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“You are saying that you attempted to get funding to move the houses of the plaintiffs in this lawsuit—and you weren’t successful?” Berliner asked.

“Sure,” Claire said. “I am sure you have come to that information before a discussion with me.”

“Not exactly,” Berliner said.

“If your own plaintiffs haven’t told you, you have been misserved. It means you have been headed in, unfortunately, a misinformed direction. I am sure you probably do understand this.”

“I have heard something about it,” Berliner said. “Getting it from someone who knows all the facts is not the same as hearing about it generally.”

“I don’t operate at the facts level,” Claire said. “I operate at the conceptual level.”

Unable to maintain his poker face any longer, Bullock’s jaw dropped.

It turned out, Claire insisted, that the cost of relocating the homes was simply prohibitive.

“So is it correct that the barrier to allowing the houses to stay in the MDP area is a financial one?” Berliner asked.

“I would have to characterize it as the major barrier.”

Claire’s story seemed to be coming out of left field. Nothing in the record supported her account, nor did any of the testimony from anyone previously deposed.

“When did you make these efforts to talk to the governor about getting funding?” Berliner asked.

Claire pointed to an e-mail with George Milne and a directive to “talk to the governor.” “That is what we were trying to figure out,” Claire said, “to get his advice on which of the state agencies might be able to figure out how to provide funds to move houses.”

Bullock looked at the time. He had an appointment with a critical expert witness. Both sides agreed to recess briefly while Bullock and Berliner stepped outside. As soon as they were in private, they burst into laughter.

“This woman is unbelievable,” Berliner said.

“She’s even worse than what anybody had made her out to be,” Bullock said. “She is one of the most insufferable people I’ve ever met. Her arrogance is breathtaking.” Berliner agreed. “With her it is truly a parody of a condescending, elitist academic who knows better than anyone in the room,” Bullock said, “and certainly better than the folks in Fort Trumbull.”

Berliner still had a long way to go in the deposition. Bullock wished her well.

When the two sides resumed, Berliner asked the court reporter to mark a document as Gaudiani Exhibit 1. Then she handed the document to Claire to examine.

“This is a letter that you sent in March of 1998 to Susette Kelo, one of the property owners in the Fort Trumbull municipal-development-project area. Is that right?” she asked.

“Yes,” said Claire.

The letter announced the NLDC’s plans to purchase options on properties in the Fort Trumbull neighborhood, and it promised that Susette would not be suddenly forced to move from her property without notice.

“I notice that this letter doesn’t mention the possibility of eminent domain. Why not?”

“I have no idea,” Claire said.

“In the development stages of the Fort Trumbull concept, did you suggest that it would be necessary to have the power of eminent domain?”

“No.”

“Who suggested that?”

“I have no idea.”

“Had you ever heard about eminent domain before the Fort Trumbull municipal-development project?”

“I am sure I must have read about it in the newspaper,” Claire said. “Not here, but in the New York Times.”

Berliner had a series of questions about the content of the NLDC’s municipal-development plan, including its specific mention of constructing a coast-guard museum on Parcel 2 in the Fort Trumbull neighborhood.

“I’m not aware of that,” Claire said, “sorry.”

Berliner had trouble understanding how Claire didn’t know that the museum was pegged for Parcel 2; it was a major structure in the heart of the plan. “I will represent to you that that is what it said in the actual MDP,” Berliner assured her.

“That the coast-guard museum was going to be there?” Claire asked.

“Yes,” Berliner said.

“I didn’t read the MDP,” Claire said.

Berliner loved the answer. The biggest cheerleader for the MDP hadn