The Golem's Eye

Kitty outlined her side of events. She began awkwardly, but warmed to her theme, going into as much detail as she could. The court listened in silence, including the judge, who stared at her impassively over her spectacles. The clerks tapped away at their keyboards.
    She concluded with an impassioned description of Jakob's condition under the spell of the Black Tumbler. As she finished, a heavy silence filled the courtroom. Someone somewhere coughed. During the speech, it had begun to rain outside. Drops tapped gently at the windows; the light in the room was watery and smudged.
     
    The judge sat back in her chair. "Clerks of the Court, do you have all that down?"
    One of the three men in black raised his head. "We do, ma'am."
    "Very well." The judge frowned, as if dissatisfied. "In the absence of Mr. Tallow, I must reluctantly accept this version of events. The verdict of the court—"
    A sudden ferocious knocking sounded on the courtroom door. Kitty's heart, which had leaped sky-high at the judge's words, descended to her boots in a heap of foreboding. The young man in the green cap sprang across to open the door; as he did so, he was almost bowled off his feet by the muscular entrance of Julius Tallow. Dressed in a gray suit with thin pink pinstripes and with his chin thrust forward, he strode across to the vacant chair and sat decisively upon it.
    Kitty gazed at him with loathing. He returned the look with a veiled smirk and turned to face the judge.
    "Mr. Tallow, I assume," she said.
    "Indeed, ma'am." His eyes were downcast. "I humbly—"
    "You're late, Mr. Tallow."
    "Yes ma'am. I humbly extend my apologies to the Court. I was kept busy at the Ministry of Internal Affairs this morning, ma'am. Emergency situation—small matter of three bull-headed foliots loose in Wapping. Possible terrorist action. I had to help brief the Night Police on the best methods for dealing with 'em, ma'am." He adopted an expansive posture, winked at the crowd. "A pile of fruit, lathered with honey—that's what does the trick. The sweetness draws them near, you see, then—"
    The judge banged her gavel down upon the bench. "If you don't mind, Mr. Tallow, that is quite beside the point! Punctuality is vital for the smooth running of justice. I find you guilty of contempt of court and hereby fine you five hundred pounds."
    He hung his head, the picture of bulky contrition. "Yes, ma'am."
    "However..." The judge's voice lightened somewhat. "You have arrived just in time to state your side of the matter. We have heard Miss Jones's version already. You know the charges. How do you respond?"
    "Not guilty, ma'am!" He was suddenly bolt upright again, swelling with aggressive confidence. The pinstripes on his chest expanded like plucked harp strings. "I'm sorry to say, ma'am, that I have to recount an incident of almost incredible savagery, in which two thugs—including, I am sorry to say, that prim young madam sitting yonder—waylaid my car with intent to rob and injure. It was only pure chance that, with the power I am fortunate enough to wield, I was able to fend them off and make good my escape."
    He continued to develop his lie for almost twenty minutes, providing harrowing accounts of the chilling threats made by his two assailants. Frequently he di gressed into little anecdotes that reminded the court of his important role in government. Kitty sat white-faced with fury throughout, clenching her fingernails into her palms. Once or twice she noticed the judge shake her head at some unpleasant detail; two of the clerks were heard to gasp in outrage when Mr. Tallow described the cricket ball hitting his windscreen, and the spectators in the gallery oohed and aahed with increasing regularity. She could tell which way the case was going.
    At last, when with sickening self-effacement Mr. Tallow described how he had ordered the Black Tumbler to be fired only at the ringleader—Jakob—through his desire to keep casualties to a minimum, Kitty could no longer restrain herself.
    "That's another lie!" she cried. "It came straight at me, too!"
    The judge rapped the bench with her gavel. "Order in the Court!"
    "But it's so obviously untrue!" Kitty said. "We were standing together. The monkey-thing fired at us both, as Tallow ordered. I was knocked out by it. The ambulance took me to hospital."
    "Silence, Miss Jones!"
    Kitty subsided. "I'm... sorry, ma'am."
    "Mr. Tallow, if you would be so good as to continue?"
    The magician wound it up soon