593 Riverside Drive - 28. Chapter 28

“This is one of those occasions when you realize how much of a temporary specialist a lawyer has to be,” Lewis began. “Just to understand what a witnesses is saying.”

“And to make sense of it for a judge or jury,” his father confirmed.

“At least, we have a well-educated judge,” I pointed out.

Pic just laughed. “Yes – and considerably better taught than our otherwise capable Mr. Steuer.”

“I was able to follow along,” my mother defended.

“And I was nearly behind her,” Ella agreed. “Though I did have to ask Lee a few questions on the way home – she’s always been better at science.”

“Even Lewinson seemed to understand more than Steuer,” my father admitted. “Though his attempt to use what he knew stopped when the judge cut him off – again.”

“I believe that’s three strikes,” Howard counted.

“You would use a baseball metaphor,” I joked.

“It a simple way for people to understand,” he maintained.

“Or a way for simple people to understand.”

Howard kissed me anyway, while my father blinked.

“Could you follow the science?” Essie soon asked her husband.

“Yes,” Herbert allowed. “It’s simply a matter of ‘Could Joe succeed’ – or ‘Could any man?’” He turned to Ella. “And I didn’t mean to be rude – certainly not as rude as Lewinson.”

“I doubt anyone could be,” Ella said smiling. “Though that seems to be part of trials. I don’t really know, since I’ve never been to one before.”

Pic seemed surprised. “With all your exploring New York? I would’ve thought you’d ventured into many courtrooms.”

Ella shook her head. “I didn’t think there’d be anything to interest me.”

“Because you didn’t know trials were so risque,” Herbert poked.

“This kind of trial would never be open to the public,” Pic guaranteed.

“What if the plaintiff were William Randolph Hearst?” Herbert nudged.

“That wouldn’t a trial – it would be a circus,” Pic scoffed. “Which Arthur would know more about.”

“‘There’s a sucker born every minute,’” my father parroted.

“Still, I’ve never seen anything like this,” I assured Ella.

“Me, either,” Lewis supported. “And we’ve been to quite a number of hearings.”

“I believe you,” Ella replied. “But I’m not about to go to another one. I’ll risk surgery first.”

Everyone laughed at that.

“Going back to Benno Lewinson,” Florrie deflected. “Ella, you weren’t letting Herbert apologize for him?”

“Absolutely not,” my aunt insisted, “though I may have a little more sympathy for him now – at least, I understand the reasons for his approach. And that may be easier to do when I’m not the witness.”

“In Steuer’s defense,” I asserted, “you have to admit that he immediately understood that the issue wasn’t satisfaction.”

“Exactly,” Herbert agreed. “It’s always been about Joe’s ability.”

“Which Steuer emphasized,” my father concurred.

“Do you think that will save his case?” Essie questioned Pic.

“He hasn’t come near to losing it,” Lewis’s father protested. “Simply because he missed one, possibly difficult point doesn’t mean he’s sunk to Lewinson’s level of moronity.”

“Now who’s being rude?” my mother said lightly.

Everyone laughed again.

“It’s interesting how active Judge Crain is being,” I went on, directing that to Pic, our acknowledged expert. “Dr. Gildersleeve felt the same way when she reviewed my notes. In most of the trials Lewis and I have seen, the judges have mainly watched.”

“Or occasionally mediated,” Lewis added.

“But Crain’s the one who has to make the decision here,” Pic explained. “He needs to be clear about the issues – every one of them. And he’s more experienced, so possibly more demanding than any jury. That’s why he keeps asking questions.”

“I don’t remember him doing that with me,” Ella mentioned.

“Perhaps because your issues were clearer,” Pic suggested. “Medicine’s often a mystery – especially psychology – and there’s something else. All of Lewinson’s questions – no matter how awkwardly put – were meant to bluntly lay out the path he wants Crain to follow. Steuer’s more sophisticated – a bit more subtle. When he began with the doctor, he immediately prefaced, ‘Please don’t repeat what we’ve already heard.’ That granted Crain his level of intelligence and perception. Also, if Steuer hadn’t limited the testimony, what only took this afternoon might have taken two-or-three days.”

“I know how that feels,” Ella sympathized.

“How many other doctors are there?” Essie asked.

“Four,” Ella replied. “Five in all.”

“And you saw each of them two or three times?” Florrie followed.

“Some of them. But one I’ve known for years, and another’s been treating me since winter.”

“I wonder if Lewinson will be as respectful with all the doctors as he was with this one?” my mother offered.

“That was a surprise,” Ella agreed.

“Especially considering his batting average,” Lewis bolstered, grinning at Howard. I refused to react.

“But then Lewinson started to load on the Freudian trash,” Herbert derided. “The kind of childish philosophy you wouldn’t believe on bubble gum wrappers.”

“What’s wrong with bubble gum?” Howard brightly inquired.

“It’s not nourishment,” Herbert rejoined. “And probably neither is anything Lewinson could ever say.”