Free Directed Verdict (Failed Justice Book 1) by Rick Santini Page A

As far as she knew, and she had not seen or heard from him in years, he was still in Newark and worked in the courthouse.
    When Bill inquired if this was the same man who had a son by the name of Theodore, Bernice abruptly hung up.
    Bill had no idea why.
    He needed to talk to Theodore. He could help solve the puzzle. For now he had other things to do. Things IBM was paying him to do.
     
    ***
     
    The phone call got Bernice wondering. As she told the bill collector, she had not had any contact with Wally since the divorce was final. That had to be more than twelve, fifteen years ago. And why did the caller ask about Teddy? He had been dead for eleven years. Eleven years, three months, and five days. But who was counting?
    Where was Wally then? Surely he could have pulled some strings or found a judge who was willing to listen and bend the rules, like she knew he had done. For the right price, rules can always be broken. Wally taught me that way back when.
    Bernice thought about calling Wally. She wasn’t sure why. It was a gut feeling.
    All these years. What would I say? And why now do I want to call?
    The phone rang again. It was a neighbor reminding her of a luncheon appointment, and all thoughts of Wally were promptly forgotten.
    At least for the present.
     
    ***
     
    Approximately one thousand eighty-nine miles to the north, Judge K was preparing to return from his aborted vacation. As he walked the few short blocks from his apartment to the courthouse, he never saw the black sedan that was a half block behind him. It was the last thing on his mind. It shouldn’t have been.
    The sky was threatening to rain; Wally kept his head down and was wearing an old fedora. As he recalled, Bernice bought it for him years and years ago. He could never bring himself to get rid of it. He had no idea why.
    When he was in Miami last week, or was it now two weeks ago, he thought about Bernice. He didn’t have her phone number. As far as he knew, she had never remarried or gone back to her maiden name. He wanted to call and find out how she was doing. Maybe grab a cup of coffee. After all these years, it made no sense. Besides, she would probably just hang up on him—again.
     
    ***
     
    There was a note on his desk when he entered his old chambers. It looked official. It was from the Chief Justice. He wanted to see Wally before noon. Probably to discuss his new calendar and what cases would be reassigned to him. Same old, same old, he assumed.
    Recently Wally had been making a great deal of faulty assumptions. This was just the latest.
    “Coffee?”
    “No thanks.”
    Wally could feel the tension in the air. He was beginning to feel uncomfortable.
    The Chief Judge was fumbling, looking for some papers. Obviously he was stalling. This was not good. Not good at all.
    “Is there a problem, Mr. Chief Justice?”
    Wally had not used that formal title since he was first introduced to Steven Saltmeyer.
    “No, Wally. It’s just that for the time being, until things quiet down, you will be assigned civil cases only. I assume you understand.”
    “No. No, I don’t understand. I have handled criminal cases here for the past ten years, probably more. What’s the problem now?”
    Steve Saltmeyer took a deep breath, something he always did before a task he felt distasteful.
    “Wally, you are the only judge in this district in the past ten years to grant a directed verdict as far as I can tell. In fact, in the past six years, you have granted the motion four times. In every single incident, it was a rape case. In every case, the jury believed the complainant and only you believed the accused. It just doesn’t make sense. Why, Wally? What were you thinking?
    I was thinking of my late son Teddy. I was thinking of an overzealous prosecutor who needed a conviction ten days before Election Day. I was thinking of how he was convicted because some little girl was afraid to tell her father she had consensual sex with Teddy. I was thinking how he got