Part 32 (2/2)
36.
Ignoring the venomous looks Dolly was sending her, Barbara said to Frank, ”Dad, see you a second? I have to stretch my legs.”
Dr. Minick left to get Alex and Sh.e.l.ley something to drink; Alex never left the defense table until the lunch break and again at the end of the day. Barbara and Frank walked out into the corridor.
”How much does Novak know about the investigation of Hilde Franz's death? That's the question,” Barbara said. ”I began to suspect he doesn't know diddly.”
”Me, too,” Frank said. ”I'll try to find out. Anything else?”
”Nope. The boy really covered the bases, didn't he?”
”Every single one, some more than once. He made it sound very good. Judge Mac was scribbling notes like a madman.”
”I think he's in favor of the family scene.”
Frank grinned. ”See you back in court.”
They parted and she went to the restroom, then walked the corridor until a reporter caught up with her, at which time she reentered the courtroom and took her place at the defense table. Sh.e.l.ley and Alex were talking in low voices; Mr. and Mrs. Feldman were not back, nor was Will. Barbara did not envy him the job of placating Dolly.
And then, with all the pieces back in place on the board, she stood up to cross-examine Isaac Wrigley.
”Dr. Wrigley,” she began, ”how long have you been married?”
”Objection,” Novak said instantly. ”That's irrelevant.”
”You brought up his family; I'm just trying to get a clear picture of it,” she said.
”Overruled.”
”Seven years,” Wrigley said.
”Were two of your children adopted?”
Novak objected again and was overruled again. Barbara suspected that he would be on his feet a lot during her cross-examination.
”Yes. I never think of them that way; they are simply my children.”
”Did you and Mrs. Wrigley use the services of a fertility clinic?”
”Objection!” Novak called angrily. ”That's irrelevant.”
”Sustained. Move on, Ms. Holloway.”
”When did you move to Eugene, Dr. Wrigley?”
”Nearly three years ago.”
”And when did you become a member of the hospital committee?”
”A few months later. I don't know the exact date.”
”Was that when you met Ms. Franz?”
”Yes. She was already a member.”
”How many members are there on that committee?”
”I don't know exactly,” he said. ”About fifteen or sixteen. They don't all attend every meeting.”
”Did you attend every meeting?”
”No.”
”Did Hilde Franz attend every meeting?”
”I don't know,” he said. ”I didn't keep track of her attendance.”
”Are you a medical doctor?”
”No.”
”So you engage doctors to conduct the clinical trials, do the medical evaluations, examine and treat the volunteers. Is that correct?”
”Yes.”
”When did Ms. Franz volunteer to be a subject for your diabetes trials?”
”Two years ago, a little before. As I said, I don't keep track of dates.”
”Would it be on your records, when the diabetes medication trials began, who volunteered, the professionals who did the actual evaluations and examinations?”
”Yes. We keep records of all that.” He was sounding wary now.
”So it would be a matter of looking through the file to find out when Ms. Franz volunteered. Is that right?”
He shook his head. ”She never made it official. She talked to me about it, and I dissuaded her. Her diabetes was too well controlled for her to start a new regimen.”
”Were you seeing her outside of the committee meetings?”
”No, of course not.”
”If she volunteered for your trial at a committee meeting, and you evaluated her there, perhaps others overheard and can verify when this took place. Can you tell us who might have heard?”
A faint flush appeared on his cheeks. ”It was after a meeting. I walked to her car with her, and she brought it up.”
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