The Brass Verdict

never stopped moving.

Nineteen
    The writers had taken the day off or moved their picket line to another protest location. At Archway Studios we made it through the security checkpoint without any of the delay of the day before. It helped that Nina Albrecht was in the car in front of us and had smoothed the way.
    It was late and the studio was emptying out for the day. Patrick was able to get a parking spot right in front of Elliot’s bungalow. Patrick was excited because he had never been inside the gates of a movie studio. I told him he was free to look around but to keep his phone handy because I was unsure how long the meeting with my client would last and I needed to stick to a schedule for picking up my daughter.
    As I followed Nina in I asked her if there was a place for me to meet with Elliot other than his office. I said I had paperwork to spread out and that the table we had sat at the day before was too small. She said she would take me to the executive boardroom and I could set up there while she went to get her boss and bring him to the meeting. I said that would be fine. But the truth was I wasn’t going to spread documents out. I just wanted to meet with Elliot in a neutral spot. If I was sitting across from him at his worktable, he would have command of the meeting. That was made clear during our first encounter. Elliot was a forceful personality. But I needed to be the one in charge from here on out.
    It was a big room with twelve black leather chairs around the polished oval table. There was an overhead projector and a long box on the far wall containing the drop-down screen. The other walls were hung with framed posters of the movies that had been made on the lot. I assumed that these were the films that had made the studio money.
    I took a seat and pulled the case files out of my bag. Twenty-five minutes later I was looking through the state’s discovery documents when the door opened and Elliot finally walked in. I didn’t bother to get up or extend my hand. I tried to look annoyed as I pointed him to a chair across the table from me.
    Nina trailed him into the room to see what she could get us for refreshment.
    “Nothing, Nina,” I said before Elliot could respond. “We’re going to be fine and we need to get started. We’ll let you know if we need anything.”
    She seemed momentarily taken aback by the issuance of orders from someone other than Elliot. She looked to him for clarification and he simply nodded. She left, closing the double doors behind her. Elliot sat down in the chair I had pointed him to.
    I looked across the table at my client for a long moment before speaking.
    “I can’t figure you out, Walter.”
    “What do you mean? What’s to figure out?”
    “Well, for starters, you spend a lot of time protesting your innocence. But I don’t think you are taking this that seriously.”
    “You’re wrong about that.”
    “Am I? You understand that if you lose this trial, you are going to prison? And there won’t be any bail on a double-murder conviction while you appeal. You get a bad verdict and they’ll cuff you in the courtroom and take you away.”
    Elliot leaned a few inches toward me before responding again.
    “I understand exactly the position I am in. So don’t dare tell me I am not taking it seriously.”
    “Okay, then, when we set a meeting, let’s be on time for it. There is a lot of ground to cover and not a lot of time to cover it. I know you have a studio to run but that is no longer the priority. For the next two weeks you have one priority. This case.”
    Now he looked at me for a long moment before responding. It may have been the first time in his life he had been chided for being late and then told what to do. Finally, he nodded.
    “Fair enough,” he said.
    I nodded back. Our positions were now understood. We were in his boardroom and on his studio lot, but I was the alpha dog now. His future depended on me.
    “Good,” I said. “Now, the first thing I need to ask is whether we are speaking privately in here.”
    “Of course we are.”
    “Well, we weren’t yesterday. It was pretty clear that Nina’s got your office wired. That may be fine for your movie meetings but it’s not fine when we’re discussing your case. I’m your lawyer, and no one should hear our discussion. No one. Nina has no privilege. She could be subpoenaed to testify against you. In fact, it won’t surprise me if she ends up on the prosecution’s witness