"Well, no," Toffee admitted, "but I'm an interested party. I want to
see that you get fair treatment."
"Couldn't you just stay out of it?" Marc pleaded. "Couldn't I just
handle this myself?"
"Nonsense," Toffee said. "You need me. Come on, the old gaffer's
beginning to look apoplectic again."
"Oh, all right," Marc sighed. Getting up he followed Toffee to a
position before the bench. The judge glowered down at them critically.
"So glad you finally found you could come," he said.
"Thank you," Toffee beamed. "It's nice of you to have us."
The gavel barked irritably. There was silence until the judge's
eyebrows ceased to twitch.
"What are you doing here?" the judge enquired with forced composure.
"Who called you forward?"
"Lots of people have called me forward," Toffee said, "but that's just
talk, judge. I'm just impulsive."
"Silence!" the judge said. "Good God, girl, no one asked you for any
sordid confessions. I just want to know what you're doing here?"
Toffee nodded toward Marc. "I'm with him," she said.
"Then he's the man who was with you in the green sedan?"
"Oh, no." Toffee shook her head. "He's the other one."
The judge blanched. "The other one?" he asked apprehensively.
Toffee nodded. "They're exactly alike. Only this one is nicer. That's
why I switched."
The judge raised his gavel warningly, and turned to Marc. "Are you
twins, sir?"
Marc opened his mouth to speak, but before he could George's voice
sounded immediately behind him.
"Do I look like twins, you thick-headed joker?" the voice asked. "And
if you must drink in the morning, for Godsake lay off the cheap stuff
so you don't see double. I always heard justice was blind but I didn't
know it was blind drunk."
* * * * *
There was an ominous silence in the court as the judge raked Marc with
a glance of pure loathing. "Are you deliberately in contempt of court?"
he asked.
Again Marc started to speak and again the voice beat him to it. "In
it?" it said. "I'm fairly swimming in high octane contempt."
The blonde who had been watching these proceedings with growing
agitation suddenly sprang from her chair. "That's him!" she yelled
hysterically. "I'm positive!"
"Be quiet, you!" the judge barked. "I've had enough out of you!"
"But he pinched me!" the blonde cried.
"You're lucky that's all he did," the judge snapped.
"But you don't know where!"
The judge eyed her distantly. "With that lumpy figure of yours," he
said, "it could scarcely matter. Now, shut up." He turned back to Marc.
"I understand you've been making libelous remarks against Congressman
Entwerp."
Marc looked around hopelessly, afraid to open his mouth lest George
would take over again. He compressed his lips into a thin line.
"Speak up, man!"
Marc looked up unhappily. "I--I--," he murmured fearfully.
"What's the matter with you?" the judge asked. "Let's hear your
accusations against my good friend the congressman."
"The congressman?" Marc ventured, then brightened as he noticed there
was no interference from George. "Oh, yes. The congressman must be
imprisoned at once, your honor. He's a national menace. He instigated a
propaganda program to dope the public against the threat of the foreign
powers. But worst of all, he has enough bacteria culture to murder the
entire population."
"And what's more," Toffee broke in, "he pinched my gadget."