THE LULLABY KEY : THE FALL
CHAPTER 29: The Chief Justice’s Choice
The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court was a woman named Miriam Hale.
She was seventy-three years old, with silver hair and eyes that had seen everything. She had been appointed by a president who was now in prison, confirmed by a Senate that was now under investigation, and she had spent the last thirty years trying to keep the court above the political fray.
Now the fray had come to her doorstep.
Lena requested a meeting. To her surprise, Justice Hale agreed.
They met in the Chief Justice’s private chambers, a wood-paneled room filled with books and photographs. Justice Hale sat behind her desk, her hands folded, her expression unreadable.
“Ms. Ashford. I’ve been following your story. You’ve been through a great deal.”
“Yes, Your Honor.”
“Please. Call me Miriam. We’re not in court.”
Lena sat down across from her. “I’m here because I need your help.”
“I assumed as much. What do you need?”
“The Vice President—the man who just tried to seize power—is going to be tried in the Senate. But the Senate is compromised. Half of them have taken money from Marchetti’s network. They’ll acquit him. They’ll let him walk.”
Justice Hale nodded slowly. “That’s a serious accusation.”
“It’s the truth. I have the evidence. Bank records. Email chains. Witness testimony. But the Senate won’t look at it. They’ll bury it. Same as they’ve buried everything else.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“I want you to convene a special court. A court that isn’t controlled by Marchetti. A court that can try the Vice President and his co-conspirators outside the political system.”
Justice Hale was silent for a long time.
Then she said: “What you’re asking for is unprecedented. The Constitution gives the Senate the sole power to try impeachments. I can’t overrule that.”
“Then change the Constitution.”
Justice Hale almost smiled. “That’s not how it works.”
“Then find a way. You’re the Chief Justice. You have more power than anyone in this country except the President. Use it.”
Justice Hale leaned back in her chair.
“Do you know why I became a judge?”
Lena shook her head.
“Because I believed in the law. Not in politicians. Not in power. In the law. I believed that if you had the facts, the evidence, the truth—the law would protect you. But I’ve been on this court for twenty years, and I’ve watched the law be twisted, ignored, and broken by people who have no respect for it. People like Marchetti. People like the Vice President. People who think they’re above the law.”
She stood up and walked to the window.
“I’m an old woman, Ms. Ashford. I don’t have many years left. And I’ve spent most of them trying to do the right thing. But I’ve also spent most of them failing. Because the right thing is never easy. And it’s never popular. And it’s almost never possible.”
She turned to face Lena.
“But sometimes—just sometimes—it is possible. And when it is, you have to act. Even if it costs you everything.”
She walked back to her desk and picked up her phone.
“Get me the Attorney General. And the Speaker of the House. And the Majority Leader of the Senate. Tell them I’m convening a special session. And tell them that if they don’t show up, I’ll hold them in contempt of court.”
She hung up.
“It’s not a perfect solution. But it’s a start.”
Lena stood up. “Thank you, Miriam.”
“Don’t thank me yet. Thank me when it’s over.”
Lena walked to the door. Then she stopped.
“There’s something else. The tunnel under the building. The bones. Did you know?”
Justice Hale’s face went pale.
“I suspected. For years. There were rumors. Whispers. But I never… I couldn’t…”
“Now you know. What are you going to do about it?”
Justice Hale sat down heavily in her chair.
“I’m going to order a full investigation. Every bone will be identified. Every family will be notified. Every crime will be prosecuted.”
“And Marchetti?”
“Marchetti is a ghost. But ghosts can be exorcised.” She looked up at Lena. “I’ll find him. I swear it.”
Lena nodded.
She left the chambers.
Behind her, Justice Hale picked up the phone again.
“Get me the FBI. Not the director. The deputy director. The one who’s been trying to expose Marchetti for years. Tell her we have a new case.”
She hung up.
And for the first time in thirty years, she allowed herself to hope.