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itself as he forced his hands to loosen their grips on the arms of his chair. He was a lawyer and lawyers made their living untying shrunken knots. Get at it , he told himself, nodding at Judge Carter, unable to think of her without the honorific.
    “Tell me about it,” he said.
    “I was hired as an arbitrator in a sexual harassment case. The plaintiff is a woman named Carol Hill. She worked as a blackjack dealer at the Galaxy Casino and claimed that one of the supervisors harassed her. The hearing was last week. I took the case under advisement and told them I would have a ruling in thirty days. Yesterday a man called me. He didn’t give me his name and I think he used something electronic to disguise his voice. He said that if I didn’t rule in Galaxy’s favor, I was finished.”
    “How could he make that happen?”
    She glared at Mason like he was a simpleton. He returned her stare, forcing her to lay it out. She drew a breath and squared her shoulders.
    “He said he had a tape recording of me agreeing to do a favor for Ed Fiori when I was still on the bench. I told him he was a liar. He played the tape for me over the phone.”
    Mason caught the first cracks in her judicial demeanor as her voice quivered and her eyes blinked. She swallowed hard, a momentary spasm tightening the muscles in her neck. He gave her a minute to regroup.
    “He wasn’t lying,” Mason said.
    “No, he wasn’t lying,” she said, her voice solid again, her eyes steady and clear. “On the tape, Fiori tells me to release Wilson Bluestone on bail or my son’s gambling debts would be collected the hard way. I asked Fiori why he cared what happened to Bluestone and he said that he didn’t but Lou Mason did.”
    Mason sat completely still, absorbing Judge Carter’s explanation. The shoe was dangling, but it hadn’t dropped. The law was built on fine distinctions. Shades of intent, percentages of fault and knowledge, real or imputed, can save a life or cost a fortune. Enough of the truth can carry the day even if it isn’t the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
    The blackmail tape was of a conversation between Judge Carter and Ed Fiori, not between Mason and Fiori. Mason’s name was used, but, without the tape of Mason’s conversation with Fiori, it was a secondhand indictment. He made himself breathe.
    “Blackmailing you doesn’t make any sense. If Galaxy is that worried about the case, they would just settle it.”
    “They tried. The plaintiff and her lawyer want blood, not money.”
    “Why come to me? Why not just go to the police?”
    “Because, Counselor,” she began, drawing out the words like Mason had attention deficit disorder, “we both know that the tape is legitimate. If I go to the police, I compromise myself. I’ve done that once and I won’t do it again.”
    Mason ignored her reminder of his complicity. If he didn’t say it out loud, maybe he could keep ducking it.
    “We both know that any legal action I could take would have the same result. What do you expect me to do?”
    “I expect you to take care of it and I don’t care how you do it. You put me in this box.”
    “You could have said no when Fiori called you.”
    “You don’t have kids, do you?” she asked. Mason shook his head. “How about someone you love?”
    Mason nodded.
    “Do you love her enough to die for her?” she asked. Mason nodded again. “Then don’t ask such fool questions.”
    “I’m only a lawyer. I can’t get an injunction against the blackmailer, even assuming I can find him. You should hire somebody else.”
    Judge Carter rose, gathering her coat from Mason’s sofa, not taking her eyes off him.
    “If I have to hire someone else that will be one more person who will know what happened. I don’t think you’d like that. Besides, I’m not hiring you. I’m telling you. Ask your friend Mr. Bluestone to help. He’s as much a part of this as you are. Between the two of you, I’m certain you’ll think of