Alex

Alex’s late encounters with Judy Manitow turn observation into confrontation: he first watches her conduct court from the back row, then tells her that a witness placed her at the motel with Joanne Doss. His final explanation—that Joanne wanted Judy to see her last chance at apology—makes him the messenger of a truth Judy would rather not discuss.

Identity and Point of View

Alex narrates these scenes in the first person, but their focus is not self-description. He registers the room, Judy’s reactions, and what he can establish about her presence at the motel. The evidence here presents him chiefly through his choices: he arrives at court dressed for the occasion, waits until Judy notices him, and later states plainly what a witness saw.

At Judy’s Courtroom

Dressed in his best blue suit, a blue-and-white-striped shirt, a yellow-print tie, and shiny shoes, Alex enters Division 12. Family sessions are often closed, with witnesses kept in the corridor, but Judy is hearing motions in an open session. She schedules hearings and banters with her bailiff, Leonard Stickney, who recognizes Alex. Sitting alone in the back row, Alex receives a small salute from Leonard before Judy sees him.

Judy’s eyes widen. Seated behind the bench in her black robe, she turns away and resumes business, directing the attorneys to act within thirty days. Alex’s unobtrusive arrival interrupts her composure for a moment, but she answers it by returning to the formal routine of the court. He does not interrupt the proceedings; he watches from the only spectator’s seat in use.

Confrontation and Joanne’s Apology

Later, Alex tells Judy directly that she was at the motel with Joanne. He explains that someone saw her there and described her, though the witness did not know her identity. The description Alex relays is specific: a skinny woman with short yellow hair, seen from behind as she got into a car while the witness went out to fill the ice machine. What had been an uncertain identification becomes a direct accusation grounded in that account.

Judy tries to smile, but her expression twists into a peevish look; she asks whether this is a riddle. Alex presses past that evasion to explain what Joanne intended. He tells Judy that Joanne wanted her to see her last chance at apology. Judy responds that Joanne finally did something right, then draws a finger across her lips and orders Alex to leave. His role in the exchange is not simply to expose Judy’s presence at the motel: he also insists on the meaning Joanne attached to it, even as Judy refuses further conversation.