Page 35 of Maddy's Justice

“And, I was about to say, we keep our eyes and ears open.”

“Julia Hall told me the disappearance of those two women lawyers isn’t a coincidence. She knew both of them and swears just vanishing like that isn’t who they are and they both had problems with Troy and maybe some others.”

Up to this point Marc was dispassionately listening while leaning forward on his desk, arms folded across the desk’s blotter. When Connie made this last statement, he leaned back, sighed, and put on a more concerned expression.

“That doesn’t surprise me,” he said. “Both Tony and Maddy saw Owen Jefferson and the detective who investigated the missing person report. They’re pretty sure those women are both dead.”

“When did you hear this?” Connie asked both surprised and annoyed to be hearing this for the first time.

“Last night. I told Maddy to make sure she straps on a gun from now on while they investigate.

“Now, back to our case, what happened at the discovery conference?”

“Julia also told me that another woman lawyer––she didn’t know who, but guessed it was Faye Hayden––was, well a rumor, raped by Troy,” Connie said.

“Is she one of the plaintiffs?” Marc asked.

“Are you listening to me?” Connie almost yelled.

“Okay, you want to talk about this. We’ll talk about it. She heard a rumor that maybe Troy raped one of the lawyers,” Marc said as he pulled out a manila folder from his case file. “I remember the name from Maddy,” he said as he looked through the file. “Here it is. Faye Hayden. Age twenty-nine. On Troy’s team for about eighteen months. According to our Ms. Rivers she denied having any sexual relations with Troy McGovern.”

“How did you remember that? I’d forgotten…”

“I’m a trial lawyer,” Marc said. “But it also says here that she is divorced,” he said while reading his notes. Marc looked across the table at Connie and said, “I think we’ll have our girl look into this a little further. Have Maddy take a look at the divorce. Talk to her ex-husband. You’re right. This is something we should find out if there’s anything to it.

“Why did Lori tell you this?” Marc asked Connie. “If it was me, I’d hold this little nugget of information and drill him at trial with it. Now, we stand a good chance of keeping it out whether it’s true or not.”

“I’m not sure,” Connie said.

“I can speculate a bit,” Marc said. “They know the word is out at Stafford, Hughes. Remember, three of these plaintiffs are still there. The word went out for everyone to keep their mouths shut and do not cooperate with Lori Quinn.”

“So, Lori, won’t be able to investigate this because no one will talk. She wants us to check it out,” Connie said.

“And we will add another zero to any settlement offer,” Marc added.

“Now that’s cynical,” Connie said. “But probably true. I know Lori. She’s as cynical and devious as the rest of us.”

“Plus, there’s nothing that she can do about an allegation of rape, let alone a rumor, if the victim won’t admit it. No way would it be admissible,” Marc said. “Although she would try like hell to find a way to sneak it in. Or, just hit him with it out of the blue and let us object. A jury would still hear it.”

“What do we do if we find out it’s true?” Connie asked. “And worse. If he did this once, what are the odds he has done it before? Or since?”

“In other words, do we really want to look into this? Do we really want to find out? And, if so, do we have to disclose it?” Marc asked.

“You’re the criminal defense lawyer, you tell me,” Connie answered.

“It’s work product, so no we don’t have to disclose it unless we are dumb enough to have a written statement from the victim. If you find out your client has committed a crime, you don’t have to disclose it. But you cannot help him commit perjury and we cannot hope Lori Quinn won’t get to the truth. If it is true and Faye Hayden was raped by their fair-haired boy, we cannot simply hope Faye doesn’t come forward.”

There was a long, silent pause between them while each contemplated what they should do. It was longer than a minute before Connie broke the silence.

“I think we better find out.”

“And hope it’s not true,” Marc replied.

“And if it is?”

“Sooner or later, preferably sooner,” Marc began to answer her, “we’re gonna have to settle this thing. To be blunt, I don’t much care about the discovery process. Sure, we could drag this out for a couple of years. But we don’t have destitute plaintiffs with piles of unpaid bills, including medical bills piling up. These women are all employed and supporting themselves.”

“They can wait us out,” Connie said.

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