Arthur Beauchamp 02 April Fool by William Deverell
Author:William Deverell [Deverell, William]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Mystery
ISBN: 9781551991481
Google: iS75dnGqSYcC
Amazon: B0031TZAFM
Barnesnoble: B0031TZAFM
Goodreads: 11148184
Publisher: Random House LLC
Published: 2005-01-01T05:00:00+00:00
On this, Day Twenty, the prospect of Margaretâs imminent return home is causing Arthur butterflies. Heâs not eager to be in a courtroom today, he should be at home creating another lemon pie. Champagne is in the fridgeâMargaret has every right to get a little tiddly tomorrow.
He was ribbed ferociously this morning at the General Store. âHope your wife donât find it too crowded up there with all them young studs.â âI bet sheâs gonna come down smiling.â Arthur took it like a man.
The injunction hearing was put over to the afternoon, and itâs nearing two as he and Lotis make their way into the Great Hall of the Vancouver Law Courts. Themes, goddess of justice, greets them, proudly blindfolded. There are other sculptures, Inuit, on display where Selwyn Loo is waiting, his fingers lightly caressing a soapstone bear. âWe donât have Santorini today.â
Their judge has run off to the dry hills of the Okanagan, a pro-am charity eventâheâs teamed with a guest celebrity, a Masters winner. Thereâs media coverage. Santorini has let it be known that nothing short of a terrorist attackâcertainly not an environmental crisis on Garibaldi Islandâwill dislodge him from those fairways and greens.
âFine, weâll adjourn the matter until he gets back.â None of the other judges will stand in. This case has already bounced to the Appeal Court and back, and is likely regarded as in the same category as dogsâ breakfasts and cans of worms. Unless forced to by rare circumstanceâsuch as Santorini drowning in a water hazardâno judge of sound mind will want to pinch-hit. But why is Selwyn looking more dismal than usual today?
âThe Chief Justice himself insists on stepping in, Arthur.â
Arthur feels his jaw drop. Wilbur Kroop? Surely Selwyn is joking. Arthur looks up and locates Garlincâs legal team at level four, in amiable conversation. Itâs no joke, theyâre enjoying their good fortune.
âI hear he can be difficult,â Selwyn says.
âHeâs an irascible fathead.â
The wars are legendary. Twenty years ago, Arthur spent three nights in jail before surrendering to him, apologizing in court. Three nights withdrawing from alcohol were more than he could take.
âHe wonât be pleased to see me,â Arthur says. âIâd best stay hidden.â
Despondent, he watches Court 41 fill with lawyers, public, and press. The door closes on them. He paces. There had been hope with Santorini, at bottom a fair-minded man. Wilbur Kroop sees protestors as outlaws bent on challenging the sacred institutions of capital and state. Societyâs imminent collapse into anarchy is a theme that garnishes many of his judgments.
Half an hour passes. When the door opens for traffic in and out, he hears Prudhomme arguing the Wildlife Act, Selwyn talking about Phantom Orchids. He hears Kroop ask a question, so at least heâs listening. Maybe heâs changed, mellowed with age, like fine whisky. The analogy isnât apt: Kroop is the worst kind of non-drinker, someone who never did, a teeto-taller all his life.
Finally, after another twenty minutes, Arthur surrenders to curiosity, slipping in as the door opens to release a few bored spectators.
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