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thinking I did it. You were just a kid.”
    â€œFor Christ’s sake, that’s not what this is about.”
    He was shaking his head. “Teddy and I, we kept you in the dark all these years. Somehow I thought you’d come to me on your own one day. But now I realize it wasn’t fair of me to put that responsibility on you. I should never have assumed you’d reject me out of hand if I were the one to make the approach.”
    I would have, though, and he knew it. Rejecting him is exactly what would have happened if he’d made such an effort. His protests of innocence weren’t a viewpoint I wanted to hear.
    â€œAnd you shouldn’t assume the same about the woman who’s agreed to marry you. It’s not like she didn’t know your past. You both knew what you were getting into.”
    â€œCaveat emptor. Except the terms have changed.”
    I suddenly found that I was out of patience with him. “Look, I’ll see you before the hearing,” I told Lawrence. “Teddy, take your time.”
    Outside, I walked out the front gates and down the narrow road to a little cove with a shell beach barely wider than a man. In the distance across the calm water, San Francisco prickled with tiny spires, like trouble itself on the horizon.

Chapter 4
    â€œBe seated,” Judge Liu said, taking the bench.
    The courtroom was half filled with spectators, most from the press. Lawrence sat shackled between Teddy and me, still wearing his CDC blues. The bailiff had refused to take off the hardware. Dot sat in the front row behind him. Angela Crowder stated her name for the record. I did the same, then added, “Your Honor, my client is in restraints. At this moment he’s presumed innocent. Can we have these shackles removed?”
    The judge, a big man, was imposing in his dark robe behind the bench. He gave me a look without an inch of yield in it. “The deputies and I have an understanding. I don’t tell them how to do their job and they don’t tell me mine. In ten minutes this issue may be moot. Can we all be a little bit patient with the conditions here?”
    â€œYour Honor, my client has been patient for the last twenty-one years. I’m sure he can be patient for ten minutes more.”
    â€œI’m certain he can.” Judge Liu eyed my father appraisingly, then turned to the DA. “Now, Ms. Crowder, it’s my understanding that the state has not filed a motion to stay my ruling pending appeal.”
    â€œThat’s correct, Your Honor. We respect this court’s judgment and have no plans to appeal the order granting habeas relief.”
    Angela Crowder was in her forties, plump and barely over five feet tall, with a mass of tightly curled dark hair. Her freckled face belonged in a Dutch painting. She had a dime-sized mole on her chin that any competent dermatologist might have removed. Eye contact was her weapon of choice. When things didn’t go according to plan, she grew vicious and ran the risk of stinging herself.
    â€œYou have no realistic chance of success, is what you mean.”
    In the back of the courtroom I heard a cough that had obviously begun as a laugh. Liu’s eyes sought the offender, not with displeasure. He went on. “Mr. Maxwell has a right to a speedy trial if the state intends to recharge him. If the state doesn’t intend to charge him with this crime, then he has the right to walk out of this courtroom today a free man. What are the state’s intentions? Ms. Crowder, are you prepared to refile the first-degree murder charges?”
    â€œYour Honor, the police department and the district attorney’s office are investigating. As we’re all aware, this is a very old case and most of the people who were originally involved are now gone. We’re having to start from scratch. The state, nevertheless, believes it can present evidence of Lawrence Maxwell’s guilt. As his attorney, Mr.