Judge Gordon Hackett was startled by the shrill ringing of the telephone in his private chambers deep in the belly of the Supreme Court building. The granting of a defence counsel request for a last-minute adjournment in an attempted murder trial provided him with a short but welcome respite from the legal argument that ensued enthusiastically in the courtroom adjacent. It was the fourth adjournment requested by the defence since the trial began. Given he was convinced it was just another attempt on their part to delay the inevitable, his granting in favour of their request was more than a little out of character for him, and provoked spirited objection from the prosecution table.
For the past thirty minutes or so, he was preoccupied with thoughts other than those of the trial he currentl
