The Pelican Brief

“Who tipped you?”

“Florida called two hours ago. They’re convinced Muncie paid a bunch of money to eliminate both Tyrone and his lawyer. They just can’t prove it. They’ve got a reluctant, unidentified informant who says he knows Muncie and feeds them a little info. He says Muncie has been talking for years about eliminating Rosenberg. They think he went a little over the edge when his niece was murdered.”

“How much money has he got?”

“Enough. Millions. No one is sure. He’s very secretive. Florida is convinced he’s capable.”

“Let’s check it out. Sounds interesting.”

“I’ll get on it tonight. Are you sure you want three hundred agents on this case?”

Voyles lit a cigar and cracked his window. “Yeah, maybe four hundred. We need to crack this baby before the press eats us alive.”

“It won’t be easy. Except for the slugs and the rope, these guys left nothing.”

Voyles blew smoke out the window. “I know. It’s almost too clean.”

The Chief slouched behind his desk with a loosened tie and a haggard look. Around the room, three of his brethren and a half-dozen clerks sat and talked in subdued tones. The shock and fatigue were evident. Jason Kline, Rosenberg’s senior clerk, looked especially hard-hit. He sat on a small sofa and stared blankly at the floor while Justice Archibald Ma

Justice Andrew McDowell, at sixty-one now the youngest member of the Court, stood in the window, smoking his pipe and watching traffic. If Jensen had a friend on the Court, it was McDowell. Fletcher Coal had informed Runyan that the President would not only attend Jensen’s service but wanted to deliver a eulogy. No one in the i

Justice Ben Thurow, age sixty-eight, was not as concerned about burying the dead as he was about catching the killers. He had been a federal prosecutor in Mi

Thurow was pacing around the room. “We have twenty-seven clerks and seven justices,” he said to the group but to no one in particular. “It’s obvious we won’t get much work done for the next couple of weeks, and all close decisions must wait until we have a full bench. That could take months. I suggest we put our clerks to work trying to solve the killings.”

“We’re not police,” Ma

“Can we at least wait until after the burials before we start playing Dick Tracy?” McDowell said without turning from the window.

Thurow ignored them, as usual. “I’ll direct the research. Loan me your clerks for two weeks, and I think we can put together a short list of solid suspects.”

“The FBI is very capable, Ben,” the Chief said. “They haven’t asked for our help.”

“I’d rather not discuss the FBI,” Thurow said. “We can mope around here in official mourning for two weeks, or we can go to work and find these bastards.”

“What makes you so sure you can solve this?” Ma

“I’m not sure I can, but I think it’s worth a try. Our brethren were murdered for a reason, and that reason is directly related to a case or an issue already decided or now pending before this Court. If it’s retribution, then our task is almost impossible. Hell, everybody hates us for one reason or another. But if it’s not revenge or hatred, then perhaps someone wanted a different Court for a future decision. That’s what’s intriguing. Who would kill Abe and Gle

Justice McDowell shook his head. “Come on, Ben. That’s over five thousand cases, a small fraction of which will eventually end up here. It’s a wild-goose chase.”

Ma

“And Gle

“Evidently our friend had some strange proclivities. Word must have spread, and he was an easy target for such groups. They hate homosexuals, Ben.”

Ben was still pacing, still ignoring. “They hate all of us, and if they killed out of hatred the cops’ll catch them. Maybe. But what if they killed to manipulate this Court? What if some group seized this moment of unrest and violence to eliminate two of us, and thus realign the Court? I think it’s very possible.”

The Chief cleared his throat. “And I think we’ll do nothing until after they are buried, or scattered. I’m not saying no, Ben, just wait a few days. Let the dust settle. The rest of us are still in shock.”

Thurow excused himself and left the room. His bodyguards followed him down the hall.

Justice Ma

“I think Justice Thurow has a point,” said Jason Kline. “We at least need to review the pending cases and those likely to arrive here from the lower circuits. It’s a long shot, but we may stumble across something.”

“I agree,” said the Chief. “It’s just a bit premature, don’t you think?”

“Yes, but I’d like to get started anyway.”

“No. Wait till Monday, and I’ll assign you to Thurow.”

Kline shrugged and excused himself. Two clerks followed him to Rosenberg’s office, where they sat in the darkness and sipped the last of Abe’s brandy.