Chapter 20
"Did you see him leave?"
"No," Eve replied. "I fainted."
"What did you do when you came to?" prosecutor asked.
"I crawled to the phone and called Dr. Fowler.
"Why did you not call the police first?"
"Because I needed a doctor first."
The district attorney nodded. "Thank you, Banner."
Prentiss's lawyer stood up. "Miss Banner, you pose in the nude?"
"Yes "
"All of the time?"
"No."
"Most of the time?"
"Yes."
"Have you posed in the nude in the class which the defendant is enrolled in?"
"Yes."
"All of the time?"
"Yes. It's a drawing class."
The defense counsel glanced at the jury. "Well, I don't know what that has to do with it, but then I'm not very arty."
"Objection, your honor. This case has nothing to do with my colleague's leisure-time pursuits."
"Sustained," said the judge.
Eve saw in a flash what the lawyer was trying to do. Whether or not his remark were stricken from the record, it would remain implanted in the jury's mind. It would get them on his side, because they weren't very arty, either. She suppressed a shudder as she looked at them. Their eyes were calcified with hatred as they met hers. There were five men and seven women, the latter all old and fat. Their mouths were clamped into thin lines; they were American Gothic, she thought dully.
To her surprise, the lawyer let her go. She stepped carefully down from the stand and walked very straight to a seat in the courtroom.
"The prosecution calls Dr. Louise Fowler."
Eve forced the adoration from her eyes as Louise passed her. She was sworn, and took the witness seat. She was quickly qualified, then led into the story of Eve's fall in class and the consequent treatment. Then came the questioning of the night of the attack.
"I called the police and an ambulance, then accompanied her to the city hospital, where I admitted her and treated her for shock, and examined her for evidence of rape."
"Did you find such evidence?"
"I did. There was sperm in the vaginal tract and on the pubic area."
"What did you do then?"
"I gave her a D and C, in case she had been impregnated."
The judge stopped the questioning. "I would like to inform the jury at this point that such a procedure is legal according to the laws of this state. The physician was within her rights to do such."
Louise glanced at one of the women in the jury box and saw her shake her head dolefully.
"Did you do anything else, doctor?"
"Yes. It was necessary to put her in traction for her back. The original sprain had been aggravated by the attack. I called in a bone specialist who examined her. He agreed with me that the traction was necessary."
"Thank you, doctor."
The defense shot up out of his seat. "Dr. Fowler, did you find any signs of struggle in Miss Banner's apartment when you arrived?"
"She was unable to move-"
"That's not a sign of struggle. Did you see anything broken, torn? Were tables overturned, chairs?"
"No! She couldn't put up any struggle! She couldn't move!"
He shook a finger in her face. "You can't testify that she couldn't put up a struggle-you weren't there during the attack. Answer my question, please."
"No," Louise said quietly.
He glanced at the jury. "Uh-huh. No signs of struggle. Now, one more question."
He smiled and shot another covert look at the twelve people in the box.
"As a woman doctor, can you honestly say that you feel no special sympathy for a member of your sex?"
"Objection!" the prosecutor thundered. "Your honor, really!"
"Strike that," said the judge. He nodded curtly to Louise. "If the defense has no more questions, as he said, you may step down."
Eve watched Louise take a seat on the other side of the courtroom. They had agreed not to sit together.
Prentiss's mother was called. As soon as she sat down in the witness chair she burst into tears.
"Now, now," said the defense. "I only have a few brief questions. Was your son ever in trouble with the police?"
"Never. He never gave me a bit of trouble. He was a joy to raise." She gulped, ducked her head, and looked up again, her chin quivering. "Except for his health."
"Can you describe his medical history briefly?"
"Well, he had rheumatic fever when he was seven. His eyesight is very bad. When he was a little boy, he thought trees were covered with green fuzz....he couldn't see the leaves separately."
She sobbed again. "Uh-huh. Now, Mrs. Prentiss, can you verify for me the fact that your son is approximately five-feet-five and weighs onetwenty-five?"
"Your honor," said the district attorney, "he knows that's hearsay. If he wants the boy's height and weight, let him put his client on the stand!"
"Sustained."
The defense made no move to call Prentiss. "That's all, ma'am."
"Is that it?" the judge asked him curtly. 'The defense rests."
"Your honor...."
"Mr. Prosecutor?"
"I would like to call Dr. Fowler for rebuttal."
The defense smirked. "Your Honor, Dr. Fowler has just testified. Has my colleague forgotten to ask her something?"
The judge gave him a measured stare, then turned to the other man. "What is the purpose of this?"
"My colleague has made several sly allusions to Miss Banner's morals. Dr. Fowler has evidence to refute them."
"I object to the rebuttal witness," said the defense.
"This is a rape charge, sir," the judge said. "The morals of the plaintiff are pertinent. Call your witness."
Louise took the stand again. "You're still sworn," the prosecutor said. She nodded.
"When Miss Banner was first injured, in the fall in class, did you treat her in the college infirmary?"
"I did."
"At that time, you examined her back thoroughly, did you not?"
"Yes, I did."
"Did you do anything else besides treat the back injury?"
"I gave her a standard physical examination, a routine procedure.
"Did you examine her internally?"
"Yes "
"Why?"
"Because a back injury can be aggravated by female disorders."
"What did you discover during the internal examination?"
"That Miss Banner was a virgin."
The courtroom filled with a gasp. The jury looked at one another.
"Order," said the judge. "Go on."
"Are you sure of that?"
"Yes," said Louise. "She was a virgin."
The defense rose, red-faced. "Misser, excuse me. Doctor Fowler, in this day and age, how many twenty-six-year-old virgins are there running around?"
She shrugged. "I don't know. Do you?"
The audience burst into laughter. The judge's mouth twitched as he rapped for order.
The court recessed for lunch. In the corridor, Eve and Louise stopped and spoke.
Eve looked about carefully. "Thank you. You committed perjury for me," she said wonderingly.
"Not perjury, just hearsay. You told me the truth and I believe you. That's all there is to it. You were a virgin as far as men are concerned. That's what they're interested in.
The jury did not stay out long. Louise had not expected them to, after hearing the summation of the defense. Only one line in it had affected them, she was sure: "Would you want your daughter to pose in the nude?"
She knew what was going to happen, in spite of the judge's charge, which was heavily in favor of conviction, and in spite of the evidence she had given in rebuttal. She looked at the faces of the jury and thought of the housemother, Mrs. Webster, who had cared for her and Vivian twenty years before. Any of the women might have been she.
There were two indictments against Prentiss; the first was assault and the second, rape.
"How do you find the defendant on the first indictment?"
"Guilty."
"Guilty."
"How do you find the defendant on the second indictment?"
"Not guilty."
That evening, Louise and Eve sat together in the doctor's house. The woman held the girl's hand to her cheek. They were silent a long moment, then Eve spoke.
"I don't want to go back to my job."
"Good. I've been waiting for you to decide that. I have an idea for you, and for me, too."
"What?"
"Would you like to go to nursing school?" When Eve did not reply, she went on. "I'll take care of it, and of you. Afterwards, you could help me in return. I'm not as crazy about university medicine as I thought I'd be.I don't want to go back to the sticks but I'd like a private practice somewhere. I'd need a nurse."
Eve smiled. "I think I'd like that, too."