Spreading like a wildfire, the volcanic fervor exploded into the vicious July heat in Judge Hal Stancil's packed courtroom. The much anticipated trial had dragged on for six agonizingly long weeks. Bedlam ruled. It required the shrewd magistrate to constantly bang his walnut gavel, demanding order!

Beads of diamond-shaped perspiration saturated the cro-magnoid forehead of Defense Attorney Terrence Hightower. A stylish man of the mid-sixties persuasion, with strong brow lines and a touch of dignifying gray at the temples.

Withdrawing a neatly folded white handkerchief from the inside pocket of his single-breasted Armani Collezioni suit, the buoyant lawyer slowly advanced to the bench. Fastidiously, Hightower dabbed away the river of crystalized wetness from the middle of his forehead with a dry corner of his handkerchief.

With conviction, the gaunt attorney remained in control as he stopped directly in front of the young corroborator seated at the witness stand. Carefully, he worded his next question.

The attester, who held his own in an arduous line of inquiries, impressed Hightower. Seldom in his forty plus years of courtroom decorum had the Defense Attorney encountered one as capable. For sixty pulsating minutes they battled. Neither gained an inch.

With presumptive aplomb, Hightower glanced down at the clipboard he held in his right hand. His probing eyes found the entry he was gazing for, and the askewed question emitted from his mouth.

Slowly, as if to keep the mobbed courtroom hanging on to his every word, he quizzically demanded, "Earlier you testified that you found the defendant, John Marbly, laying unconscious on the well-manicured front lawn of the residence of the deceased Sharon Montoya. The aforementioned victim in this case. The bloody murder weapon clenched tightly in his hand."

Hightower paused for effect before he dropped the barrage he wanted to ignite. Piercing the witness with an ice cold glare, Hightower petitioned, "Isn't it much more accurate to state that you placed that knife in John Marbly's hand after you stabbed the deceased 27 times yourself?"

Hightower's alarming accusation captivated the courtroom. Was it possible this witness had lied all along while providing his testimony? The massive crowd buzzed loudly.

Repeatedly slamming his gavel down with thunderous ferociousness, Judge Stancil harshly beseeched the multitude gathered in the gallery, "Order! Order in my courtroom! I will have silence or I will immediately clear all spectators from this hearing!"

Knowing Judge Stancil was a man of his word, the fascinated crowd grew forebodingly quiet. Not one of the onlookers compelled the Judge to take the action he promised. They all desired to hear the youthful witness's reaction to Hightower's insinuation.

Suddenly, the sonorous voice of Walter "Bluefish" Galvin, the acclaimed State Attorney prosecuting the case, echoed off the rustic paneled walls of the courtroom as the big man jumped to his feet like somebody kicked him, and exclaimed, "Your Honor, need I remind the court that Cody Schroder is not on trial here for murder? He is merely a state's witness to this horrendous atrocity."

Galvin instantly pointed at the disheveled, sandy-haired, homeless vet seated at the defendant's table on the near side of the court and remarked, "John Marbly is the accused in this matter! Therefore, Mr. Hightower's question is not only inappropriate, it is also deliberately misleading, and it is nothing more than badgering the witness!"

Taking a long sip from his water glass standing on the far corner of the bar, Hightower smiled slightly and responded, "My question, Your Honor, goes straight to reasonable doubt and attempts to reach the truth in this witness's testimony that is full of holes wide enough to drive a Mack truck through. Need I remind the court that Cody Schroder has a well known criminal history here in Brazos County?"

A hushed murmur swept through the gathered assemblage. Hightower had cast the doubt he had been searching for. The twelve members of the jury looked at one another. They remembered the event Hightower referenced. Everybody in Astatula knew about a certain vandalism incident Cody Schroder, and his best friend Matt Cochran, had been jailed for.

They also recounted his indecent exposure while skinning dipping at Sullivan Lake the day he was shot by the Astatula Assassin. Could it be Hightower was dredging up ghosts from the past to discredit Cody Schroder?

Feeding off the exhilaration, the wily Counselor stated, "If need be, I will call Sheriff Daniels to the stand to verify the fact of that statement. Therefore, I entreat the court to instruct the witness to please answer my question without any further delay."

Cody did not wait for Judge Stancil to direct him to do anything.

"No, I did not kill Sharon Montoya!" he steadfastly remarked, "That is the most preposterous allegation I have ever been accused of!"

Cody took a deep breath. He could feel the noose tightening around his scrawny neck.

"Is it now, Cody?" Hightower shot back, "Let's just examine your history of abuse, shall we? As I see it, you have plenty of reasons to strike out at somebody. And, after what Sharon Montoya did to you, you had every justification to brutally attack her...at least, you thought you did."

Cody repositioned himself in the witness chair.

Hightower continued by warning him, "I will remind you that you are providing your testimony under oath. I will also inform you that should you commit perjury, and lie about anything that I ask you, I will see that you are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law!" Moving nose-to-nose with Cody, once again, in an even tone he demanded, "Did you murder Sharon Montoya?"

Stubbornly, Cody did not respond.

Seizing the opportunity, an exasperated Hightower specified as he withdrew from the witness stand, "I believe his actions speak louder than any words he could possibly state. Your Honor, I move for immediate dismissal of all charges against my client."

From his lofty perch on the witness stand, Cody recalled the circumstances surrounding the fateful scenario in question . They played out like a video tape recording rolling through his mind.

Instantly, State Attorney Galvin stood in front of him gently asking, "Cody, what can you tell the court about Sharon Montoya? Take your time in replying, Cody. Nobody is going to pressure you into answering my question. Least of all me. All we want to know is the truth. Did you murder Sharon Montoya?"

With all attention in the courtroom sharply focused on him and what he might admit to, Cody's diamond blue eyes locked on to the State Attorney's. "No, Mr. Galvin, I did not murder Sharon Montoya," he announced. Then, he cast a glance at the defendant and continued, "Neither did John Marbly."

Cody's comments created hysteria in the courtroom and once again Judge Stancil slammed his gavel down hard on top of the bench demanding, "Order! Order!"

Grasping the significance of what Cody told him, the State Attorney asked, "If you did not murder Sharon Montoya, and John Marbly did not murder Sharon Montoya, who did?"

Cody surveyed the courtroom. The answer to that question fixated back on him like they had been all afternoon. But, without enough evidence to convict the perpetrator, Cody knew he could not name names. He also knew Astatula had a storm brewing on the horizon.