Nightmare in Night Court
the courtroom doors flew open and there was a sudden explosion of color. It was Delores Crowley. She was running up the aisle toward the bench.
    “He’s here and he wants justice!” she cried, waving her arms like she was trying to land a 747.
    “Who wants justice?” Judge Epstein asked with a scowl. There wouldn’t be any justice in her courtroom, dammit.
    “The one who died,” Ms. Crowley answered. “I need an empty vessel.”
    “Have you met Ms. Brooks and Mr. Fisher from the federal government?” I asked helpfully. Suddenly a blast of cold air came shooting down from the ceiling, blowing their enormous stack of papers all over the courtroom. Coincidence?
    “The EMF meter is going off the scale!” one of the Spirit Hunters called out.
    “Three point five, three point six, point seven, point eight,” another chimed in, looking at his own little light up box.
    “This place is crawling with abnormal energy!” Burt informed us.
    “It’s like that every night,” Mr. Brenner noted.
    “His soul is disturbed,” Delores went on in a deep raspy voice, her eyes rolling back in her head. I had news for her, that wasn’t all that was disturbed. From somewhere out in the hall, came a horrible sound, not unlike the wail of a Banshee.
    “Sid! It’s my Sid! I knew it! He wants justice!” Apparently, Gladys Peterman had not left the building. She came tearing into the courtroom like a bat out of hell, or more accurately, like a bat into hell, in this case I suppose.
    “If he wants anything, Gladys, he wants you to shut up already,” her brother-in-law Irv said, coming in after her. “The poor guy can’t even get away from you by dying.” A loud clanging noise sounded from somewhere in the building. I guess Sid agreed.
    “I need something to contain it!” Delores cried. “An empty vessel of some sort.” She looked around frantically.  A guy who looked like a biker stood up and dumped a bottle of vitamin water onto the floor, handing it over to Delores.
    “Fifty dollar fine!” Judge Epstein yelled out with a bang of her gavel.
    “Ask Sid if that pervert violated him!” Gladys demanded.
    “Tell him it’s about time he got some,” Irv muttered.
    “What’s going on in here?” Edna Manson asked, joining the party a bit late … from the jury room? Mr. Bates came out behind her, pulling up his fly. Okay, that was something I really didn’t need to see. I glanced at Braden.
    “Don’t think about it,” he said grimly.
    “There’s a ghost in the room, and he’s pissed off, because somebody screwed him … or didn’t screw him,” a woman who looked like a working girl answered.
    “Is it Mr. Marley? If so, I have that case,” Edna said, heading over to the prosecution table and digging through a pile of files. Braden rolled his eyes.
    “It’s my Sid!” Gladys insisted.
    “How do you know?” Edna shot back. She wasn’t going to let Mr. Marley off the hook just because he died in 1905.
    “Because she said that the spirit wanted justice and he was disturbed!” Gladys seethed. A Spirit Hunter approached her with his Light Bright and she swung at him with her purse.
    “I think this one might be a demon,” the Spirit Hunter said, ducking just in time.
    “You’re just figuring that out now?” Irv Peterman asked.
    “Enough of this!” Judge Epstein shouted, banging her gavel so hard that she broke it. “Everybody shut up!” There was silence as we all waited expectantly. “You, in the shit shirt, you first. What’s going on in here?” She glared at Bert malevolently.
    He cleared his throat and launched into his explanation. “Well, Judge, my partner Ernie went to retrieve some equipment and seems to have gone missing. Our equipment is indicating that there is paranormal activity going on in this room at the moment.”
    “Okay, and you, dressed in the rummage sale, Ms. Crowley, what’s your problem?” she asked Delores.
    “I’m hearing voices from beyond demanding justice and I’m

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