Fisher clasps his hands behind his back. "Did you ever speak to Nina about her case?"
"No."
"Did you give her any inside information about her case?"
"No."
"Did she ask you for any?"
"No."
"Are you working on Nina's case at all?"
Peter shakes his head. "I will always be her friend. But I understand my job, and my duties as an officer of this court. And the last thing I'd want to do is involve myself in this case."
"Thank you, Mr. Eberhardt."
Fisher settles into place beside me at the defense table, as Quentin Brown glances up at the judge.
"Your Honor, the state rests."
That makes one of us, I think.
Caleb's gaze is drawn to her, and he is shocked. His wife, the one who always looks crisp and fresh and coordinated, sits in bright orange scrubs. Her hair is a cloud about her head; her eyes are shadowed with circles. There is a cut on the back of her hand and one of her shoelaces has come untied. Caleb has the unlikely urge to kneel before her, to double-knot it, to bury his head in her lap.
You can hate someone, he realizes, and be crazy about her at the same time.
Fisher catches his eye, pulling Caleb back to this responsibility. If he screws up, Nina may not be allowed to come home. Then again, Fisher has told him that even if he is flawless on the stand, she may still be locked up in jail pending trial. He clears his throat and imagines himself in an ocean of language, trying to keep his head above water.
"When did Nathaniel start speaking again, after you found out about the abuse?"
"About three weeks ago. The night Detective Ducharme came to talk to him."
"Had his verbal ability increased since that night?"
"Yes," Caleb answers. "He was pretty much back to normal."
"How much time was his mother spending with him?"
"More than usual."
"How did Nathaniel seem to you?"
Caleb thinks for a moment. "Happier," he says.
Fisher moves, so that he is standing behind Nina. "What changed after the incident at the grocery store?"
"He was hysterical. He was crying so hard he couldn't breathe, and he wouldn't talk at all." Caleb looks into Nina's eyes, hands her this phrase like a gift. "He kept making the sign for Mommy."
She makes a small sound, like a kitten. It renders him speechless; he has to ask Fisher to repeat his next question. "Has he spoken at all in the past week?"
"No," Caleb replies.
"Have you taken Nathaniel to see his mother?"
"Once. It was very . . . hard on him."
"How do you mean?"
