Dirty Blonde

“Right after his lunch with Simone. He called me on his cell, walking down Walnut Street, all excited. He thought we were gonna be players.” Russo smiled in a benevolent way. “Rich gets like that, carried away, like he said. He’s like a little kid.”

Temin paused, letting it register. “Let’s switch gears, Detective. Did you make a deal with Mr. Marz to be compensated for your time and services?”

“With Rich? Yes.”

“What was your deal with Mr. Marz?”

“Objection, relevance!” Hartford rose.

“Overruled. Relevance is broadly defined in the Federal Rules, Mr. Hartford, and this is certainly within its definition.” Cate turned again to Russo. “Go ahead and answer, Detective.”

“Thank you, Your Honor.” Russo faced Temin. “Mr. Marz and I had an agreement that we’d be equal partners when Mr. Simone produced the show. That I wouldn’t get any upfront money but when the show got made, I’d make whatever he made.”

“Did you consider that generous?”

“Yes and no.” Russo raised a large, cautionary hand. “Don’t get me wrong. Mr. Marz is an all right kid, but him and myself, we spent a lotta time developing the ideas for the series. Working at night, making up the four characters and their histories. The lead was gonna be me, the good-lookin’ one.”

Again, smiles all around, but for Cate, who knew the ending to this episode.

“Detective, was it your intention to quit your job after the show was produced?”

“Yeah, but this woulda been like winning the lottery. Marz quit his job to work on it full-time.” Russo shot Simone a hard look. “Glad I kept mine, the way it turned out.”

“Detective Russo, was your agreement with Mr. Marz ever written down?”

“We shook on it, and that was good enough for us.” Russo eyed the jury, who got the message, rapt, to a member.

“No further questions,” Temin said, obviously pleased, and took his seat.

Cate faced defense counsel. “Any cross, Mr. Hartford?”

“Thank you, Your Honor,” he answered, standing up and approaching the lectern. “Mr. Russo, to the best of your knowledge, was the alleged agreement between Mr. Simone and Mr. Marz ever reduced to a written contract?”

“No.”

“Thank you, Detective Russo.” Hartford looked at the dais. “No further questions, Your Honor.”

Temin stood up. “No redirect, Your Honor, and plaintiff rests its case-in-chief. We would like to reserve rebuttal.”

“Of course, and thank you, Mr. Temin.” Cate excused Detective Russo from the stand and looked expectantly at defense table.

Hartford stood tall. “I would like to call Arthur Simone to the stand, if I may.”

“You may,” Cate answered, shifting forward in her chair. She wanted to hear from this character.

CHAPTER 3

From the lectern, Hartford asked, “Mr. Simone, could you tell the jury a little bit about yourself?”

“Sure. I’m from Reno and went to UNLV, in Vegas. Graduated an English major. You know what that means, job-wise.” Simone smiled crookedly. “‘Hello, my name is Art and I’ll be your waiter tonight.’”

A chuckle ran though the gallery, especially from the redheaded jury consultant and Simone’s assistant, Micah Gilbert. Gilbert, who looked to be in her early thirties, sat with her legs crossed in tight pants, and her long, dark hair flowed to her shoulders in a sexy curl. She took almost constant notes, and Cate couldn’t help wondering if her dedication to her boss was more than professional.

“I went to law school at Hastings, but as much as I loved reading cases, I got bored. I don’t know how law school manages to make winning and losing, life and death, justice and injustice so deadly dull.” Simone scoffed, and his fine hands rested on the edge of the polished wood, showing a thick gold wedding band. “I always loved TV, so I moved to L.A. and got into the business as a gofer, then moved up to producing my own true-crime shows and selling them to cable markets. Then I started writing and producing Attorneys@Law.”

Hartford flipped a page of his legal pad. “Mr. Simone, you heard Mr. Marz testify that he gave you the idea for the series that eventually became Attorneys@Law, didn’t you?”

“Yes, I did hear him say that.”

“Is that true?”

“No.” Simone’s good humor faded. “No. Absolutely not.”

Cate saw Marz lean forward in his chair at counsel table.

“Mr. Simone, what gave you the idea for Attorneys@Law?”

“My imagination. One day in the shower, I realized that none of the current lawyer shows showed the inside view. The way lawyers really work, in court and out. So I said, if I want to see it, I guess I have to write it, and that was that.”

“Did you copy the idea from anyone or anywhere?”

“Of course not. Let me state the obvious. The idea of a lawyer show isn’t copyrightable, and it isn’t even new, and there were four main lawyers in L.A. Law, Ally McBeal, and Boston Legal. Marz didn’t invent it, and neither did I. It started as far back as Perry Mason, and I live in the same world as anybody else.” Simone shifted forward, warming to the discussion, though Hartford’s confused expression suggested that his client was veering from their script. “By that I mean, I’m influenced by reality, by my own life. I’m being sued in this ridiculous lawsuit, and on the bench sits an attractive woman judge, with real star power.” Simone turned suddenly toward the dais. “Do you mind if I suck up, Judge Fante?”

Cate flushed, caught off-balance. “Is this relevant?”

“Yes, of course. I’m trying to explain that my ideas often come from my life. For example, I could turn this very lawsuit into a TV series. Write a spin-off from Attorneys@Law, and call it Judges@Court. And it could star a blond female judge who’s a lot like you, Judge Fante. Charismatic, attention-getting. The most alive person in the room. What do you think?”

Cate stiffened at the flattery, but the jurors and gallery held their breath, waiting for her reaction. Most federal judges would have admonished him, but that wouldn’t defuse anything. She answered, “Great idea. Get Charlize Theron, for me.”

“Done!” Simone laughed, and so did everyone else.

Hartford cleared his throat. “Now, Mr. Simone, were you ever friends with Mr. Marz?”

“No, not at all. He was one of my campers, that’s it. Long story short, we barely stayed in touch over the years. We were never close.”

At counsel table, Marz scowled, and his wife looked equally unhappy.

Hartford asked, “Were you sitting in this courtroom when Mr. Marz testified that he met with you on three occasions?”

“Yes, I did hear Mr. Marz testify, but what took place at them wasn’t what Mr. Marz said. At the June meeting, Mr. Marz told me he had an idea for a TV series, and I gave him my time because he was a nice kid and he was in dire straits. Things weren’t working out for him at the DA’s office and-”

“Objection,” Temin interrupted.

“Overruled.” Cate shook her head, and Simone continued before she directed to do so.

“Mr. Marz said he wanted a new career. I thought I’d do him a favor and listen to him talk. But that’s it, and that’s all. I promised him nothing, I offered nothing.” Simone turned to the jury, his tone newly agitated. “His idea isn’t what became Attorneys@Law. I was already working on the scripts for Attorneys @Law when we met and I set it in Philly because I’m from here, too. It’s pure coincidence that both shows are about lawyers. What show isn’t about lawyers and crime these days?