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could see me. He came in and said, “I just wanted to call on you, Madam Secretary, and express my gratification that this case is over. I just want to say that I have a very real feeling of having been fairly and honorably treated. I'm very grateful to you and to this country for having treated me so fairly in this matter.”

I said, “I'm glad to know that it's to your gratification. Of course, you understand that only the operation of justice brings these things out in this way. I hope all is well with you.”

He said it was. That was that. He never alluded to the fact, as you say, that I had been through such a trial over his case. Why should he? It would have been offensive if he'd done that. I had just done my duty. I was just a public official who had done her duty. It's very rarely that the people who are affected by your doing your duty take the trouble even to come in and say that it was a fair trial they had. Very few judges ever get a letter from the accused in a trial they presided over. They very rarely get a letter or a message saying, “You've treated me fairly. I've had a fair trial and I'm grateful.” That almost never happens. People, I suppose, assume their own innocence and they think it's just natural that it should come out