Judge, Jury, & Executioner

Chapter 3

Freshly mopped floors. Emptied trash cans. Spotless Windows. Smearless walls.

Nothing like an OCD person to notice these things.

Noah had suffered from it since he was ten. It started when he kept straightening his sleeves and pants. Then, he'd find himself straightening his clothes in his drawers. He'd ensure all his suits were hung up perfectly straight from school. Never once got a stain on his pants. He always kept his room neat. Everything had a place.

Everything had a place.

That was his motto. The only thing that mattered. Once you found a place for something that was where it remained. Nothing else could interfere with it.

His parents had always felt his OCD was a figure of his own imagination. The doctors always said there was nothing they could do, so his parents felt he was faking it. Noah only wished he was. Some nights he couldn't go to sleep because the blankets weren't straight enough. Or a picture in his room wouldn't hang straight.

Not to mention the squeaking fans and doors he had to listen to all night. His room was across from his sisters as a kid, and her door squeaked when she would sneak out of her room to steal cookies from the kitchen. While she always shared with Noah, he couldn't stand the sound her door would make.

He'd always keep quiet about it though. He didn't want to bother her. While he may have been her younger and annoying brother, she always took care of him. His father had never been the most caring individual. Noah remembered him coming home late, yelling at them or their mom, and then storming off to his bedroom.

Noah always feared the day he'd come back. The day he'd ruin their lives for the last time. Someone's shoes screeched on the wood floors. He shook his head and turned his headphones down. The hallway was empty. Not to mention completely spotless. Other than the shoe scuffs the over weight man had left on his way to court.

He checked his phone and saw the time. 10:40. Noah stood up from the bench and walked to the bathroom. The only room that didn't have cameras. For some reason they felt it was inappropriate for cameras to be inside. He checked the four bathroom stalls and then chose the one on the farthest side.

People rarely walked to the end of the bathroom stalls to use one. They'd stop in the middle or the first one that was open. The last one was usually the one least used. He pulled out a towel and then sprayed it with Lysol from his backpack. Wiping down the stall, and toilet, he then threw the towel away and sat down on the toilet seat.

While his OCD was bothering him as he noticed the stall door hinge was partially rusted and pieces chipped and fell to the floor. He forced himself to ignore it and then he pulled his laptop out of his bag. It's amazing what a fake ID and distracted guard can do. As he turned it on, he heard the door open and then footsteps.

Whoever it was started talking about getting caught and then there was silence. Noah peeked over the door and then he saw two men checking the door. One of them looked toward the stalls and Noah ducked down.

"Your talking about rigging a court case. That's an extremely punishable crime." The shorter man said of the two.

"Yeah, but at least we'd both win."

Noah turned his headphones up and began hacking the court rooms security cameras. He pulled up the footage of the court case he was going to be . . . intervening with. The twelve jurors. It didn't take them too long to pick their jurors. So they'd probably start with opening statements. After that, they'd probably pause for the day and then resume tomorrow.

Noah was going to ensure they didn't resume at all. He checked for wifi signals coming from the jurors phones and clicked on the one he wanted. Forwarding the number, he then pulled up the names of all the man's recent calls. The man's name was apparently Theodore Whitty. Funny name.

Whitty had an ex-wife, three kids. Two of which were girls. The youngest was a boy. Noah scanned through his bank account and recent withdrawals. (It's amazing how easily it is to get into someone's accounts when they leave the password in their phone notes.)

Noah received a text and then he typed out the demands. Adding a descriptive threat to ensure Mr. Whitty cooperated, Noah set the text to send in two hours. By that time, the court case would be paused and everyone would go grab a snack before leaving. Then, Whitty could receive the text and not be noticed.

He placed his laptop back into his bag and stood up. The two men left and he heard the door close. Noah opened it and walked out. Checking around the bathroom, he left. Taking a seat at the bench he was at before, he pulled out his phone and waited. He'd get a text soon saying the message was delivered.

Until then, he had to wait.