There had been an unusually long intermission, nearly two years, but now the curtain was going up again. Once more the Litchfield green was covered with snow, and new flakes drifted heavily down past the tall schoolroom windows. Inside, there were some changes. At the threshold of the courtroom, a sheriff stood guard by a metal detector that had been there ever since Judge Speziale got a death threat. It wasn’t connected with the Reilly case, but they had to take precautions. The call had come late at night. Mary Speziale had answered. “We’re going to blow your husband’s goddamn head off!” the caller had said, and hung up. A few minutes later, the phone rang again. It was the same voice. “And we’re going to do it tonight!” In the press row, Roger and George and Greg and Farn were replaced by other new young faces. Joe O’Brien was back, an entrenched courtroom veteran, and Charles Kochakian was back too. Beyond the bar rail, most of the principal players were onstage again.
