay, but it is essential to a fair trial.”

Cartwright frowned. “Very well.”

“Thank you, your honor.”

President Kyler immediately stood and entered the adjoining room. Ben started to follow.

“Just a minute, Mr. Kincaid. I’m not finished.”

Ben stopped. “Yes, your honor?”

“You’ve got three minutes. If you take any longer, we’re going straight to verdict.”

“Understood.”

Cartwright touched a button on his watch. “Your time starts now.”

Ben raced into the adjoining room-and was astonished by what he saw there.

After all the surprises this day had brought, why would such a little thing make any difference? And yet it did.

The president was smoking.

“Forgive me, Kincaid,” he mumbled as he took a long draw on his cigarette. “I need something to relieve the stress.”

“I don’t doubt it. Look, I know this probably sounds awful, and to be fair, it could backfire on us-but I think you should take the stand in your own defense.”

“Why? I thought Zimmer’s testimony went well.”

“I agree, but it wasn’t enough. At best, he justified your decision regarding Kuraq. At worst, he showed you were too personally invested to be capable of performing your job properly. But in any case, what’s really haunting our jury is your weird behavior-talking to portraits and threatening to kill yourself. And let’s not forget that two of the cabinet members and the vice president witnessed your last episode personally. That will be very hard to put out of their minds.”

“So how am I going to do it?”

“I have no idea. And I don’t have time to preview and vet your testimony. I’m just going to have to put my faith in the fact that a smart man will think of something.”

“And how do you know I’m smart?” he asked, blowing smoke into the air.

“Well, a stupid man isn’t going to be elected president of the United States. With one or two exceptions.”

When Ben returned to the main room, there were only twenty-five minutes remaining on the countdown clock. That left maybe ten minutes for this examination, maybe five or so for closings, and then the vote. That would barely leave time for the president to take charge-or the vice president to call back the troops, depending upon the outcome.

Best not to think about that. He needed to concentrate on the job at hand. He couldn’t think of another time in his entire career when he had gone into the critical defendant’s examination so blind. How ironic that it would occur on the occasion when he happened to be representing the most powerful man in the free world and his performance could have global consequences-could quite literally determine whether thousands of people lived or died.

“Mr. President, I’m going to skip all the discussion about your professional background and qualifications. I assume everyone here knows who you are and pretty much knows where you’ve been.”

“A fair bet.”

“So without wasting any more time, let’s get down to the heart of the matter. Is there any reason-medical or otherwise-you are incapable of executing your duties as president?”

To his credit, the president smiled a little bit at Ben’s bluntness. “No, there is not.”

“Are you sure about that? Because the vice president undoubtedly will suggest that a mentally ill man is not aware of his own condition.”

“I’m about as self-aware as anyone on earth, I would imagine. In this business, you have to be. If I were crazy, I’d be the first to know. And I’d resign on my own and this proceeding would not be necessary.

But the truth is, I’m not, and this whole business is nothing but a trumped-up power grab by a party or parties with an opposing point of view on a complex matter of foreign policy.”

Wow. Ben liked the sound of that. He made a mental note to steal that for his closing. “You’re aware, sir, that the prosecutor has put on eyewitness testimony regarding unusual behavior attributed to you. And some of us have even witnessed it.”

“Yes, I know.”

“Can you explain?”

“I’m not sure what there is you think I need to explain. Here’s the reality: I’m not as boring as everyone thinks I am. Or as some people want the president of the United States to be. I’m a free spirit, which is admittedly an oddity in the world of politics. I’m eccentric. Always have been. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. Sure, that’s not the side I show when the cameras are rolling. But in the privacy of my home or my office, what’s the harm? Not every president has to be the same stuffed shirt.”

Ben pondered for a millisecond. He liked the approach the president was taking. It would appeal to all who considered themselves nonconformists, which was more or less everyone. But was it enough to cover some of the behavior the cabinet had heard described? Not on its own. Even though he hated to bring it all up again, they would have to delve into the details.

“I understand what you’re saying,” Ben replied, “but I’m not sure how it applies to some of the incidents we’ve heard about today. For instance, Sarie told us-”

“Sarie is a wonderful woman,” the president said, interrupting. Technically, he should wait for the question before answering it, but no one was going to object to any attempt to move things along. “Efficient, organized, and on occasion ruthless. But she’s also somewhat emotional. And conventional. She is disturbed by the slightest deviation from schedule. Nothing wrong with that. It’s part of what makes her a great chief of staff. But it does influence her opinions. She is readily thrown when people are anything but perfectly conventional.”

Out the corner of his eye, Ben saw Sarie’s brow crease. It was probably hard for her to hear him speak these words. But of course, her testimony had not been a picnic for the president to hear, either.

“Sarie recounted three specific incidents,” Ben recalled. “The first had you chatting with portraits hanging on the wall.”

The president smiled. “Which was grossly exaggerated, and besides, talking to pictures is not a crime or a sign of mental illness. Let’s have a show of hands. How many people in the room have ever talked to themselves? That would be everyone, whether you admit it or not. This was no different. Now, if I expected the portraits to answer, that would be bad. But I didn’t. I was just speaking my thoughts out loud, basically.”

“She said you were asking the portraits… philosophical questions.”

“My recollection is that I did it once. Maybe twice. So what? I’ve long been a student of the U.S. presidents, and I’m interested in how they dealt with crises such as contracting polio, and in how a purportedly devout Roman Catholic reconciled his marital indiscretions with his faith. And I vocalized those thoughts while I was looking at the pictures. To me, that’s no different from looking at yourself in the mirror and thinking out loud. I’d be willing to bet that even Sarie Morrell does that.”

Ben marveled, not for the first time, at the vast power of a good orator. President Kyler, like other presidents before him, was a great communicator. His calm and measured accounts were almost eradicating the incriminating images formed by Sarie’s earlier testimony. If he kept this up, they might just have a tiny chance of success.