Attorney Charles Barnett thought it was all over for him and his heart. In the three years since his partner died, he hasn't felt so much as a spark of attraction to another man. That suddenly changes when Charles is assigned a new case and meets his new client.<br><br>Recent widower Philip d'Autremont has been traveling in all the same circles as Charles, but somehow they've never managed to meet. Now that they have, both men find themselves falling hard and fast.<br><br>But there's more than one hurdle to Charles and Philip beginning a love affair, much less maintaining it: Philip is on trial for murder, a politically ambitious and homophobic district attorney is determined to convict him, and Charles is responsible for Philip's defense.

Trial

Saturday morning, we slept in and didn’t go for a run until well after nine. Afterward, when we came downstairs from our shower, Richard was at the breakfast table, waiting for us. Without preamble, I said, “Anything to tell us this morning?”


“Not much. So far, the old girl comes up squeaky clean. To all intents and purposes, she appears to be prim, proper, and very religious.”


“Well, keep on it. Somebody must have gotten to her. We just need to know who and how. We all know that she couldn’t have seen Philip on that street on that date—he was in another city—so there’s got to be an explanation for her perjury.”


“I’ve got three guys on it as we speak, and I’ll be doing some snooping myself later this morning.”


“Good. Call me if you turn up anything remotely significant.”


Chapter 95