"Mr. Warner!" But that was Terry, and he must listen. "We cannot have
this. Please control yourself."
"I am sorry, your Honor. My apologies to the Court, and to Mr.
Hunter--who, I am sure, knew nothing about any improper conduct on the
part of his witness. That's all."
Warner sat down, with a sudden breaking out of sweat on his face, a
dizziness and blurring of vision. Callista's hand slipped over his,
easing his fingers out of their involuntary clench. She was repeating
his name softly: "Cecil--Cecil--are you all right?"
"Yes." He covered his mouth to speak to her. "I couldn't break him. I
thought I could break the bastard."
"Never mind. Relax. You bent him, but good."
"Not enough. You'll have to take the stand, maybe."
"But I must anyway. Relax."
_Concerned for me._ He noticed the courtroom was quiet, Hunter delaying.
Judge Mann's gaze was on him too, worried and speculative. _Do they
think I'm going to fold like Judd? Judd--I said to that man Judd: 'If
you do not understand that question--'_ He wiped his forehead. Maybe
Callista had helped him get that handkerchief out of his pocket. He
would not fold. Let them take their eyes off him. _Let them get on with
it._
Hunter was getting on with it--neutrally it seemed. "Sergeant Rankin,
I'll merely ask you: is there any foundation in fact, anything at all,
to support this suggestion of misconduct on your part with the defendant
Callista Blake?"
"None whatever, sir. None whatever."
Hunter was pausing another long time. Warner now helplessly understood
that he was giving Rankin time to think, time for the man's rather slow
wits to come up with the obvious countercharge. Hunter said at last: "In
summary, then, you simply questioned Miss Blake about the story she had
told you, you took charge of the brandy bottle and so on, you called
Chief Gage, and then there was this episode of the fish-tank--when Miss
Blake, you say, was composed, sort of philosophical and all that, hardly
the way a girl would act, I guess, if she'd just been threatened and
pushed around. That's a correct summary?"
"Yes, sir, I think that about sums it up. Well--" It was comic enough,
to observe the slow grimace as Rankin caught on to what Hunter would
like him to say.