Disclosure

Alongside Meredith, Heller and Blackburn sat completely stonefaced, showing no reaction at all. The two female attorneys showed no reaction. This had all been worked out in advance, Sanders realized. What was going on? Why was she changing her story?

Johnson cleared her throat, then continued in the same deliberate way. "I believe it is correct to say that I was a willing participant in all the events of the evening. And it may be that I was too forward, at one point, for Mr. Sanders’s taste. In the heat of the moment, I may have overstepped the bounds of propriety and my position in the company. I think that’s possible. After serious reflection, I find myself concluding that my own recollection of events and Mr. Sanders’s recollection of events are in much closer agreement than I had earlier recognized."

There was a long silence. Judge Murphy said nothing. Meredith Johnson shifted in her chair, took her glasses off, then put them back on again.

"Ms. Johnson," Murphy said finally, "do I understand you to say that you are now agreeing to Mr. Sanders’s version of the events on Monday night?"

"In many respects, yes. Perhaps in most respects."

Sanders suddenly realized what had happened: they knew about the tape.

But how could they know? Sanders himself had learned of it only two hours ago. And Levin had been out of his office, having lunch with them. So Levin couldn’t have told them. How could they know?

"And, Ms. Johnson," Murphy said, "are you also agreeing to the charge of harassment by Mr. Sanders?"

"Not at all, Your Honor. No."

"Then I’m not sure I understand. You’ve changed your story. You say you now agree that Mr. Sanders’s version of the events is correct in most respects. But you do not agree that he has a claim against you?"

"No, Your Honor. As I said, I think it was all a misunderstanding."

"A misunderstanding," Murphy repeated, with an incredulous look on her face.

"Yes, Your Honor. And one in which Mr. Sanders played a very active role."

"Ms, . Johnson. According to Mr. Sanders, you initiated kissing over his protests; you pushed him down on the couch over his protests; you unzipped his trousers and removed his penis over his protests; and you removed your own clothing over his protests. Since Mr. Sanders is your employee, and dependent on you for employment, it is difficult for me to comprehend why this is not a clear-cut and indisputable case of sexual harassment on your part."

"I understand, Your Honor," Meredith Johnson said calmly. "And I realize I have changed my story. But the reason I say it is a misunderstanding is that from the beginning, I genuinely believed that Mr. Sanders was seeking a sexual encounter with me, and that belief guided my actions."

"You do not agree that you harassed him."

"No, Your Honor. Because I thought I had clear physical indications that Mr. Sanders was a willing participant. At times he certainly took the lead. So now, I have to ask myself why he would take the lead-and then so suddenly withdraw. I don’t know why he did that. But I believe he shares responsibility for what happened. That is why I feel that, at the very least, we had a genuine misunderstanding. And I want to say that I am sorry truly, deeply sorry-for my part in this misunderstanding."

"You’re sorry." Murphy looked around the room in exasperation. "Can anyone explain to me what is going on? Mr. Heller?"

Heller spread his hands. "Your Honor, my client told me what she intended to do here. I consider it a very brave act. She is a true seeker after truth."

"Oh, spare me," Fernandez said.

Judge Murphy said, "Ms. Fernandez, considering this radically different statement from Ms. Johnson, would you like a recess before you proceed with your questions?"

"No, Your Honor. I am prepared to go forward now," Fernandez said.

"I see," Murphy said, puzzled. "All right. Fine." Judge Murphy clearly felt that there was something everyone else in the room knew that she didn’t.

Sanders was still wondering how Meredith knew about the tape. He looked over at Phil Blackburn, who sat at one end of the table, his cellular phone before him. He was rubbing the phone nervously.

Phone records, Sanders thought. That must be it.

DigiCom would have had somebody-most probably Gary Bosak-going through all of Sanders’s records, looking for things to use against him. Bosak would have checked all the calls made on Sanders’s cellular phone. When he did that, he would have discovered a call that lasted forty-five minutes on Monday night. It would stand out: a whopping big duration and charge. And Bosak must have looked at the time of the call and figured out what had happened. He’d realize that Sanders hadn’t been talking on the phone during that particular forty-five minutes on Monday night. Therefore, there could only be one explanation. The call was running to an answering machine, which meant there was a tape. And Johnson knew it, and had adjusted her story accordingly. That was what had made her change.

"Ms. Johnson," Fernandez said. "Let’s clear up a few factual points first. Are you now saying that you did send your assistant to buy wine and condoms, that you did tell her to lock the door, and that you did cancel your seven o’clock appointment in anticipation of a sexual encounter with Mr. Sanders?"

"Yes, I did."

"In other words, you lied earlier."

"I presented my point of view."

"But we are not talking about a point of view. We are talking about facts. And given this set of facts, I’m curious to know why you feel that Mr. Sanders shares responsibility for what happened in that room Monday night."

"Because I felt . . . I felt that Mr. Sanders had come to my office with the clear intention of having sex with me, and he later denied any such intention. I felt he had set me up. He led me on, and then accused me, when I had done nothing more than simply respond to him."