“Court duty!” He threw out his hands in a gesture of disgust. “Know what that means? It means that you stand all day with your back against the wall, keeping guard against disturbances that never come.
“You listen to well-dressed young men tell the judge that their well-dressed young wives will not try shop-lifting any more, if he’ll let them off.
“You see ten or twenty colored men brought in for shooting craps or drinking moonshine.
“And all the time the court room smells of garlic and sour beer.
“If you’re sent out at all it’s to bring in a witness who has forgotten to appear. And that takes about as much brains as a six-year-old child has, and not half as much courage.
“Oh, I know,” he ended bitterly. “Some one has to do it. But why Howe and me?”
“Why did he do it?” There was pain as well as disgust in Tom Howe’s voice.
“The Chief? Yes, why?” Once more Drew Lane lapsed into silence.
After that the moments ticked themselves away and not a single word was spoken.
Through Drew Lane’s mind many dark thoughts were passing. The Chief had thrown them down. That seemed certain. Why? He could form no answer.