JUSTICE REGAINED

“Vincent, what I am about to discuss with you is extremely sensitive and highly confidential and what I am going to propose to involve you in is illegal.  You are under no obligation to involve yourself and if you elect not to do so it will not affect our relationship whatsoever.  If you say no, all that I ask is that you forget that the conversation ever took place.”

“That goes without saying, sir.”

“Good enough.  Vincent, do you recall the conversation we had yesterday about that judge’s decision and your comment that someone had damn well better do something about it?” asked Peck.

“Yes sir.”

“Well, a couple of others and I are going to do something about it.  We are going to remove from our midst some of the most egregious members of our society, who violate the sensibilities of the vast majority of civilized society, and send a message to others who would use our institutions and laws to destroy this great country,” said Peck.  “I’m taking the lead on this and I need someone I can trust to make certain contacts and relay messages from time to time, so you would be intimately involved as a fellow conspirator, if you will, and if things go awry you would be vulnerable along with the rest of us.  That being said, I will give you some time to think about it and you can let me know if you are in,” said Peck.

“Sir, I don’t need time to think about this.  If I had the means and wherewithal to do it I would do it myself.  I would be proud to be a part of this and I thank you for your confidence,” said Vincent.

“You are absolutely sure?” asked Peck.

“Yes sir.  When do we get started?”

Peck removed a slip of paper from his pocket and handed it to Vincent.  “We are going to stay over here a couple of extra days.  On Monday morning, I want you to call this guy and set up a meeting with him for Tuesday afternoon.  If he agrees, I want you to call the second name on the list and arrange to meet with him on Tuesday morning.  The second guy on the list is a makeup artist and he will give you a different appearance.  You will never have sight contact with the first guy again but I don’t want him to be able to clearly identify you, just in case.  Don’t make the phone calls from here; find a pay phone and call from there.  Memorize the information and destroy the paper.  If everything goes as planned, here is what I want you to say to the first named man,” instructed Peck.

On Monday morning Vincent made the phone calls as instructed and the meetings were agreed to.  The makeup artist inquired as to what the gentlemen was looking for and Vincent replied that he needed a different appearance for temporary purposes and would discuss further at their appointment.

On Tuesday morning Vincent arrived at the makeup artist’s address at ten AM.  It was a nondescript, hole-in-the-wall space on the fringe of the business district of Washington, D.C.  A bell tinkled as he entered the room and immediately a man came from the rear to meet him.  “Good morning, sir.  I assume that you are the gentleman who called yesterday.”

“That is correct.”

“I believe you said yesterday that you required a different look for a short period of time.  Is that correct?”

“Yes, I’ll leave it to you.”

“If you will come with me, we’ll get started.”

They entered a back room and Vincent was directed to a barbershop style chair.  The makeup man began immediately and by noon he handed Vincent a mirror for his appraisal.  Vincent could not believe that he was looking at himself.  His face seemed to have a different shape, his eye color was different, and his hair had been restyled and dyed.

“You do good work.  My own mother wouldn’t know me,” offered Vincent.  “I believe that one thousand dollars was mentioned yesterday.”

“That is correct, sir.”

Vincent counted out twelve one hundred dollar bills and handed them to the man.  “A tip for your excellent service,” he said.

The man removed some bottles from the shelf and handed them to Vincent with the instructions, “Your new look will last up to forty eight hours, barring rain or baths.  These items will remove your look at will; just follow the instructions”

“Thanks again.  Good day.”

Vincent had a couple of hours to kill before his next appointment so he decided to grab some lunch and let the world see his new look.  Vincent was a striking figure of a man.  At six foot three inches and two hundred and ten pounds, which he maintained by working out a minimum of three time a week, he was use to admiring looks from the ladies but was unaffected by it.  With his new look, including a new hair style, blue eyes and a salt and pepper sprinkling of color on his temples he was getting even more attention from the ladies.  As he ate his lunch he noticed on more one than one occasions that when he looked up there were one or more ladies looking at him and smiling.  He returned their smiles and was inwardly amused by the whole thing.  After lunch he made his way to his next appointment near the center of town, arriving at the building a few minutes early.

 Upon entering the office marked O’Neal Associates he was greeted by a pleasant lady and upon advising her that he had a two o’clock appointment, she told him th