“Yes, ma’am.”

“And what new cases are you actively investigating right now?”

“At the moment, I have no new cases. But I continue to follow up on-”

“Yet you are a Boston PD detective. And at this moment, are there no murder cases that require vigorous investigation?”

“I’m on maternity leave.”

“Oh. You’re on leave. So you’re not currently with the unit.”

“I’m performing administrative duties.”

“But let’s be clear on this. You’re not an active detective.” Quinlan smiled. “At the moment.”

Jane felt her face flush. “As I said, I’m on maternity leave. Even cops have babies,” she added with a note of sarcasm, and immediately regretted it. Don’t play her game. Keep your cool. That was easier said than done in this oven of a courtroom. What was wrong with the air-conditioning anyway? Why didn’t anyone else seem to be bothered by the heat?

“When is your baby due, Detective?”

Jane paused, wondering where this was going. “My baby was due last week,” she finally said. “It’s late.”

“So back on February third, when you first encountered my client, Mr. Rollo, you were-what? About three months pregnant?”

“Objection,” said Spurlock. “This is irrelevant.”

“Counsel,” the judge said to Quinlan, “what is the point of your question?”

“It has to do with her earlier testimony, your honor. That Detective Rizzoli was somehow able to subdue and arrest my clearly able-bodied client in the stairwell all by herself.”

“And the state of her pregnancy has what, exactly, to do with this?”

“A three-months-pregnant woman would have a difficult time-”

“She’s a police officer, Ms. Quinlan. Arresting people is her job.”

Way to go, Judge! You tell her.

Victoria Quinlan flushed at the setback. “All right, your honor. I withdraw the question.” She turned, again, to Jane. Regarded her for a moment as she considered her next move. “You said that you and your partner, Detective Frost, were both at the scene. That you and he made a joint decision to enter apartment two-B?”