The Star Chamber Page #6

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You use them on him.

Better than that, use them on yourself.

But don't worry about me.

I am really all right.

I can look at that man.

I tried to do something.

You killed his son.

Why, Steven. Hello.

Hey, kiddo.

No more games. No more.

- You all right?

- Yes.

Please, close the door.

- You want something to drink?

- No.

Sit down, kiddo.

This may take a few minutes.

You're asking me to tell you things

that you may not want to hear about.

I mean, right now you're pure...

suffering, however,

pure as your actual driven snow...

which is what you want to be.

If I continue,

once you hear what I'm gonna say...

you'll lose that forever.

- You want me to continue?

- Yes.

I need a drink.

Ahhh.

There were nine of us...

all on the superior court bench.

You're an instant replay, kiddo. The very

same dialogue, the very same fury, exactly.

Oh, boy. You are...

You are depressingly familiar.

So we all sat around

and compared horror stories...

and we said, "What's happened to the law?"

Just like you.

And then somebody said the strangest thing.

He said, "We're the goddamn law. "

Think about that. We are.

The whole goddamn system...

has been turned

into this giant Rubik's Cube...

which anyone can twist into whatever

pattern they want, so long as it fits.

You see, it's not good enough

for us to sit around and say...

"What you're doing is not what the system

is all about. It's not what was intended.

However, it's okay with us,

because it fits. "

Oh, no.

Thatjust is not good enough anymore.

You look around you. Everybody glides along

on roller skates or on jogging shoes...

with those Martian radio things

over their ears.

People who stay inside,

double-lock their doors...

and turn the TV up as loud as they can...

so they won't be able to

hear what's really going on.

The whole goddamn world

is out to lunch. Why?

Because nobody wants to be held accountable.

Well, we are accountable.

We're the judges, for Christ's sake!

We're the law!

We let it all happen.

So the nine of us...

we became a court.

Our own court of last resort.

We review cases, the excruciating ones...

the ones where it's all been perverted.

We make judgments.

We carry out sentences.

L... I don't believe this.

Time to get your fingernails dirty, kiddo.

Someone has kidnapped justice

and hidden it in the law.

Now who's better qualified

than we are to find it?

- You tell me that.

- I don't know. L...

I just... I don't know.

You have arrived

at exactly the same place we are.

You're a good young man,

who wants to be a good judge.

You don't know what the hell

being a good judge is anymore.

There are eight of us...

and we have a vacancy.

Judge Culhane, he was the ninth.

Now don't tell me you haven't

thought about something like this...

because if you do, you're a liar.

- I don't know what to say.

- In or out, kiddo.

In or out. Nothing in the middle.

There's no more time for that.

If it's out, you'll never be able to

prove anything you heard...

and you can go back to wringing your hands.

I'll tell you this. I can sleep at night.

I really can.

Can you?

Beamer, Albert R.

Age:
28, height:5'7", weight: 140 pounds.

Two priors... 1977, assault with a

deadly weapon, 1980, breaking an entering.

Served a total of three years.

February 8, 1981.

Mr. And Mrs. Herbert Lear,

age 66, 64 respectively...

withdraw $200 from an instant credit

machine outside a Security Pacific Bank...

at 11:
00 p. m.

As they're walking back to their car,

which is parked less than 10 yards away...

they are attacked and robbed at gunpoint.

Mrs. Lear was struck across the temple

with a gun when she screamed.

Mr. Lear was shot at point-blank range

and was killed instantly.

Mrs. Lear suffered a fractured skull.

Albert Beamer was arrested two days later...

when he attempted to use

one of Mr. Lear's credit cards.

At the trial, Mrs. Lear

positively identified him as the attacker.

Beamer was found guilty

and was given the death sentence.

The verdict was appealed.

The court stenographer, named Martin Peel,

dies of a heart attack...

before his notes can be transcribed.

He's one of the old-timers

that uses his own personal shorthand.

The judge is Ed Lynn. Figured he'd

save some money during the trial...

didn't order daily transcriptions.

As a result, all they had was Martin

Peel's notes, no one to translate them.

The appellate court ruled...

that since there was no valid trial record...

the court could not properly hear the appeal

and ordered that Beamer be retried.

This was after he was convicted

and sentenced.

The one witness, Mrs. Lear,

subsequently suffers a stroke and dies.

The autopsy proves that the stroke

was directly related to her head injury.

Since there was no longer any witness...

the State had no grounds to retry Beamer.

And he's free.

- Any questions?

- Did he have an alibi?

Yeah. He said he was at home

watching television that night.

Any corroboration?

He said he was at home alone.

How did he explain the stolen credit card?

He said he found it on the street.

He's willing to cop a plea for using the card.

Any other questions?

I'd like a verdict.

Guilty.

Guilty.

Guilty.

Guilty.

Guilty.

Guilty.

Guilty.

Guilty.

- When are you going home?

- Soon.

Have you had something to eat?

- Yes.

- When?

Yesterday.

Yesterday? You look like sh*t.

- Thank you.

- You're welcome. You want a pizza?

No. I don't want any pizza.

- Go home, Harry.

- In a little while.

You can look at that stuff all you want. The

words are not gonna change. You know that.

I know.

If you don't get some rest

and something to eat, you're gonna die.

And if you don't go home,

you're gonna die here.

I don't want you to die here...

because if you die here, that'll mean

I have to do all of that paperwork.

And right now,

I'm up to my ass in paperwork.

The answer is in here somewhere.

- It always is.

- It'll be there tomorrow.

All right. Let's get a pizza.

- I hate pizza. Let's go get drunk.

- What?

You're the one

that's always worried about my health.

Oh, you can die in a bar. That's okay.

I can skip out and leave you there.

It's just when the bodies fall across my desk,

you see? That's when it be comes a real drag.

I thought it was another woman.

Now I don't.

What are you talking about?

A woman knows when there's

somebody else. She really does.

- In bed, you just know.

What's the matter with you?

Nothing's the matter with me.

I just felt like I've been losing you,

and I don't know what to do about it.

And I'm terrified.

It's like you're pulling away from me...

as if you went away somewhere.

And I don't know how to fight it.

Look, I'm...

sorry.

I've really made it miserable for you,

you know.

It's not you. It's not us. It's...

I'm trying to figure out what I'm doing.

I love you.

I love you too.

I'm so proud of you.

- Don't be too proud.

- Why not?

Because I may not live up to your expectations.

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