"The kind that takes what's mine. Jeez. You whiny liberals are all alike." The man glared at him, his face contorted in a menacing sneer.
Gina Heuff pushed into the standoff. "In what way, sir? I'm genuinely curious."
"Are you trying to prove my point by being all cold and logical, lady? Look. I'm emotionally invested in the things I value --- my God, my family, and my country. And you seem to think you can get all up in my face and argue me out of it? What the hell planet are you from, anyway?"
"We really do want to discuss this," Katzmarek said, trying unconvincingly to put some emotion into his voice. "For example, how did you learn about the health care reform proposal that Congressman Woburn is in there talking about?"
"How the hell do you think? I watch the news. Those guys are paid to spend the time I don't have figuring it out."
"And you trust them?" Gina said.
* * *
"Here's that book you wanted," Bernard Katzmarek said as he pulled the paperback out of his case.
Corwin Farragut looked a bit rough around the edges. His eyes were dark from a lack of sleep, and he squinted against the bright lights in the interview room. "Thanks," he said, riffling the pages with his thumb. "So, have you gotten any of the meltdown mob to recant and take ownership of their blasphemy?"
"No, but I did speak with someone who actually had what you might call a good trip that day."
"Oh?"
"Yeah, a blogger by the name of Gina Heuff. Fascinating person, by the way. She's firmly convinced that there weren't any drugs involved. In fact, to hear her tell it, you were railroaded to cover up a mass religious experience that everyone but the Mormons was afraid would damage their credibility."
"Ah, here it is," Farragut said, holding the open book out to Katzmarek, "'Through the Gates of the Silver Key.'"
"I read it on the train ride over. The whole sequence of Randolph Carter stories, in fact. Miss Heuff says that Carter's loss of individuality can be taken as either a horror story or a journey of enlightenment, depending on your point of view. So I've been wondering. Which is it for you?"
"She what? Come on. Lovecraft was a horrormeister, pure and simple. And this blogger thinks he's some kind of guru? Are you sure you want to involve a wacko like that in my defense?"
"Look. If I can convince the judge that her claims have merit, that there is another explanation for what happened, I think we can at least get your sentence reduced, if not vacated entirely."
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