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I’m not going to leak anything. As a matter of fact, I may even be in a position to help. Who are these two paragons of virtue?”
    Deering thought a moment before replying. “It’s not a state secret, I suppose. The President is considering Judge O’Malley of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals and Roy Pentecost.”
    â€œI know O’Malley, but who the hell is Pentecost?”
    â€œDean of a law school.”
    Baker tapped his lips with his forefinger as if he were trying to test his recollection. “Pentecost. Pentecost. Sure, I remember now. He’s the guy who built up that law school in the midwest, I’ve forgotten where.”
    â€œMichigan State University School of Law.”
    Baker started to smile. “Sure, I place him now. He’s the guy who robbed Harvard and Yale of their best teachers. Paid them a king’s ransom.”
    â€œThat’s him. Also, he set up entrance standards for law students that excluded everyone but a certified genius. The law school is regarded as better than Stanford, maybe even Harvard, and they’ve only been open a couple of years.”
    â€œWaste of money. Both you and I have put some time in universities. Nobody cares about the quality, it’s the football team that counts. They should have taken the dough they sunk into the law school and bought a few fast backs and some muscle for the line. If you have a winning football team your school is great, and if you don’t, you never get noticed.”
    â€œDon’t be bitter, Harold. This guy Pentecost might even have made a hell of a coach. He’s the kind that plays to win, I’m told. He knows how to run things.”
    Baker reached into his desk and produced a long, thin cigar. His first of the day. “Being a good administrator doesn’t guarantee he’s a good lawyer.” He lit the cigar and savored its smoke.
    â€œMaybe, maybe not,” Deering replied. “But outside of a few speeches and a law book or two he’s written, he has no public record for the committee to shoot at.”
    â€œHow about O’Malley? He’s pretty straight.”
    â€œSure, but you know how that works. The screwballs will come out in flocks to protest various decisions he’s written in the past. That’s how they nailed Judge Shiller. He wrote one anti-busing decision and by the time the chairman and the committee were through he looked like he had been the head of the Ku Klux Klan.”
    â€œI remember.”
    â€œWell, I’m directed to start looking into the possibility of both O’Malley and Pentecost. Whoever looks the least objectionable will get the nod to fill Howell’s vacancy, if there is one.”
    Baker emitted a long stream of cigar smoke. His eyes followed the course of the smoke as it curled toward the ceiling. “You remember the old Irish saying, the devil you know is better than the devil you don’t know? I’d go with O’Malley, if I were you guys.”
    â€œIf Howell dies, we’ll have to have somebody all set. It might end up O’Malley. Whoever it is, we’ll have to be ready to ram through the nomination before that EC thing comes up.”
    â€œAnd you think the Democrats aren’t aware of that?”
    Deering grinned. “They’re too busy getting ready to kill each other in the primaries to unite on anything.”
    â€œDon’t kid yourself. That selection will mean as much to them as it does the President. They know the score.”
    Deering sighed. “Nothing is ever simple.”
    Baker grinned. “You can say that again.”

CHAPTER TWO
    The smoky bar was populated by bulky men in casual clothes. The customers were all off-duty police officers, most of them fresh from the afternoon shift at the Tenth Precinct as well as a few officers from the neighboring Eighth. The only woman in the place was the elderly barmaid.
    A group of men was sitting at a large