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She looked at him as if he were a raving lunatic. "What?"
Sir Winston looked flustered for a moment. "Let me rephrase, please. When your husband was on deck, and he felt the need to relieve himself, how did he do it?"
"In the usual way," she replied.
The jury began laughing, but a sharp look from the coroner subdued them. "I mean, Mrs.Ma
"He stood on the stern of the boat, held onto the backstay with one hand, unzipped his fly with the other, and peed overboard."
"Ah," said Sir Winston, as if he had caught her in some monumental admission. "This large husband of yours made himself vulnerable for just a moment when he urinated. A small shove, even by a small woman, was all it would take, eh?"
She fixed him with a hard stare. "That speculation, Sir whatever-your-name-is, is not worthy of a reply."
Stone sensed his moment; he rose and addressed the coroner. "Pardon me, Your Honor," he said. "My name is Stone Barrington; I am an American attorney, and Mrs.Ma
Sir Winston spun and looked at him. "Are you licensed to practice in St.Marks or in Britain?" he demanded.
"No, I am not," Stone said evenly, "but if these proceedings are so informal as to allow the minister of justice to question a witness at an inquest, then perhaps Mrs.Ma
"Well…" the coroner began.
"Are you a barrister? A trial lawyer?"
"I wasn't aware that this was a trial," Stone replied.
The coroner asserted himself. "I will permit Mr.Barrington to put questions to Mrs.Ma
"I believe I can, Your Honor," Stone said. He hadn't the faintest idea how to address a coroner in a former British colony, but "Your Honor" seemed to do the trick. He picked up a manila folder, stepped forward, and addressed his new client. "Mrs.Ma
"He was a writer; he wrote spy and mystery novels, mostly; he had quite a following."
"And when your husband was preparing to write a book, was it his practice to make notes?"
"Yes, he made very extensive notes, sometimes writing almost the whole book in telegraphic form."
Stone picked up the leather-bound book from Sir Winston's table."In a form like the contents of this diary?" he asked.
"Exactly like that. Paul bought that blank-paged book in Las Pallas specifically for the purpose of outlining a new novel. He mentioned it to me over di
"And why, when Sir Winston read you the passages from this outline, did you not mention your husband's usual practice?"
"He didn't give me a chance," she said, casting a withering look at Sir Winston.
"I see," Stone continued. "Mrs.Ma
"Well, Paul had never been seriously ill, but he wasn't in very good shape."
"How do you know this?"
"We both had thorough physical examinations before we set out across the Atlantic."
Stone removed a sheet of paper from the manila folder in his hand and presented it to her. "Is this a copy of your husband's examination results?"
She looked at the paper, then handed it back. "Yes, it is."
Stone looked at the jury and the coroner. "Please follow as I read from the doctor's report." He held up the paper and began to read. "'Paul Ma
"'Mr.Ma
Stone handed the coroner the page and turned to his client. "Mrs.Ma
"For about a week," she replied. "Paul was incapable of dieting for longer than that."
"Right," Stone said and addressed himself to the coroner and the jury. "Paul Ma
The coroner turned to Sir Winston. "Do you have any further questions?"
"None," Sir Winston replied almost inaudibly, looking at his knees.
"Gentlemen," the coroner said to the jury, "do any of you have a question?"
The jury was mute.
"Then I will ask you to retire and consider your verdict."
Stone and Allison Ma
"I can't thank you enough," she said. "I'll give you my address in Co
"For practicing law in a foreign country without a license?" Stone asked. "I'd be disbarred."
"What do you think the verdict will be?"
"You can never tell about a jury, even a coroner's jury, but I believe we answered every point Sir Winston made. I'm optimistic."
"So am I; you did a brilliant job."
"You're too kind. What are your plans now?"
"I suppose I'll go home and settle Paul's affairs. He had a lawyer and an accountant; I'm sure they'll help me. We both made wills before we left on the transatlantic-simple ones, each leaving everything to the other."
"What will you do with the yacht?"
"Sell it, I suppose; I've spent all the time on that boat I ever want to."
"I'd buy it myself-I've always admired Swans-but I think I'm a few years away from being able to afford one. My advice is to get it ferried back to the States-Fort Lauderdale, maybe-where there's a brisk market in expensive yachts."
Thomas tapped lightly on the bar and nodded in the direction of the meeting hall. Stone turned and saw the coroner approaching, an envelope in his hand. They had not yet been out of the meeting hall for half an hour.