“How else am I going to see it before it’s gone?”
“But you were just here two weeks ago.”
“Then I’ll come again. I want to see a book that Victoria studied Homer from.”
“You are always welcome. Will you need a place to stay? Do you know when you’d arrive?”
“I’ll have my girl here do all that. Maybe I’ll take that overnight airplane.”
“The red-eye? It’ll kill you, Jacob.”
“Something has to. I’ll be there Wednesday morning.”
“Then I’ll be here. I have a meeting early Wednesday, but after that I’ll be very glad to see you. Have a good flight, Jacob.”
“No such thing.”
AFTERNOON
“Jacob Leatherman wants to see the Odyssey. He’s flying out.”
“Just to see the book?”
“Just to see it. He’ll be here Wednesday morning. I suppose Angelo’s hearing won’t take long.”
“Did you have any peace in the basement?”
“A little. I’m still not sure what to write for the judge.”
“Hey, boss.”
Charles and Dorothy turned in unison toward the door.
“You’re back,” Charles said. “How did it go?”
“Do you still want that lady?”
“From the auction? Yes, of course.”
“She is at that place I went.”
“You mean, you saw her? Today?”
“She is at that place.”
“What place?”
“It is this one.” He handed the list to Charles, and pointed.
“Tyson Estate Agents. Tell me about it.”
“I went to that place and I went into it and I said I was there to pick up their package and I said a lady called. And that lady comes out and says she never called for a package, and so I left.”
Angelo finished and waited.
“What is this place like? Is it in an office building?”
“No, it is just a building and it has the office rooms in front and a warehouse building.”
“I see. That would be for storage?”
“That building is to store things in.”
“Well. Good for you, Angelo. That’s very good.”
“Do you want me to go to any more places?”
“No. That’s enough. Tell me, Angelo, did you understand everything at the meeting this morning?”
“That lady, she’s a boss over everybody?”
“She is an important person, but Judge Woody is the most important person for you. We’ll go see him Wednesday morning.” Charles glanced at Dorothy. “Sit down, Angelo.”
He sat, as wary and taut as he always stood.
“At this meeting on Wednesday, the judge will decide whether to keep you on probation or not.”
“I will go to jail?”
“No,” Dorothy said, quickly. “No. Nothing will make you go to jail.
The judge will be deciding if he will end the probation completely.”
“You would be free,” Charles said. “No probation, no jail. It would all be over.”
“The probation is three years,” Angelo said. He was paying very close attention, his face suspicious but still impassive.
“Congresswoman Liu thinks it has been long enough. She has asked the judge to cancel the rest of it.”
“Why does she do that?”
“I don’t exactly know,” Charles said.
“But Angelo,” Dorothy said, “what do you think of being off probation?”
“There is no jail?”
“There is no jail,” she said. “Either nothing will change or the judge will just end the probation.”
“Will the judge do this?”
“We don’t know,” Charles said. “He’ll decide Wednesday morning. We’re asking what you think about it.”
Angelo didn’t think. “That judge, he will think and he will decide.” He stood. “Do you want anything else?”
“No. That’s all.”
When he had silently disappeared, Dorothy said, “You didn’t tell him that we would tell the judge our opinion.”
“Maybe we shouldn’t.”
“We shouldn’t write a statement? But we need to.”
“No, we shouldn’t tell our opinion. We should just be objective. That judge, he will think and he will decide.”
“But he might let Angelo go completely.”
“He is a judge. And I am afraid of my own judgment. We’ll work on it tonight at home.”
EVENING
“Have we sold anything this evening?” Charles asked. Alice and Morgan were closing the shop.
“A few things,” she said.
“What was the last one?”
“A Dumas. The Count of Monte Christo.”
“Of course,” Charles said. “The man who finally escapes from prison and revenges himself on the person who put him there.”
“And gets rich, too,” Alice said.
“Very rich, yes. And here is Dorothy. Good night, everyone.”
“What should we say?” Dorothy said. They were sitting at the dining room table, her pen poised above the paper.
“What should we say?” Charles answered. “Dear Judge.”
After a few seconds, “Yes?”
“I started,” Charles said. “You go next.”
“Dear Judge,” she said. “Comma.”
“That doesn’t count.”
“What do we want to say?”
“Let’s look at the options,” Charles said. “Dear Judge, Angelo is a changed man and a model citizen. We feel that society will be completely safe with him at large. There is nothing more that we can do for him.
Please let him go.”
“Next option.”
“Next option… Dear Judge, Angelo has been well behaved, but we don’t know what’s going on inside his head, and it’s rather frightening. We think he should remain under probation.”
“That’s too far in the other direction,” she sighed. “What do we think? What would be the best thing for
