Romaine, whose testimony was the one hope to save Leonard from the gallows, has turned on him, leaving Mayhew's case hopeless and Leonard's fatal verdict imminent. Nonetheless Mayhew's firm belief in Leonard's innocence spurs him on with a steely conviction. Mayhew desperately tries to discredit Romaine and even to lay the blame on Emily's obsessive housekeeper Janet, whose word is the bulwark of evidence keeping Leonard behind bars. His efforts stall, leaving Mayhew on the verge of defeat. But there is another, shadowy player in this vicious game, one who turns the entire case on its head and changes both his and Leonard's life forever.