Library Notes
April 24, 2003
By Pansy Hundley, Librarian.
I journeyed to Oklahoma over Easter. You’re not surprised to hear that, are you?
This young man, Cheyenne, took his basket to "Mother’s Day Out" on that Thursday to hunt eggs with the other kids. I asked him if he’d found a lot of candy to put in it. He said yes and we looked at the candy bowl on the kitchen counter, where the stash lay, piled up all together.
He asked if he could have a piece of it and I told him we’d have to ask Mama. To which this two-year old replied "She’ll say no." Sure enough, when we went to ask, she said "No". He did, however, get candy later, after a meal, naturally. And, I have to admit that a package of "Smarties" was used for bribery purposes later.
Suzie, Cheyenne and I were motoring down the freeway on Saturday, when she mentioned that she had gotten the first speeding ticket the other day that she had gotten in years. She was going ten miles over the limit of about 45. The officer had written it for five miles over so that it would not go on her insurance. That five miles had cost her $80.00 and she had mailed a check.
When we got home that afternoon, Suzie stopped for her mail. There was a letter from some court, which she ripped open. What she found was the information that a warrant had been issued for her arrest because she had not paid her fine and it would cost her $163.00 more.
The last day to pay the fine was the 15th and the letter was mailed that day.
Needless to say, of course, no offices were open over the week-end, because Suzie tried to call. Again, needles to say, she drove very carefully on Sunday on the way to church and back.
We could just see her getting stopped for something and an officer arresting her on that warrant, dragging her off to jail, putting her in stripped clothes and there Cheyenne and I would be sitting, wondering what to do next. We could break her out, looking like the Apple Dumpling Gang (you know Tim Conway and Don Knotts). We could let her spend the night. We could just forget where we left her. None of those options sounded good. But, we made it there and back home, with no flashing lights following us.
Next morning, Monday, Suzie was on the phone at 8:00 AM, trying to rouse a human voice. She found one and told her story. The officer checked and told her that her check had been received on the 15th and the warrant had been cancelled.
It would have saved near heart failure if they had waited until a couple of days after the final day to start talking about warrants. They evidently did not bother to check the mail before they sent the letter out.
Now that my daughter has been rescued from becoming a near fugitive, on with the business at hand – books.
John Lescroart, that man that many of you have been reading for quite some time has just published a new one "The First Law" and I shall endeavor to give you some information about it.
"After recovering from a near-fatal gunshot wound, Lieut. Abe Glitsky is back at work with the San Francisco Police Department. But instead of returning to his old job as chief of the homicide detail, he’s assigned a desk job in payroll. Keeping tabs on overtime and paychecks, Glitsky has no business investigating murders – until his father’s closest friend is shot dead in a downtown pawnshop.
Prodded by his father, Glitsky asks the new homicide lieutenant about the case but the brass tells him in no uncertain terms to stay out of it. Guided by the Patrol Special – a private police force supervised by the SFPD that is a holdover from San Francisco’ vigilante past – the police have already targeted their prime suspect: John Holiday, proprietor of a run-down local bar, and a friend and client of Dismas Hardy.
While Dismas Hardy has built a solid legal practice and a happy family, John Holiday has not followed the same path. Despite this, Hardy has remained Holiday’s attorney and confidant, and, with Glitsky’s help, Hardy finds ample reason to question Holiday’s guilt. Hardy’s case falls on hostile ears, however, and to avoid arrest, Holiday turns fugitive. The police now believe three things: that Hardy is a liar protecting Holiday, that Holiday is a cold-blooded killer, and that Glitsky is a bad cop on the wrong side of the law.
As the suspense reaches fever pitch, Hardy, Glitsky and even their families are caught in the crossfire and directly threatened. The police won’t protect them. The justice system won’t defend them. Shunned within the corridors of power, and increasingly isolated at every turn, Hardy and Glitsky face their darkest hour. For when the law forsakes them, they must look to another, more primal law in order to survive."