Robert leaned over to his lawyer and said four words quickly, and I caught two of them.

“Civil side.”

Judge Whitfield brought the gavel down once, and that was the only sound it made.

The courthouse steps were still damp from the morning, and a reporter from the Greenville News had her recorder up before I even reached the bottom step.

“Warrant Officer Hayward, is it true that the judge referred your uncle to the state prosecutor?”

Clare Vance stepped in front of me with her briefcase.