office to show his appreciation.
When Packard walked into the reception area, Deems was reading a copy of Newsweek.
'Charlie!' Packard said heartily, extending a hand. 'It's great to see you.'
Charlie Deems looked up from the magazine. He was a man of average height, but thick through the chest and shoulders. A handsome man with dark, curly hair who reminded Packard a little of Warren Beatty. Deems's most engaging feature was his toothy grin, which was a bit goofy and put you at ease. Unless, that is, you had read the psychological profile in Deems's presentence report.
'You're looking good, Bob,' Deems said enthusiastically when they were seated in Packard's office.
'Thanks, Charlie. You're looking pretty good yourself.'
'I should. There's plenty of time to work out in the joint. You can't imagine how many sit-ups and push-ups you can do when you're locked down for twenty-three hours a day.'
Deems was wearing a short-sleeve maroon shirt. He flexed his left biceps and winked.
'Looking' good,' Packard agreed. 'So, what's up?'
'Nothing much. I just wanted to drop by to thank you for winning my case.'
Packard shrugged modestly. 'That's what you paid me for.'
'Well, you did great. I bet that cunt Griffen is pissed,' Deems said with a laugh. 'You seen her since the decision came down?'
'Once, over at the courthouse, but I didn't bring up the case.
No sense gloating.'
'Ah, Bob, you're too big hearted. Me, I'd love to have seen her face, because I know this case was personal for her. I mean, she wanted me dead. Now she ain't got nothin'.'
'Oh, I don't think it was personal, Charlie.'
'You don't?' Deems asked with a look of boyish curiosity.
'No. I just think she was doing her job. Fortunately, I did mine better.'
'Yeah, well, you might be right, but I don't think so. I mulled this thing over while I was on the row. I had lots of time to think about her there. I'm convinced that bitch had it in for me, Bob.'
Deems had an odd look on his face that worried Packard.
'You should let it rest, Charlie. The cops are going to be on your butt, night and day. You don't want to do anything even slightly suspicious.'
'Oh, right. I agree with that,' Deems said reasonably. 'Water under the bridge. No, Bob, I just want to get on with my life.
Which brings me to the other reason for my visit.'
'What's that?' Packard asked uneasily.
'I wanted to ask you for a little favor.'
'What favor?'
'Well, it seems to me that you won my appeal pretty easily. I mean, they're not even gonna retry me, so the judge must have really fucked up, right?'
'Well, he did make a mistake,' Packard answered cautiously, 'but it wasn't that easy to win the case.'
Deems shook his head. 'That's not the way I see it. And that's not just my opinion. There's a lot of guys in the joint that know their law. I asked 'em about the appeal. They all knew you'd win.
Said it was a cake-walk. So, seeing how easy it was, I was thinking that I'd like a little refund on my fee.'
'That's not how it works, Charlie,' Packard said, trying to convince himself that this would be like any business discussion between two civilized and rational men. 'The fee is nonrefundable and its not dependent on results. Remember we discussed that?'
'I remember,' Deems answered with a shake of his head.
'But you know, Bob, I'm thinking PR here. Your reputation is what brings in the clients. Am I right? And happy clients talk you up.
That's free advertising. I'd be real happy if you refunded half the fee.'
Packard blanched. 'That's fifteen thousand dollars, Charlie. I can't do that.'
'Sure you can. And if I remember right, that was only the cash half.
The kilo of cocaine I gave you was probably worth a lot more than fifteen after you resold it. Am I right? But I don't want any blow back. And I don't care what your profit was. You did a great job for me. I'd just really appreciate the cash back.'
A thin line of sweat formed on Packard's upper lip. He forced a smile.
'I know you've been inside and can use some dough, so why don't I loan you a grand? Will that help?'
'Sure, but fifteen grand would help even more,' Deems said.
This time there was no smile.
'Not possible, Charlie,' Packard said stubbornly. 'A deal's a deal. You were convicted of murder and now you're a free man.
I'd say I earned my fee.'
'Oh, you did. No question. And I don't want you to do anything you don't want to do. If you give me back the money, I want it to be of your own free will. A good deed you can be proud of.'
Deems stopped talking and leaned back in his chair. Packard's heart was beating overtime and he strongly regretted not taking that hit of cocaine.
'Hey, you look upset, Bob,' Deems said suddenly. 'Look, let's forget about this. Okay? I'm sorry I even brought it up. Let's talk about something else. Say, do you like TV game shows?'
'Game shows?' Packard repeated, puzzled by the transition, but relieved that Deems had let him off the hook so easily.
'Yeah, like Jeopardy! or Let's Make a Deal. You know.'
'I work during the day, so I rarely get a chance to watch them.'
'I didn't watch them either until they put me on the row. We had a set outside the bars. One of our few luxuries. The guards let us watch the game shows. I really got hooked on them. At first I thought they were kind of stupid, but the more I watched, the more I realized that you can learn as much from game shows as you can at school. For instance, have you ever seen The Price Is Right?'
'Isn't that the one where the contestants have to guess the price of a refrigerator or a set of dishes?'
'Right!' Deems said, snapping upright in his chair and grinning broadly.
Then, in an imitation of a game-show host, he said.
'Bob Packard of Portland, Oregon, come on down! You can play The Price Is Right!' Then you run up from the audience. Have you seen it?'
'A few times.'
'Well, that's a great show,' Deems said animatedly, 'because it teaches you about the value of things. For instance, if I put two rocks on your desk and asked you to guess at their value, you'd say they weren't worth much, am I right? I mean, we're talking about two rocks. But what if one was a chunk of common granite and the other was a diamond? You see?
Two rocks, both the same size, but your judgment of their value would be really different.'
Packard nodded automatically to avoid insulting Deems and cast a quick glance at his watch.
'That's interesting, Charlie, and I'd like to talk about it some more, but I have a motion I need to write. It's due in two days and it's rather complicated.'
'I'm sure it is,' Deems said, 'but I think it's more important for you, in the long run, to discuss values.'
The fear Packard felt initially had faded as he grew annoyed and he missed the menace in Deems's tone.
'What are you getting at, Charlie? Come to the point.'
'Sure. You're a busy man. I don't want to waste your time. But I do think this little talk will help you put things in perspective.
For instance, what's worth more, a good night's sleep or the shoddy legal services of a coked-up junkie lawyer.'
Packard flushed. 'That's not fair, Charlie. If it wasn't for me, you'd be dead.'
'Maybe, maybe not. As I said, more than one person I talked to was of the opinion that this was a pretty easy
