Page 26 of Maddy's Justice

Melanie’s corner office was large enough to accommodate a conference room table with eight chairs. Marc put the player in the middle of the table while they all sat down. After playing it through twice––the second time at Spenser’s request––Marc shut it off.

“What did he have to say about it?” Stafford asked.

“I won’t say, for now. That’s privileged…”

“We’re all lawyers,” Stafford said, his anger and arrogance coming out.

“We’re not Troy’s lawyers,” Cliff Spenser said. “Marc’s right. That’s why we hired outside counsel.”

“At this point, we don’t want to get into specifics,” Marc calmly told Stafford. “I’m sure you understand.”

“This is gonna cost a goddamn fortune,” Stafford petulantly said.

“Very likely,” Melanie told him.

“We may as well accept it, for now.”

“Troy brings in a helluva lot more than what we’ll have to pay for this,” Gavin Blake said.

“A drop in the bucket,” Spenser agreed.

“You think we should settle?” Stafford asked looking at first Marc then Connie.

“Too early,” Marc answered. “Unless you want to make them an offer they can’t refuse.”

Spenser looked at Marc and smiled at the Godfather cliché.

Stafford stood up and abruptly announced he was leaving. Spenser looked at his watch, apologized, then also left.

“What do you really think?” Gavin Blake said when the other two were gone.

Marc thought about the question for a moment before answering.

“We can put a case on, that’s all I will say. We still have five more plaintiffs to hear from. It may be a little hard to paint Troy McGovern as a victim of a bunch of devious women. We’ll see, but don’t hold your breath.”

Marc looked at Melanie and said, “That reminds me, there were two women lawyers we heard about who abruptly quit. Both worked for Troy. They left the firm and disappeared?”

“Olivia Harris and Amy Kempton,” Melanie quickly said.

“You know them?” Connie asked.

“Yes, I knew both of them. Good lawyers. Both worked with Troy. They never brought a complaint. They each just sent in an emailed resignation and were gone.”

“Can you get me everything you have on them?” Marc asked.

“Yes, I can. I’ll have it sent by email by the end of today,” Melanie replied.

“Why, um, why do you want that?” Blake asked, “They moved away. No one knows where.”

“Well, we’re gonna look,” Marc said. “I don’t want to take the chance that Lori Quinn has them and is gonna blindside us with them.”

“They never complained about Troy,” Blake said.

“He’s right, Gavin,” Melanie said. “They should try to find them.”

“We have a couple of very good investigators,” Connie said. “If anyone can find them, they can.”

“Oh, sure, okay. I should go, too,” Blake said. “Good luck. Nice to see you again.”

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