Heretics book 3 - The Apocryphile Press

THE KINGDOM :: 133
“It’s pretty damning stuff, Tom,” Mellert said, though he
didn’t need to say it. It was painfully obvious.
“Yes. Yes it is.” Tom wiped his forehead with his sleeve.
“What...what do you plan to do with this?”
Mellert scowled at him. “That’s a very good question.
Bishop Hammet would be chomping at the bit to get hold of
these,” he said. “It would prove his case.”
“I’m not sure it proves anything,” Tom noted.
“It might be all he needs to stack the deck in his favor,
though,” Mellert said. “But that’s not my problem. My problem
is, what do I do with these?”
Tom’s head was spinning. “You can’t give them to
Hammet! Aaron, promise me you’re not even considering
that!”
“Why not? I don’t have a stake in this one way or the
other. It is the business of the House of Bishops to weigh the
evidence and make decisions. How can we do that if I deliberately
withhold evidence? And why shouldn’t Hammet have
it for his arguments? For that matter, isn’t it equally fair that
I give you fair warning, like I’m doing now?”
“You haven’t already shown this to Hammet!?”
“No. But should I? That’s the question.” Mellert looked at
his shoes and brooded. “What do you think I should do,
Tom?”
Tom chewed on his lip and willed himself to relax. “First
of all, these pictures don’t actually prove anything. They are
circumstantial, and nothing more.”
“And the documents?”
“They don’t prove any of Hammet’s charges, either.”
“So?”
“So, they’re not relevant. I think you should shred them.”
Mellert’s brow furrowed. “I doubt Casey Hammet would
see it that way.”
“I’m sure you’re right about that.” He looked Mellert in
the eye. “What are you going to do?”