Mrs. Carter told him about the Williams family, who had sold after weeks of citations and late-night police visits. She described the Jacksons, whose son had been stopped so often that he stopped driving to work after dark. She pulled out copies the Robinson family had left with her before moving away, saying they had no energy for another fight but wanted somebody to know what happened. Marcus photographed the documents with her permission and asked her to keep the originals safe.
"Herbert always said if somebody tells you to hurry, find out who benefits from you not thinking," Mrs. Carter said. She touched the edge of an old photograph on the kitchen table. "I've been thinking for six months. I still don't want to sell."
Marcus looked at the roses beyond the window. "Then no one gets to rewrite your decision for you."
At the courthouse later that morning, Diana met him outside courtroom C. She had spent hours examining the complaint and found that the prosecution was describing Angela as a danger to public order while citing no named fugitive and no injured officer. The arrest paperwork contained allegations that could be contested in court, but contesting them would take time. Worse, the assigned judge, Theodore Matthews, had a reputation for imposing unexpectedly harsh release conditions in cases involving police authority.
Marcus had heard that Holt and Matthews knew one another through Crystal Lake Country Club. Diana warned him not to turn an unproven social connection into an accusation of judicial misconduct. "If there's a conflict, we document it and seek review. We don't assume every bad ruling is bribery."
Angela entered the courtroom wearing the clothes she had worn the previous evening. She looked exhausted but kept her shoulders square. When the prosecutor described her as a person who had tried to incite a crowd against officers, Diana pointed to the absence of any allegation that Angela had threatened violence. She argued that the state had not established a legitimate reason to keep a longtime homeowner, decorated veteran, and local medical volunteer in custody.
Judge Matthews listened with a closed expression. He asked two questions about Angela's willingness to cooperate and none about the officers' inability to name the supposed fugitive. Then, after the prosecutor urged a substantial bond on the claim that the investigation involved a dangerous wanted person, he set bail at five hundred thousand dollars. A murmur moved through the gallery.
The figure was so disproportionate to the charges listed that even the courtroom clerk looked toward the judge before writing it down. Diana objected immediately and requested a prompt bond review, noting that the court had not explained why much less restrictive conditions would be inadequate. Matthews declined to reconsider at that moment. Marcus looked toward Angela, who met his eyes and shook her head slightly, warning him not to give Holt another public scene.