To get on Emily’s list, Judge Barnes dismissed the only juror who believed David Clarke may have been innocent during his trial. The courtroom clerk, James Palmer, knew the judge did so because of his ties to the Graysons. Emily believes the clerk wrote an unsigned letter to her father letting him know of the conspiracy. Palmer ended up dead a few days later.

He and his wife, Patricia, are spending the weekend at Grayson Manor before an annual benefit. A couple of days before the benefit, Judge Barnes and Patricia attend a dinner party at Grayson Manor with Emily in attendance. The conversation is very mundane at first, but the Judge and his wife both become very uneasy when Emily mentions that a Mr. James Palmer was her law professor. The atmosphere continues to go downhill when the David Clarke trial comes up in conversation. Patricia excuses herself from the table.

Patricia was also friends with James Palmer. Emily now believes she wrote the unsigned letter to David about the conspiracy. After James was killed, she was likely afraid of suffering the wrath of her husband judge if she said anything.

The judge’s wife is clearly injured and Emily knows it’s because she’s been beaten by her husband. She informs Patricia that the letter she wrote gave to a young Amanda Clarke granted the young girl the hope she needed to survive. When the time comes for the speeches, Patricia bravely steps out of her husband’s shadow to expose his past and present evildoings. She shows the audience the bruises all across her body to prove her point. Judge Barnes is publically humiliated and won’t be presiding over the Supreme Court after all.