Free Trouble by Gary D. Schmidt

he's going to take a few hundred lines to do it. Except here, Henry was himself one of the pilgrims.
    And everything mattered.
    When the prosecutor finished arranging his papers, everyone was still. For the next five minutes—a little longer than it once would have taken Franklin to run a mile—no one moved. No one seemed to breathe. Even Louisa was still. It was as if they were in a cruel lock, Henry thought.
    So when the judge finally came in—"All rise," called the bailiff—Henry was relieved. The Prologue was over. He could be the Grieving Brother pilgrim—and then get out of there.
    "This is the pretrial hearing for the People versus Chay Chouan, on the charges of aggravated assault and leaving the scene of an accident," announced the judge. "Mr. Quincy, please call your first witness."
    And he did. The Blythbury-by-the-Sea policeman walked to the witness stand, raised his hand, took his oath, sat, and told what everyone in the courtroom already knew. How he had come upon Chay Chouan running down the road and waving his arms to get his attention. How Chay Chouan appeared very excited. How he had said that there had been an accident, that he had fallen asleep at the wheel of his pickup, that he had hit someone running on the side of the road. How he had taken Chay Chouan into his patrol car and how they had driven back to the scene of the accident and found Franklin Smith alone and unconscious. How he had called an ambulance and, while they were waiting, worked with the defendant to put pressure on the bleeding. How the ambulance arrived within six minutes, and following its departure, how he had read Chay Chouan his rights and then placed him under arrest based upon his admission that he had struck the victim. How he had taken the defendant to the Blythbury-by-the-Sea police station, where he had called his family. How the next morning, in the presence of his lawyer, Chay Chouan had made a formal statement, acknowledging the fact that he had struck the victim when he fell asleep while driving alone, back to his family's home in Merton.
    "Do you have a transcript of the statement made by Mr. Chouan?" asked the judge.
    The policeman took the transcript out of a manila folder.
    "Give it to the bailiff, please. Mr. Chouan, I'd like you to look at this transcript to be sure that it is faithful to the statements that you gave that morning. If it is, then I would ask that both you and Mr. Giaconda sign and date it."
    The bailiff handed the statement to Chay, who set it down on the table. He and his lawyer read it over slowly. Chay nodded. He took the pen that Mr. Giaconda handed him and signed the transcript. Mr. Giaconda signed as well. The bailiff took the statement and handed it to the judge.
    "Is there anything else from this witness?" asked the judge.
    "No, your honor."
    "Then, Mr. Giaconda, your witness."
    Mr. Giaconda rose—a little. He was short, but he walked as though he dared anyone to tell him so. He stood next to the policeman on the witness stand, facing Chay.
    "Are you aware of any other police record for Chay Chouan?"
    "No."
    "Any tickets?"
    "No."
    "Speeding tickets? Parking tickets?"
    "No."
    "Tickets for broken taillights?"
    "No."
    "So, before this accident, Chay Chouan had no encounters with any law enforcement officers of the Commonwealth."
    "None that I am aware of."
    "In your police report, you wrote that when you arrived on the accident scene, there was a bandage on Franklin Smith's arm. What was that bandage made from?"
    "It was a shirt."
    "Was Chay Chouan wearing a shirt on the night he found you?"
    "No."
    "May we assume that Chay Chouan tried to bandage the wound at the scene?"
    "That is what I stated in my report."
    "Yes, you did. So Chay Chouan bandaged the wound and then went to find help, finally flagging you down and driving back to the scene with you. Officer, would you say that the charge of fleeing the scene of an accident is an appropriate charge for these actions?"
    "Objection," said Mr.