I laid the summons on top of the highest box in the hallway and looked at the date stamped along the bottom edge.

Chief Judge Harrison sat behind his wide walnut desk on the eighth floor of the federal courthouse, holding the three-page ethics disclosure I had delivered to his clerk at eight o’clock.

He read the last paragraph twice before laying the paper flat on his green leather blotter.

“You’ve kept your personal affairs completely separate from your judicial office, Valerie,” Chief Judge Harrison said, looking up over his reading glasses.

“I wanted to be absolutely sure there was no procedural conflict,” I said.