‘What’s that?’ Frannie asked. ‘I’m right here, guys. Don’t third person me.’

‘Administrative segregation,’ Glitsky explained to her. ‘Basically it’s isolation, a nicer cell. Keep you away from the general population, which you want – trust me on this.’

‘This can’t be happening,’ Hardy said.

‘Evidently,’ Abe went on, looking at Frannie, ‘you broke the first rule of the courtroom – you don’t insult the judge.’

‘She’s a pompous ass,’ Frannie retorted. ‘She insulted me first.’

‘She’s allowed to insult you. It’s in her job description. What did you say to her?’

‘I told her I held her in contempt, that this whole thing was contemptible…’

Hardy was shaking his head, believing it all now. When Frannie got her dander up, watch out.

‘It got her four days,’ Glitsky said.

‘Four days?’ Hardy gathered himself for a beat. ‘This isn’t about some secret?’

‘What secret? Not that I heard from Chomorro. It’s about Braun.’ Glitsky changed to a hopeful tone. ‘Maybe she’ll talk to you tomorrow, Diz.’

‘No maybe about it,’ Hardy said. ‘I’ll tackle her in the hallway if I have to.’

Frannie reached across the table. ‘Dismas, you can’t let them keep me here. The kids need me. This is some horrible mistake. It just started with this stupid promise. That’s all they wanted.’

‘So what is it? Tell me – I promise, I won’t tell anybody. You can hire me as your attorney and it’ll be privileged. Nobody will ever know and maybe we can use it as a chip. I’ll go wake up the judge at her house, explain the situation…’

Glitsky butted in. ‘I wouldn’t do that. What secret?’

Frannie ignored Abe. ‘They could just ask Ron. You, Dismas, could ask Ron. Go to his house and wake him up. Call him from here even. If he knew I was in jail, he’d tell them what they want to know. He wouldn’t let this happen to me.’

‘What is this secret?’ Glitsky asked again.