"Well, according to the deputy over there, she was only going a couple miles over the limit and there's no news in that," said Bernie, clearly in the spirit of helpfulness.
"Of course there's no news in that," Howie said evenly. "And if there's a new charge, Your Honor, neither I nor my client has been notified..."
"Oh, yeah, she has. She's been notified. Got sent a letter after we got the computer readout on the camera. Sent the ticket through the mail. This school bus thing is valid, you know. Because of the camera."
"The camera?" said Howie. "What damned camera?"
"Counselor, Counselor," AI Santini said reprovingly. "The hidden intersection cameras. You're familiar with those, Murchison."
"You mean the cameras they've put up in New York City to catch people running red lights at intersections?"
"Uh-huh," said AI.
"There's one in Hemlock Falls?"
"Put up last week. Came out of the sheriff's budget. Lot of traffic violators out there, Murchison, so Judge Bristol kept it very quiet. Have to keep the streets safe for the kiddies. These little towns are laboring under the burden of high taxes paid to Albany and have little or nothing to show for it in the way of improvements to local government. When monies are made available to the hundreds of towns like Hemlock Falls across this great state of ours for the express purpose of saving lives, of making the streets safer for our little ones - I say it's money well spent."
Howie cast a sardonic glance at the running cameras. Nora Cahill smiled at him like a cat who'd had baby birds for breakfast. Quill took several deep breaths and retied the bow around her neck.
"Your Honor," Howie said, "I make a motion to dismiss."
Bernie cast a benign eye around the courtroom. "Do I hear a second?"
"A second what?" asked Howie.
"A second to the motion," Bernie explained with a kindly air. "If I hear a second, I have to consider dismissal, don't I?"
Howie spread his hands and looked up at the ceiling. His lips moved.
"Well," said Quill, more to break the stunned silence than anything else, "there was a school bus there, as a matter of fact. Betty was in it. She saw me, and she knows absolutely without question that I was not speeding. Didn't you, Betty?" Quill turned in her seat. Betty gave her a thumbs up.
Quill, keep quiet," Howie said, between his teeth.
"Let the record show that the defendant has admitted passing the school bus and that the driver Betty Hall can identify her," Al Santini said loudly. "Judge Bristol, I believe you were going to continue with the charges?"
"Um... ya. The state of New York provides a minimum fine of seven hundred dollars and seven days in jail and a maximum fine of eight hundred dollars and one hundred and eighty days in jail for this offense," Bernie read aloud. "How do you plead, Miss Quilliam? Not guilty? Guilty? Or guilty with an explanation?"
Quill said weakly, "Well, guilty with an explanation, sir. I - "
"QUILL!" Howie shouted. "Be quiet! Your Honor, I demand a recess. I demand an examination of the judicial process involved in these proceedings."
"I believe my colleague is in contempt, Your Honor," al Santini said smoothly.
"What?" asked Bernie.
"Contempt. He's in contempt," Al muttered.
"Stuff it, Santini," Howie said.
"That's no way to talk," Bernie Bristol said reprovingly.
"Your Honor, there is a motion to dismiss before this court." Howie, Quill noticed, turned dark red when he was angry. "My client has not been notified of this most serious misdemeanor."
"She open her mail?" asked Al Santini. He waved a certified mail receipt under Howie's nose. "These electronic tickets get sent by certified mail." He turned back to the bench. "Your Honor? I'm going to ask for the maximum penalty here. To keep this kind of menace off the roads and pathways of our fair state."
"Menace?" said Quill.
"And to keep the money rolling in, too," Bernie added in a helpful aside to the steadily whirring camera. "Lot of financial opportunities being missed with these kinds of cases."
Howie ran his hands through his graying hair, which didn't much affect his hairstyle but added to the appearance of frenzy. "On what possible grounds could you ask for a maximum penalty here, Santini?! God knows why I'm even participating in this dog and pony show. Your Honor, if a ruling is not made on my motion to dismiss, I am going to file a protest with O. C. A."
"I told you we should have repainted," Judge Bristol said to Dwight Riorden. "Now we'll have OSHA on our necks."
"Let me explain, Your Honor." Howie gave an exasperated laugh. "The Office of Court Administration is a disciplinary body - "
"Shall we get back to the case at hand, Counselor?" Santini laid a thick file in front of the judge. "I have here in evidence the defendant's MV104, dating back fifteen years to a multitude of V&T charges in the city of Manhattan, Your Honor."
"Um... ya," said Judge Bristol.
"Oh, dear," said Quill. "Oh, dear, oh, dear, oh, dear."
Howie cast an accusing glance at Quill, and said loudly, "I object!"
"A perusal of this document will demonstrate without question that Ms. Quilliam is one of the many, many reckless drivers at liberty in the state of New York - "
"I object! Objection!"
" - endangering the lives and physical well-being of our citizens."
"Your Honor!" Howie roared. Quill, impressed, hadn't realized he was so excitable.
Santini raised his hand for silence. "Your Honor, at the least, the very least, I request that you commit this woman to the county jail. She is a virtual felon - "
"Your Honor!' Howie, suddenly cold (and, Quill saw, very, very angry), folded his arms and lowered his head, like a bull about to charge. She put a hand on his arm. His voice was tight. "Go on, Santini. Hang yourself."
"She has been identified by the bus driver, and has a driving record which clearly places her in the ranks of the reckless. All the conditions for the severest penalty have been met, and I request the maximum sentence."
As if recognizing a cue, Bernie Bristol thwacked his gavel. "Seven days... " he said directly into the rolling camcorder.
Howie clenched both his hands. "Your Honor! I must warn you that I will immediately contact the Office of Court Administration to file a complaint!"
"... seven hundred dollars for the much-needed budget of the state of New York. Bailiff? Escort the prisoner to the jail house, please." He adjusted the collar of his judge's robe and smiled at Nora Cahill. `You get all that/ You want me to do it again?"
-5-
The drive from the Tompkins County Courthouse near Ithaca had taken about twenty-five minutes, which meant, Quill thought, that it must be about eleven-thirty, although she wasn't certain. Deputy Dave had taken her watch.
The Municipal Building at the end of Main Street housed the Sheriff's Department and Town offices. The jail was on the west end of the building facing Main, so that Quill could see most of Hemlock Falls through the barred window. The sun was pale gold through a light snow, creating a veiled and misty landscape worthy of attention by Turner, if Turner'd ever gotten to America to paint, which he hadn't. And if he weren't dead. Which he was.