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

“Are you referring to the gentleman seated on my left?”


I turned to my left and said, “Would you stand up, Sir, so that Mrs. Treadwell can see you more clearly?” Turning back to the witness, I said, “One more time, Mrs. Treadwell, is this the man?”


I got up, walked over to stand in front of her, and said, “I’m sorry to have to tell you, Mrs. Treadwell, that the man you just identified is not the defendant in this case. You have just identified one of the attorneys from my office. The defendant, Mr. d’Autremont, is currently sitting in the second row of spectators, some two rows behind the man you just identified.”


When I said that, it was Philip’s cue to return to his usual seat, and my associate, having served his purpose, returned to the office. The witness was disturbed at my trick and said, “Well, it looked like him.”


Chapter 99