After lunch, Carver called Maggie to the stand. Goren kissed her cheek as he set her down and placed her hand in the bailiff's. "I'll be right here, mouse."

"Okay, Daddy."

A soft murmur went through the courtroom as the bailiff led the little girl to the witness stand and lifted her into the seat, adjusting the microphone toward her. Burrows was glad to see that she did not appear too apprehensive as she smiled at him and said, "Hi, Your Honor."

He smiled back. "Hello, Maggie."

He had taken the time to glance at the defense table, and he did not like the way Wallace reacted to seeing the child. This was a very dangerous woman and it was clear to him she disliked this little girl as much as she hated her parents, particularly her mother. He leaned down to address his littlest witness. "Do you remember when we talked about the truth, Maggie?" She nodded. "Just answer Mr. Carver and Mr. Shaeffer's questions. Tell them what you remember and don't make anything up. If you don't remember, that's okay. Just tell us you don't remember. Do you understand?"

She nodded again. "Yes, Your Honor."

With a smile, Burrows nodded at Carver to begin. The ADA smiled at her, to set her at ease. "Hello, Maggie."

"Hi, Mr. Carver."

"Do you remember the lady who is sitting over there?"

He pointed to Wallace and Maggie nodded. "She was mean to me."

"Tell me what she did."

"She hitted me and made me bleed and she hurted my arm, too. And she hurted my mommy and daddy...and Uncle Mike and Grandpa. She is not a nice lady."

"For the record, her parents are Detectives Goren and Eames. Uncle Mike is Detective Mike Logan and her grandfather is John Eames. The lady to whom she refers is the defendant, Nicole Wallace."

Shaeffer stood. "Objection. The witness has no firsthand knowledge of the injuries to the detectives or Mr. Eames."

Carver responded, "It has already been established that they were injured by the defendant. The witness is not presenting new testimony."

Burrows nodded in agreement. "The witness is reiterating previous testimony. Sit down, Mr. Shaeffer."

Carver continued, "Okay, Maggie. You said she hurt you. How did you come to be with her?"

"She took us from Grandpa's house. She pretended to be a police. She said Daddy was hurt and she was gonna take us to him, but she didn'. Daddy wasn' hurt!"

Shaeffer stood up again. "Objection, your honor. Speculation."

Burrows frowned at Shaeffer. "Sustained. Continue, Mr. Carver."

"What did she do at your grandfather's house?"

"She taked us away."

"Who did she take?"

"Me and my baby."

"And who is your baby, Maggie?"

"My brother, Tommy. And I taked care-a him, not her." She wrinkled her nose distastefully. "I didn' let her touch my baby."

"Also for the record, Thomas Goren was ten months old at the time of the kidnapping. Now, Maggie...listen to this."

He nodded at the clerk, who pressed 'play' on the tape recorder in front of her. A recording of Maggie's 911 call filled the courtroom. When it was over, Carver looked at her. "Do you remember that phone call?"

"Yes. The lady putted gas inna car and I used the phone to try to call Daddy, so he could come an' get us."

"What happened after you hung up?"

"The lady got really mad at me. She hitted me and made my mouth bleed, and she grabbed my arm and hurted my shoulder."

"Did she hurt Tommy, too?"

"No. I didn' let her touch my baby. But she hurted a man who tried to stop her from hurting my arm."

Again, Shaeffer rose. "Objection. Speculation."

"Overruled. Your client's assault of Mr. Cummings has already been documented. The members of the jury heard his testimony yesterday, and Maggie was a witness to the shooting. Sit down, Mr. Shaeffer, and stop grasping at straws."

Maggie frowned toward the defense table, but Carver diverted her attention. "Maggie, what happened after you left the Exxon station?"

"We went to a big house that was dark and stinky. The lady parked-a car inside it and she telled me to stay inna car or she would kill Daddy."

"Did you stay in the car?"

Maggie frowned and looked down, shaking her head. In the gallery, Eames laid a hand on Goren's arm and squeezed. With difficulty, he stayed where he was. Maggie took a deep breath. "I heared Daddy talkin' to her. She keeped tellin' me Daddy wasn' gonna come and get us, but I knowed he would! She telled me Daddy didn' need us because he had Mommy and they could make more babies. But I didn' want her to keep us. I wanted to go home!"

"But your parents did come to get you."

"Yes! I said they would!" She looked over at Wallace and stuck out her chin. "Daddy does love me an' Tommy! You was wrong!"

A low, collective chuckle murmured through the courtroom as Shaeffer jumped to his feet. "Objection, your honor..."

Maggie frowned at him again. "Stop inneruptin'! It's rude!"

A louder chuckle rumbled through the room and Burrows pounded his gavel once. He made no effort to hide his own smile. The courtroom settled and Carver turned back to his witness. "Thank you for that, Maggie, but Mr. Shaeffer is allowed to interrupt. Judge Burrows will decide if he is right or wrong."

A frown still creased Maggie's face, and Carver had no doubt whose child she was. "It's still rude," she commented.

Carver smiled. "Okay, Maggie. The place where Ms. Wallace took you...it was an abandoned barn. She told you to stay in the car or she would kill your father, but you did not stay in the car. Why not?"

Maggie got very quiet and looked toward the floor."I did what Daddy woulda wanted me to do. I got Tommy outta his carseat. The lady was talkin' to Daddy and I got my baby outta the car. I hadda p'tect my baby!" Tears filled her eyes. "After she hurted my arm, I couldn' carry Tommy, but he followed me and I hided him in a dark place until Uncle Mike got us."

Carver smiled reassuringly at her. "For the record, Detective Logan and his partner, Detective Barek, rescued the children from the barn while Ms. Wallace was engaged with Detectives Goren and Eames at the front of the building. Now, what else happened, Maggie?"

Maggie looked at her hands, tears spilling over and running down her cheeks. "She...hurted Mommy and Daddy...and Uncle Mike! Nobody would take me to see Daddy, an' I thought he was dead and it was all my fault 'cause I got outta the car!"

Burrows looked toward the defense table, where Wallace had leaned back with a self-satisfied smirk on her face, and then toward the back of the room, where Eames had a hand on her husband's shoulder and Logan had grabbed his arm. Eames was talking into his ear. There was no mistaking the anger and turmoil on the big detective's face. "Let's take a ten minute recess. Detective Goren."

He motioned him forward. Goren didn't hesitate. He made his way to the witness stand, where he dropped to a knee beside the chair. Maggie threw her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder. "Shhh..." he soothed.

"I-I'm s-sorry, Daddy..."

"There's nothing for you to be sorry about, mouse."

He continued to comfort her and she calmed down. Burrows leaned toward them. "Detective?" Goren looked up at him. "Can she go on?"

He leaned his head down so he could see her face. "Mouse? Are you all right now?"

She took a deep breath and got that stubborn look on her face that he knew so well. "I'm okay now, Daddy."

"Do you want to keep going?"

She nodded. "I didn' mean to cry. I need-a be a big girl."

"Are you sure?"

She nodded and kissed his cheek. "Thank you, Daddy."

He kissed her head and looked at the judge. "She's ready to go on, your honor."

Burrows looked at Maggie. "I can give you as much time as you need, Maggie."

She shook her head. "I'm ready."

The judge smiled and nodded at Goren, who kissed Maggie's forehead and returned to his place in the gallery, giving Carver an angry glare as he passed him. Burrows called the court to order and nodded at Carver. "Proceed, Mr. Carver."

He'd watched Wallace as Goren had comforted his daughter, and he did not like what he saw on her face. Not at all. Anger, hatred, jealousy...nothing but negative emotion.

Carver asked, "Do you feel better now, Maggie?"

"Yes, Mr. Carver. Daddy al'ays makes me feel better."

Carver smiled. "All right, Maggie. After your parents were injured, what happened?"

"The ambalance taked them to the hopsital. Daddy had trouble, but Mommy was better enough for me to see her. The doctor fixed my shoulder and they gived me yucky medicine for it. But nobody would let me see Daddy. When I tolded Uncle Mike what the lady said, Mommy let him take me to see Daddy."

"Was Daddy awake?"

"No. His brain was sleeping and he had a straw in his mouth so he could breathe."

Carver explained, "As you heard in previous testimony, Detective Goren was in a coma and required a respirator to breathe." He turned back to Maggie. "So what did you do, Maggie?"

"I just sitted with him. I holded his hand and I talked to him and ast him to wake up."

"And he did wake up?"

"Yes, because I was his best med'cine."

Another soft laugh murmured through the courtroom. Carver smiled. "I believe that, Maggie. Who sat with you while you waited for your father to wake up?"

"Uncle Mike did. Mommy was still inna hopsital."

"I remind the jury of this morning's testimony. Detective Eames contracted a post-operative infection and remained hospitalized the entire time her husband was in a coma. Maggie sat by him for most of that time, with Detective Logan taking care of her in Boston. I have no more questions, your honor." He smiled at Maggie. "Thank you, Maggie. Now Mr. Shaeffer has some questions for you."

She nodded. "Okay, Mr. Carver."

Shaeffer glanced toward the back of the gallery for a second as he got up and approached the witness stand. "Maggie, is it at all possible that Ms. Wallace had permission to take you and your brother from your grandfather's house?"

Maggie frowned at him. "No. She was a mean lady."

"But is it possible?"

"No. Mommy and Daddy al'ays tell me who is gonna take care-a us. And we al'ays know 'em. Strangers don' take care-a us."

"But you did believe her when she told you your father was hurt, and that she would kill him if you got out of the car?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because she's a big people. Big people are s'posed to mean what they say."

"So you believed Ms. Wallace would do what she said?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

Maggie let out an exaggerated sigh and spoke very slowly, so he would understand her. "Because she said so."

Another snicker rumbled through the court. At the back of the gallery, Goren looked at Eames, who shrugged. Neither had any idea what Shaeffer was up to with this. At the prosecutor's table, Carver was also confused, but he waited to see where this line of questioning was going. Burrows watched Wallace, and then Carver, wondering just how far the ADA was going to let Shaeffer go. He made up his mind to step in himself if Carver did not, when he felt the questioning get out of line.

"Did you see her hurt your parents?"

"No. Uncle Mike took us outta the house. But I heared the banging."

"What did it sound like?"

"Like firecrackers...only it wasn'."

"How do you know?"

Another sigh. "Because it wasn' the Fourth of July! And Uncle Mike doesn' get all jumpy when firecrackers boom off."

Shaeffer was frustrated. He wasn't getting the answers he wanted. This was a very smart child. So he switched to a topic he knew she felt strongly about, one he knew would upset her and the hell with that detective and his threats. "Maggie, are you supposed to listen to adults?"

"Yes."

"And do you?"

"Yes."

"But you didn't listen to Ms. Wallace when she told you to stay in the car. Maybe she told you that for your safety."

Maggie frowned. "She was mean to me. An' I didn' want her to be mean to Tommy. I had to p'tect my baby! That's why I got outta the car."

"But you were disobedient. And that's bad. Maybe that's why your parents were hurt. Maybe that's why your father nearly died."

Burrows glanced into the gallery. As he suspected, this line of questioning wasn't sitting well with Maggie's father. He looked briefly at Wallace, who was smiling. Finally, he looked toward Carver, relieved to see the ADA on his feet. "Your Honor, I object to this entire line of questioning. It has been well established that Nicole Wallace had no right to take those children. This is a blatant attempt by the defense to harass this child."

"Sustained. Mr. Shaeffer, confine your questions to the matter at hand and that is what your client did wrong. This child is the victim. If you have no questions she can answer to support your client's not guilty plea, then sit down so I can send her back to her parents. I will not allow you to upset her by making her think she did anything wrong."

Shaeffer frowned. "Perhaps if she had stayed in the car, Ms. Wallace would not have had to carry out her threat to kill the child's father."

Burrows glared at him. "I suggest you watch yourself, Mr. Shaeffer, before you find yourself in contempt."

Wallace spoke, her voice cold and filled with hatred. "I see nothing wrong with telling Maggie the truth. She got out of the car and I had to kill her father. The fact that I underestimated him is secondary. She was disobedient and he suffered for her bad behavior."

By the time she was done talking, Burrows was on his feet, lowering his gavel for the fourth time. In the gallery, Logan was holding Goren back. The presence of his children was the only reason he remained quiet. The judge was furious. "Bailiff, take the witness to my chambers now. Then remove Ms. Wallace to her holding cell. I will deal with you shortly, Mr. Shaeffer." He banged the gavel. "We'll take an hour recess. Mr. Carver, get Detective Goren and meet me in my chambers. Now."