Page 118 of Maddy's Justice

“I do,” Helen said. “This guy is tied in somehow with that law firm, what’s their name?”

“Stafford, Hughes and others,” Maddy answered.

“Suppose whoever is in charge of all this decided to put a tail on you and Tony. Check up on you to find out who you are and what you’re up to while working that lawsuit.” Helen continued.

“Shit,” Carvelli said, “they would have taken pictures.”

“And kept an eye on you while you were working in Minneapolis,” Sean said.

“Then lost track of you when you came to Chicago,” Helen added.

“So, what do we do?” Maddy asked looking over the little group.

The room went silent for a minute then Carvelli realized there was something else.

“Conrad, is this it? This is all we have?”

“From Labelle’s office, yeah. He left right after this.”

“No, he didn’t,” Carvelli said. “Run it back to where he and the security guy are talking.”

Everyone turned to the TV and watched again. When the guard left, Labelle spun around and retrieved something from his credenza. They heard the keys jingle; Labelle unlocked the drawer then reverse these movements to lock it again.

They watched him as he got up from his desk and walked to the door to the hallway.

“Right there,” Sean quickly said. “Stop it.”

Conrad stopped the video and Sean pointed at Labelle’s hand.

“See that? It’s a phone. He’s leaving the office to make a phone call. Why?”

“Privacy,” Helen said.

“He saw Maddy’s picture and got worried his office might be wired,” Carvelli said.

“He called to get things going for his trip up North,” Maddy said.

“He was gone too long for just that,” Sean said. “And I’m not sure he would have bothered with privacy for just that. He made a couple of calls. One for the trip and one to the guy next door.”

“I think you’re right. The time on that video shows the guy in that office, Roger, getting a call a couple minutes after Labelle leaves. A short call then he leaves and comes back a few minutes later.”

“You think he left the office to talk to Labelle in private? Maybe met him in the Men’s bathroom?” Carvelli asked Sean.

“Seems like a reasonable conclusion,” Sean said.

“If they haven’t yet, they’re gonna check for the bugs,” Conrad said. “Should we pull them?”

“What do you think?” Carvelli asked looking around.

“We’re not getting anything out of them anyway,” Maddy said.

“How hard would it be to put them back?” Sean asked Conrad.

“With the holes drilled, easier than the first time,” Conrad replied.

“We’ll get them tonight,” Carvelli told Conrad. “You and I oughta be able to do it.

“You,” Carvelli said looking at Maddy, “aren’t going near that building again.”