“They could charge him.  And then they could interrogate him under veridication about his whole conduct in office, and you know what they would bring out,” Coombes said.  “He almost broke an arm signing his resignation.  He’s still Attorney General of the Colony, of course; Nick issued a statement supporting him.  That hasn’t done Nick as much harm as O’Brien could do spilling what he knows about Residency affairs.

“Now Brannhard is talking about bringing suit against the Company, and he’s furnishing copies of all the Fuzzy films Holloway has to the news services.  Interworld News is going hog-wild with it, and even the services we control can’t play it down too much.  I don’t know who’s going to be prosecuting these cases; but whoever it is, he won’t dare pull any punches.  And the whole thing’s made Pendarvis hostile to us.  I know, the law and the evidence and nothing but the law and the evidence, but the evidence is going to filter into his conscious mind through this hostility.  He’s called a conference with Brannhard and myself for tomorrow afternoon; I don’t know what that’s going to be like.”

XI

The two lawyers had risen hastily when Chief Justice Pendarvis entered; he responded to their greetings and seated himself at his desk, reaching for the silver cigar box and taking out a panatela.  Gustavus Adolphus Brannhard picked up the cigar he had laid aside and began puffing on it; Leslie Coombes took a cigarette from his case.  They both looked at him, waiting like two drawn weapons—­a battle ax and a rapier.

“Well, gentlemen, as you know, we have a couple of homicide cases and nobody to prosecute them,” he began.

“Why bother, your Honor?” Coombes asked.  “Both charges are completely frivolous.  One man killed a wild animal, and the other killed a man who was trying to kill him.”

“Well, your Honor, I don’t believe my client is guilty of anything, legally or morally,” Brannhard said.  “I want that established by an acquittal.”  He looked at Coombes.  “I should think Mr. Coombes would be just as anxious to have his client cleared of any stigma of murder, too.”

“I am quite agreed.  People who have been charged with crimes ought to have public vindication if they are innocent.  Now, in the first place, I planned to hold the Kellogg trial first, and then the Holloway trial.  Are you both satisfied with that arrangement?”

“Absolutely not, your Honor,” Brannhard said promptly.  “The whole basis of the Holloway defense is that this man Borch was killed in commission of a felony.  We’re prepared to prove that, but we don’t want our case prejudiced by an earlier trial.”

Coombes laughed.  “Mr. Brannhard wants to clear his client by preconvicting mine.  We can’t agree to anything like that.”

“Yes, and he is making the same objection to trying your client first.  Well, I’m going to remove both objections.  I’m going to order the two cases combined, and both defendants tried together.”