"Objection!"
"Sustained. Stop leading the witness, Mr. Rael."
"My apologies, my lord. Dr. Wallace, what happened after your rowboat flipped? Dr. Wallace?"
Black water, paralyzing cold. Kick to the surface, limbs trembling. Tread water, so much fog. Which way to swim?
"Dr. Wallace, are you still with us?"
"Uh, yes, sorry. What was the question?"
"Your rowboat flipped and?"
"And I went under, then I surfaced. I was freezing, but I couldn't see the shoreline, it was too foggy. So I treaded water and yelled for help."
"I understand there were salmon in the water. A whole school?"
"Salmon?"
The water frothing with salmon, the fish battering my legs and buttocks.
"There were fish, yes. It's… it's possible they followed the tree up from the depths. Fish'll do that sometimes."
Max leaned in. "Then what happened?"
Sharp pain, like a thousand stabbing daggers …
"Something stabbed me… something below the surface. Coils of barbed wire had wrapped around the log, probably the remains of a decaying farm fence. My left ankle got snagged. As the log re-sank, its weight dragged me under with it."
"Barbed wire?"
"Yes."
"You saw the barbed wire?"
"Of course not, it was too dark and deep, but the fencing entangled me pretty good, stripped the skin clear off of me."
"That sounds positively frightening. You still have the scars?"
"Some. I had to have a skin graft."
"Would you mind showing us the scars, Dr. Wallace?"
The judge and jury leaned forward as I removed my left shoe and sock, revealing a tiny ring of scars that encircled my left ankle, the skin noticeably devoid of hair.
"The plastic surgeon did a nice job. Still, how can you be sure the wound was caused by barbed wire?"
"The physician who initially treated me certified it in his report. There were heavy traces of rust around the edges of the wound."
"I see. And is it at all possible an animal might have bitten your leg, Dr. Wallace?"
A nauseous feeling simmered in my belly as more images from my night terrors blinked in and out of my mind's eye.
Black water. Sinking faster. Struggle… kick… twist, must break free.
"Dr. Wallace?"
"No."
"No, it's not possible, or no you don't remember?"
Deeper… suffocating… ears ringing from the pressure. Suddenly free! Go, Zack… swim away! Get to the light!
"Dr. Wallace?"
The migraine's wave of pain was rising higher by that time, and it was going to be a tsunami. Reaching into my pants pocket, I fished out two Zomig and swallowed them, praying they'd shunt off the coming disaster.
"Answer the question, Dr. Wallace."
"There was no water creature, Mr. Rael," I said, my eyeballs beginning to throb.
"Let's go back a moment, Dr. Wallace. You said you took the rowboat out yourself to go fishing, is that correct?"
"Yes."
"With the new reel your father had given you?"
"Yes."
"Then why did you leave your new fishing rod on the shore?"
"I, uh… what did you say?" A chill ran down my spine.
"The fishing rod. Your father found it onshore after you'd been rescued. You never brought it out with you."
"He did? I… I don't—"
"Why were you really out on the Loch, Dr. Wallace? Were you trying to prove something to your father?"
The courtroom began tilting in my vision.
"What was it you were really searching for?"
The judge leaned over to me. "Are you all right, Dr. Wallace? You've gone quite pale."
I wiped cold sweat from my brow. "It's a migraine. I get them sometimes. This one's real bad."
"You don't like to discuss your drowning incident, do you, Dr. Wallace?" Max cooed. "It's painful for you. It causes the migraines to worsen, yeah?"
I squeezed my eyes shut and nodded.
"Still, we must discuss this frightening chapter in your childhood in order to get to the truth, in order to determine your father's guilt or innocence. Let's go back to the water creature your father described under oath. He claimed it was at least fifteen meters long. That would give it the length and bite radius of a small whale, am I right?"
I looked up at him, the spots in my eyes nearly blinding me. "It was barbed wire that snagged my ankle, Mr. Rael. Not a whale or serpent or monster. Barbed wire!"
"And was it barbed wire that nearly swallowed you in half?"
"What?"
"It rose up after you, didn't it? You managed to twist yourself free, but it rose up after you, then snagged you a second time as you fled to the surface. Only this time it took you about the waist, just like it did poor John Cialino!"
My head erupted, and so did the courtroom. The two prosecutors were on their feet, yelling their objections in order to be heard over the crowd, while the judge whacked his gavel over and over, each earsplitting clap sending splinters of pain shooting through my brain as he futilely attempted to regain control of the proceedings.
It was a free-for-all, and I was at the center of the storm.
Barely able to tolerate the jabbing eye pain, I laid my pounding head upon the ledge of the witness box and swallowed great gulps of air, trying my best to quell the volcano of bile gurgling in my gut as long-dormant memories from my childhood continued to burst across my mind's eye.
Free! Race for the surface, faster… faster… A presence …rising from the depths beneath me! Swim faster! Ignore the pain, kick harder… A light! Get to the light… get to the light!
I clutched my head, pleading to the judge for mercy, "My lord, I need a recess."
Angus stood and yelled, "Order him tae lower his troosers, Maxie! His waist'll still be scarred by Nessie's bite!"
An officer of the court shoved Angus back in his chair as the judge beat his gavel again. "Another outburst like that, Mr. Wallace, and I shall have you bound and gagged. Mr. Rael—"
Max motioned to Angus to stay calm. "My apologies, my lord."
"Mr. Rael, finish your questions now, or I shall dismiss the witness to seek medical attention."
"Yes, of course. Dr. Wallace, on or about your ninth birthday, was there any construction going on at Loch Ness? Dr. Wallace?"
"I have no idea," I muttered through the pain.
"In fact, Dr. Wallace, the record shows that a new layby was being blasted at Urquhart Castle, expanding the parking lot from twelve spaces to its present forty-seven. Did you not know that?"
I bit my tongue and swallowed, fighting to keep the bile from rising up my throat.
"Dynamite, Dr. Wallace. By your own theory, an agitator to large predators living in …"
Had God granted me one wish at that moment, I'd have requested a gun. My first shot would have struck Maxie between the eyes, stifling his incessant voice, the second and third bullets reserved for Angus and that pompous judge. The rest of the clip would be dedicated to my throbbing head, ending my misery, once and for all.
But I had no gun, all I had was intense pain and anger.
Judge Hannam was about to add humiliation to the list. "Dr. Wallace, we'll take a recess and get you some medical attention in just one minute, but first, I'm going to ask you to lower your trousers, just a bit, for the jury."
"What?"
The jury leaned forward, mentally salivating, the visitors hunching up in their seats.
I swallowed hard. "Your honor, this is absurd!"
"You're wearing boxers, yes?"
"Yes, but—"