Page 72 of Benjamin and the Thief

“On it,” Nicholas confirmed as his fingers flew over the keyboard, typing in the search.

It took only a few seconds before several hits came back. Nicholas tapped on the links one by one so they could read the underlying information.

“That’s all related to the trial,” Nicholas said. “It’s no surprise that their names come up in the same context. That doesn’t prove anything.”

Again, he thought back to the night of the party. Judge Norton had been the guest, whose plus-one had canceled. He remembered now why.

“The migraine, that’s it,” he murmured to himself.

“What migraine?”

“At the party, the judge said that his wife Sandra couldn’t come because of a migraine, and Elizabeth Preston mentioned that Sandra had had those migraines ever since college. She would only know that if⁠—”

“—if they went to college together,” Nicholas completed his sentence.

“Exactly. Find out what their maiden names were.”

A few more searches on the internet, and they had the maiden names of Elizabeth and Sandra.

“Now check what you can find on their connection,” he demanded.

The hits were plentiful.

“They were sorority sisters,” Nicholas said, pointing to the monitor. “After college they stayed close. Here’s the wedding picture of James and Elizabeth Preston.”

Benjamin leaned in and looked at the photo. He read the description below it, which listed the members of the bridal party.

“Sandra was one of the bridesmaids,” he noted.

“Yes,” Nicholas added. “They go way back. Look at this.” He tapped on another link. “That looks like a vacation photo of the Prestons, and that’s Sandra again. This time with a man by her side. I don’t know about you, but that looks like a young Judge Norton.”

Benjamin nodded. The resemblance was uncanny. “That’s him. You’d only go on vacation with people you consider your friends.”

“Absolutely. And they look tight.”

“They definitely do. And as a close friend of the Prestons, Judge Norton should have recused himself from this case.”

“If he was an ethical kind of guy, yeah, he should have,” Nicholas agreed.

Benjamin pointed back at the picture of Judge Norton. “That was their plan B. They had the judge in their pocket in case something went wrong at the trial. He had influence on what kind of evidence to allow or not allow. He could overrule any objections by the defense.”

“Looks like an unfair advantage to me. At a minimum, he should face ethics charges,” Nicholas suggested.

“You wanna bet that he knew that the security video was a deepfake?”

“I’d put money on that.”

“As soon as we nail the Prestons, he’s going down too.”

“I’ll put together all the info we have so we can present it to the D.A.,” Nicholas offered.

“Thanks. I’ve gotta speak to Catalina. Call me if you find anything else.”

“Will do.”

Benjamin hurried out the door and headed for the elevator to the parking garage. He pulled out his cell phone and tapped on Anita’s number.

She replied instantly, sounding slightly annoyed. “It’s five in the morning. The judge isn’t in yet.”