erself, had influenced hundreds of
medical students over a period of years to do as she dictated. There's
more to this than I've been told.... this isn't about forging seven
SmurFFs. What on earth is going on here, she pondered....

Finally, Henry noticed Janet who had been trying to get his attention
for some time. "We'll take a ten minute recess and when we come back,
Trenchant may cross examine Dr. Stone. You may leave the room. I'll
summon you when we are ready," he ordered, taking in Janet and Diana
with the same disdainful glance.

The committee huddled and Lyle Stone joined them. So much for
impartiality.

Janet and Diana left, both breathing an audible sigh of relief as the
door shut behind them. Stopping at the soft drink dispenser, the court
reporter glanced around carefully then said sotto voce, "What a farce.
Unbelievable."

Chapter 9

The ten-minute break had stretched to twenty before Henry and the panel
finished going over their notes to make sure they had brought out
everything that Mark, the university attorney, had advised.

Diana and Janet were called back and Diana began the cross examination
of her department chair, Lyle Stone.

She asked him first to confirm a sentence written in his memo to the
dean and which he had testified to before the break.

"Yes," Lyle answered, "I did write in the memo to the dean and also
testified that I gave you all of the documents used in the handwriting
analysis."

Diana held up several sheets of paper from the evidence packet on the
table. "I have found documents dated nearly twenty years ago in this
material the committee has introduced as that sent to the document
examiners. These were not in the material that you gave me. So your
assertion that I was given all of the documents is incorrect."

Henry searched quickly through his copy of the evidence that had been
sent to the document examiners as standards. Good God, he thought.
What is this creature doing? Come on Lyle, don't let her get the best
of you.

Ah, much better, Henry observed happily to himself as Lyle started tap
dancing around her question. Instead of yes or no, he would repeat at
length some of his previous testimony with added embellishments and
avoid answering.

By persistent questioning, Diana established that he had stapled her
brief note to one of the 'suspect' SmurFFs before it was sent out for
analysis. But it was like pulling teeth. He kept reiterating