California Fire And Life

119

Judge John Bickford gets an anonymous phone call at home, informing him that his years of devoted service to the plaintiff's bar have been duly noted. That an informant has in fact duly noted it to the California Attorney General's office, and that a story will appear in tomorrow's Orange County Register linking him to a murdered Paul Gordon and Paul Gordon to the Russian Mafia.

Bickford says goodbye to his wife and drives to a motel in Oceanside where he tranquilizes himself with twelve-year-old scotch and Valium and, in the small hours of the morning, slashes his wrists.

The newspaper story never appears.

Retired Justice Dennis Mallon gets a similar phone call and catches a flight to Mexico with a connection to Grand Cayman. He has a home there.

Dr. Benton Howard steps off a curb into an oncoming car. His injuries are so real that he dies of them.

Word hits the street by morning that Howard was an informant working with the Anti-ROC Task Force.