Final Appeal. Lisa Scottoline

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      Judge Galanter’s breath carries the harsh tang of Binaca. Cigar smoke clings to the fine wool of his double-breasted suit. His movements are deliberate and his speech formal, as if he were trying to control each syllable. I know as sure as he’s standing before us, flushed slightly in front of Armen’s desk, that Galanter has been drinking. It evokes another memory of my father, flitting like a ghost across my mind.

      “You law clerks can stay on for a week or two,” he says.

      “We hadn’t even thought about it,” Artie snaps from the doorway.

      “I’ll attribute that crack to your extreme emotional distress, Mr. Weiss.”

      Artie looks away from Galanter, out the window. The courthouse flag flies at half mast, flapping in the wind that gusts off the Delaware River.

      “Finish up the cases you’re working on. Draft the bench memos as before and hand them in to me. Argued cases will have to be reargued.” Galanter slides a gleaming Mont Blanc from his breast pocket and makes a check in a leather Filofax he’s holding like a missal. I can imagine what it says.

      Things to do: Take over. Before noon.

      “Next order of business. The office will have to be packed up. How much time will you need, Eletha?”

      Eletha sits at the end of the conference table, fuming. “I would have to talk to Susan about that,” she says, crossing her slender arms across her chest.

      “Senator Waterman? Already spoke with her. She said it’s up to you. Box the stuff and ship it to the house, she’ll go through it there. How long will it take you? I have to plan my own move.”

      “You mean you’re takin’ this office?” Eletha asks.

      Galanter jerks his chin upward, as if the folds of his turkey neck were pinched in his collar. “Of course, it’s the chief judge’s. I’d like to be in in two weeks. By the way, I understand the staff attorneys need an extra secretary, so there’s room for you there. Talk to Peter about that.” He makes another check in his Filofax, and Eletha breathes in and out, in and out.

      “Judge,” I say. “I was wondering—”

      “Of course. I forgot about you. They may need an extra staff attorney downstairs. You should apply. Part-time will be a problem, you’ll have to step up to a normal work week.”

      “No. I wanted to ask about Hightower.”

      He purses his thin lips. “I’ve reassigned it. The death warrant expires Monday, but we’ll have it decided well in advance.”

      “Who was it reassigned to?”

      “That information is strictly need-to-know. Did I mention the memorial service?” He shoots a questioning look at Ben, who’s standing against the bookshelves. Ben shakes his head discreetly.

      “Not a high priority,” Artie says.

      Galanter points at Artie with his pen. “Don’t test me, young man. I’ve just about had it with your lack of respect.”

      “Respect?” Artie explodes. “Who are you to talk about respect? Armen just died and you can’t wait to take his office. Can’t wait!”

      “Artie,” Sarah says nervously.

      “Listen, you,” Galanter says, raising his voice. “This court has to maintain operations. We have a public trust.”

      “Fuck you!” Artie shouts, almost in tears. He storms out of the room into his office and slams the door.

      “I’ve never seen such conduct in a law clerk! Ever!” Galanter says.

      “Judge Galanter.” I start talking, almost reflexively. “Artie and Armen were close. This is hard for him. For us all.” I hear an involuntary catch in my voice, but Galanter’s gaze is fixed in the direction of the clerks’ office. I feel a shiver of fear inside, from somewhere deep, but press it away. “You were saying, Judge, about the memorial service?”

      Galanter looks down at me, still lost in his own anger. “What did you say?”

      “The memorial service.”

      “The memorial service? Oh, yes.” He exhales sharply, regaining control, and returns the pen to his breast pocket. “Memorial service. The day after tomorrow, Thursday. In the ceremonial courtroom. The time’s not fixed yet.”

      “Have you heard about the funeral arrangements?”

      “No idea. Senator Waterman said she’d call about that. Eletha, get me that memo I sent you.”

      Eletha doesn’t move a muscle. “Memo? What memo, Judge?”

      Galanter hasn’t drunk enough to miss the challenge in her manner. He tilts his head ever so slightly. “The one about the new sitting schedule. I sent it this morning, on E-mail.”

      “I was busy this morning.”

      “So was I. Get it now,” he says, staccato.

      Eletha leaves the room. In a second she’s slamming her desk drawers unnecessarily.

      Galanter hands me some papers from his book. “Xerox these for me and come right back.”

      I take the papers and leave the office. When I open the door to the hallway, Eletha’s giving the finger to the wall.

      I read the papers on the way to the Xerox machine. It’s a complete sitting schedule, with Armen’s initials crossed out next to his cases and a new judge’s written in. All of Armen’s cases, reassigned so fast it’d make your head spin.

      READY TO COPY, the photocopier says. I open the heavy lid, slap the paper onto the glass, and hit the button. The light from the machine rolls calcium white across my face.

      Suicide? I don’t understand. They were going to file for divorce, if what Armen said was true. I feel a pang of doubt; would Armen lie? Of course not. Afterward we talked for a long time, holding each other on the couch. He was an honest man, a wonderful man.

      READY TO COPY. I hit the button. You don’t kill yourself just because you’re Armenian. Armen was a survivor. And he hated guns, was against keeping them in the house. Where did he get the gun?

      READY TO COPY, says the machine again, but I’m not ready to copy. So much has happened. We found and lost each other in one night. I stare at the glass over the shadowy innards of the machine; all I see is my own confused reflection. What was that noise last night, and does it matter?

      I turn around and look down the hall, but it’s empty. There are only two occupied judges’ chambers on this whole floor, ours and Galanter’s; the rest are vacant, the chambers of judges who sit nearer their homes in Wilmington and northern New Jersey. Only eleven people work on the entire floor.

      Now it’s ten.

      A boxy file cabinet sits against the wall next to the judges’ elevator. A few paces to the left is the door to the law clerks’ office. To the right, down the hall, СКАЧАТЬ