“Are you stopping by this afternoon?” Ike asked. It was a Monday, and the Boone family rituals required Theo to stop by Ike’s office every Monday afternoon for a visit.

“Sure,” Theo said.

Ike smiled and said, “See you then.”

After he was gone, Theo weighed the pros and cons of the situation. He was disappointed that the biggest criminal trial in the recent history of Strattenburg had evidently been sidetracked, and that he would not get the chance to watch Jack Hogan and Clifford Nance go toe-to-toe like two gladiators. But, he was also relieved that Bobby Escobar would not be forced to testify and point the finger of guilt at Pete Duffy. Theo had played a big role in bringing Bobby to the attention of Judge Gantry during the first trial, and Theo knew that Duffy’s lawyers and his thugs, especially Omar Cheepe and Paco, were keeping an eye on him. Theo preferred not to have the attention.

In fact, as the clock ticked and the crowd waited, Theo decided that the sudden disappearance of Pete Duffy was a good thing, at least for him. Selfishly, he was pleased.

Two men behind Theo were having a disagreement. In low voices, they were arguing over the fact that Duffy had been allowed to post a bond. The first man said: “I’ll bet Gantry takes some heat for this. If he had denied bail, Duffy would have been locked up while he waited for his trial, the same as every other defendant charged with murder. No one gets bail in a murder case. Gantry caved in because Duffy has money.”

The second man said: “I doubt it. Why not allow a defendant to post bail and get out? He’s innocent until proven guilty, right? Why lock up a guy before he’s convicted? Murder or otherwise? You can’t punish a guy just because he has money. Duffy’s bail was a million dollars. He put up some property and nobody complained, until now, anyway.”

Theo tended to side with the second guy. The first one responded: “Until now? That’s the whole point. Bail is supposed to secure his appearance in court. Guess what? He’s not here. AWOL, flew the coop, over the wall, we’ll never see him again because Gantry granted bail.”