Degree of Guilt by Richard North Patterson Page B

me,’ he said, ‘if you were someone else.’
    The tacit compliment surprised her. Mary Carelli was Carlo’s mother; at a time when Paget must surely feel great anxiety, however he might hide it, he had enough confidence to trust Terri and enough perception to treat her with some tact.
    ‘Do you really believe that?’ she asked, and then felt more embarrassed. The Richie effect, she thought; she was no longer used to compliments.
    ‘Not a word of it,’ Paget said. ‘I’m just shopping for a feminist lawyer that everyone on the jury will want to adopt. Someone to offset Marnie Sharpe’s warmth and humor.’
    Smiling, Terri wondered if Paget was helping her cover her own awkwardness. ‘Then I want to help,’ she said. ‘I’m sorry if I sounded funny about it.’
    Paget seemed to appraise her. ‘No matter,’ he said finally. ‘Rape’s a subject that anyone normal feels funny about.’
    Especially, Terri thought, when it happens to someone you know. She searched for a change of subject.
    ‘What,’ she asked, ‘did you think of Marnie?’
    Paget leaned back in his chair. ‘Distrustful, I suppose. And brittle.’
    ‘Try steely. I’ve seen Marnie quite a bit, in court and because she’s on the board of the Women Trial Lawyers.’ Terri paused. ‘Can I give you some advice?’
    ‘By all means.’
    ‘First, don’t make her angry. Somewhere inside Marnie Sharpe is a little girl who knows the boys don’t like her and wants to hurt them back for it. And she can’t make McKinley Brooks the enemy, even though he’s kind of set her up. Which leaves you.
    ‘Speaking as one professional to another, you’re the kind of man – attractive, polished, seemingly secure – that Marnie despises most. It will be easy for her to feel that beating you would make her whole somehow. And like a lot of unhappy people who can function in the real world, she’ll find a socially acceptable way to rationalize her own needs. Not just to Brooks but to herself.’
    Paget nodded. ‘I’ve often thought that a lot of lawyers would be tower snipers if they’d failed the bar exam.’
    Terri shook her head, wanting to make sure he understood. ‘Don’t make her into a caricature. And never underestimate her, ’cause Marnie Sharpe was always first in her class. This may sound like pop therapy, but sometimes it helps me to see people as not too much older than Elena, my five-year-old. To me, Marnie is the kid who always did better than everyone else, even though she wasn’t the smartest, because working by herself gave her the only sense of mastery she ever had.’ Pausing, Terri realized that Paget was close to smiling. ‘Sometimes I take this stuff a little far. It’s just that I can imagine you thinking that maybe Brooks made a mistake if Marnie ever had to take this case to trial, and I’m not so sure he did.’
    ‘I was just thinking that you read my mind. How do you suppose Sharpe will be in court, then?’
    ‘Tough. Hard cases don’t scare her. Rape prosecutions are hard; she’s used to trying cases like this one, where there aren’t any witnesses and the evidence is circumstantial. So she’s won some cases she should have lost.
    ‘There’s something very admirable about her, really. She’s made rape her issue – not just prosecution but better counseling and support – and she’s earned a lot of gratitude from the women she’s helped. And she’ll have thought of absolutely everything, down to the sixth permutation, because that’ll be all she ever thinks about. To a jury, that comes off as trustworthy and professional. They may not love her, but they’ll absolutely believe her.’
    Paget walked to the window, to stare down at the bay. The water was slate beneath gray skies; there were a couple of sailboats, a luxury liner, and a Honda freighter bringing cars in from Japan. ‘I liked my version of Marnie better,’ he said.
    For the first time, Terri heard a note of worry. ‘Of course,’ she observed,