However, it also had to be something I could check. I didn't want to try it out on an innocent party, or even an animal. I debated trying something on myself, but what if the change altered reality in a way that was irreversible, such as by disappearing the notebook? No, better to try it out on someone who had earned punishment.
I shuffled through my files. I was not going to turn another client into a creature, but maybe I could try something else. That one looked good. Laurie Travertine. This was her and her husband's third time up on child abuse charges. God only knows why the judge gave them back their kids twice before, but this time one child was in the hospital. Would they end up in jail this time? Doubtful. Evidence was circumstantial and they claimed the kids were accident-prone. Besides, they didn't look the "type." Disgusting as it was, that went a long way with judges and juries. And my supervisor and I had to defend them. But I knew they were guilty.
Clients say a lot to their lawyers that the lawyers can't repeat, as long as they're not a party to a crime and the client does not lie under oath. Confidentiality. Which, in principle, was a good thing. It sucked when your clients were scumbags, though. I picked up my pen and opened the notebook.
"Tonight, Laurie Travertine's hair will turn completely white and she will confess the truth about the crimes with which she is charged to the corrections officer on her floor, who will relay the conversation to the prosecutor tomorrow morning."
The confession bit was just an afterthought to make it easier for me to have access to Travertine. Naturally, if the client made a confession, their attorney would need to meet with them to go over how that would alter the case against them. I just wanted an immediate reason for my supervisor and I to meet with her so I could check if her dark brunette hair actually changed.
"God told me that I must confess my sins if I wished for absolution," Travertine smiled peacefully as she sat across the table from us in the visiting room two days later, her hair shock white. "I am at peace with whatever God's will may be for me."
As nauseated as I was at her words, my eyes could not help being drawn repeatedly to her hair. The notebook had worked, and it had even influenced Travertine to the point where she did not deny her confession. Of course, just a confession did not guarantee commensurate punishment, but I could consider any further action later. The point was, it worked.
That night, I sat at my desk and flipped through the notebook, considering my future actions. That was when I saw a second statement in the notebook had become legible.
"This note will not take effect unless the writer has the specific change to reality in mind when writing the alterations. Therefore, unrelated elements of the reality will not be affected."