Burrows motioned toward the gallery. "Detective Goren, bring Maggie up to the stand, please."

He decided that Maggie would do better if she could see her father. He watched as he set Maggie in the witness chair and whispered into her ear. She nodded. Burrows said, "Go ahead and sit by Mr. Carver until Maggie is done testifying, detective."

Goren met the judge's eyes and nodded his gratitude. Burrows returned his nod. Shaeffer got to his feet. "This is rather unusual, Judge Burrows."

"Maggie is not a usual witness, Mr. Shaeffer. Now you may continue your cross-examination, and I will caution you to remember what we discussed in my chambers." He turned to Maggie. "This is the same as before, Maggie. Just answer the questions as best you can. Don't make anything up and it's okay if you don't remember. Just tell us."

"Okay, Your Honor. And thank you for letting Daddy stay."

Burrows smiled. "You're welcome."

He leaned back in his chair and looked at the defense table, where Shaeffer shuffled his papers and Wallace glared toward Goren, who ignored her. He looked at the prosecutor's table, where Carver was his usual reserved self. Goren looked less comfortable; he was clearly on edge. They would have to be certain to step in early to keep Shaeffer in line, or Goren was likely to knock him back over the line. Perhaps the big cop's presence alone would be enough deterrent for Shaeffer.

The defense counsel stepped away from the table, looking uncomfortably toward Goren before he approached the witness stand. "Ok, Maggie," he said. "Are you ready to go on?"

"On'y if you're gonna be nice."

Another collective chuckle crossed the gallery. Burrows smiled. This child had more spunk and spirit than any four-year-old he'd ever met. Her parents were doing a great job of raising a self-confident, independent child. When she grew up, Maggie Goren was going to be a force to be reckoned with...much, he surmised, like her parents were.

Shaeffer frowned but didn't respond to her comment. "Why did you get out of the car at the gas station?"

"Because I saw the phone. I wanted to talk to Daddy, so he could come and get us."

"Why did you dial 911 and not a direct number?"

"Because Daddy and Mommy al'ays telled me to press 911 if I was ever in trouble, and I guessed I was in trouble. Daddy even showed me the numbers onna phone and maked sure I knew how to do it. He al'ays telled me I could find him with 911 because he's a police. So that's what I did."

"Why did you think you were in trouble? Ms. Wallace had done nothing mean to you up to that point."

"But she wouldn' take us home. An' she wouldn' let me call Mommy or Daddy. I missed them. An' I didn' know her."

"She told you she was a police officer, right?"

"Yes. That's why I left Grampa's with her. But she wasn' a police. An' she wouldn' take us to Daddy like she tolded me. I didn' know where we was, an' I wanted to go home."

"It seems to me you had a chance to run and get help, if you had a chance to make a phone call."

"But I couldn' leave my baby."

"He's not your baby. He's your brother. You have no responsibility toward him."

She looked at him as if he were stupid. At the prosecutor's table, Carver had placed a hand on Goren's arm and leaned over to say something to him. Burrows didn't miss the tension in the detective's posture. Back on the witness stand Maggie resorted to speaking slowly again. "He is my baby. Mommy gotted him for me. It's my job to take care-a him and I al'ays he'ped Mommy and Daddy take care-a him. Ev'eybody knows he's my baby, even Tommy."

More soft laughter. Burrows mused over this child's remarkable ability to endear herself to people. No wonder Carver had wanted her on the stand. She was certain to win the jury over. She was sincere and honest. She had easily won his heart, and he had to be careful not to cross the line of impartiality until after the verdict was read. But he would certainly protect the child from abuse at the hands of Wallace and her idiot counsel.

Shaeffer was having trouble predicting this child's answers, and so far, he had been unable to get any answer he could use from her. He was just contributing to the prosecution's case. But her answers were honest...damn it. Maybe he just wasn't asking the right questions. "Maggie, when you were with Ms. Wallace, did she take care of you? Feed you and make sure you had a bed to sleep in?"

"Yes, she did."

"So why would you think you were in any danger?"

"I didn' think that. We was in trouble because she wouldn' take us home, or let me call Daddy or Mommy. I wasn' sure they knowed where we was. I jus' wanted to go home."

"So why do you say she's mean?"

"Because she hurted me and said mean things about Daddy."

"And you didn't like that."

Again she looked at him as if he were stupid. "No, I didn' like that. I love my daddy an' he's good to me and to Tommy. He loves us, and she was sayin' he didn'." She looked around him to glare at Wallace. "But she was wrong!"

Wallace glared back at her and answered, "Are you sure, Maggie?"

Carver grabbed Goren's arm as Burrows said, "Mr. Shaeffer, instruct your client not to address the witness or I will have her removed from the courtroom and we will proceed with Maggie's testimony in her absence."

Shaeffer went to the table and spoke to Wallace. As he returned to the witness stand, Wallace glared at him. Then she looked toward Goren, who was still not paying any attention to her. Carver was leaning toward him, speaking softly. Maggie was glaring at Wallace defiantly. Before Shaeffer could ask another question, she answered Wallace. "Yes, I am sure. You need-a stop bein' mean and sayin' bad stuff about my daddy."

Wallace bristled at the child's reprimand and the snickers it elicited, but Burrows' steady warning glare from the bench forced her to remain quiet. Shaeffer continued, "You say Ms. Wallace said mean things about your father. Like what?"

Maggie refused to get upset. Goren recognized the stubborn set to her face and the thrust to her jaw. "She tried to tell me Daddy would hurt me an' Tommy. An' that he an' Mommy didn' want us any more because they could make more babies. But she was wrong. Daddy telled me there won' be no more babies. Jus' Tommy an' me, 'cause Tommy and me are all they need an' they love us." She glared at Wallace. "An' Daddy won' hurt us. He doesn' hurt peoples that he loves." She crossed her arms in front of her and frowned. "She telled me that she hurt me because I'm like Daddy." Shaeffer opened his mouth to say something, but she cut him off, holding up a finger. "Don' innerupt. You ast me, now listen to me. Mommy telled me it's not a bad thing to be like Daddy, and Mommy al'ays means what she tells me, jus' like Daddy!" She nodded at Shaeffer. "Now you can talk."

More laughter. Shaeffer was furious, not just at being told off by a four-year-old, but that the judge allowed it. He looked at Burrows. "Your honor!"

"Don't whine at me, Mr. Shaeffer. It's unbecoming your station. And if you're complaining about being told to shut up by the witness, I agree with her. You asked."

Goren leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms over his chest. Maggie looked at him, and he smiled and nodded at her. She smiled back and sat a little taller in her chair. Shaeffer huffed and threw up his hands. "No more questions."

Burrows looked down at Maggie and smiled. "You did very well, Maggie. You can go to your daddy now."

"Thank you, Your Honor."

She climbed off the chair and ran to her father, who picked her up and hugged her. "Good job, mouse," he whispered.

He stood up and headed back for their seats. "Detective Goren?"

Turning to face the judge, he raised his eyebrows. "Yes, your honor."

"Thank you for letting your daughter testify."

The subpoena had not given him a legal choice, but ultimately he did have a choice to make. He nodded. "You're welcome, sir."

Burrows leaned back in his seat, glad that Maggie's testimony was over. She had done incredibly well and he was impressed with how mature she was for such a young child. She had taken care of her brother, stood up to an adult who had hurt her and testified in open court about her ordeal. She even told the defense counsel to shut up in so many words. He would love to see what this child was like in ten or fifteen years. "Mr. Carver, call your next witness."