Grisham, John - The Client

by The Client [lit]

  She pushed a button. "Now, what's up?"

  "Where's your client?" Foltrigg asked. He leaned forward and it was clear he would do all the talking.

  "At the hospital. The doctor wants him to stay in the room near his brother."

  "When can we talk to him?"

  "You're assuming that you will in fact talk to him." She looked at Foltrigg with very confident eyes.

  Her hair was gray and cut like a boy's. The face was quite colorful. The eyebrows were dark. The lips were soft red and meticulously painted. The skin was smooth and free of heavy makeup. It was a pretty face, with bangs, and eyes that glowed with a calm steadiness. Foltrigg looked at her, and thought of all the misery and suffering she'd seen. She covered it well.

  McThune opened a file and flipped through it. In the past two hours they had assembled a two-inch-thick dossier on Reggie Love, aka Regina L. Cardoni. They had copied the divorce papers and commitment proceedings from the clerk's office in the county courthouse. The mortgage papers and land records on her mother's home were in the folder. Two Memphis agents were attempting to obtain her law school transcripts.

  Foltrigg loved the trash. Whatever the case and whoever the opponent, Foltrigg always wanted the dirt. McThune read the sordid legal history of the divorce with its allegations of adultery and alcohol and dope and unfitness and, ultimately, the attempted suicide. He read it carefully, though, without being seen. He did not, under any circumstances, want to make this woman angry.

  "We need to talk to your client, Ms. Love."

  "It's Reggie. Okay, Roy?"

  "Whatever. We think he knows something, plain and simple."

  "Such as?"

  "Well, we're convinced little Mark was in the car with Jerome Clifford prior to his death. We think he spent more than a few seconds with him. Clifford was obviously planning to kill himself, and we have reason to believe he wanted to tell someone where his client, Mr. Muldanno, had disposed of the body of Senator Boyette."

  "What makes you think he wanted to tell?"

  "It's a long story, but he had contacted an assistant in my office on two occasions and hinted that he might be willing to cut some deal and get out. He was scared. And he was drinking a lot. Very erratic behavior. He was sliding off the deep end, and wanted to talk."

  "Why do you think he talked to my client?"

  "There's just a chance, okay. And we must look under every stone. Surely you understand."

  "I sense a bit of desperation."

  "A lot of desperation, Reggie. I'm leveling with you. We know who killed the senator, but, frankly, I'm not ready for trial without a corpse." He paused and smiled warmly at her. Despite his many obnoxious flaws, Roy had spent hours before juries and he knew how and when to act sincere.

  And she'd spent many hours in therapy, and she could spot a fake. "I'm not telling you that you cannot talk to Mark Sway. You cannot talk to him today, but maybe tomorrow. Maybe the next day. Things are moving fast. Mr. Clifford's body is still warm. Let's slow down a bit, and take it one step at a. time. Okay?"

  "Okay."

  "Now, convince me Mark Sway was in the car with Jerome Clifford prior to the shooting."

  No problem. Foltrigg looked at a notepad, and reeled off the many places where fingerprints were matched. Rear taillights, trunk, front passenger door handle and lock switch, dash, gun, bottle of Jack Daniel's. There was a tentative match on the hose, but it was not definite. They were working on it. Foltrigg was the prosecutor now, building a case with indisputable evidence. . . .

  Reggie took pages of notes. She knew Mark had been in the car, but she had no idea he'd left such a wide trail.

  "The whiskey bottle?" she asked.

  Foltrigg flipped a page for the details. "Yes, three definite prints. No question about it."

  Mark had told her, about the gun, but not about the bottle. "Seems a bit strange, doesn't it?"

  "It's all strange at this point. The police officers who talked to him do not recall smelling alcohol, so I don't think he drank any of it. I'm sure he could explain it, you know, if only we could talk to him."

  "I'll ask him."

  "So he didn't tell you about the bottle?"

  "No."

  "Did he explain the gun?"

  "I cannot divulge what my client has explained to me."

  Foltrigg waited desperately for a hint, and this really angered him. Trumann likewise waited breathlessly. McThune stopped reading the report of a court-appointed psychiatrist.

  "So he hasn't told you everything?" Foltrigg asked.

  "He's told me a lot. It's possible he missed some of the details."

  "These details could be crucial."

  "I'll determine what's crucial and what's not. What else do you have?"

  "Hand her the note," Foltrigg instructed Trumann, who produced it from a file and handed it to her. She read it slowly, then read it again. Mark had not mentioned the note.

  "Obviously two different pens," Foltrigg explained. "We found the blue one in the car, a cheap Bic, out of ink. Just speculating, it looks as though Clifford tried to add something after Mark left the car. The word 'where' seems to indicate the boy was gone. It's obvious they talked, exchanged names, and that the kid was in the car long enough to touch everything."

  "No prints on this?" she asked, waving the note.

  "None. We've checked it thoroughly. The kid did not touch it."

  She calmly placed it next to her legal pad and folded her hands together. "Well, Roy, I think the big question is, How did you guys match his fingerprints? How did you obtain one of his to match with the ones in the car?" She asked this with the same confident sneer Trumann and McThune had seen when she produced the tape less than four hours ago.

  "Very simple. We lifted one off a soft drink can at the hospital last night."

  "Did you ask either Mark Sway or his mother before doing so?"

  "No."

  "So you invaded the privacy of an eleven-year-old child."

  "No. We are trying to obtain evidence."

  "Evidence? Evidence for what? Not for a crime, I dare say. The crime has been committed and the body has been disposed of. You just can't find it. What other crime do we have here? Suicide? Watching a suicide?"

  "Did he watch the suicide?"

  "I can't tell you what he did or saw because he has confided in me as his lawyer. Our talks are privileged,

  you know that, Roy. What else have you taken from this child?"

  "Nothing."

  She snorted as if she didn't believe this. "What else do you have?"

  "This is not enough?"

  "I want it all."

  Foltrigg flipped pages back and forth and did a slow burn. "You've seen the puffy left eye and the knot on his forehead. The police said there was a trace of blood on his lip when they found him at the scene. Clifford's autopsy revealed a spot of blood on the back of his right hand, and it's not his type."

  "Let me guess. It's Mark's."

  "Probably so. Same blood type."

  "How do you know his blood type?"

  Foltrigg dropped the legal pad and rubbed his face. The most effective defense lawyers are those who keep the fighting away from the issues. They bitch and throw rocks over the tiny subplots of a case and hope the prosecution and the jury are diverted away from the obvious guilt of their clients. If there's something to hide, then scream at the other guy for violating technicalities. Right now they should be nailing down the facts of what, if anything, Clifford said to Mark. It should be so simple. But now the kid had a lawyer, and here they were trying to explain how they obtained certain crucial information. There was nothing wrong with lifting prints from a can without asking. Good police work. But from the mouth of a defense lawyer, it's suddenly a vicious invasion of privacy. Next she 'would threaten a lawsuit. And now, the blood.

  She was good. He found it difficult to believe she'd been practicing only four years.

  "From his brother's hospital admission records."

&n
bsp; "And how did you obtain the hospital records?",

  "We have ways."

  Trumann braced for a reprimand. McThune hid behind the file. They had been burned by this temper. She'd made them stutter and stammer and sweat blood, and now it was time for old Roy to take a few punches. It was almost funny.

  But she kept her cool. She slowly extended a skinny finger with white nail polish and pointed it at Roy.

  "If you get near my client again and attempt to obtain anything from him without my permission, I'll sue you and the FBI. I'll file an ethics complaint with the state bar in Louisiana and Tennessee, and I'll haul your ass into Juvenile Court here and ask the judge to lock you up."

  The words were spoken in an even voice, no emotion, but so matter-of-factly that everyone in the room, including Roy Foltrigg, knew that she would do exactly as she promised.

  He smiled and nodded.

  "Fine. Sorry if we've gotten a bit out of line. But we're anxious, and we must talk to your client."

  "Have you told me everything you know about Mark?"

  Foltrigg and Trumann checked their notes. "Yes, I think so."

  "What's that?" she insisted, pointing to the file McThune was lost in. He was reading about her suicide attempt, by pills, and it was alleged in the pleadings, sworn under oath, that she'd been in a coma for four days before pulling out. Evidently, her ex-husband, Dr. Cardoni, a real piece of scum according to the pleadings, was a nasty sort with all the money and lawyers, and as soon as Regina/Reggie here took the pills he ran to court with a pile ot motions to get the kids. Looking at the dates stamped on the papers, it was obvious the good doctor was filing requests and asking for hearings while she was lost in a coma and fighting for her life.

  McThune didn't panic. He looked at her innocently and said, "Just some of our internal stuff." It was not a lie, because he was afraid to lie to her. She had the tape, and had sworn them to truthfulness.

  "About my client?"

  "Oh no."

  She studied her legal pad. "Let's meet again tomorrow," she said. It was not a suggestion, but a directive.

  "We're really in a hurry, Reggie," Foltrigg pleaded.

  "Well I'm not. And I guess I'm calling the shots, aren't I?"

  "I guess you are."

  "I need time to digest this and talk with my client."

  This was not what they wanted, but it was painfully clear this was all they would get. Foltrigg dramatically screwed the top onto his pen and slid his notes into his briefcase. Trumann and McThune followed his lead and for a minute the table shook as they shuffled paper and files and restuffed everything.

  "What time tomorrow?" Foltrigg asked, slamming his briefcase and pushing away from the table.

  "Ten. In this office."

  "Will Mark Sway be here?"

  "I don't know."

  They stood and filed out of the room.

  12

  Wally Boxx called the office in New Orleans at least four times every hour. Foltrigg had forty-seven assistant U.S. attorneys fighting all sorts of crime and protecting the interests of the government, and Wally was in charge of relaying orders from the boss in Memphis. In addition to Thomas Fink, three other attorneys were working on the Muldanno case, and Wally felt the need to call them every fifteen minutes with instructions, and the latest on Clifford. By noon, the entire office knew of Mark Sway and his little brother. The place buzzed with gossip and speculation. How much did the kid know? Would he lead them to the body? Initially, these questions were pondered in hushed whispers by the three Muldanno prosecutors, but by midafternoon the secretaries in the coffee room were exchanging wild theories about the suicide note and what was told to the kid before Clifford ate his bullet. All other work virtually stopped as Foltrigg's office waited for Wally's next call.

  Foltrigg had been burned by leaks before. He'd fired people he suspected of talking too much. He'd rcquircu poiygrapm 101 ail lawycib, paiaicgais, tors, and secretaries who worked for him. He kept sensitive information under lock and key for fear of leakage by his own people. He lectured and threatened.

  But Roy Foltrigg was not the sort of person to inspire intense loyalty. He was not appreciated by many of the assistants. He played the political game. He used cases for his own raw ambition. He hogged the spotlight and took credit for all the good -work, and blamed his subordinates for all the bad. He sought marginal indictments against elected officials for a few cheap headlines. He investigated his enemies and dragged their names through the press. He was a political whore whose only talent with the law was in the courtroom, where he preached to juries and quoted scripture. He was a Reagan appointee with one year left, and most of the assistant attorneys were counting the days. They encouraged him to run for office. Any office.

  The reporters in New Orleans began calling at 8 A.M. They wanted an official comment about Clifford from Foltrigg's office. They did not get one. Then Willis Upchurch performed at two o'clock, with Muldanno glowering at his side, and more reporters came snooping around the office. There were hundreds of phone calls to Memphis and back.

  People talked.

  They stood before the dirty window at the end of the hall on the ninth floor, and watched the rush-hour traffic of downtown. Dianne nervously lit a Virginia Slim, and blew a heavy cloud of smoke. "Who is this lawyer?"

  "Her name is Reggie Love."

  "How'd you find her?"

  He pointed to the Sterick Building four blocks away. "I went to her office in that building right there, and I talked to her."

  "Why, Mark?"

  "These cops scare me, Mom. The police and FBI are crawling all over this place. And reporters. I had one catch me in the elevator this afternoon. I think we need some legal advice."

  "Lawyers don't work for free, Mark. You know we can't afford a lawyer."

  "I've already paid her," he said like a tycoon.

  "What? How can you pay a lawyer?"

  "She wanted a small retainer, and she got one. I gave her a dollar from that five that went for doughnuts this morning."

  "She's working for a dollar? She must be a great lawyer."

  "She's pretty good. I've been impressed so far."

  Dianne shook her head in amazement. During her nasty divorce, Mark, then age nine, had constantly criticized her lawyer. He watched hours of reruns of "Perry Mason" and never missed "L.A. Law." It had been years since she'd won an argument with him.

  "What has she done so far?" Dianne asked, as if she were emerging from a dark cave and seeing sunlight for the first time in a month.

  "At rioon, she met with some FBI agents, and ripped them up pretty good. And later, she met with them again in her office. I haven't talked with her since then."

  "What time is she coming here?"

  "Around six. She wants to meet you and talk to Dr. Greenway. You'll really like her, Mom."

  "But why do we need her, Mark? I don't understand why she's entered the picture. You've done nothing wrong. You and Ricky saw the car, you tried to help the man, but he shot himself anyway. And you guys saw it. Why do you need a lawyer?"

  "Well, I did lie to the cops at first, and that scares me. And I was afraid we might get in trouble because we didn't stop the man from shooting himself. It's all pretty scary, Mom."

  She watched him intently as he explained this, and he avoided her eyes. There was a long pause. "Have you told me everything?" She asked this very slowly, as if she knew.

  At first he'd lied to her at the trailer while they waited for the ambulance, with Hardy lingering nearby, all ears. Then last night, in Ricky's room, under cross-examination by Greenway, he had told the first version of the truth. He remembered how sad she had been when she heard this revised story, and later how she'd said, "You never lie to me, Mark."

  They'd been through so much together, and here he was dancing around the truth, dodging questions, telling Reggie more than he'd told his mother. It made him sick.

  "Mom, it all happened so fast yesterday. It was all a blur in my mind last
night, but I've been thinking about it today. Thinking hard. I've gone through each step, minute by minute, and I'm remembering things now."

  "Such as?"

  "Well, you know how this has affected Ricky. I think it shocked me sort of like that. Not as bad, but I'm remembering things now that I should have remembered last night when I talked to L>r. Lrreenway. Does this make sense?"

  Actually, it did make sense. Dianne was suddenly concerned. Two boys see the same event. One goes into shock. It's reasonable to believe the other would be, affected. She hadn't thought of this. She leaned down next to him. "Mark, are you all right?"

  He knew he had her. "I think so," he said with a frown, as if a migraine were upon him.

  "What have you remembered?" she asked cautiously.

  He took a deep breath. "Well, I remember-"

  Greenway cleared his throat and appeared from nowhere. Mark whirled around. "I need to be going," Greenway said, almost as an apology. "I'll check back in a couple of hours."

  Dianne nodded but said nothing.

  Mark decided to get it over with. "Look, Doctor, I was just telling Mom that I'm remembering things now for the first time."

  "About the suicide?"

  "Yes sir. All day long I've been seeing flashes and recalling details. I think some of it might be important."

  Greenway looked at Dianne. "Let's go back to the room and talk," he said.

  They walked to the room, closed the door behind them, and listened as Mark tried to fill in the gaps. It was a relief to unload this baggage, though he did most of the talking in the direction of the floor. It was an act, this painful pulling of scenes from a shocked and badly scarred mind, and he carried it off with finesse. He paused quite often, long pauses in which he searched for words to describe -what was already firmly etched in the doctor's expression never changed. He glanced at his mother from time to time, and she didn't appear to be disappointed. She maintained a look of motherly concern.

  But when he got to the part about Clifford grabbing him, he could see them fidget. He kept his troubled eyes on the floor. Dianne sighed -when he talked about the gun. Greenway shook his head when he told of the gunshot through the window. At times, he thought they were about to yell at him for lying last night, but he plowed ahead, obviously disturbed and deep in thought.