Beach's eyes flickered with surprise.
"You're not a violent type. He must have provoked you?"
"Called my son non-competitive."
Beach dismissed the matter with a gesture. "You've nothing to worry about." He paused, his shrewd eyes surveying. "Is that all?"
"Unfortunately not." I was ashamed to tell the whole story, and I've told Beach some pretty raw ones in the past without flinching. "In effect, I've defied a court order concerning my son. Obstructed justice, you might say."
"Leave the legal definitions to me," said Beach tersely. "Tell me what you did."
"Well, the principal was turning my son Freddie over to some guy from the Special Training and Re-Education School. Without any advance notice. Just bang! Like that. Called Celia and me in this morning to tell us. As though it were already an accomplished fact. Well, I knew it was illegal on his part. Imagine that! Taking a kid away from his parents for five years! So I snatched up Freddie and left him with Celia in a safe place and came directly to you. Beach, I want to fight this. I want you to take a law book and beat the city's brains in!"
Beach stood up. He would not look me in the eye, but the hard lines on his face showed up like steel cables.
"I won't touch the case. You'll have to find someone else."
A wave of shock and fear surged through my veins. "Beach, you're the best man in the city! You've got to take it!"