"Because you're speaking to Judge Daniel Whitmore."
The room went completely silent.
Marcus's face changed.
The stranger slowly stood.
He straightened his jacket.
Then he looked at the bailiff.
"You were doing your job."
Marcus swallowed.
"Judge?"
Whitmore nodded.
"Yes."
"I didn't recognize you."
"I noticed."
A few people in the gallery exchanged nervous looks.
But the judge didn't appear angry.
That made the situation even more uncomfortable.
He picked up the morning docket.
"Let's begin."
Nobody knew that the strange misunderstanding was only the first piece of a much larger problem.
Because Judge Whitmore had not arrived early that morning to surprise his staff.
He had come to the courthouse because someone had tried to erase his name from the court's most important case.
And the person responsible was sitting somewhere inside the building.
The morning docket contained twelve cases.
The first was a traffic violation.
The second involved a landlord and tenant.
The third concerned a disputed inheritance.
The fourth was a juvenile hearing.
The fifth was the case that had brought Whitmore to the courthouse before sunrise.
Case 24-CV-1187.
The State of Franklin versus Meridian Development Group.
Officially, it was a property dispute.