Paul Williams leaped to his feet so quickly his eyeglasses fell off and hit the table. Your Honor, this is outrageous!

Judge Walters looked over his crowded courtroom, silently contemplated his equally bulging docket and flicked a weary hand at both men. Approach.

At the sidebar, Fiske said, Judge, Im only trying to do the commonwealth a favor.

The commonwealth doesnt need favors from Mr. Fiske, Williams said with disgust.

Come on, Paulie, a thousand bucks, and you can get a beer before you go back and explain to your boss how you messed up. Ill even buy you the beer.

Not in ten thousand years will you get a dime from us, Williams said disdainfully.

Well, Mr. Williams, this motion is a little unusual, Judge Walters said. In the Richmond criminal courts, motions were heard before or during trial. And there werent lengthy briefs attached to them. The sad truth was, most issues of criminal law were well settled. Only in the unusual case in which the judge was unsure of a ruling after he had heard the lawyersoral arguments would he ask for written briefs to review before making his decision. Thus, Judge Walters was a little bewildered by the unsolicited and lengthy brief filed by the commonwealth.

I know, Your Honor, said Williams. However, as I stated, this is an unusual situation.

Unusual? Fiske said. Try nuts, Paulie.

Judge Walters impatiently broke in. Mr. Fiske, I have admonished you before regarding your unorthodox behavior in my courtroom, and I will not hesitate to find you in contempt if your future actions warrant it. Get on with your response.

Williams returned to his seat and Fiske stepped to the lectern. Your Honor, in spite of the fact that the commonwealths emergency motion was faxed to my office in the middle of the night and I havent had time to prepare a truly proper response, I believe that if you would refer to each of the second paragraphs on pages four, six and nine of the commonwealths memorandum, you will conclude that the facts relied upon therein, particularly with regard to the defendants prior criminal record, the statements of the arresting officers and the two eyewitness accounts at the location of the crime allegedly committed by my client, are unsustainable with the established record in this case. Further, the principal precedent cited by the commonwealth on page ten was very recently overturned by a decision of the Virginia Supreme Court. Ive attached the pertinent materials to my response and highlighted the discrepancies for your ease of review.

As Judge Walters examined the file in front of him, Fiske leaned over to Williams and said, See what happens when you draft this shit in the middle of the night? Fiske dropped his reply brief in front of Williams. Since I only had about five minutes to read your brief, I thought Id return the favor. You can read along with the judge.

Walters finished reviewing the file and gave Williams a stare that chilled even the most casual observer in the courtroom.

I hope the commonwealth has an appropriate response to this, Mr. Williams, although Im at a loss as to what it could possibly be.

Williams rose from his chair. As he tried to speak, he suddenly discovered that his voice, along with his hubris, had deserted him.

Well? Judge Walters said expectantly. Please say something or Ive a mind to grant Mr. Fiskes motion for sanctions before Ive even heard it.

When Fiske glanced over at Williams, his expression softened somewhat. You never knew when you might need a favor. Your Honor, Im certain the factual and legal errors in the commonwealths motion are due to the overworked lawyers there rather than anything intentional. Ill even cut my settlement offer to five hundred dollars, but Id like a personal apology from the commonwealth on the record. I really couldve used some sleep last night. That last comment brought laughter from around the courtroom. Suddenly a voice boomed out from the back of the courtroom. Judge Walters, if I may intercede, the commonwealth will accept that offer.

Everyone looked at the source of the announcement, a short, almost bald, thick-bodied man dressed in a seersucker suit, his hairy neck pinched by his starchy collar. Well take the offer, the man said again in a gravelly voice laced with both the pleasing drawl of a lifelong Virginian and the rasp of a lifelong smoker. And we do apologize to thecourtfor taking up its valuable time.

Im glad you happened by when you did, Mr. Graham, Judge Walters said. Bobby Graham, commonwealth attorney for the city of Richmond, nodded curtly before leaving through the double glass doors. He had offered no apology to Fiske; however, the defense lawyer chose not to push it. In a court of law, you rarely got everything you asked for. Judge Walters said, Commonwealths motion is dismissed with prejudice. He looked at Williams. Mr. Williams, I think you should go have that beer with Mr. Fiske, only I think you should be the one doing the buying, son.

As the next motion was called, Fiske snapped shut his briefcase and walked out of the courtroom, Williams right next to him.

Shouldve taken my first offer, Paulie.

I wont forget this, Fiske, Williams said angrily.

Dont.

Were still going to put Jerome Hicks away, Williams sneered. Dont think were not.

For Paulie Williams and most of the other assistant commonwealth attorneys Fiske faced, Fiske knew his clients were like their personal, lifelong enemies, undeserving of anything other than the harshest of punishments. In some cases, Fiske knew, they were right. But not in all.

You know what Im thinking? Fiske asked Williams. Im thinking how fast ten thousand years can go by.

As Fiske left the third-floor courtroom, he passed police officers he had worked with when he was a Richmond cop. One of them smiled, nodded a hello, but the others refused to look at him. To them he was a traitor to the ranks, suit and briefcase traded for badge and gun. Mouthpiece for the other side. Rot in hell, Brother Fiske. Fiske looked at one group of young black men, crewcuts so severe they looked bald, pants pushed down to the crotch, boxers showing, puffy gang jackets, bulky tennies with no laces. Their open defiance of the criminal justice system was clear; they were imperiously sulky in their sameness. These young men crowded around their attorney, a white guy, office-chunky, sweaty, expensive pinstripe soiled at the cuffs, slick-skinned loafers on his feet, horn-rim glasses twisting a little as he hammered home a point to his scout troop. He banged his fist into his meaty palm as the young black men, abdominals racked under their silk drug-trove shirts, listened intently, the only time they figured they would need this man, would bother to even look at him other than with contempt, or through a gun sight. Until the next time they needed him. And they would. In this building, he was magic. Here Michael Jordan could not touch this white man. They were Lewis and Clark. He was their Sacajewea. Shout the mystical words, Sac. Dont let them do us. Fiske knew what the suit was saying, knew it as if he could read the mans lips. The man specialized in defending gang members on any crime they cared to commit. The best strategy: stone silence. Seen nothing, heard nothing, remembered nothing. Gunshots? Car backfire, most likely. Remember this, boys: Thou Shalt not kill; but if thou Shalt kill, thou Shalt not rat on each other about it. He smacked his palm against his briefcase for added emphasis. The huddle broke and the game commenced. Along another part of the hallway, sitting on the boxy gray-carpeted seating built into the wall, were three hookers, working teens of the night. A variety pack: one black, one Asian, one white, they waited their turn before justice. The Asian looked nervous, probably needing a calming smoke or the sting of a needle. The others were vets, Fiske knew. They strolled, sat, showed some thigh, the jiggle of breast occasionally when some good old boys or young turks prowled by. Why miss some business over a little court thing? This was America, after all. Fiske took the elevator down and was just passing by the metal detector and X-ray machine, standard equipment in virtually every courthouse these days, when Bobby Graham approached him, an unlit cigarette in his hand. Fiske liked the man neither personally nor professionally. Graham selected cases for prosecution based on the size of the headlines they would garner for him. And he never took on a case he would have to work real hard to win. The public doesnt like prosecutors who lose.