The Good Client

by Dan Decker

  Before they could say anything I shut the door, taking the warrant with me.

  When I entered my office Timothy moved away from the window. He didn’t have a view of the parking lot, but he could guess what was going on.

  “They are here for me.” It was not a question. “Just like you said.”

  I nodded. “Aren’t you glad you listened and did not say anything more? I told you that she was just pretending to be your friend. She is not your friend. Nobody over there is your friend.” I handed him the paper. “This is the warrant for your arrest.”

  I waited as Timothy read it, when he finally looked up at me, I continued.

  “I have been in this situation before, not me personally, of course, but with other clients. You might want to fight or make a scene. The best thing to do is to go with them and keep your mouth shut. Nothing else is going to make a lick of difference. You go and don’t say a single word. Not one word. If they ask you a question, you say nothing. Don’t even shake your head yes or no.”

  I let my words sink in.

  “Can you do that?”

  Timothy’s hand was starting to shake, tears were forming in his eyes. He put the paper down on my desk.

  “I don’t know if I can. How about I just run?”

  It was not the first time a client had suggested this. I framed my response but waited before speaking, wanting him to think it through before I gave him the obvious counsel.

  He shook his head. “No, I can’t do that. It just makes things worse.”

  “This is a bad situation but it is not irredeemable. Yeah, it sucks that you are going to have to go out there, but that is the law. There is nothing I can do about that. There is nothing any other attorney can do about that. Being arrested does not make you guilty, never forget that.

  “You are innocent until they prove otherwise. It is my job to put them to the test.”

  I hesitated.

  Tears now flowed down Timothy’s face. My next question went against every single instinct, but my gut told me that I needed to know the answer.

  “Did you do this?”

  “I thought an attorney never asks that.”

  “Most don’t, but I don’t think you’re guilty, so I need to hear that from you myself. If I thought you were, I would not ask.” I shrugged. “Take that for what it is.”

  “The guy annoyed me. I did not like him. But I didn’t kill him.” His voice rose. “I certainly didn’t blow off his head.”

  “Okay. I believe you. Now, do not ever say any of that to them. You have the right to not testify. It will be my decision when we get to trial if I call you or not. Chances are good I won’t, I usually don’t. Now, you are going to want to tell your side of the story, you must resist the urge. Not to them. Not to anybody in your cell. Not to anybody in prison. You don’t say a word to anybody but me. Got it? Not even to your parents. Explaining your side of things will not help you one bit. You just tell them your attorney told you to keep your mouth shut and leave it at that. Talking is only going to get you into more trouble. Do you understand?”

  Timothy nodded.

  I led him out to where Stephanie and the others waited.

  May 29 -9:11 am

  “I hear we have an employee who is now a local celebrity.” Veronica walked into my office and sat in the same seat where Timothy had been sitting right before he had been arrested. She placed her mug of coffee on a coaster she got from the side of my desk. I looked up from my notepad where I had been making plans on how to handle Timothy’s case. I still needed to find the arraignment time and file my notice of appearance.

  “It’s in the news already?” I shook my head. “I miss the days when the only way to get it was the paper. At least somebody wasn’t tweeting while Timothy was arrested.” Even as I spoke I knew that that was something else I needed to investigate and scribbled a note. If somebody in Timothy’s building was tweeting about the event, my investigator needed to talk to them.

  “The article reported you are his attorney.”

  That bit of information was surprising. I would not have expected it to come out for a day or two yet. Either Timothy had talked to somebody in the press or he had made a phone call and told somebody who had then told the press. Or there was a leak in the police department. My money was that Timothy had talked.

  Veronica gave me a skeptical look and I knew what she was thinking without having to be told. She was a good person, but when it came to business matters it always came down to money. I liked to get paid too, but it wasn’t my chief concern.

  “We have to help him, V. He is one of our own.”

  “Barely. He’s been here for like what, three weeks? You don’t owe this kid nothing. If he can’t pay you, don’t waste your time.”

  “Don’t worry about it.”

  “I have to because nobody else around here seems to. Between you and Tony, I almost wonder if you guys want to make money.”

  “The law is a high calling,” I said quoting a law professor who I’d been fond of.

  “Yeah, yeah. I remember that line from professional ethics too. What’s it matter though if you can’t support your family?”

  I shook my head but remained silent. The truth was that as a bachelor, my expenses were relatively low compared to hers and I could afford to take risks she could not. Veronica was a single working mother of two, money was top of her mind almost all the time, and who could blame her?

  “We are going to have this discussion again.” Veronica’s voice was tight and she did not have to tell me that I wouldn’t like how the conversation would go if Timothy couldn’t pay.

  Money, and how we split it, had been an ongoing discussion in our three-person partnership from the beginning.

  She had been in favor several times of going to an eat-what-you-kill model, but neither Tony nor I had wanted to. It would not really make much difference to me, but Tony worked personal injury and there were times when he would go months without bringing in much money before he had a big payout.

  I wanted to keep the firm stable, it seemed like switching to an eat-what-you-kill took away from that. Tony and I regularly agreed to give Veronica larger bonuses when her billables were higher than ours, and we hoped that that would satiate her. It usually did for a time, but the discussion always seemed to come back up.

  It was irritating but I couldn’t blame her. If I was in her situation I would have done the same thing.

  I would not have had a problem making the switch if Tony’s income would have been more stable, but I figured he would be out the door the moment we did, for he too had a young family and needed the reliability we provided. The grand picture normally worked out well for everybody, considering the risks we ran as a small firm, but on the day to day, especially when Veronica had a really good month, the discussion was always on the tip of her tongue.

  “Has he given you a retainer?”

  I shook my head. “There was little more than an hour between the time I took him away from his apartment and when they came to arrest him. All the banks were closed and I imagine his checkbook was back at his apartment, something he clearly did not have access to. And there was the little fact that his life was falling apart.” I tried to keep my irritation from showing, but I was not sure I succeeded. “Don’t worry, I mentioned the retainer, he has just not paid it yet. I’m sure we will make money, but that’s hardly my only concern.” The last part of the sentence ended as a challenge, but I made no move to mitigate it.

  “Why did I have to get a partner who was more bent on justice than money?” Veronica said this with a smile, and though she had a joking tone I couldn’t help but wonder if the time would soon come when she would leave the firm. I liked having her around, it would be sad to see her go, but I would understand if she did.

  Tony and I could scrape by for a while until we found another partner.

  I shrugged and gave her a sly smile. “At least I’m getting into the papers, that’s good for the firm right?”
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  “And you found the silver lining.” Veronica stood, taking her coffee with her as she left.

  As soon as Veronica had gone, Susie poked her head inside. “I heard the news on the way over.” Her face was downcast—were those tear stains? —but she looked like she was holding up rather well.

  “How well did you know him?” I could not remember if she’d spent much time talking with him or not.

  “He got the job because of me, remember?”

  I did now that she brought it up and felt foolish for forgetting. “How about you take the rest of the day off? Paid of course.” Veronica would hate that I did that, but it was the right thing to do.

  Susie shook her head. “I’ll just stew about this. I’d rather be helping.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Absolutely. What do you need me to do?”

  I drummed my fingers on my desk. The first ideas that came to mind were what I would generally have my investigator Winston do, but after the reminder from Veronica about funds, I decided it might be better to wait until I got a retainer before bringing in the contractor. I typically just passed his bill on to my clients, but as I did not know anything about Timothy’s financial situation or that of his family, it was best to keep costs down until I did.

  “I need you to get down to the law school and start asking questions. See if you can find any security cameras. He was studying late last night and early this morning, that’s what we need to prove. If we can place him squarely on campus at the time of death, that will be the death chink in the prosecution’s armor.”

  “Will do.”

  Susie was gone without another word. I had expected her to balk at the suggestion, but apparently getting out of the office and doing something was just what she needed for the moment.

  I logged onto my computer—which had automatically locked during my conversations with Veronica and Susie—picked up my pen, and reviewed the notes I had already made as I continued to plan out my day and strategy for investigating the case.

  I did not get very far before my phone rang.

  “It’s Winston,” Ellie said when I pressed the speaker button. “You want to talk to him?”

  I hesitated. Winston must have read in the news that I had been retained as Timothy Cooper’s attorney and would expect me to give him something to do.

  It was a bad sign that he was calling. It meant that he was underemployed right now. I found his bill tended to inflate when that was the case, not that he wasn’t doing work, but he tended to do more than was strictly necessary. Sometimes it worked out well, but this was not what I needed today.

  Not after the conversation with Veronica.

  “Mitch, you there?” Ellie prompted, her voice coming through the speaker, it was also audible through my open door.

  “Yeah, I just don’t know what to say.”

  “Do you want me to tell him you’re not available and that that you will call him back?”

  “No. Send him through.” I hated putting people off when I could just deal with them right then. I never liked having Ellie cover for me if I could avoid it.

  There was a beep.

  “Mitch,” Winston’s deep voice boomed, “I heard your boy Cooper has been arrested on murder one and that you are representing him.”

  “Indeed, it is true, sorry to say,” I said, a little irritated at how happy he sounded. I knew it wasn’t because of what happened to Timothy, but rather because he needed the work.

  An awkward pause arose during which Winston clearly expected me to give him an assignment.

  I took a deep breath.

  On the other hand, Winston was one of the best investigators I had ever worked with, I didn’t want him to sour on me. It was always a tight rope navigating politics at the office.

  I went first before the pause got too awkward.

  “I’m gonna need a full background workup on Timothy Cooper and the victim. Can you do that for me? I don’t yet have the victim’s full name, but Timothy called him Gordon.”

  “That’s all in the news report. Howard. His full name is Gordon Howard. Didn’t you have Timothy checked by your human resources company when you hired him?”

  “Yeah, I did. Those are never as thorough as what I have you do on initial clients.”

  I could not count the number of times a new client had neglected to mention past crimes, incarcerations, or other brushes with the law. That information was always helpful to know. It was not often the information would be relevant to the present case, but it was still best to know as much about my clients as possible. While I did not necessarily want them to tell me if they had perpetrated a particular crime they had been charged with, finding information as the case proceeded had ways of becoming troublesome. It was far better to know ahead of time the character of my client.

  “Timothy seems squeaky clean to me, probably as clean as they come,” I said, “but I need to know for sure if he is a good boy. Can you do an extra deep dive on him?”

  “How deep a dive?”

  “Let’s keep it under—” I hesitated and thought of Veronica, I had been about to say ten but cut it in half “—five hours for now, just on Cooper. Is that okay?”

  Winston let out a low whistle, but I could hear an undertone of happiness. My assessment that he did not have anything to do today had been correct. I had just given the man a day of work between the check on Cooper and Howard. “Okay, you sure you want that much?”

  “Yeah, Cooper presents like a Boy Scout. I need to know if that’s true or not.”

  “Got it.” Winston hung up and was gone.

  I had gone with my instincts, like I usually do, but when I thought of the bill I was about to get for this particular request, I just hoped a retainer would come in the meantime to at least cover the cost I had just incurred.

  Even if it turned out that Timothy could not pay me, I was not going to cut him loose.

  My tendency to do this was what Veronica had been referring to earlier. She hated when I did pro bono work, but I felt my professional responsibilities were more of a calling than a job. If somebody couldn’t afford to pay me, I still gave them my best. Even if I had to get out and do the investigation myself.

  I buzzed Ellie. “Can you get on the phone with the clerk and see if the arraignment has been scheduled yet?” I was customarily notified about all court dates, but I had not yet had a chance to file my paperwork, so the court would not know who to contact.

  “Sure thing.”

  “And Ellie?”

  “Yeah, what do you need?”

  I listened to the sound of her voice but could not tell if she was distraught about Timothy Cooper’s situation or not. It would probably have been best to pull her in to get an accurate read on her, but I did not have time this morning.

  “Did you know him well?”

  “Not really. I met him before he worked here through outside gatherings with Susie, but can’t say that I knew much about him.”

  “Do you need to take some time?”

  “No, I am good. I want Timothy free and will contribute in my own way to see that it happens.”

  “That’s the plan.”

  I logged into my computer which had locked up again, and went straight to the paperwork I needed to file with the court to enter my representation for Timothy Cooper.

  May 29 -10:35 am

  My phone buzzed. I picked it up without thinking and cradled it in my shoulder as I continued to type while Ellie spoke in my ear.

  “I got Timothy’s father on the phone. Want me to patch him through?”

  I looked up from my computer and took the phone in hand. I’d been able to get my first round of paperwork filed and had stepped back to work on another case.

  “Has he said anything to you? How does he seem?” If he was distraught, it was better to know that going in. I hated it when I got ambushed by an interested party, especially one who was worked up. I was certain Timothy Cooper’s father was not having a good day.
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  “Hard to say. His voice was cold and distant. I’m sure he’s not happy about his son’s situation, but I could not get a read on it otherwise.” Ellie paused for a moment. “I believe Timothy mentioned his father is a big downtown attorney. That sound right to you?”

  “Thanks, that jogs my memory. I do remember something about that. Hopefully he’ll be a little bit calmer than a nonlawyer. At the very least he will know what to expect.”

  Ron Cooper.

  The name came back to me now. He was a transactional attorney with a large law firm. While he would not know much about criminal law, he would know there was a process we had to follow. Sometimes working with another attorney meant they were helpful and able to contribute, but most of the time they tried to back seat drive the case. “Okay, send him through.”

  “Is this Mitch Turner?” A gravelly voice asked from my phone. I clicked a button to put it on speaker and set down my handset.

  “It is. Ron Cooper?”

  “Indeed. Timothy’s one call was to me. They just barely let him make it or I would’ve called sooner. What is going on down there? How could this have happened?”

  The way he intonated the question seemed to say: How could you have let this happen?

  I hesitated.

  “We don’t know much more at this point then what you’ve probably read in the news. I got in the initial paperwork and I should be getting disclosures in due course.” It could be a few days or a couple weeks.

  “There are already news stories about this?” Ron’s voice took a hostile turn and I got the distinct impression it was because of what it might do to his image. I had dealt with parents like this before, people who were more concerned with how people might view them than what their children were going through.

  I bit my lip and thought Timothy Cooper could not have been more different from Ron Cooper. Already, I could tell just by my one interaction with the man he was more of a bully than Timothy ever would be.

  Ironically, I can see Ron as a defense attorney, but not Timothy. Never Timothy. He should have gotten an internship with his father.