Dirty Blonde by Lisa Scottoline Page A

here.”
    “I’m fine,” Cate answered. Her mouth had gone dry. Her heart hammered and her knees felt weak. “I caused it, and I’ll stay until it’s over.”
    Back in chambers, Cate sat in her crappy desk chair, staring out the window. The doors were closed and her office quiet, except for the almost constant ringing of the phones on her desk and work table. She didn’t answer. On the other side of the closed door, her secretary, Val Denton, fended off calls from the media. A religious woman, Val would give them the wrath of God. The law clerks would still be buzzing, though at least they had turned the TV off, on her command. The news at noon had carried sketches of the fistfight, and her lecture from the bench had gotten lost in the melee.
    Ring! Cate tried not to hear any of it, watching the pewter clouds inch across the skyline behind the Ben Franklin Bridge. It looked like a storm brewing, but it could have been her state of mind. She didn’t know what she had done. Strike that, she didn’t know if she was allowed to do what she had done.
    Buzz ! The white light flashed on her phone, which was Val’s signal for Cate to pick up, which she did. “What? Are the townspeople at the gate? With torches?”
    Val chuckled. “Chief Judge Sherman on the line. Should I put him through?”
    “Do I have a choice?”
    “No, but don’t let him intimidate you. It’s Meriden you gotta watch out for. I hear he’s runnin’ around whining about what you said in court.”
    “Thanks.” Cate’s nickname for Val was Invaluable, because she was.
    “Now hold for Sherman.” There was a click on the line, then the soft, quavering voice of Chief Judge Sherman.
    “Goodness, dear! I just heard what happened. What a calamity! How are you?”
    “Fine, thanks. It wasn’t as bad as it sounded on TV.”
    “I don’t keep a TV in chambers. I heard about it from Jonathan, who said it was quite a to-do.”
    Meriden . “But I only decked one guy, Chief.”
    Sherman laughed softly. “What a case! It’s a trial by fire for you, isn’t it? I thought I’d handed you a plum, but maybe it’s a crab apple. Do forgive me.”
    “Not at all, Chief. I think it’s been fascinating, a real lesson in lots of ways. I’m entering judgment today, and the courthouse will go back to normal.”
    Sherman clucked. “I rather enjoyed the excitement. I heard Steven Bochco was in the hallway last week! Do you remember Hill Street Blues ?”
    “Was I born yet?”
    “Ha! By the way, I heard you said some rather intemperate things on the bench.”
    Cate cringed. Here it comes.
    “I’ve gotten a call or two from the others. It’s probably my job as chief to let you know. I would have ruled from the bench, too. But, if you don’t mind some constructive criticism, I wouldn’t have made those comments in open court.”
    “In my own defense, what I said was completely in order.”
    “Undoubtedly.” Judge Sherman lowered his voice. “But the next time, make all the comments you want, but keep them in chambers. Off the record, like the old man does.”
    Cate smiled. “Gotcha. Thanks. And sorry.”
    “That’s my girl.” Sherman paused. “You know, all of us are moved by cases before us, certain cases, from time to time. That’s part of the passion for the law that I have, and I see in you. We don’t choose our cases, they choose us. Like our children.”
    Cate thought of Warren.
    “And I do like your fire, Cate. You’re a new kind of judge, a new model. You energize our stodgy old court. The law needs new life from time to time, or it grows old and stale. Inflexible, brittle. We have to change with the times, and we do. That’s what I love about this court. Our court.” Sherman chuckled. “Well, now, I am boring you, aren’t I? I lean to the rabbinical.”
    “Nah, thanks for the advice, Rabbi.” Cate would have stayed on the line with him forever. He was her New Friend.
    “Take care now,” Sherman said, hanging up.
    Cate hung up,