That made it easier.
“They’re drug dealers,” Bishop said during recorded interview.
“Who are they going to complain to?”
The investigator asked:
“And if they weren't dealers?”
Bishop looked down.
Silence.
The money financed more than personal spending.
Some paid confidential informants off-books.
Some paid officers.
Some paid courthouse contacts.
Some disappeared.
Holloway justified it as operational money.
Then personal money mixed with it.
The line vanished.
Fake warrants solved another problem.
Judges sometimes denied requests.
Probable cause weak.
Informant unreliable.
Location too broad.
Holloway hated delays.
So he built an alternate process.
Get a template.
Copy a signature.
Use old seals.
Tell officers the warrant was sealed.
If challenged, claim clerical error.
Most people never challenged.
Naomi’s case exposed the machinery.
But Holloway still had allies.
That became clear one week after the courtroom confrontation.
Naomi returned to work.
Against advice.
Her shoulder still bruised.
Her wrist had a faint yellow mark.
She wore her robe over it.
The first morning back, the courtroom gallery filled.
Reporters.
Attorneys.
Curious strangers.
Naomi entered.
Everyone stood.
She almost wished they would not.
She sat.
“Be seated.”
The room obeyed.
Then she looked across the gallery.
Phones.
Cameras.
People waiting for a speech.
She gave none.
“Call the first case.”
The clerk smiled.
“State versus Jackson.”
Normal work.
That was what Naomi wanted.
But normal did not last.
During the second hearing, her clerk received an email.
Anonymous.
Subject:
YOU SHOULD HAVE LET THEM TAKE YOU.
The clerk showed Naomi during recess.
Security traced it.
Public Wi-Fi.
No immediate identification.
That evening another message arrived.
HOLLOWAY IS NOT THE ONLY ONE.
Then:
STOP DIGGING.
Naomi stared at the screen.
She called state investigators.
They increased courthouse security.
Naomi hated it.
She hated escorts.
She hated cars waiting outside.
She hated the implication that her ordinary routine had become dangerous.
But she complied.
Two days later, another judge received a similar message.
Then a prosecutor.
Then a defense attorney who had filed challenges to Holloway warrants.
The intimidation widened.
Federal investigators entered because of suspected interstate financial activity and official corruption.
A joint task force formed.
Naomi became both judge and witness.
That role was uncomfortable.
She could not preside over related cases.