Something inside me had pulled tight. Thoughts of the classroom flooded into my mind. Long forgotten formulae, theories ... somewhere! The voice droned on, charging the jurors:
"—having reviewed the evidence—"
I kept groping toward a page in a book. Somewhere there was a piece that would fit in. "The majority ballot rules." It was going too fast for me. They were calling for the vote.
"Juror Number One, please stand and tell the court; how do you find?"
With great deliberation, he turned his back on the defendant in the box.
"Juror Number One designates guilt. Juror Number Two, how do you find?"
Vortler was second. He stood and gazed at John Hastings for a long moment. Then he raised his arms toward the defendant, palms upward.
"Juror Number Two designates innocence."
I went back to the classroom again and again. There was a thing waiting there for me, but it had been so long ago.
The count was going fast....