Putting down the paper, he first thought of Kozlow. “Are you all right?” he asked. “Where did it happen?”

Sara entered the living room and quickly relayed the story. “The son of a bitch got everything – credit cards, my license…”

“I hate to say it, but I told you you should get a purse with a better clasp,” Jared said. Was it him? “Now tell me how my client threatened your witnesses.”

“C’mon, Jared, you know what hap-”

“I honestly have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Sara approached Jared, leaned over, and stared straight into his eyes. “Say that again.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Jared repeated, carefully pronouncing every syllable. Don’t blink, he thought as he held his breath. Don’t blink or she’ll know.

Sara scrutinized her husband. If he was lying, he was getting better at it. Finally, she said, “I talked to both Ms. Doniger and Ms. Harrison after lunch and they both told me they didn’t want to testify. Harrison was so scared, I could hear her sniffling on the other end of the phone.”

“So you think Kozlow said something to them?”

“Who else?”

“There’s no one else,” Jared said firmly. “But I can tell you that Kozlow was with me all morning.”

“What about the rest of the afternoon?”

“I was working on a motion for Lubetsky all afternoon. We had to crank it out by five. Anyway, I thought you said you heard from them right after lunch.”

“I did,” Sara said. “I was just checking.”

“Well, you can stop with the accusations. I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jared said. Realizing that the longer he stayed on the topic, the more likely she was going to find him out, Jared switched subjects. “Let’s get back to your wallet. How much money did we lose?”

“I don’t know and I don’t want to think about it,” Sara said, flopping on the sofa. “I’m exhausted.”

“Are you going in this weekend?” Jared asked anxiously.

“Yep. You?”

“Of course,” he said. “So what do you want to do tonight?”

“Honestly, I just want to sit here and veg for a few hours.”

“You in the mood to give a haircut?”

“Sure. Get the stuff.” Sara had first cut Jared’s hair during their second year of law school. When Jared came home butchered by the Columbia Barber Shop, Sara challenged that even she could do better. A month later, Jared gave her the chance. Since that day, he had never paid for another haircut.

After washing his hair in the shower, Jared entered the kitchen with a towel wrapped around his waist and took a seat at the table. Combing through his hair, Sara said, “It’s getting mighty thin up here, my man.”

“No doubt about that. When I’m outside, I can feel a cold breeze like never before. But if I’m meant to be bald, I’ll be bald.”

“Judging from the view, it’s already been decided.”

“That’s great,” he said. “Now, can I ask you another question about the case?”

“Fire away,” Sara said, holding a clump of hair between two fingers.

“How would you feel about a dismiss and seal?”

“A what?” Sara asked as she started clipping.

“Dismiss and seal,” Jared repeated, feeling the cut hair run down his shoulders. “It’s a settlement. You agree to wipe out and seal Kozlow’s file. There’s no record of it and Kozlow is out of your hair – no pun intended – forever.”

Sara stopped cutting, her brow furrowed. “And I benefit from this how?”

“To put it bluntly, you don’t look like a fool. Instead of failing in the grand jury on Monday, or taking a loss at trial, you get to walk away before anything’s counted against you. That way you don’t start with a losing average.”

With an angry snip, Sara chopped a large clump of hair in half.

“What’s wrong with you?” Jared asked as he saw the remains fall to the floor.

“What makes you think I’m such a loser?”

“This isn’t about you; it’s about your case. You said it yourself – two of your witnesses canceled on you. You owe it to the city to not waste its resources. If they canceled, you shouldn’t prosecute just for job stability’s sake.”

“First, I still have the cop. Second, of the two that canceled, one came back. Doniger agreed to come in.”

“She did?” Jared asked.

“Actually, no,” Sara said as she resumed her cutting. “I made that up to see your reaction.”

“You what?” Jared asked, pulling away.

That was all she needed. “You knew all along that they both dropped out, didn’t you?”

Jared stood up to face his wife. She was closing in. “Sara, I-”

“Who told you?” Sara asked, pointing the scissors. “Was it someone in my office, or did Kozlow tell you himself?”

“I didn’t-”

“It was Kozlow, wasn’t it? Man, I’m going to charge him with tampering and intimidation first thing tomorrow.”

“Sara, I really don’t think it was him.” Jared fought to maintain eye contact with his wife. That was the only way it worked. “Honestly. I swear.”

“Then how’d you find out that Doniger and Harrison canceled?”

“They told me themselves. I called them to get their side of the story. There. Now you know.” It wasn’t a complete lie, Jared told himself, searching for confidence. After speaking to Rafferty, he did call them both to back up his story.

“And why’d you pretend not to know when I first walked in?”

He felt a flash of inspiration. “The same reason you lied about Doniger testifying – I wanted to see what you knew.”

As she stared at her husband, a smile broke across her face.

“What?” Jared asked, forcing a smile of his own.

“Look at us. I mean, can we be more psychotic?”

Jared stared at his wedding ring. “Actually, we probably could.”

“I’m sure we could. But that doesn’t mean we have to play mind games.”

“No, you’re right,” Jared said. He still had to push her a little farther. “It’s just that this case-”

“I know it’s important, but you really have to calm down about it,” Sara said as she resumed her cutting. “Stop being so obsessed.”

“Then start reading between the lines. I’m not doing this just for myself – I’m doing it for you.”

“What’re you talking about?”

Jared got up from his chair and faced his wife. “You should take another look at what you’re working with. I know you’re suspicious about what’s going on, but you don’t have the evidence to prove it. Your cop’s unhelpful; your witnesses are hostile. If you take the dismiss and seal, at least you won’t lose your first case. Then you can go in and pick up a better one. All I’m trying to do is help you, honey. And you and I both know that’s the best way to show everyone that you’re an asset to the office – let them see that you can move things along.”

“I don’t know.”

“Sara, if you take these facts to trial, you’re going to lose. And if you lose, in the blink of an eye, you’re back on the unemployment line.”

Sara didn’t move. The way her lips were pressed together, Jared could tell she was upset. “How about pleading out for a reduced sentence?” she stuttered.

“No settlements,” Jared said. He wanted to let up, but he couldn’t. “So if you’re happy going back on unemploy-”

“Stop saying that!” Sara shouted.

“Don’t get mad at me – I didn’t create the problem. I’m just trying to help you out of it. Now what do you say?”

Stepping away from her husband, Sara gazed aimlessly around the room. Jared knew he had her. The lying left a hole in his stomach, but it was about to pay off.

“Do you really think I’m going to lose?” Sara asked.

“Yes,” he said without pause. “I really do.”

“I’m serious. Don’t lie about this one.”

He took a deep breath. All he wanted to do was protect his wife. “I’m not lying to you, Sara.”

“Then let me sleep on it. We can talk about it tomorrow.”

Sara left the room and Jared closed his eyes. He was almost there.

Arched over the kitchen sink, Jared cleaned the remaining dishes from the Thai dinner they had ordered in. Although he knew he had to keep applying pressure, he felt, for the first time, that things were finally looking up. When the phone rang, he called out to Sara, “Hon, can you get that?”