High Stakes
The first nine paragraphs of this episode are played out in China’s lawyerly mind, as she mentally reviews some of the evidence she’d need to convince the local district attorney to indict Rosalind Kotner for Jo Gilbert’s murder—especially since Roz is a TV personality who is engaged to a viable contender for the presidency. With this kind of visibility, it isn’t a case that any DA wants to bring to a grand jury—unless it’s a sure-fire, can’t-miss slam dunk. The stakes are just too high.
But before China can get very far with this, she is interrupted by Jo’s daughter Meredith. What follows is one of the more emotionally charged scenes in the book—a stormfront of grief, revelation, suspicion, and accusation. Meredith arrives already shaken by Violett Hall’s disclosure, and China is forced to manage both her friend’s unraveling emotions and the widening implications of Jo’s death. In the background, as you know, China is laying a trap for Roz. But on the surface, it’s all volatility and heat.
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