Chapter 26

“Just go,” the judge said.

ERNEST MOTIONED FOR us to follow him out of the room. He closed the door carefully behind him and said to the secretary, “I need four certified copies of this order immediately, my dear.”

“Yes, Sir,” she said. “Right now?”

“Right now,” Ernest said. “We’ll wait.”

She turned to a copy machine and made copies. Then she used a seal to stamp them and mark them all as certified true copies and handed them to Ernest.

“Okay,” Ernest said, “let’s go back to where we left the boy.”

Back in the room, Robbie jumped up from the chair he was sitting in and latched onto Mike and myself.

I said, “My God, Charles, that was an amazing performance. You didn’t even raise your voice. In fact, you lowered it a bit.”

“It’s what I do for a living, George,” Charles said, “although I have to say I don’t usually enjoy it quite this much.”

“Charles never raises his voice,” Philip said, “but when he lowers it and gets that tone in it, look out….”