"The complaint has been dismissed," Eckert said. "Every member signed. The available evidence did not support the allegations of judicial misconduct. Your cases can return to you under the transition plan beginning Monday."
Audrey sat very still. She felt none of the triumphant release she had imagined during the first week. Instead, fatigue moved through her so suddenly that she had to put both feet flat on the floor. Eckert placed the small brass courtroom key beside the decision.
"I know you want to thank someone," Eckert said. "Thank the people who kept the records. Thank Mr. Mehta."
"Thank Mr. Langford. And thank the woman who taught you to read the small print."
"Mama would have liked you saying that," Audrey replied.
Then she took a sheet of paper from her own folder. She had prepared a request to recuse herself from cases connected to Bramwell County for the next two years, subject to administrative review of any need to reassess the scope. It was not a legal obligation established by her victimization alone; it was an effort to prevent parties from reasonably questioning whether her personal experience affected particular matters. She wanted the next Bramwell resident in her courtroom to know the judge had considered that possibility before the person was forced to raise it.
"Two years is a long time," Eckert said after reading it.
"A person who lost money seven years ago had to wait until now to tell a court about it. Two years is not long from that side of the bench."
"You won, Audrey. You don't have to give away any part of that."
"I'm not giving it away. I'm drawing a line I can explain to the first defendant or driver who would otherwise stand before me wondering whether I had already decided what Bramwell County means."
Eckert considered the request, then approved the administrative process for assigning those matters elsewhere. She warned that the rule would complicate Audrey's docket. Audrey said she understood. She had not gone through the past two months to forget that the appearance of fairness could matter as much as the fairness a judge believed she possessed.
The county's checks and vehicle releases required processing time. The money was no longer in dispute under the agreement, but the first scholarship presentation would not take place before Christmas. Audrey called Jasmine Rivers and explained the delay, offering to help the scholarship committee work with her college on the pending tuition date. Jasmine surprised her by sounding more relieved than disappointed.
"I know the money is coming now," Jasmine said. "That makes waiting different."
"I promised you October."
"You promised it was mine. You didn't promise me nobody would try to take it first. My grandmother says that's the kind of promise worth holding on to."
Audrey smiled through tears. "Your grandmother learned wisdom somewhere."
"She says your mother taught her to bake pound cake."
"Then she learned it in the right kitchen."