“Okay. We begin with Mai, who you just jump-started. He’s sitting in Fresno right now looking at the phone and realizing that if he doesn’t cooperate, nobody will see that money. He ought to talk to us. What else?”
“The man Kao killed in self-defense. His name and address are in the police reports. The name was”-she flipped to one of the exhibits on the claim-“Song Thoj, age eighteen, a known gang member in Fresno.”
“That brings up a new set of concerns.”
“Exactly.”
“I have to agree that I don’t think we understand enough about this situation,” Paul said.
“So I’ll keep the check safe and you and Wish make sure I put it into the right hands, Paul.”
“I realize that the main question right now is, where is Kao? But there is that other question hanging fire,” Paul said. “Are the bad guys who torched the Vangs’ convenience store also the ones who stole the files out of your truck?”
“I hope not,” Nina said. She rubbed her forehead and went on, “But
Sandy stirred at this. “You’re suggesting they kidnapped the Vangs because of the files? Then they call Dr. Mai and say, get the money to us and we’ll let them go.”
“Oh, my gosh,” Wish said.
“It’s the kind of thought that strikes at three A.M., yes, Sandy,” Nina said. “Let’s hope it’s just another bad dream.”
“But who
“Let me know when you find out.”
They took a break so Nina could deal with a couple of phone calls in her office. Wish walked outside.
Sandy sat down behind her desk, slammed an offending open drawer shut smartly, and looked at Paul, saying, “And that’s only one file out of three. Now look. Why does she have to dredge so deep? How does a simple insurance claim turn into this? Is it her?”
“In a way, it is,” Paul said. “Another lawyer would give Mai the money, make rapid washing motions with her hands, and move on.”
“What about if these enemies stole the files?”
“Another lawyer would say, ‘Let the police find the files.’ And move on.”
“She feels responsible,” Sandy said.
“Yeah. The advice Jack gave her was, try to prevent harm to the clients. He was thinking about her. But you know, she’s thinking about the clients. She does want to prevent harm. Reminds me of another lawyer I worked for once, a big-shot personal-injury lawyer. He’d work the claim for years, never give an inch, throw a thousand curves, wear down the other side until even the big insurance companies gave in and handed him the big recovery. Of course, by then, the client wouldn’t need the money anymore, because the client would have gone insane from the endless delay.”
“I get you. He won the case but he didn’t do right by the client.”
“You notice that she talked to Mai first, then asked us what we thought,” Paul said.
“She didn’t want us to feel like we had responsibility in making that decision not to pay out the money?”
“Yeah.”
“Hmph.”
Nina came out of her office. “Ready for the next round?” she said. “What are you looking at?”
“A pretty good lawyer,” Sandy said.
“Let that be my epitaph,” Nina said.
Five minutes later, back in the conference room with a half-dozen doughnuts piled on a plate in the middle of the table, Nina said, “And now we discuss the second file-the Cruz custody case. The players are Kevin Cruz, his soon-to-be-ex-wife, Lisa Cruz, and his ex-girlfriend, Ali Peck.” She went through the background and summarized the hearing.
“Ali may be the best lead we have on the lost files,” she finished. “How did Riesner hear about her? Did she contact him directly?” She wiggled a chocolate doughnut out of the middle of the pile and took a bite. As she talked, she had been doodling ducks and snakes all over the page in front of her.
“Check,” Wish said. He made another note. He had pages full of notes by now.
“We have an address on this girl?” Paul said.
Sandy passed it over, studied the doughnuts, and picked out a glazed one, which she set neatly on a napkin beside her coffee. “Watch out. Alexandra Peck still lives with her parents,” she said.
“But Kevin Cruz already lost custody,” Wish said. “Aren’t his problems too late to fix?”
“At the hearing last week, he only lost temporary custody,” Nina told him. “I agree, now that Ali has been outed, the temporary-custody order isn’t likely to change, and there’s still the possibility of further damaging charges hanging over him. But let’s speculate with what we know. Let’s think further. How did Ali get outed?”
“Assume the files were stolen to find out Kevin’s secrets, you mean,” Paul said.
“Okay,” Wish said. Relying on a genetically programmed aid to thinking, he was worrying his lower lip exactly like Sandy did sometimes. Paul looked over at Sandy and darn if she wasn’t doing it, too. Nina’s pen scribbled angular abstracts all over the nice clean page she had just exposed on her pad. Paul noticed that he himself had just polished off his second doughnut. So had Sandy.
They all felt the strain.
Wish finally let go of his lip. He raised a finger. “Mrs. Cruz.”
“She hit gold there,” Sandy agreed, tearing off another chunk of doughnut.
“Mom, are you sure you want that?”
A dreadful, anticipatory silence descended upon them. Sandy drew herself up slowly. “Sometimes I feel like hog-tying you and leaving you out in the field for the red ants,” she said.
“But you said-” Wish blurted.
“Dip him in powdered sugar first,” Paul advised.
“But she said I should stop her if she-”
“Nina?” Paul said hastily. “You were saying?”
“Lisa Cruz testified at the hearing on Thursday morning,” Nina said. “She could have picked up my truck key lying on the counsel table during a break, or on the ground if I dropped it and she saw me. It’s also just possible Jean Scholl, the patrolwoman who found the Bronco, had something to do with it. She was there that morning in court. I saw her.”
“Yeah, but how could anyone know you would leave files in there that night?” Wish asked.
“You know what I think?” Nina said. “I don’t think anyone deliberately set out to get my files. I think someone found or stole my key and then used it late that night with a vague hope that they might gain access to something they could use against me, or to win a case. Something balled up in the litter, even.”
“Sometimes when you’re looking for a break, you see a chance and you say, dingdong! This could be my opportunity!” Wish said, still casting a wary eye upon his mother.
“We’ll talk to Ali,” Paul said, “and do some checking on Scholl.”
“I’ll tell you who won that day. Lisa Cruz’s lawyer,” Sandy said, referring to Jeff Riesner. She did not look at Wish as she took a big bite of her doughnut.
“I like to think I would have noticed such a loathsome creature slinking around my driveway,” Nina said.
“I still have a good friend at that man’s law firm. She eats lunch with his secretary every day,” Sandy offered.
“Wouldn’t hurt to try to find out what Riesner was doing Thursday night,” Paul said. “Check him out, Sandy. But quietly.”
“Will do.”
“Which brings up a point,” Paul said to Nina. “Nicole Zack actually was in your driveway on Thursday night.” He angled toward Wish, explaining. “Bob’s girlfriend.”
“Bob has a girlfriend?”
“Bob does not have a girlfriend,” Nina said. “But you’re right, Paul. You need to speak with Nikki. She’s capable of a joyride.”
She handed over a copy of the written statement Nikki had given to Officer Scholl. “The police found no fingerprints, nothing, in the Bronco.”
“Impossible,” Paul said. “Unlikely, anyway. They must not be looking hard enough. I’ll also have a chat with Officer Scholl.”
“Oh,” Nina said. “I should tell you I told her about these three files.”
“Got it,” said Paul.
“So Bob has a girlfriend,” Wish said. “When I was thirteen, I fell in love for the first time, too. She was a year ahead of me in school, on the track team. Sita, that was her name. She broke my heart and I’ve never been the same.”
“He never could watch a track meet again,” Sandy said. “It does something to you.” She popped more of her doughnut into her mouth and chewed.
“Make fun of me if you want, Mom,” Wish said. “You always put on this big act about not being sentimental. But I heard you crying in the kitchen the night Dad called and said he was coming home-”
Sandy’s face began to turn purple and her eyes bulged. Wish watched the changes with an alarmed expression.
“What was that you said, Wish?” Paul put in hastily. Wish seemed unable to take his foot out of his mouth this morning. They all knew how much Sandy hated any mention of her private life. “I didn’t catch it. Nina didn’t either.”
Nina nodded vaguely. Sandy said nothing. She was grimacing and seemed to be building up to something. Paul thought, oh brother.
“Oh, but before you say anything more, Wish, I have a question for Nina,” Paul said, trying to deflect whatever was coming. “Um, so, returning to the issue of Bob’s girlfriend, didn’t you tell me once she doesn’t have her driver’s license yet?”
“Bob does
Sandy’s eyes were still popping. She made a gargling sound. Her hands gripped the edge of the table. Paul thought, this is it. She’s gonna explode like Krakatoa. Wish finally did it this time.
“Sorry, Mom,” Wish said. “Mom?”
“He’s extremely sorry,” Paul repeated. “Sandy?”
Nina watched Sandy. They all watched Sandy, waiting for the forthcoming eruption, ready to take cover under the table if necessary.
Sandy coughed loudly into her napkin. She coughed again. Her highly bruised color faded slightly back toward normal.
“Why didn’t somebody clap me on the back?” she demanded. “Couldn’t you see I was choking? None of you did a darn thing to help!” She glared at them. “Now, what’s so funny?”
