Mistress of Justice

slugging it out at trial. The judge might even be able to get in nine holes today.
    “We’ll entertain it,” Reece said stiffly.
    The lawyer moved closer to Reece and whispered, “Look, you can get a judgment entered for the face value of the note plus interest but there’s no way there’ll be enough cash left in the company to collect that much by the time you enforce it. Not to mention your legal fees’ eating up a lot of the rest.”
    “A number,” Reece said. “Just give me a number.”
    “I—”
    The judge: “Give him a number.”
    “Sixty-five cents on the dollar.”
    Reece said, “Eighty cents on the dollar. U.S. cash, not negotiable instruments or assets or tangible property, even gold.”
    “We’re trying to be cooperative. But we have to be realistic,” Hanover’s lawyer said. Then he added ominously, “The money just won’t be there in a few months.”
    “Then we’ll just have to go a-lookin’,” Reece saidcheerfully. “Now, Lloyd Hanover personally guaranteed the debt. I’m ready to interrogate—excuse me,
depose
—every one of his relatives and every business associate of his for the past ten years to find out where he hid the money.”
    “He didn’t hide—”
    “We’ll look into every deal he’s ever been involved in, every charity he ever gave money to, his kid’s college funds.”
    “He’s completely innocent of secreting funds if that’s what you’re suggesting.”
    Reece shrugged. “Dismissal without prejudice. Eighty cents on the dollar. Cash. And we close within one week. If not, then Lloyd Hanover and everybody he’s ever known won’t have a minute’s peace.”
    The lawyer held his eye for a moment and strode back to his client, who listened, gave a searing look to Reece then whispered something to the lawyer.
    When the man returned he said, “Agreed.”
    Reece nodded and said, “We’ll execute the stipulation now.”
    “We don’t want to take the court’s time. I suggest—”
    “I think his honor would prefer to spend a few extra minutes now rather than risk being back here in a few weeks for a full-fledged trial. Am I right about that, your honor?”
    “You are, Mr. Reece. Write out the stipulation by hand and we’ll get it signed up.”
    The defense lawyer sighed and scurried back to give the bad news to the client.
    After the paperwork was completed hands were shaken among comrades, glares delivered between opponents and the courtroom emptied.
    In the courthouse rotunda, the New Amsterdam vice presidents and executives clustered together, enjoying their relief. Taylor followed Reece to a small vestibule that contained public phones, which unlike most in the city were in old-fashioned booths with closing doors. He pulled her inside one and kissed her hard. After a moment he releasedher and leaned back. “What on earth happened? Where were you?”
    “I was almost through searching Clayton’s office but he came in early to take care of some last-minute things for the merger. I hid in the bathroom.”
    “Jesus. What happened then?”
    “About nine or so he had to use the john. But I unscrewed the lightbulbs before he got there. So he went up the hall. When he did I grabbed the last stack of paper and ran down to my cubicle with them. I found all of this in the envelope the note was in.”
    Reece took the sheets of paper that Taylor offered. Shaking his head, he looked at them closely. A copy of a letter to the
National Law Journal
. “Re: Careless Security Costs Firm Client.” The letter blamed Burdick and the executive committee. There was also a typewritten list with the names of several other clients and cases that Clayton was going to sabotage while, presumably, shifting the blame to Burdick.
    From her purse Taylor then took a small tape recorder and held up a tiny microcasette. “This was in the envelope too.” She inserted the cassette into the player and hit a button. They heard Reece’s voice, thick with static, talking to her about the promissory note. She shut it off.
    “Son of a bitch,” Reece said. “He bugged my office. That’s how he knew we were after him. He’s known all along. He …” Then Reece paused and looked at his watch. “Oh, no.”
    “What?
    “The firm’s voting on the merger any minute now. We’ve got to tell Donald about this. It’ll change everything.”
    He grabbed the phone and dug in his pocket for some change.

     
    Perpetual motion does exist.
    In business, in fact, where the mere laws