More courtroom drama. Hope it's good enough. I'm sure I'm screwing at least a few things up.

The hearing resumed after lunch. Alexandra Mullen looked over at her attorney, Perry Mason with confusion and concern after Hamilton Burger had been called to the stand.

"Why Hamilton?" She whispered to Mason as she leaned in. "The counselors knew about the pregnancy so the prosecution shouldn't need Hamilton to testify to it."

Mason leaned toward her. "His angle may be to imply that the two of you of feared the repercussions to your reputations and careers if it came out prematurely and suggest it as a motive for murder. You need to remain calm and silent no matter how much pressure Drumm applies to Hamilton up there. Hamilton knows what he's doing."

Alexandra gave him a look to suggest such nonsense as ludicrous but said nothing further and turned back to watch Drumm badger Burger.

Drumm was in none too happy a mood about this odious little task either. Along with Lt. Tragg and others in this courtroom, he'd worked around the district attorney for some years; and Drumm derived no more pleasure in this case than anyone else did.

"Mr. Burger, do you know the defendant?"

Burger was poised on the witness' stand as confident as ever, or at least, was convincingly projecting the image as such. He knew he could be easily excitable at times and had reminded himself several times this morning to remain as calm as possible. Appearing defensive and emotional would only add fuel to the prosecution's fire.

The district attorney glanced over at Alexandra Mullen for a moment and then back up to Drumm. "I do, sir."

"How well do you know Ms. Mullen?"

Drawing in a shallow, silent breath, Burger forced the information out, trying very hard not to resent the questions he knew would be put to him now. "She and I have been romantically involved for over a year now."

"Which is why you asked to be removed from this case?" Drumm asked neutrally.

"That is correct."

"And didn't the defendant recently give you some… unexpected news? Something that could change your lives completely as well as have potential repercussions for your careers and reputations?"

For Burger, this admission would, without parallel, be the most difficult utterance of his entire life. Just the sheer willpower he had to summon just to say it knowing what a violation it was of their personal lives was staggering. But he was determined not to shrink from it; not in front of Alexandra when she needed him to be strong and to see that he didn't feel ashamed or humiliated by the unplanned pregnancy.

Burger regarded Drumm unflinchingly. "Yes, she did."

"And would you please tell the court what that news was?"

Mason stood up. "Objection. Mr. Burger's personal life is not on trial here." Mason knew he wasn't going to win that one since Drumm was using Burger to supply a possible motive, but Mason felt he was obligated to at least make the effort to object out of principle. Drumm was pursuing a rather gross violation of privacy, albeit in the prosecutor's eyes, a necessary one.

Drumm approached the bench. "Your honor, my line of questioning is intended to show a possible motive for the defendant."

The aging judge nodded. "I'll allow the question, but get to the point quickly, Mr. Drumm."

The sharply dressed district attorney didn't need to be prodded to answer the question. He knew the game and its rules only too well and how they were working against him in this case.

"Alexandra told me over dinner last Friday night that she is expecting my child," Burger admitted

Drumm had to admit he was impressed. Burger hadn't wilted, flinched, or otherwise indicated any shame or humiliation on his part even amidst the murmurs now filtering through the courtroom. Surely having to answer those questions in such a public place and in the current situation had to feel like spitting out acid. Burger noticed that Tragg was starting down at the table instead of looking up, probably feeling just as nauseated that everything was having to come out this way.

"And you didn't tell anyone right away, did you? In fact, Lt. Tragg, someone who has worked with you closely for the last several years, learned that you were going to be a father from one of Ms. Mullen's colleagues during the murder investigation."

Burger's eyebrows rose and his bright blue eyes flashed with anger and indignation. "If you're insinuating that I was withholding the information from anyone out of shame or humiliation or even for nefarious purposes, you can go fish again. Alexandra and I wanted to wait to inform friends and family after we'd made some decisions about our own futures first."

Drumm pulled back a little, surprised by the emotion and conviction in Burger's eyes. Drumm had expected to have an easier time provoking Burger to defensiveness, but it hadn't happened. Reluctantly, he nodded and looked up at the judge.

"I have no further questions of this witness, your honor."

W^^^W^^^W

The next witness on the stand was one of the other counselors that worked with Ruby Avery and Alexandra Mullen.

"Mrs. Powell, I only have a few questions for you," Drumm said. "How did you and your colleagues come to find out about Ms. Mullen's condition?"

Powell hesitated. She really did not want to be a part of this, but she was obligated to tell the truth, even if it did look bad for Alexandra. Still, in no way did she believe Alexandra capable of something like this.

"Well…," she started, hesitantly. "We basically had to pry the news out of her. You see, we've all worked together in that building for several years now and I would say we know each other pretty well. Ms. Mullen had been looking and feeling unwell almost daily for two or three weeks until finally Ruby and I stopped her and asked her if she was alright. Knowing that she'd been in a longterm relationship, we'd had our suspicions as to the cause, but we had to outright ask her if that was the case before she'd say that it was true."

Drumm raised an eyebrow. "So Ms. Mullen didn't volunteer the information?"

"No, she didn't."

"And would that be considered unusual for her?"

Mrs. Powell pondered that for a moment. "Somewhat. I mean, she didn't give us every detail of her personal life, but I suppose it could be considered unusual that we had to make such a concerted effort to find out what was going on with her in this particular instance."

Drumm considered that with a slight smirk. "Thank you, Mrs. Powell. Your witness, Mr. Mason."

Mason shook his head. "No questions."

Drumm looked at Mason incredulously, wondering when the legendary criminal defense attorney was going to dig into a few of these witnesses. But Perry Mason always had a method to his madness. Drumm couldn't help but wonder if Mason had something waiting in the wings that he didn't know about. He couldn't wait to see what it was.

Mason rose after being directed by the judge to call his next witness.

"I call Bobby Mackey to the stand."