As the panel again started to question Sarah, Henry struggled for control. Face blanched, hands compressed into fists so tightly that the nails bit into his palms, he listened powerlessly as Esther got the first question out. "Sarah, how can you be sure that this is yours?"

"Because I recognize the handwriting; I know what I wrote, that is why."

"I'd like to conduct the examination of my own witness, if I may," snapped Diana as the panel broke out in a flurry of questions after Esther's initial one. This angry outburst shocked the panel into silence, temporarily.

In a more relaxed voice, Diana nodded toward them and said, "Thank you. Now, Sarah, have you been pressured in any way to make this identification or have you been promised anything for doing it--by me or any other person? Remember, you are under oath to tell the complete truth."

"No."

"Thank you. I have finished the direct examination of this witness."

"May I see packet C to make sure I understand," said a very fl.u.s.tered Henry Tarbuck.

Esther started in on Sarah. Even though Sarah had given her cla.s.s and student status at the beginning of her testimony, Esther asked for it all again. Perhaps she thought Diana was ringing in an impostor. Others on the panel took over as Esther paused for breath.

Sarah carefully answered each question, becoming confused only when two or three questions were thrown at her at the same time.

She established who she was and how she had found out about the "whole business."

"Tell me again when you took the course?"

"Is there a date on the form?"

Raising his voice in the way that men will in the presence of women as an effective way of silencing them and holding the floor by intimidation, a.n.u.se drawled conversationally, "What you claim is interesting. This doc.u.ment was identified by the doc.u.ment examiner as being written by Dr. Trenchant."

He fixed Sarah with a patronizing grimace. His att.i.tude plainly said I don't believe you, little girl.

Sarah replied, "I know that."

"Well, we should see a sample of your handwriting."

"You have a sample. It is right there on that paper I identified."

"No, absolutely not. It cannot be. You have made a mistake.

That SmurFF has been identified by experts as being in Diana's handwriting."

"We'll take some of your writing to the doc.u.ment examiner.

That will settle it." Esther beamed at having such a great idea.

"No. You already have a sample of my writing. I won't have anything more to do with those people. Look how they made this mistake.

I don't like how those people are." Sarah did not have much faith in doc.u.ment examiners--she of all people had reason not to.

"Well, we can do nothing here with this. It is just hearsay or. . ."

Frank's voice trailed off as he looked to Henry for a ruling.

Frank a.n.u.se is trying to sweep the evidence under the rug, thought Jane. He came into this hearing with his mind made up.

Any attempt Henry and a.n.u.se have made toward impartiality is a sham.

Diana addressed the panel, speaking forcefully. "Sarah has identified the evaluation under oath. You have that doc.u.ment as a sample of her handwriting. I think that is sufficient and you are upsetting her with your badgering."

"Well, the a.n.a.lysts are convinced that you wrote it."

a.n.u.se had turned ugly again.

"Handwriting evidence is not always conclusive," retorted Diana.

a.n.u.se turned his hostility toward Sarah. "How do you recognize that as yours?" Ignoring the fact that this had been asked and answered.

Patiently, Sarah said, "Because it is. It looks like mine and that is what I wrote."

Henry made a monumental blunder and didn't realize it until it was too late. After consistently arguing that the university would never send student handwriting off campus to a doc.u.ment examiner, he proposed just that! "We have samples of your handwriting in the university files that we can send to have checked," he threatened.

"No. You cannot do that with student files. You have no right to send my records away like that. You already have sent my SmurFF and you have that as a sample of my writing if you need it."

"Are you afraid?" Henry tried for intimidation to cover his faux pas.

"Of what?"

"Yes, I'm afraid. I'm afraid of who's on the other side of this.

I'm afraid of who is lying about Dr. Trenchant and what could happen to me for coming here to testify."

Once again, a.n.u.se led her through questions, to explain how she had seen the copy of this evaluation. Finally he said, "and what did you think when you saw it?"

Her answer, delivered in a soft but firmly decisive tone, landed like a bombsh.e.l.l in the midst of the panel. They sat in stunned silence for a beat and then the chair abruptly dismissed her.

"I was shocked," Sarah said, earnestly. Tears, long held back now slowly slid down her face, marking the planes and valleys with ripples that winked on and off reflecting the room lights "And I didn't want to even say it was mine. But I did, because it was."

Diana left the hearing room shortly after Sarah to ask Helen, her last witness, to come in. The whole group was in the hallway gathered around Sarah as she came out of the hearing room door.

"What did they do to her in there," demanded Roz, angrily.

"They were pretty nasty. They fired questions at her so fast that she didn't understand what they were asking half the time.

They all but called her a liar, poor kid," answered Diana.

Helen came over. "You tell them I'll be in just as soon as Sarah is calmed down. s.a.d.i.s.tic b.a.s.t.a.r.ds!"

Chapter 22

Diana returned to the hearing room alone and sat down.

Addressing the panel, she said firmly, "My next witness will be in shortly. She is helping Sarah because you upset her so much."

a.n.u.se and Henry looked pleased. The women were anxious and concerned except for Esther who appeared puzzled.

Shortly thereafter, Helen Schauer marched into the room and took the witness chair as if she owned it. Her Teutonic ancestors would have been proud. Helen, at age thirty, considered herself a responsible adult. She owned property and was very serious about her abilities and her nursing studies.

She had begged Diana to let her come as a witness. A little taller than average, she was a strong looking woman. Blonde hair framed a face that, while not beautiful, reflected a healthy radiance that enhanced her image of strength. Now, sitting there, exuding confidence, she gave her name and was sworn.

Her testimony should have been important, but Diana wasn't too certain that the panel would listen. It backed up what Roz had to say about the feelings of the medical students concerning the radiology course.