"But in your experience as a policeman, isn't it true that most people commit crimes for a reason?"

"Sometimes, I guess mostly they do, yes."

"Robbers rob for the money, don't they?"

"Yes."

"Yes, and most people who are killed are killed for a reason, like jealousy or revenge or unrequited love, isn't that true?"

"Yes, I suppose."

"But none of those applies to Professor Lipton," Casey said incredulously. "He had no reason to harm Miss Sales in any way, did he?"

"I don't know."

"Well, you haven't been able to find any reason in your year-long investigation of this case, have you?"

"No," Bolinger said defiantly.

"Detective, I'm sorry, but you just told us you have no fingerprints, no weapon, and no other solid evidence linking my client to the exact scene of the crime. You haven't given us any explanation as to why my client would have committed the crime. And, by your own admission, we know you conducted a sloppy, erroneous investigation, allowing potentially vital information to go uncollected because in your judgment, Mr. Sales wasn't the killer. With that set of facts, can you tell me what the hell we're even doing here?"

"Objection!" Hopewood roared.

"Sustained!" Rawlins said with a rap of his gavel.

"I have nothing more for this man, Your Honor," Casey said with disgust.

Rawlins called an adjournment for lunch. Casey had no appetite. Sales was next.

Like many people Casey had seen, Donald Sales, while imposing and impressive in everyday life, was ill at ease on the witness stand. She liked it that way.

"Please tell us, Mr. Sales," Hopewood began after laying a foundation explaining to the jury that Sales was the victim's father, "the nature of your daughter's relationship with Professor Lipton."

"Objection!" Casey roared, jumping to her feet. "Calls for the witness to speculate on state of mind."

Rawlins twisted his mouth and sighed. "Sustained."

"Let me rephrase the question," Hopewood said patiently. "Please tell us what your daughter told you about the nature of her relationship with Professor Lipton."

"She was scared to death of him, she-"

"Objection! Hearsay, Your Honor! The witness has no idea what the actual emotional state of his daughter was." Casey knew it was a minor technicality, but she wanted to badger Sales as much as she could within the confines of the law.

Rawlins pursed his lips but told Sales, "Please limit your testimony to the things she said to you, Mr. Sales. Although, as a father, I'm sure you think you know how your daughter felt, it's not legally acceptable for you to speculate in that way."

"She told me she was scared to death of him," Sales said, staring hatefully at Casey as he did so.

"Objection! Hearsay!" Casey barked as she stood.

"Now," Rawlins said, pointing his gavel at Casey, "that's enough, Ms. Jordan."

"It's hearsay, Your Honor," she said stubbornly.

"It is allowable hearsay under the state-of-mind exception to the rule, as you damn well know, young lady!" Rawlins bawled. "Now sit down!"

"But her fear is irrelevant!" Casey protested. She knew better than to back down to any judge. Rawlins might despise her personally, but she would be damned if he wasn't going to respect her.

"I'm allowing it." Rawlins scowled. "Overruled!"

"She told me he gave her the creeps," Sales added defiantly.

"Did your daughter at any time indicate to you that she had any kind of relationship with Professor Lipton beyond the normal student-teacher relationship?" Hopewood asked.

"Objection, hearsay," Casey said.

"Overruled."

"No," Sales scoffed.

"Did your daughter say why she was afraid of Professor Lipton?" Hopewood asked.

"She thought he-"

"Objection!"

"Overruled," Rawlins said tiredly. "The jury has the right to know what gave rise to the girl's state of mind."

"She told me the way he looked at her made her uncomfortable and that when she had gone to see him for something about the class that he asked her out and talked to her in a way that was inappropriate, that he alluded to sexual things…"

Hopewood paused and looked knowingly at the jury before saying, "Did you talk to your daughter on the day she was killed?"

"I did."

"And can you tell us about that conversation?"

"We were supposed to have dinner together that night. I was going to pick her up-"

"Objection, the witness is not responding to the question," Casey said.

"Overruled."

Sales continued, "She said she was going to study all day for her final in a criminal law class."

"Professor Lipton's class?"

"Objection, Your Honor," Casey cried. "The class she was studying for is totally irrelevant."

"Overruled."

"Yes, it was his class… She asked me"-Sales stopped choked on his words, then mastered his emotions and continued-"she asked me to take a look around the house before I came in."

"Objection!" Casey practically howled.

"Overruled."

"She said she felt like someone had been watching her through the windows sometimes and that the neighbor's dog had been barking the past few nights and that it never did that unless someone was around. She-"

"Objection."

"Overruled."

"She told me she'd feel safer if I looked around…"

Sales's face was contorted now in pain. His eyes welled with tears, but none spilled down his face. He kept his chin held high but avoided looking at the jury. Casey knew it was a good move by Hopewood to put him up there. But then, Hopewood probably didn't know what she had coming.

"But when I got there, the police were already there… and I saw her…" Sales dropped his face into his hands. His broad shoulders shook quietly.

"He killed her," Sales sobbed. "He killed her."

Casey quickly assessed the jury. She could see that they felt his pain. She knew better than to object now.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Sales," Hopewood said compassionately. "That's all."

"Do you wish to cross-examine the witness, Ms. Jordan?" Rawlins said with as much distaste as he could muster.

"I do," Casey said. She sat waiting patiently for the emotions in the room to ebb.

"Well, Ms. Jordan," Rawlins said. "We're waiting."

Casey slowly rose and approached the father. He glared back at her with unadulterated malice. She positioned herself between the jury and Sales so that they, too, could feel the full effect of his hateful stare.

"You're a violent man, aren't you, Mr. Sales?" she said abruptly.

"No, I'm not."

"But you have been arrested on assault charges, isn't that true?"

"Yes."

"And you've been arrested for disorderly conduct, isn't that right?"

"A long time ago, yes."

"Yes, and you attacked a police officer during that incident the same way you attacked an officer the day your daughter was killed, isn't that true?"

"I wouldn't say I attacked anyone the day Marcia was murdered. I don't really remember."

"But you've seen the police reports that say you struck an officer?"

"Yes," Sales said solemnly, nodding his large head.

"You've attacked a lot of people in your day, Mr. Sales."

"Objection," Hopewood cried. "Badgering the witness."

"Sustained."

"So you are violent, aren't you?"

"You say so."

"Yes, I do," Casey quipped. "And you have a history of mental illness as well, isn't that right, Mr. Sales?"

Sales stared at her hard before answering.

"When I got back from Vietnam I had some problems," he said.

"Mental problems?"

"You could say that."

"In fact, you suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, don't you, Mr. Sales?"

"That's what they called it. But that was a long time ago. I've been fine for a long time."