by Parnell Hall
“Jesus, Mark.”
“Okay, okay,” Taylor said. “But you gotta admit it’s funny. Anyway, if you got a settlement, I got a bill.”
“What do you mean, if I got a settlement? I ever ask you to work on a contingency basis?”
“No, but we’re friends, and I’m not gonna stick you. This Castleton phone number thing—getting his unlisted number— well, that’s a service and I can charge you for it. But as it happens, I’ve had occasion to look it up before and we had it in the rolodex. If you got a settlement and can afford to pay me for passing on the information, fine. If you didn’t, I’d feel bad charging you for telling you something I already knew.”
“The point is moot, since I made the settlement. What do you usually charge for an unlisted number trace?”
“Two hundred bucks.”
“Fine. I’ll have Tracy make you out a check.”
Taylor’s eyes gleamed. “She gonna type it?”
“Fuck you, Mark.”
“Hey, lighten up. You gotta admit the whole thing’s funny.”
“It is and it isn’t. You never met my client. This is a nice young woman. Someone this shouldn’t have happened to. It’s funny in the abstract, but when you start thinking of her as a person, it’s not funny at all.”
“Right. And it’s not funny when someone dies, but somehow, eventually it always is.”
“I know. On the other hand, you never met Castleton. Or did you?”
Taylor shook his head. “No. The case I got his number for, some attorney just wanted it for a negligence claim. I never even knew what the case was.”
“But you know who Castleton is? I mean, you knew before I told you?”
“Yeah. Big-shot businessman, old and retired.”
“Right. And he happens to like to look at naked women.”
“I can’t blame him.”
“Yeah, well I can. See, Mark, that’s the whole bit. You can say he’s a rich eccentric, he likes to look at naked women, who doesn’t, what’s the big deal?”
“But there’s more to it than that. If this guy just wanted to look at strippers, nude models, girls who do that kind of thing, yeah, what’s the big deal? But he doesn’t. That’s not his bag. He doesn’t want some girl who makes a living showing off her body. He wants some nice, decent, respectable secretary who wouldn’t do that sort of thing in a million years. He wants to take her and offer her enough money to get her to do it. It’s not just sex that gets the guy off. It’s power, domination, humiliation. He wants to take a respectable girl and make her do what he wants. It’s like the old joke about the guy in the casino goes up to the girl and says, ‘I just hit it big at roulette and I wanna celebrate, would you come up to my room with me for a thousand bucks?’ She says, ‘Sure.’ He says, ‘Would you do it for five?’ She says, ‘What kind of a girl do you think I am?’ He says, ‘We’ve already established that. Now we’re just haggling over price.’”
“Yeah, I heard it.”
“Fine, well, that’s Castleton. Money buys everything, money is power. He may be an old man, he may be sexually impotent, but he still has power. That’s why he’s a slime and a scum, and that’s why I stuck him for every cent I could.”
“Then I don’t feel bad sticking him for two hundred bucks,” Taylor said. He heaved himself out of the chair. “Well, I gotta get back to work. I’ll send you a bill, you can send me a check.”
“I can have Tracy make it out now,” Steve said.
Taylor shook his head. “Cash flow’s not that tight. I’ll just send it along.”
“Okay. Ask Tracy to step in on your way out, willya?”
“Sure,” Taylor said. He jerked open the door to the outer office. “Hey, Tracy. Steve wants you.”
Mark Taylor stood there as Tracy Garvin came in. As she went by he said mischievously, “I think he wants you to do some typing.”
As Tracy turned to give him a look, Taylor grinned and ducked out the door.
Tracy turned back to Steve. She took off her glasses, folded them up. “You told him, didn’t you?” she said accusingly.
“I had to tell him about the case. He worked on it.”
“That’s not the point. You told him about her working naked. You two have been sitting in here having a good laugh at your client’s expense.”
Steve sighed. He wasn’t about to point out that Mark Taylor had been the one doing all the laughing. “Tracy,” Steve said, “I don’t want to go off on a big feminist thing here. The fact is, the girl was working nude.”
“Woman.”
“What?”
“She’s not a girl. She’s twenty-something years old. She’s a woman.”
“And if she was working with her clothes on, it wouldn’t occur to you to get upset if I called her a girl. Because she was naked, the whole thing’s about sex and you’re ready to spring to her defense at the slightest provocation.”
“Don’t change the subject.”
“What subject?”
“The fact is, she’s a client, and you and Mark Taylor were making fun at her expense.”
“What do you mean, at her expense? Mark Taylor never met her. He doesn’t even know who she is.”
“You know her.”
“Yeah. So?”
“You didn’t have to tell Mark Taylor. You tell him about the case, fine, but did you have to tell him she was naked?”
“Tracy,” Steve said. “Mark Taylor’s more than a business associate. He’s my best friend. We were roommates at college, for Christ’s sake.”
“Exactly,” Tracy said. “And that’s how you treated it. Two college kids talking dirty about the coeds.”
Steve threw up his hands. “Fine. Guilty as charged. Tracy, look. Yes, I told him she was typing naked. Maybe that was wrong, but I couldn’t help myself. I’m a human being. It’s not every day a lawyer gets a naked client. You expect me not to talk about it? To my best friend?
“And, as far as this Castleton business goes, it’s the whole story. Aside from her being naked, this was probably the dullest, most boring, most straightforward, conservative case I’ve ever handled. A simple civil suit, to be settled out of court. A boring business negotiation. You know and I know if she hadn’t been naked, I wouldn’t have handled it.”
“I know that, but—”
“But that’s neither here nor there. The point is, I’m wrong, and I apologize. Okay?”
Tracy frowned. Steve could tell she wasn’t really content to let it go at that but couldn’t think of anything else to say.
“All right,” Tracy said, reluctantly. She unfolded her glasses, started to put them on again.
“Now, about this letter Mark wanted you to type,” Steve said.
Tracy snatched her glasses off again, glared at him. Steve’s eyes twinkled. The corner of Tracy’s mouth twitched. She suppressed a giggle. “All right, all right,” she said. “It’s funny, but it shouldn’t be. That’s the point.”
“Absolutely,” Steve said. “I think we’re in complete agreement.”
There came the sound of a door closing.
“Someone’s in the outer office,” Tracy said. “I hope they didn’t hear that last exchange.”
She went out, closing the door behind her. She returned a few minutes later.
“A young man to see you,” she said.
“A young man?” Steve said.
“Yes. Young. If he were a woman, you’d call him a girl. Mid-twenties.”
“Oh? And what is he wearing?”
“He’s dressed.”
“That’s a relief. What does he want?”
“He wouldn’t say. But I have an idea.”
“Oh? And why is that?”
“Because his name is David Castleton.”
6.
DAVID CASTLETON SHOOK HANDS with Steve Winslow and sat in the clients’ chair.
“So,” Steve said. You wished to see me?”
“Yes.”
“What about?”
D
avid Castleton tugged at his shirt collar as if the tie he was wearing was slightly too tight. “Well,” he said, “I’m David Castleton. Milton Castleton is my grandfather.”
Steve nodded. That was no surprise, even though it was hard to relate the handsome, sandy-haired, open-faced youth to the bald, emaciated old man. “Yes?”
“I understand you just had some dealings with my grandfather.”
Steve frowned. “You can understand anything you like. This is a law office. If you came here for information, you’re in the wrong place.”
David Castleton held up his hands. “No, no. I quite understand. That was just a preliminary remark. You don’t have to tell me, I’ll tell you. You recently handled a case against my grandfather. For a Miss Kelly Blaine. Settled out of court. That case is resolved. Over. Finished.”
“So what’s the point?”
David Castleton took a breath. “I’m interested in Kelly Blaine.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“That’s it. I’m not interested in the suit or anything. Just her.”
“What about her?”
“I was hoping you could tell me something about her.”
Steve looked at him narrowly. Could the man really be as young as all that? “I can’t discuss a client with you. You should know that.”
“I do, I do. It’s just—I’m sorry, I’m saying this badly. I don’t want you to discuss her. It’s just—Well, I’d like you to speak to her for me.”
“Speak to her?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I’d like to apologize for what happened and see if I can make it up to her in any way.”
“Make it up to her?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
David Castleton shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “I don’t know. I just thought if I could talk to her. Take her out to dinner. I have contacts. Perhaps I could get her situated in another job.”
Steve nodded. “That seems a very noble sentiment. Why don’t you do that?”
David Castleton shifted position again. “Well, that’s why I came to you.”
“Oh?”
“Yes. I was hoping you could help me get in touch with her.”
“Get in touch with her?”
“Yes.”
“You don’t have her address?”
“No.”
“I don’t understand.”
David Castleton tugged at his shirt collar again. Steve wasn’t sure if it was really bothering him, or if it was just a nervous habit. “Well, you see,” he said, “I work for my grandfather. That is, I work for Castleton Industries. So I really work for my father, since grandfather’s retired. That’s another thing. Grandfather may be retired, but Dad never does anything without consulting him. He always has his thumb in—you know what I mean?”
Steve took a breath. “I know what you mean. I just don’t know what you’re getting at.”
“What I’m getting at is, I don’t work at grandfather’s apartment, I work at the company. Kelly Blaine was grandfather’s secretary. She wasn’t part of Castleton Industries. This was something separate altogether. Castleton Industries has no record of her employment. The only one who would have that would be Grandpa and, of course, Phil Danby.”
Steve held up his hand. “Wait a minute. Let me be sure I understand this. You’re saying you want to contact Kelly Blaine, but you don’t want your grandfather to know about it?”
David Castleton tugged at his shirt collar again. “Well, that’s not the way I would have put it.”
“Yes, but that’s essentially it, isn’t it? You just got through saying her address wasn’t in the company records, that only your grandfather would have it. If you could ask him for it you wouldn’t be here.”
David Castleton grinned sheepishly. “Yeah, I guess that’s right.”
“So, the situation is, you wanna contact Kelly Blaine, and you came here to get her address and phone number.”
“Well, her phone’s not listed.”
“No, I don’t suppose it is. Tell me, did you really expect me to give you this information?”
“Actually, no. I quite understand if you wouldn’t. But she’s your client. You must know how to contact her. I thought if you could call her, give her my phone number. Explain who I am and tell her I want to contact her.”
Steve frowned. “Explain who you are?”
“Yes. I mean the fact that I’m Milton Castleton’s grandson.”
“Wait a minute,” Steve said. “Are you saying Kelly Blaine doesn’t know you?”
“Well ...”
“Well what? Have you ever met the woman?”
“Not exactly.”
“Not exactly?”
“Well, as I said, I work for Castleton Industries. She didn’t. She worked for grandfather. So, ordinarily I wouldn’t have seen her. But, uh, my father occasionally sends me on errands over there.”
“Oh? So you met her then?”
“No. I never met her, but—”
Steve’s eyes hardened. “Are you trying to tell me you watched her through the window in your grandfather’s office?”
David Castleton reacted as if his tie had just attempted to strangle him. He hooked his fingers inside the collar, tugged it down. “I resent that,” he said. “I resent the implication. I saw Miss Blaine, I thought she was a nice young woman. I’d like to talk to her. That’s all. She doesn’t have to talk to me, but she might. I know you won’t give me her phone number. That’s fine. I’ll give you mine.”
He took a card out of his jacket pocket and set it on Steve’s desk. “That’s why I say if you could speak to her for me. Tell her who I am, that I have the best intentions, and that I’d just like to talk to her. And give her my phone number. If she wants to call me, she can.”
David Castleton got up. “That’s all. That’s all I wanted to say, really. You can’t make her call me. But you could put my case in the best light possible. Point out that calling me wouldn’t obligate her to anything. If she’d at least listen to me and hear what I have to say—well, I’d appreciate it.”
David Castleton nodded to Steve Winslow, nodded somewhat perfunctorily to Tracy Garvin and walked out the door.
7.
TRACY GARVIN TURNED TO LOOK at Steve Winslow.
“Well, what about that?” Steve said.
Tracy frowned. “Just a minute. Let me make sure he’s gone.”
“I heard the door open and close.”
“Even so.”
Tracy got up, opened the door, looked out. She closed the door and shook her head. “Okay. I just wanted to be sure. He could have opened the outer door, closed it and come back.”
“Why would he do that?”
Tracy shrugged. “Why was he here at all?”
“He told us.”
“Yes. What do you make of all that?”
“The young man appears rather smitten with our client.”
“Whom he has never met.”
“But has seen.”
“Yeah,” Tracy said. “Isn’t that interesting?”
“No, it isn’t,” Steve said. “Good lord, are we never going to be done with the Kelly Blaine case?”
“What’s your obligation at this point?”
“Absolutely none. The man’s given me a message to pass on to my client. I’m under no obligation to do it.”
“So? You gonna?”
“Yeah, I am.”
“Why?”
“It’s not my decision to make. The guy wants to see her. Whether she sees him or not is up to her. Let’s just pass on the information and be done with it.”
“I’m not sure you should do that.”
“Why not?”
Tracy frowned. “I don’t know. I just don’t like this David Castleton.”
“Why not?”
She shrugged. “Just a hunch.”
“Based on what?”
“I don’t know.”
Steve smil
ed. “I do. It’s ’cause you figure he’s interested in her typing. Well, you could be right. But it’s a decision our client will have to make for herself.”
“Okay. You want me to call her?”
“I think I’d better be the one to talk to her. See if you can get her on the phone.”
Tracy went over to the cabinet, pulled Kelly Blaine’s file, looked up the number and called.
She let it ring ten times and hung up. “No answer.”
“That figures,” Steve said. “She either got another job, or she’s out looking for one.”
“More likely out shopping,” Tracy said. “She just got a thirty-three-thousand-dollar settlement. Landing a new job real quick wouldn’t be a high priority.”
“Sure,” Steve said. “And some jobs might require a more extensive wardrobe than her last one.” Tracy shot him a look. “Sorry, couldn’t help myself,” he said. “Okay. Too bad she doesn’t have an answering machine. We’ll have to try her again later. In the meantime, you got her address there?”
“Sure.”
“Let’s drop her a note asking her to call the office.”
“Fine,” Tracy said, heading for the door.
“Where you going?”
“To get my steno pad.”
“Hey, I don’t have to dictate this. It’s just, Kelly Blaine, please call my office.”
“Okay,” Tracy said.
She went out to her desk and typed the letter and the envelope, stamped and sealed it. She came back to find Steve sitting at his desk, reading the paper.
“I’m going to run this down to the post office,” she said.
“It’s not that urgent. You could drop it in the mail slot in the hall.”
“Yeah, but then it won’t get picked up till tomorrow.”
“It’s not that important,” Steve said. Then, at the look in Tracy’s eyes, “Oh, go ahead if you want to. Christ, you’re determined to make a mystery out of this, aren’t you?”
“Well, it is bizarre.”
“It was bizarre. It’s a closed case. Except for David Castleton. Which is really none of our business. I know you’d like to make something out of his interest for her. But I think basically what we have here is a horny young man who’s got the hots for our client.”
Tracy started to say something, but Steve held up his hands. “But, hey, don’t let me rain on your parade. By all means, go and mail it.”
