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.The eight-pageaffidavit was prepared just hours afterward, at the insistence ofHark and the other Phelan lawyers.Zadel was asked by Nate to read theaffidavit to the court reporter. Do you have any reason to change any of the opinions set out in thataffidavit? Nate asked. I do not, Zadel said, looking at Hark. Today is February twenty-fourth, more than two months after your examinationofMr.Phelan.Is it your opinion today that he had sufficient mental capacity toexecute a valid will? It is, Zadel answered, smiling at Hark.Flowe and Theishen smiled too, each genuinely happy to turn the screws on thelawyers who'd hired them and fired them.Nate showed each of them the video,asked them the same questions, and received the same answers.Each read hisaffidavit into the record.They adjourned at four, Monday afternoon.At eight-thirty sharp, Tuesday morning, Snead was escorted into the room andplaced in the chair of honor.He wore a dark suit with a bow tie which gavehim a brainy aura that was undeserved.The lawyers had carefully selected hiswardrobe.They'd been molding and programming Snead for weeks, and the poorman doubted if he could utter a spontaneous or honest word.Every syllable hadto be right.He had to project an air of confidence, yet avoid even theslightest hint of arrogance.He and he alone defined reality, and it wascrucial that his stories were believable.Josh had known Snead for many years.He was a servant whom Mr.Phelan oftentalked of getting rid of.Of the eleven wills Josh had prepared for TroyPhelan, only one mentioned the name of Malcolm Snead.A gift of a milliondollars had been designated for him, a gift revoked months later with yetanother will.Mr.Phelan had removed Snead's name precisely because Snead hadinquired as to how much he might expect to receive.167Snead had been too preoccupied with the money to suit his master.His name onthe witness list for the contestants meant only one thing-money.He was beingPage 193 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlpaid to testify, and Josh knew it.Two weeks of simple surveillance haddiscovered a new RangeRover, a newly leased condo in a building where the prices started at eighteenhundred dollars a month, and a trip to Rome, first class.Snead faced the video camera and was somewhat comfortable.He felt as thoughhe'd been looking at one for a year.He'd spent all of Saturday and half ofSunday in Hark's office, getting himself grilled again.He'd watched thevideos of himself for hours.He'd written dozens of pages of fiction on thefinal days of Troy Phelan.He'd rehearsed withNicolette the bimbo.Snead was ready.The lawyers had anticipated questions about the money.Ifasked whether he was being paid to testify, Snead was trained to lie.It wasthat simple.There was no way around it.Snead had to lie about the half amillion bucks already in hand, and he had to lie about the promise of $4.5million upon settlement or other favorable outcome.He had to lie about theexistence of the contract between himself and the lawyers.Since he was lyingabout Mr.Phelan he could certainly lie about the money.Nate introduced himself and then asked, quite loudly, Mr.Snead, how much areyou being paid to testify in this case? Snead's lawyers thought the question would be, Are you being paid? not, Howmuch? Snead's rehearsed answer was a simple No, I certainly am not! But tothe question still ringing around the room he had no quick response.Hesitation sank him.He seemed to gasp as he looked wildly at Hark, whosespine had become rigid and his stare frozen like a deer's.Snead had been warned that Mr.O'Riley had done his homework and seemed toknow everything before he asked the questions.In the long painful secondsthat followed, Mr.O'Riley frowned at him, cocked his head sideways, and lifted some papers. Come on, Mr.Snead, I know you're being paid.How much? Snead cracked his knuckles hard enough to break them.Beads of sweat poppedout in the creases of his forehead. Well, I, uh, I'm not- Come on, Mr.Snead.Did you or did you not purchase a new Range Rover lastmonth? Well, yes, as a matter of- And you leased a two-bedroom condo at Palm Court? Yes, I did
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