Page 15 of 25 Alive

Yuki pulled herself out from under the counsel table. The court officers were panting but uninjured.

“Everything is all right,” Menges shouted. “But the corridor is full of smoke.”

“It was just a smoke bomb, Your Honor,” Fleishman told Judge Orlofsky. “I spotted a small cardboard box under a bench between courtrooms 2A and 4A. I was five feet away and heading over to pick it up when it went off. Looks like someone put together a combo of a flash-bang and a smoke grenade. Gave off fifteen seconds of sound and fury. Still, I’vecalled the bomb squad to take a close look and do a sweep of the floor, other rooms, and so on.”

The Honorable Judge Orlofsky took charge, speaking to the court officers and the bailiff. “Court officers, please return the defendant to his cell on the sixth floor. Bailiff, please clear the courtroom. People in the gallery, please exit through the double doors behind you and go home. Members of the press, use good judgment. It was a smoke bomb. A scare tactic, but not harmful.”

Orlofsky instructed the jurors to return to the jury room.

He added, “As before, do not discuss the case. I’ll be with you shortly.”

Nick Gaines dusted himself off and called out to Menges, “Did you see who left the box?”

Menges said, “No, but we’re getting the surveillance footage.”

Yuki asked, “Did you look inside the box?”

Menges said, “Yes. Hang on.”

He left the room and came back with a plain cardboard box, about a foot square. He put it in the middle of the room and held up the remnants of a grenade. “This is a flash-bang. Police use them for riot control, or to create a diversion, and they operate on a delay timer.”

Orlofsky yelled angrily, “Why don’t you let the bomb squad do that?”

Too late. Menges had opened the box and upended it. A small flurry of colored cards, like index cards, fell out.

Menges called out, “Your Honor, it’s just colored cards.”

Fleishman picked up a few, looked them over, and said,“Judge. There are names and addresses on the cards. Should I bring them to you?”

Judge Orlofsky said, “Leave them for the bomb squad. Attorneys, please come to my chambers.”

CHAPTER23

THE JUDGE’S CHAMBERS were furnished in impersonal secondhand decor. There were no wall hangings or personal objects on his desk. Lights were on. Curtains were closed.

Yuki and Gaines sat opposite Jon Credendino and Donna Villanova, his second chair, at Judge Orlofsky’s conference table. The judge took a seat at the head. The court reporter took a chair behind and to the right of the judge.

“We’re off the record,” said the judge. “I will not permit anyone to intimidate this court. Nor will I let anyone further interfere with the continuation of this trial to its completion. However, a new secure site for this trial is required. I’d like us to discuss where and when to best continue.”

There was a knock on the door leading from the judge’s chambers to the corridor, and Orlofsky opened it. It was Ben Bukowski, the head of security.

“Your Honor,” Bukowski said. “We’ve cleared everyone from the floor except for those of you here in your chambers. The bomb squad is coming through with detectionequipment, and hounds are going through every courtroom and the full length of the corridor. Given the smoke in the hallway, it does appear to have been a smoke bomb.”

“Good. Please keep me apprised.”

Bukowski also handed over a loose pile of the colored index cards that had been inside the carton with the smoke bomb, now cleared by the bomb squad.

We watched as Judge Orlofsky put on latex gloves and laid the cards out in front of him on the table.

“Okay,” he said. “Here’s the only red one, and it bears my name and address. These blue cards are all addressed to counsel by name and with your addresses. The yellow cards have the numbers of the jurors, one through twelve, plus six alternates. No names, but there are addresses.”

He flipped the cards over, looking angry and determined. He said to the group at the table, “They all say this: ‘If Dario Garza is put on trial, the judge and the prosecutors will die. The jurors will die.’

“None of us, not the officers of the court or legal counsel, can stay with the jurors, but we can get law enforcement to safeguard our homes. Does anyone have another idea?”

No one did.

Orlofsky said to Credendino, “Dario stays in our jail. The trial will be delayed until further notice. I’ll set up meetings with the mayor, the chief of police, and the DA.”

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