Finally, slowly, from the fourth seat on the third row, Darby Shaw lifted her hand slightly, and the class breathed a collective sigh of relief. She
had saved them again. She could recite the facts and holdings and concurrences and dissent and majority opinions to virtually every case
Callahan could spit at them. She missed nothing. The perfect little cheerleader had graduated magna cum laude with a degree in biology,
and planned to graduate magna cum laude with a degree in law p.16
Even her professor that also her lover admits that Darby Shaw is a bright and
intelligent student. She is also very an aggressive student. “I think I told you. She is very bright and intelligent, and a very
aggressive student. She writes better than most. Her passion, other than me of course, is constitutional law p. 101
Another fact that shows Darby is a clever woman is when she is able to make assumptions on the killer of the two Supreme Court Justices and tries to
collect the eleven dockets that may help her in find the answer. She acquires that by assessing the computer in her college library. She studies the eleven dockets
she prints from the computer. She tries to find the thin red line between the dockets to strengthen her assumption and helps to solve the murder. Her initiative
and the way she finds the information about the murder show her cleverness. It can be seen from the following quotation:
A few minutes after ten, she walked to the computer room on the fourth level of the library and sat before a monitor.
An hour later, the printer stopped, and now she possessed a six-inch-thick summary of the eleven dockets. She hauled it back to her study carrel and
placed it in the center of the cluttered desk. The first assumption was easy—the killings were done by the same group
for the same reason. If not, then the search was hopeless. The second assumption was difficult – the motive was not hatred or revenge, but
rather manipulation. There was a case or an issue out there on its way to the Supreme Court, and someone wanted different justices. The third
assumption was a bit easier – the case or issue involved a great deal of money p. 63
From her personal descriptions, comments of others and her thoughts above, I can conclude that Darby Shaw is a clever woman.
4.1.3 Brave
Darby Shaw is also characterized as a brave woman. In order to find information about Callahan’s murder and also to know her chaser, Darby Shaw
forces herself to met Gavin Verheek, an agent from FBI. She never meets Gavin before. She realizes that she cannot trust Gavin.
She could not trust Gavin Verheek. He was employed by a law enforcement agency that at times operated by its own rules. He took
orders from a man with a history of paranoia and dirty tricks. His boss reported to a president in charge of an Administration run by fools. The
President had rich, sleazy friends who gave him lots of money p. 220
With her bravery, Darby Shaw dares herself to meet Gavin because she needs someone to trust. She needs help and also information about the killing.
From the quotation above, it is seen that Darby Shaw does not believe the cops and the authorities. She tries hard to believe in Gavin because she knows that
Gavin is Callahan’s friends. Darby Shaw, actually, is afraid to meet Gavin. So, she sets the place for
the meeting and also Gavin’s costumes. She asks him to wear a black sweatshirt, red baseball cap, and also to bring newspaper. Her heart is pounding and the
blood tense is rising whenever she sees Gavin approaching. She expected him at precisely noon, and there he was. Black sweatshirt,
red baseball cap, folded newspaper. He was bit thinner than she expected, but he could lose a few pounds. Her heart pounded away. Be cool, she
said. Just is cool, dam’mit.
He was okay. She liked the way he looked. He had a vulnerable, non professional manner about him that said he was scared to p. 221
All of the quotations prove that Darby Shaw is very brave. She puts her life at
stake just to meet Gavin, someone that she never meets before. Therefore, I can conclude that she is a brave woman.
4.1.4 Diligent
Darby Shaw is also a diligent woman. She often goes to the library and study there. In the library, she reads many cases from every state and compares to
each other. She can stay in the library for hours, especially if she has works to do. This time, she wants to know the relationship of the murder of two Supreme
Court justices. She checks all cases from those two Justices in the library. In cluttered study carrel on thee fifth level of the law library, between the
racks of thick, seldom-used law books, Darby Shaw scanned a printout of the Supreme Court’s docket. She had been through it twice, and though it
was loaded with controversy, she found nothing that interested her.
She compiled a neat list of possible suspects, but they would be obvious to everyone. The list was now in the garbage p. 62.
The way Darby Shaw was looking for information about the murder of two
Supreme Court justices shows us that she is very diligent. She is able to read many thick cases and make a list of the suspects of the murder.
Unable to find out what she needs, Darby Shaw goes back again to the library on the same day. Now she is reviewing the cases through computer
monitor and prints it. She carefully chooses the file she wants to print and then prints it. After printing the cases, Darby Shaw brings home a six-inch-thick
summary of the docket. She is very diligent in reviewing the summary file. A few minutes after ten, she walked to the computer room on the fourth
level of the library and sat before a monitor. The room was empty. She
