Corridor Man Volumes 1, 2, 3,4 5

by Nick James

  Cori nodded and continued frosting the cupcakes, expertly swirling a large dollop of white frosting across the top, then picking up the next. “I’m going to a wedding shower this evening, everyone will be on their best behavior until the third glass of wine, then the secrets will start to come out,” she laughed.

  “Those look really good,” Bobby said.

  Cori shook her head, then said, “You can have one, but no more. Addi had promised to help, but as you can see…I heard her come in a little after seven this morning, I’m sure she’s still asleep upstairs.”

  “Do you need a hand? I could frost those if you like.”

  “That’s kind of you, but I’ve got it under control.” She glanced in the oven door, checked the minutes remaining on the timer then grabbed a cupcake, swirled frosting across the top and handed it to Bobby.

  “Thanks,” he said and took a large bite. “Mmm-mmm, delicious, very good.”

  “Special recipe.”

  “Have you spoken with Mr. Denton recently?”

  “Only to confirm his phone number and address,” she said sounding very matter of fact.

  Bobby nodded, and drew a blank on what else to ask.

  After a long moment, Cori said, “Regions is at a loss. The specialists don’t seem to know what to make of it. No one seems to have any answers. I suppose the good news is it’s not a brain tumor, dementia, cancer, you can run down the list, nothing seems to stand out, in that respect he’s got a clean bill of health. That said…”

  Bobby stuffed the last of the cupcake in his mouth and nodded.

  “I don’t know,” she said just as the timer went off. She opened the oven door, inserted a toothpick into one of the cupcakes then grabbed a hot pad and pulled the tray out of the oven. “There, five dozen, more than enough.”

  “Anything I can do to help? I don’t mean here, with your baking, but you know, with Mr. Denton and…”

  “Thank you for the offer, but we’re taken care of. I just wish someone could figure out what the problem is so we could begin to move forward. He’s been moved to City View Transitional Care until we can find out the cause.”

  “Afraid I can’t help you there.”

  “Sweet of you to offer, Bobby, but I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”

  Bobby waited a few more minutes just to be polite then said his goodbye and hurried out the door.

  Chapter Fifty-Six

  He was a half hour early for his dinner with Emily. He walked the few blocks over to the parking ramp where he had spotted Angie’s brother Vince, but tonight there was a black guy sitting in the attendant’s booth where he had hoped Vince would be.

  He walked back to the St. Paul Grill and was casually sipping a beer at the table when Emily came in the front door. She waved the moment she saw him and quickly made her way to the table.

  “Been here long?” she asked then stooped and gave him a peck on the cheek before she sat down.

  “Just long enough to order a beer, what can I get you?”

  “I’d love a white wine, you choose.”

  Bobby opened the wine menu, glanced down the list of white wines by the glass and chose a sparkling Californian.

  Once her wine arrived Emily raised her glass in a toast and said, “Here’s to a pleasant evening.”

  They chatted about everything and nothing, exchanging colleges, degrees, grade schools, high schools, general information, but neither one telling any secrets. From the conversation Bobby estimated he was at least ten and possibly fifteen years older. He didn’t mention his disbarment or his previous marriage although he figured she probably knew about both. While they were waiting for dessert the conversation took a turn when Elizabeth became the main topic.

  “What can I tell you,” she said. “Lizzy always worked her ass off and I was the family screw up. We all figured this was going to be her big break, moving to the new firm. After she was assaulted by that crazy asshole in your firm…”

  “Noah Denton.”

  “Yeah, that asshole, that was the thing that really pushed her although I think she’d probably already made the decision to leave. It’s just that, well after his behavior it was really a no-brainer. In fact, she wasn’t going to take the Paris deal, she didn’t want to go. She was just going to blow it off, but the guys at the new firm told her to do it, just to stick it to Denton. Turns out I guess she was right, she shouldn’t have taken it,” Emily said then finished her glass of wine.

  “Really tragic,” Bobby said just as the waiter appeared with two dishes of crème brulee.

  Emily picked up her spoon, tapped the top of the brulee then smiled as the spoon audibly bounced off the caramelized sugar top.

  “Meet with your approval?”

  “I love this stuff, God I could eat both of these and order more.”

  Bobby motioned as if offering his to her.

  “No, believe me, I don’t need any more calories tonight. Mmm-mmm, delicious.”

  “Do you know Angie Benedict at our firm?” Bobby asked, and took a spoonful of his dessert.

  “Angie? Yeah I know her, sort of.” There was a sudden edge to her voice. “I met her a couple of times, but I don’t really know her. I’m a little more familiar with her husband, Dennis the soon to be butt doctor. He’s doing a residency now, right?” She took a large sip of wine.

  “That’s my understanding.”

  “We were sort of an item, Dennis and me, well until he dumped me for her.”

  “Oh, sorry.”

  “No big thing, I’m over that asshole and if that’s the sort of action he wants, fine with me. I just don’t like being lied to, two-timed, and cheated on. But I’m cool about it now, really I am,” she said then drank about half her wineglass.

  “Sorry I brought it up.”

  “Like I said, I’m over it. Actually, I thought I heard she left your firm and was going to fill Lizzy’s position. Small world, ain’t it,” she snorted then drained her glass.

  “Yeah, she seemed to be good at what she did. If you include her, I think we’ve lost close to a dozen attorneys and paralegals after Noah Denton went off the deep end.”

  “I’m surprised any of them stayed. That guy should be locked up.”

  “I guess they can’t seem to find out what’s wrong. They’ve eliminated a number of things. God, they’ve scanned and x-rayed that guy so much he probably glows in the dark.”

  “Like I said, he should be locked up, or maybe just taken out and shot,” Emily said, a definite edge to her voice now.

  “Do you think your family is going to pursue anything?”

  She set her spoon down and stared for a long moment. “You asking because you’re curious or did someone tell you to find out?”

  Bobby gave a cold stare in return. “No one told me to find out, and if they had I would have told them to get screwed. I tell you what, don’t answer that question. Let’s talk about you, instead.”

  “I didn’t mean…”

  “You seeing anyone?”

  “I, well I mean…”

  “You like thongs or au natural?”

  That brought a smile to her face as she picked up her spoon. “Guess you’ll just have to find out, won’t you?”

  After dinner Bobby walked her to her car. It was parked on the far side of the small park opposite the restaurant. You could actually see the car from the restaurant door and Emily insisted escorting her wasn’t necessary, none of which made a difference. He gave her a quick kiss before she climbed into her car, then stood on the sidewalk and watched as her taillights disappeared around the corner.

  * * *

  Bobby sat at his kitchen counter, sipping a bourbon and examining the revolver he’d taken from Noah Denton’s third floor office. He’d stopped at Target on his way home and purchased a box of fifty latex gloves for five bucks. He was wearing a pair of gloves now, holding the weapon with both hands, aiming at the clock on the kitchen wall and making a mental note of how surprisingly heavy the weapon
was when his cellphone rang. He glanced at the number, saw it was Emily calling, let the call drop into his message center and returned to examining the revolver.

  It held six rounds and was a little over nine inches long. Bobby opened the cylinder and let the rounds fall onto the counter, they bounced around on the granite counter top then rolled back and forth for a brief moment. He picked one of the rounds up and examined it.

  It was larger than he thought it would be, close to maybe an inch and a half long with a brass casing stamped SPEER 357-MAG on the end of the round. The round was flat headed, which Bobby guessed was meant to leave an awfully big hole in whatever it hit.

  He carefully reloaded the revolver, pressed the cylinder in place then clicked the safety on. He placed the weapon back in the manila envelope, and then hid the envelope behind a row of books on the living room shelf.

  Chapter Fifty-Seven

  Sunday morning Bobby phoned Morris Montcreff a little before noon.

  “Yes.” Just hearing the one word it sounded as if Montcreff was rushed.

  “Good morning, Mr. Montcreff, I’m just…”

  “Is there anything to report?”

  “Only that I spoke with Mrs. Denton yesterday…”

  “That bitch.”

  “…And she said that Mr. Denton has been placed in a transitional care facility. They’ve run all sorts of tests with the hospital, specialists and God knows who else, but they are, at least at this point, unable to determine the cause of his fits or seizures or whatever it is that’s happening.”

  “Any idea how long he’ll be in that facility?”

  “No sir, Mrs. Denton did mention she would prefer that he remain there until the cause of, and a treatment for the incidents can be determined.”

  “I’ll bet she did. Anything else?”

  “No sir, I…Hello, hello?”

  Montcreff had already hung up.

  He listened to Emily’s message next. “Oh hi, just wanted to thank you for a lovely evening. Hope it ended on a good note for you. I had a nice time and I’d love to see you again, umm if you’d like to that is. Anyway, thanks, sweet dreams.”

  He thought about how Emily might be of use to him. It was possible she might have a little information about Angie, but nothing he couldn’t pick up from Dorsey or some other idiot at the firm. Still, she could prove useful so he returned her call and got dumped into her message center.

  “Hi Emily, sorry I missed your phone call last night. Once I got home I was working and turned my phone off to review files. Believe me, I would have loved to talk to you instead. I had a wonderful evening, really enjoyed your company. I’ll try and call you later today.”

  Bobby drove downtown and parked about a block away from the parking ramp where he had seen Angie’s brother, Vince. He walked past the ramp giving a quick glance at the attendants’ booth as he passed. This time there was a heavyset blonde woman in there who looked to be about fifty. Bobby walked completely around the block, climbed back in his car and drove to the City View Transitional Care Unit.

  * * *

  Noah Denton was in a small third-floor room just past the nurse’s station. When Bobby entered Denton was sitting in an upholstered chair staring out the window. He was wearing a blue bathrobe over a pair of pajamas and a worn pair of slippers. It appeared he hadn’t shaved in two days and in the middle of the afternoon his hair was still askew from last night’s sleep. For the first time there was a sense of frailty about the man.

  He noticed the newspaper on the unmade bed had been folded to a partially finished crossword puzzle and the term ‘Time on your hands’ sprang to mind. He studied Denton for a long moment then made his presence known by knocking on the doorframe.

  Denton slowly looked over in his direction and scowled.

  “How are you holding up, sir?”

  “Christ, Custer, come to enjoy the view, did you? I’m loving every minute of my stay here,” he said and returned to staring out the window.

  If only we could open the window, maybe you’d fall out. “Just wanted to see how you were doing, sir. Bring you up on the office news.”

  “Gossip,” Denton scoffed.

  “We’re in the process of instituting a new filing system, both a manual and online system. With Angie leaving on such short notice it seems a number of missing files have been identified.”

  Denton turned from the window and focused on Bobby, any news from the office had to be preferable to looking out the window as the clock slowly ticked.

  “Missing files?”

  “Yes sir, actually a number of files. We’re not sure if they’re simply misfiled, actually missing, or possibly stolen.”

  “That’s serious, how many are you talking?”

  “I haven’t heard a number, Mike Dorsey, a paralegal…”

  “Big fella, dark hair, bright blue eyes.”

  “Yes, that’s the guy.” Bobby couldn’t hide the surprise in his voice.

  “I’m familiar with him, very thorough. He’s more than up to the task.”

  Bobby filed that warning away. “He’s temporarily handling the situation until they can hire a permanent replacement for…”

  “Angie Benedict, if I recall.”

  “That’s right sir.”

  “I heard all about it. She took the Saunders woman’s position, that start-up with the acquisitions team, correct?”

  Bobby made another note, someone was giving Denton information. Bathrobe and messy hair aside, he was still sharp. “That’s right sir.”

  “Can’t say as I blame her, probably a good career move.” Denton said and went back to staring out the window.

  “Have you been in touch with the partners, sir?”

  Denton remained staring out the window and didn’t acknowledge the question.

  “Mr. Montcreff sends his regards, I spoke with him yesterday.”

  That brought another scoff from Denton, “Montcreff, good lord.”

  “Anything I can get for you, sir? A magazine or maybe a book?”

  Denton turned and glared. “A magazine? You can get me the hell out of this insane asylum is what you can do. Think you can handle that, Custer? Get me out?”

  “Well, I know they’re running tests and…”

  “Tests. They haven’t a clue what they’re doing. Can’t find a thing wrong, I’m fit as a fiddle. They’ve no idea what they’re even looking for.”

  “No doubt sir, but I mean there were those incidents and your wife had to call the police. The…”

  “She didn’t have to call the police, Custer. She chose to get them involved and bring the entire situation up to the next level. Now here I sit, twiddling my thumbs while everything is going to hell in a handbasket back at the firm. I get out of here, let me tell you, you’ll see some changes made. Believe you me.”

  God, I can only imagine. “Well I just wanted to stop in and wish you well sir,” Bobby said, then quickly looked around for some sort of monitor, equipment or medications he could meddle with. Unfortunately, there wasn’t anything.

  Denton responded with a dismissive wave of his hand while he continued to stare out the window.

  “Enjoy the rest of your day, sir,” Bobby said and hurried out of the room. He stopped at the nurse’s station and waited a moment until the guy in blue scrubs behind the counter looked up from the file he was reading. “May I help you?’

  “Just wanted to ask about the patient in 305, Noah Denton. How is he doing?”

  “Are you family?”

  “Family? No, he’s my law partner, we work together.”

  “Oh, well I’m sorry I can’t share much information. I can tell you we’re continuing to run tests and monitor.”

  Bobby nodded like he understood. “I don’t know, he just seemed exceptionally combative today, aggressive even. Yeah, definitely aggressive this afternoon.”

  “Hmmm-mmm, really? Interesting,” he said sounding like he really meant it.

  “Yes, he’s normally quite rese
rved. Not so today, or for that matter yesterday when I was here.”

  The nurse ran his finger along a number of files lined up in a holder along the edge of the desk, then pulled one out, opened it and wrote a note on the top page.

  “Hopefully it’s nothing,” Bobby said.

  “Hopefully,” the nurse nodded.

  Chapter Fifty-Eight

  Monday morning Bobby tucked some of the files he’d retrieved from Noah Denton’s home under his arm and knocked on Bennett Hinz’s office door.

  “Just a minute,” Hinz called out then shouted “Enter,” a few moments later.

  Bobby opened the door and said, “Do you have a moment, Mr. Hinz?”

  Hinz looked up from the yellow legal pad he held and casually tossed it on top of a thick open file. “Certainly, Custer what can I do for you?”

  Bobby set the stack of files on the corner of the desk, noticed that the legal pad was blank and that the open file was facing him and therefore upside down for Bennett, making it virtually impossible to read. Another bit of staged work.

  “Well sir, I’m rather uncomfortable saying this, but I visited Mr. Denton over the weekend.”

  “And?” Bennett asked then looked at the stack of files.

  “Well, he seemed quite combative, ranting about a number of clients and I just got this strange feeling so I drove over to his home and spoke to his wife. She suggested I check out Mr. Denton’s office, it’s up on the third floor of their home.”

  “I know where his office is.”

  “Yes sir, anyway I went up there and well, I found these files. I’m not sure how long they’ve been there, at Mr. Denton’s. I know we’re not allowed to remove files from the office unless there is some sort of proceeding or a meeting at a client’s office. Although maybe those restrictions are different for partners.”

  “Certainly not,” Bennett said then reached forward and pulled the stack of files across his desk. “Jesus Christ,” he muttered to himself after reading the names on the first two files and looking up at Bobby. “These were in his office?”