Read Online The Evangeline by D. W. Buffa - Free Book Online Page A

you? Wouldn’t it be quite reasonable—given what they went through—to have a certain reluctance to talk about it?’
    ‘Yes, I suppose, but Mr Trevelyn…’
    Roberts seemed in a hurry to move on.‘There were three other survivors—the defendant and two female passengers: Samantha Wilcox and Cynthia Grimes. Beyond what they suffered physically, did either of them exhibit any symptoms that would prevent them from recalling the events that transpired before their rescue at sea?’
    ‘I don’t think so, but I can’t be completely certain. Mrs Wilcox appeared to be a deeply religious woman, but how far that might affect her ability to perceive events, I’m in no position to say.With regard to the other woman, Cynthia Grimes, I can’t even tell you much about her physical condition. She left right after the ambulance brought her to the hospital.’
    ‘You never saw her?’
    ‘She refused treatment. She did not say why. She was not a patient, and we couldn’t hold her against her will.’
    ‘No further questions, your Honour,’ Roberts announced as he crossed in front of the jury on his way back to the counsel table.
    Once he had taken his chair, Roberts clasped his hands under his chin, awaiting with more than usual interest the next move of the defence. Most lawyers were predictable, asking the same questions in the same ways, but you could never be quite certain what William Darnell would do on cross-examination. There were times when he did not cross-examine at all. He would just flap his hand in a petulant show of impatience, as if the witness had already wasted too much of the jury’s time. But this time Darnell shot to his feet. Then, as if he had suddenly changed his mind, he sat down again. Maitland started to turn towards Dr Steinberg to tell him he was excused. Darnell jumped up again.
    ‘That bracelet, the one you wear on your wrist,’ he said with a puzzled expression.‘What exactly is that? It’s one of those medical things, isn’t it? Identifies you as a donor, so that if something happens to you someone else can receive the benefit. Am I right?’ he asked, raising his chin with an air of expectation.
    Joshua Steinberg held the metal bracelet between his fingers. ‘Yes, that’s right. It means I’m an organ donor.’
    ‘But why wear a bracelet, if you have it in your will?’
    Steinberg was not sure that Darnell was serious. If it had not been for a look of intense and almost obstinate ignorance on the lawyer’s face, he would not have thought it necessary to answer. ‘Because it could be days, or even weeks, before anyone would know what was in my will.’
    Darnell continued to profess his ignorance.‘But if you’ll forgive me for putting it like this, Doctor—dead is dead, isn’t it? What difference does it make when anyone finds out that you are willing to have your organs used by another?’
    ‘If the organs deteriorate, they can’t be used.’
    ‘I see, I see,’ said Darnell, stroking his chin. ‘Then the organs themselves don’t die, not all at once. There is still life in them, for at least a short while, after we’re dead? Is that a fair way of putting it?’
    Roberts understood immediately where this was going. There was at least a chance that the rules of evidence did not allow it. ‘Your Honour, I’m not sure I see the relevance of this line of questioning. That Dr Steinberg is an organ donor is no doubt laudable, but the connection to this case seems a little obscure.’
    Darnell turned around and for a moment searched Roberts’s eyes. ‘Do you really think so? I wonder.’
    Roberts was left with the uncomfortable sensation of having done something wrong and, worse yet, of having lost a battle before it had even begun. ‘Relevance, your Honour?’ he asked in a voice that seemed forced and hollow.
    Darnell took away even this. Instead of leaving it to Homer Maitland, he decided what would happen next. ‘A few more questions, that’s all I’ll need.’ Then