The docket thickened by the end of the week.
Names reappeared with uncomfortable familiarity. Charges escalated in small increments—petty theft to assault, disorder to aggravated harm. Nothing dramatic. Nothing theatrical. Just recurrence.
Harrow observed it without remark.
The first case that morning involved a warehouse laborer who had struck his foreman with a shovel after being dismissed. The man stood rigid in the dock, jaw set, hands swollen.
"You struck him," Harrow said.
"Yes, sir."
"For what reason?"
"He withheld wages."
"And you chose to answer that grievance with violence."
The man hesitated. "I was wrong."
Harrow's expression did not change.
"You have been before this court twice in the last eighteen months," he said, consulting the record. "Both times discharged."
The man said nothing.
Harrow set the paper down.
"Three months' confinement. Hard labor."
The gavel fell once.
The next defendant admitted to theft before the charge was fully read. A woman accused of fraud began her statement with, "I confess."
Harrow did not correct the language.
He did not encourage it either.
He simply recorded it.
By midday, Whitcombe entered with additional files.
"As requested, sir."
Harrow opened the first.
Prior assault dismissed for lack of witness.
Second charge reduced.
Early release granted for compliance.
He turned to the next.
The pattern was consistent. Minor concessions accumulating into return appearances.
Whitcombe shifted where he stood.
"Sir," he began cautiously, "there has been discussion among the clerks."
"Of what nature?"
"That sentences appear… heavier."
Harrow did not look up.
"They correspond to prior conduct."
"Yes, sir."
Whitcombe hesitated. "Some say resentment may follow."
Harrow closed the file.
"Resentment is not within the jurisdiction of this court," he said.
Whitcombe inclined his head and withdrew.
Harrow remained seated.
He reviewed the records again, slower this time.
Repeat offenses did not occur in isolation. They followed discharge. Reduction. Leniency.
He drew a clean sheet of paper toward him.
Recommendation: Increased sentencing thresholds for habitual violent offenders. Reduction of discretionary early release. Mandatory declaration of prior record during sentencing.
The pen moved steadily.
No flourish.
No rhetoric.
When he finished, he sanded the page and set it aside to dry.
Through the window, the city continued its ordinary motion. Carriages passed. Vendors called. Nothing suggested disorder.
Yet the files on his desk suggested something else.
Not upheaval.
Recurrence.
He stacked the records neatly and rang for Whitcombe.
"See that this is delivered."
"Yes, sir."
When the clerk left, Harrow adjusted the alignment of the papers one final time before rising.
Court resumed within the hour.
The gallery was fuller again.
He took his seat without comment.
"Next case," he said.
The proceedings continued.
And he did not soften a single sentence.