Litvinov and Karloff. Maybe a relationship that defies escape, defies resolution. A relationship fated to destroy what’s around it.

Like that of Zack and Joey.

74.

74.

“All rise. The Honorable Josepho Litvinov presiding.”

Josepho Litvinov, from post-Stalinist Bulgaria, who has traveled cultures and continents to this courtroom.

Josepho Litvinov, whose ghostly fellow traveler may or may not be why this trial is convened.

Josepho Litvinov, who is stooped, white-haired, in his eighties, but there’s no mandatory retirement for judges, and he is one of those civil servants who is proud to still serve, to still contribute.

Josepho Litvinov ascends slowly onto the bench.

All rise.

Emily Lane rises. It’s her first assignment in her new role. The promotion she’s waited for and worked so long for. Tinged now with mixed feelings. Extremely mixed. She should have known it wouldn’t be clear and clean. She should have known a step into adulthood would be rife with ambiguity.

She’s finally made the leap from content aggregator—finding, sorting, and repackaging existing news content—to actual reporting. Journalism—real journalism—her dream, her goal. This had always been the purpose of the crummy freelance “content-gathering” jobs. Always gathering other reporters’ stories. Any other stories. None that were her own.

Her employer knew of her connection to the case because they had come across her name in the press accounts, and so they asked her if she would cover it to get an interesting personal angle. Of course, you can say no, her boss said. If it’s still too traumatic. Holding his breath. Looking at her anxiously. She couldn’t say no. Because he really didn’t want her to say no. And for it to be her first real assignment made perfect sense.

This is her opportunity. And it’s as if a life lesson is aimed at her—how opportunity comes at a price. Comes with strings attached.

It’s the last place she wants to be, this courtroom, but maybe this will bring some kind of resolution so she can finally put it behind her, to see Joey Richter convicted. To stare at him from this side of justice.

She knows it’s quite possible she’ll see Zack in the course of this. That he may be called to testify in the civil case. She doesn’t know how a wrongful death case like this works, exactly. And she’s asked herself, how much is the possibility of seeing Zack part of her agreeing to take this assignment?