“Those complaints can be withdrawn by five o’clock today.

But if you turn down this agreement and try to show up in Courtroom 3B tomorrow morning, those ethics charges will be formally processed.”

“You’re threatening my professional credentials to force my signature,” I said.

“I’m stating a simple practical reality,” Vance said, checking his gold pocket watch again.

“A court clerk making thirty-four thousand dollars a year can’t survive a formal ethics investigation, and she can’t afford to fight an eviction in housing court either.”

“Have you looked at the evidence the precinct investigator gathered?” I asked.