Page 25 of Maddy's Justice

“What did she say or do that made you think she was coming on to you?” Marc asked.

“You know, little things. Body language things. The women lawyers are always doing it to get on the mass torts team. Big bucks.”

“What was she wearing?” Connie asked again. “Think about it. Try to remember.”

Troy even closed his eyes as he tried to bring up the image of Stephanie Chapple sitting in his office. “Oh, yeah, I can see it now,” he said, eyes still closed. “She’s wearing a white lacy kind of blouse, a see-through thing with a white lace bra. She had a navy-blue skirt and when she sat down, it hiked up her thigh a good ten inches.”

Troy opened his eyes, looked at Marc and said, “Yeah, and she had this bright red lipstick she was wearing. Pretty hot, for the office.”

“What color is her hair?” Connie asked.

“Um, dark, dark-drown. Almost black. You know women,” he continued looking back at Marc, “they change their hair color like we change our clothes.” He even winked at Marc.

“What about shoes?” Connie asked. “What was she…”

“Didn’t notice her shoes,” Troy replied.

“So, she wasn’t wearing six-inch, spiked FM shoes?” Connie asked.

“No, ah, no I don’t think so. With the way she was seated, right in front of my desk, I couldn’t see them anyway.”

“Let me see if I understand you correctly,” Marc said picking up his notepad. “She was dressed, at least mildly, provocatively. Her facial expressions and body language were giving you ‘come on’ signs and you were joking around.”

“Yeah, that’s it,” McGovern agreed.

“And the recording was doctored,” Marc said. “What about perfume? Was she wearing…”?

“Yes! Now that you ask. I remember it. She had this nice perfume she was wearing. It gave off a sexy, sultry kind of aroma. But not real strong. Very nice, though.”

Marc looked at Connie and asked, “Anything else?”

“No, that’s it for now,” Connie said.

She smiled at McGovern. “Thanks a lot, Troy. That’s really helpful.”

“You think I was entrapped?” he asked.

“Well,” Connie said, “it’s a little early to start looking at specifics. We need to do a lot more discovery. You should understand that.”

“Of course, sure,” McGovern replied.

“So, are you done with me, for now?” he asked.

“Yeah, that’s enough for today. We just wanted to get your reaction to the recording. I’m sure there’ll be more as we go along,” Marc answered.

They all stood up, shook hands and McGovern left, presumably to go back to his office.

“Sonofabitch, I hate it when clients lie that much,” Connie said when he was gone.

“Then don’t do criminal defense work. I’ve had clients lie to me about their name. Don’t light that up,” Marc said when he saw Connie retrieve a cigarette from her purse.

“Screw ‘em,” she said puffing on the smoke. “They have ventilation. What do you think?”

“I’m surprised he didn’t put her in red lingerie complete with garter belt and black, fishnet stockings,” Marc replied. “On the whole, he was pretty conservative. Although I’m not buying the see-through blouse and lace bra. I doubt this woman is that stupid.”

Upon returning to Melanie Stewart’s office, Marc and Connie found Melanie and the three senior male partners, Brandon Stafford, Gavin Blake, and Cliff Spenser waiting.

“Good,” Marc said after handshakes, “I’m glad you’re all here. We might as well listen to the recording.”

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