Since this was Bob's last witness, there was a break so that Mike could think about how to approach the case. During this hour, everyone left the courtroom. Davy agreed to take Thomas for a walk and keep a close eye on him while Nicole and Mike discussed the case with Peter.
"So far I think it's going well," Mike reported to the others. "We have a certain amount of doubt in the minds of the jury. Hopefully we can keep that doubt there. "
Peter and Nicole both nodded. "Has anyone seen Micky?" Peter asked.
Nicole shook her head. "Still no sign of him. I wonder where he went." Mike shrugged, not concerned.
"I'm sure he'll show up eventually. Now, we need to talk about how to approach this, okay?"
"Who are your witnesses?" Nicole asked.
"You two," Mike replied. "Unless you can think of someone else. " Nicole shook her head.
"Mike? Do I really have to go up there?"
"Why? You don't want to?" he asked. She looked at the floor.
"I'm scared," she replied.
"Relax," Mike assured her. "He can't do anything to you while you're in the courtroom. As long as you tell the truth, you'll be fine. Ok?"
She nodded but didn't look very reassured.
"Now, I went over what I was going to ask you before, remember? And I went through what I thought Bob would ask you. He'll probably try to get you on the fact that you had Thomas before you were married. Stick it out and don't get upset, okay? Remind him that Thomas is half his and half his fault. And remind them that he hasn't done anything for his son, okay?"
She nodded. "Okay Mike," she replied.
"Now I know I asked you guys this before but you can still change your mind. Do you want to use Thomas? He can be pretty valuable to us as a character witness."
Nicole and Peter immediately shook their heads in unison. "No way," Peter said.
"I won't let that man anywhere near my son," Nicole replied with vigor.
"He's his father," Mike reminded her.
"I don't care. I don't want Thomas to have to go through that."
"Okay. But don't forget, if you change your mind, there's still time."
When the court reassembled shortly afterward there were only Davy and Thomas left to watch. At first Thomas was nervous because he didn't know where she was, but Davy explained it to him.
Davy disguised as well as he could that he was nervous, too. Mostly for Thomas. When Nicole was there, it was the two of them protecting him, but when she wasn't, it was just him. That was what he was afraid of. Not for Nicole, but for Thomas. Because he felt strangely vulnerable sitting in that courtroom with Thomas.
From the back row, he watched as Mike stood up and announced that Nicole was the first witness. He knew it must be a strange experience, to question one's own sister in a courtroom.
Mike went incredibly easy on her compared to how he had gone on Mr. Hammond and Kimberly. But then again she was his witness and his sister.
Most of the questions Mike asked her were about Peter's character. Since she wasn't there at the scene of the so called crime, she couldn't offer her point of view. So Mike just asked her what sort of a person Peter was. Whether she thought he would ever do this sort of thing, whether he had ever lied to her before, whether he was a trustworthy person. If Mike hadn't been the lawyer, he probably could have asked himself the same questions.
Eventually, Mike finished and sat down. He gave his sister a hopeful smile as he sat down. Davy could tell that he felt absolutely horrible about leaving her alone like that, but there was nothing he could do to help her now.
Bob stood up, and Nicole felt a shiver go down her spine. He grinned a mischievous grin and cleared his throat. For what seemed to Nicole an interminably long time, he stood there, considering his first question.
"How long did you know your husband before you married him?" he asked. Nicole was surprised. She thought for a moment.
"Almost a year, I think," she replied. "I'm not sure."
"And how much about him did you know?"
"Not a lot at first," she admitted. "But I got to know him, and I knew he was a respectable person," she replied, hoping he heard the unspoken, 'unlike you.'
"How much did you know about his past?"
"Nothing," she confessed. "But it didn't matter to me."
"So you feel blindly in love with a man you hardly knew?"
"I guess."
"Didn't this make you a bit nervous? Marrying a man you knew very little about."
"No," she replied.
"Why?"
"Because he was a friend of my brother's and I knew that my brother would have warned me if he thought it was a bad idea," she replied with a half smile towards Mike.
"So you knew nothing at all about his past?"
"No. Nothing."
"So you have no guarantee that he couldn't have done this sort of thing before?"
"What sort of thing?"
"Raping a woman?"
"No, but-"
"Then how could you know that he didn't do it this time?"
"Because I trust him."
"I see." Bob was silent for a moment. "But you admit that he could have done such a thing and you wouldn't know?"
"Yes, but-"
"I see. So how can you be guaranteed that he wouldn't do it this time?"
"I just know. He wouldn't do that."
"How do you know?"
"I just do."
"But you have no proof?"
"No-"
"Then you can't be sure, can you."
"I can."
"How? There's no proof?"
"I just do."
Bob sighed and threw up his hands. "We could go in circles for hours, here. Do you admit that it's possible he could have raped a woman in the past and not told you?"
"Well-"
"Just answer the question. Is it possible?" "I guess."
"Yes or no? Is it possible?"
She sighed. "Yes it's possible. But-" "Thank you. No further questions."
