"When were you thinking of going out on our first date?" Maura asked, hazel eyes shining as they marched in the courthouse doors to catch up with Korsak.

Startled, Jane shot her a wide-eyed look. "Well, we don't have to plan it right this second, do we? Maybe we should save logistics until-"

Maura took her arm firmly as they made brisk strides down the corridor. "Jane, it's okay. It was more of a rhetorical question." She was grinning.

Jane loved that look of unadulterated enthusiasm.

"It's just something to think about over the next little while. But we'll revisit it after the trial's over."

Jane nodded, reassured. She opened the door for Maura when the reached the right courtroom. Everyone inside was still getting settled. Court was not yet in session.

/

The defense called Ruiz's daughter's mother to the stand, but she made for a weak character witness. Jane could tell her heart wasn't in it. The assistant DA - a young woman, full of fire and conviction - poked all manner of holes in her testimony during cross-examination. It took all of Jane's willpower to resist the urge to cheer when the prosecuting attorney said, "No further questions, Your Honor," and returned to her seat.

Next, the prosecution called Dominic Adams to the stand. Jane sat up straighter as he stepped up, another, milder bout of secondhand nerves causing an uneasy stirring in her gut. The bailiff swore him in, and again the assistant DA began her line of questioning, establishing his presence as a bystander at the scene of Kendra Roman's murder, his reasons for being there, and his connection to the victim.

When it was the defense attorney's turn, his questions began in much the same way. "Under what circumstances did your meeting with Miss Roman take place on the night of her death?"

Dominic cleared his throat, and his voice quavered slightly when he spoke. "I was walking by and she stepped out of the club for a - to smoke a cigarette, and we started talking."

"So you just...happened to be walking by when she stepped out?"

"Yes." Dominic swallowed, and searched the courtroom, presumably for a friendly face. He found Jane, and she gave him a slight nod. The air began to stir with uneasy murmurings from those present in the courtroom.

"Under what circumstances had you last seen Miss Roman? Prior to the evening of her death."

"I, uh...might've been just after we graduated high school. I'm not really sure. I feel like it'd been a while."

The defense attorney began to pace slowly before the bench. "And how did she seem to you at the time? Do you recall? She was already struggling with addiction by her senior year, was she not?"

"Objection, Your Honor." The assistant DA rose abruptly from her seat, making Maura jump beside Jane. "Leading question."

The judge tilted her head. "Sustained." She looked to the defense attorney. "I suggest you redirect your line of questioning, counsel."

The defense attorney nodded and turned to Dominic. "Back to the night in question." He smiled. "Mr. Adams, would you say that alley where you encountered Miss Roman was an area that you frequented?"

Dominic frowned. "I don't really hang out in alleys much, no..."

"But that alley in particular - had you passed through there before?"

"Yes...it's a kind of shortcut I take sometimes to get to a friend's house."

"And were you aware that Miss Roman frequented that club she was exiting from when you met her that night?"

"I never went in there myself -"

"But Mr. Adams, if you passed by that club often, you've probably seen a few regulars in the area, yes?"

"Objection!" The assistant DA jumped to her feet. "Speculation, Your Honor."

"Sustained," the judge replied. She angled a shrewd eye at the defense attorney. "Counsel, you have been warned."

"Yes, Your Honor." He cleared his throat and turned to the defense's table to consult his notes. "Mr. Adams, we have heard friends of Miss Roman's say, in this very courtroom, that Miss Roman was known to visit the nightclub in question fairly frequently. Had you seen her there before?"

"Possibly? If I did, I'm not sure I'd remember because we didn't stop and talk."

"How often would you say you pass that way?"

Dominic shrugged.

"Come on, Dominic," Jane said under her breath. "Don't get uncooperative." Makes the jury uncertain. All the defense needs is just a seed of doubt. She exchanged an uneasy glance with Maura.

"If you had to guess," the defense attorney pressed.

Dominic shrugged again. "Couple times a month, maybe? Not super regular."

"But you say it's possible you had seen Miss Roman at that club before."

Dominic nodded. "I think once before, yes. I think I remember seeing her."

The defense attorney paused, a hint of a smirk on his face. Those present in the courtroom began to murmur and stir again. Jane wanted to turn around and yell at them all to shut up. She must have been twitching in her seat, because Maura placed a hand on her thigh in a restraining gesture. Jane wrapped her fingers around that hand and held on tightly.

"Hopefully the jury is sensible enough to realize that observing her at the club only once prior to the night of her death is not enough to establish a habit of finding her in various places," Maura murmured.

Jane nodded, hoping against hope. This defense attorney was going to do everything in his power to cast a shadow of uncertainty on Dominic's involvement in the case.

"Only once?" the defense attorney asked.

Dominic darted a fleeting glance at Jane. She gave him the tiniest of nods. You got this, kid.

Resolve seemed to solidify within him. He looked the lawyer in the eye, leaned into the microphone mounted on the witness stand, and said, "Yes."

"Fair enough. About how long, on the night of Miss Roman's death, would you say your conversation with her lasted?"

"Maybe a minute, tops. Just enough to say hi."

"And when the car approached the first time, she told you to hide, and you did?"

"Counsel," the judge intoned, "Mr. Adams' actions during the event have already been clearly established by the prosecution. If you have a point, I suggest you make it."

The defense attorney's expression soured slightly for a moment before he resumed his inquiries. "Do you have a cell phone, Mr. Adams?"

Dominic shook his head. "No sir."

"And why is that?"

"I can't afford one."

"What about inside the club - was there a phone in there you could have used, perhaps to call 911?"

"Probably." Dominic shrugged. "I wouldn't know, I've never been inside."

"Did it never occur to you to call the police when a violent crime was possibly taking place?"

"That son of a bitch!" Jane hissed under her breath.

Maura gripped her hands even more tightly.

Dominic appeared genuinely hurt by this. "I probably should've. But I didn't, 'cause I was scared. Frozen, like. I wish I'da done something, said something. And I'm sorry. So sorry." His eyes found the Roman family seated behind the prosecution. "I'm sorry."

By this time, the defense attorney was starting to get disapproving looks from members of the jury. He glanced up at the judge. "No further questions, Your Honor."

The judge nodded. "Very good. This court is adjourned for the day. We will return tomorrow at nine a.m. for closing arguments, after which the jury will be given time to deliberate and reach a verdict. Dismissed."

The gavel banged, the courtroom doors opened, and those present began to file out amidst a crescendo of murmured conversation.