“The courtroom’s full this morning, Judge,” Arthur whispered.

I took a short sip, set the mug on the corner of my wooden desk, and walked into the carpeted hallway that led directly behind Courtroom 4A.

The state criminal case across town had wrapped up six weeks earlier.

Chloe was serving two years in a regional detention facility for felony assault.

Brenda had received three years of formal felony probation and five hundred hours of mandatory community service.

I had turned down every offer from my father’s corporate lawyers to settle civil claims for money.