'So why don't you tell me why Gunderson's daughter just happens to
write a fifty-thousand-dollar check to Townsend days before Clarissa
rules in his favor?'
She looked at me incredulously. 'I like you, Samantha, I really do.
But you are seriously pissing me off right now.'
I shook my head and had to laugh. It was hard not to like her back.
'Not a nice feeling, is it?'
'No, it's not,' she said, laughing as well. 'I don't know what you
think I know, but you're totally off base. And you're lucky I'm not
easily offended.'
'And you're lucky I'm not either. There are too many coincidences
here. I think you knew Gunderson through Herbie and his friends, and
that you might have thrown Clarissa and Town-send his way when
Gunderson didn't get the license he needed. If we get this squared
away, it doesn't need to be messy. But if it drags out, you can bet
that Jackson's defense attorney will do everything he can to haul each
and every one of you into court.'
She looked at me, mulling over what I'd said. 'There might be
something, but it's not what you're suggesting, at least not my part of
it. In fact, I didn't even realize the possibility of it until just
now when you were talking about MTK.'
'So explain it to me.'
'What about Townsend? He'll lose everything. His hospital
appointment, his reputation. He could even lose his license.'
'And all that's still going to happen if this comes out at Jackson's
trial. But if we take that road, Jackson might go free.'
She swallowed before she spoke next. 'Gunderson,' she said. 'You say
there's some connection between him and MTK?'
I nodded.
'About a year ago, Carl Matthews he's the president of MTK '
I nodded again.
'You have done your research,' she said. 'Carl Matthews and Herbie
were friends from way back, and when Carl and his wife had a party
about a year ago, I took Townsend and Clarissa so Townsend and I could
talk up the new hospital wing to Carl. There were a ton of guests
there. Maybe Gunderson was one of them. Townsend could have met him
then.'
I pulled the photograph of Gunderson from my briefcase.
'Maybe he looks familiar,' she said. 'It was quite a while ago, and I
really wasn't paying attention, but he might have been there.'
So much for a conclusive ID. 'Was your husband involved in MTK?' I
asked, tucking the photo away.
'Sure,' she said, seeming to assume that I'd already known. 'He was
the K. Matthews, Tykeson, and Kerr. The boys made lots of money back
in the day. Tykeson's retired, and Herbie s gone, of course, but the
letters live on through Carl.'
'So are you part of the company then?'
'Oh, God, no. The estate handled all that stuff, but Carl essentially
bought Herbie's interest in the company after he died.'
'Did you know that MTK had a judgment against Gunderson's old company
'back in the day,' as you say?'
That seemed to take her by surprise. 'Like I said, I've never heard of
Gunderson. But I can see why you said there were so many coincidences
here. Maybe I was wrong about that dinner party, then. I can't
imagine Gunderson would pal around with someone who sued him, right?'
'Not unless they've put the bad blood behind them. The judgment was
taken right before Gunderson filed bankruptcy. I guess he's worked his
way up since then.'
'Well, that makes a little more sense. I mean, if a guy's going to
file bankruptcy, it doesn't hurt if his partners are at the front of
the line.'
I hadn't thought about it from that perspective before. If someone
knew he was about to go under, high-dollar civil judgments against him
would help soften the blow for his business buddies by helping them
recover at least some of the money through the bankruptcy court.
'I can give you Carl Matthews's phone number,' Susan offered. 'I'm
sure he wouldn't mind talking to you about Gunderson.'
'Susan, I just got done telling you Matthews might also be part of
this.'
'Or maybe he's not,' she said. 'You won't know until you ask him, will
you?'
