Shad moves toward Lincoln, motioning for him to calm down, but Turner raises a big hand to stop him. “Get out of my face, Johnson! I’ve come to say one thing, and then I’ll go. If the sheriff hauled me up in here on a murder charge, I’d be lucky to get a million-dollar bail. But I guess white doctors get a free pass. Man, you people don’t even try to hide this shit. It’s right out here for everybody to see. Ain’t nothing changed down here in a hundred years!”

Judge Noyes bangs his gavel. “That’s it. Mr. Turner, you are now in contempt of—”

“I hold you in contempt!” Turner shouts, but by then the DA has gotten to him and started pushing the larger man toward the door.

“I’ll take care of this, Judge!” Shad calls, making a pleading motion with his right hand.

“You’d better!” Noyes shouts back. “Or he’s going straight to jail!”

When the door closes, all of us stand like stunned witnesses to a bar fight. My father and mother look shell-shocked, but Noyes and his staff are scarcely less rattled. “Wilbur,” Noyes says to his deputy, “are you tits on a boar hog or what?”

The deputy reddens and looks at the carpet.

“I’ll be damned if that’s ever happened in here,” Noyes mutters. “I think I’d better put that fellow in jail for one night, just on principle. Hell, as a matter of public safety.”

I step toward the bench and speak quietly. “Judge, with respect, this might be one of those times where the less that’s done to exacerbate matters, the sooner grief can run its course.”

Noyes clearly thinks my suggestion presumptuous, but after he glances at my father, who also nods, the air seems to go out of him.

“Where’s the district attorney?” he asks, glaring at the deputy.

As Wilbur moves toward the door, Shad reenters the courtroom, smoothing his lapels. “Judge, I apologize for that outburst. I advised Mr. Turner not to come to court, and he chose to ignore my counsel. The man is distraught over his mother’s death, and as you know, in murder cases emotions can run very high.”

“That’s no excuse, Counselor.”

“No, Your Honor. Now, as to the matter of bond—”

Judge Noyes holds up his right hand. “Before you start gabbling about special treatment, I’m going to set stringent conditions on this bond. Dr. Cage is not to leave the state. He’s to continue practicing medicine, unless prevented by illness. He’s not to contact any member of the victim’s family. He may not consume alcohol or drugs, other than prescription drugs, and he cannot handle firearms.” Noyes looks from Shad to my father. “Is that clear, Dr. Cage?”

“Yes, Your Honor.”