“You’re talking about the civil suit,” Steve said. “There are criminal charges here as well.”
“You can’t negotiate criminal charges. That would be unethical.”
“Not to mention illegal,” Steve said. “I’m not negotiating them. I’m just mentioning them to show you that the situation is somewhat complicated.”
“Not for me,” Castleton said. “If your client has some problem with Phil Danby, that’s between him and her.”
“Yes and no,” Steve said. “Considering the requirements of the employment, requirements initiated by you, I think you might find yourself at the very least an accessory to such charges as rape, assault, what have you.”
“Nonsense,” Castleton said.
Steve shrugged. “Probably. But, as you say, that’s neither here nor there. We’re discussing the civil suit here, not the criminal charge. We’re certainly not negotiating that. That would be compounding a felony and conspiring to conceal a crime. Something you and I would never dream of doing.
“Of course, that’s assuming criminal charges are brought at all. And from a legal standpoint, having reached a settlement with you in the civil suit and having given you a full release from any or all damages arising from the employment, Kelly Blaine would be hard-pressed to come up with any grounds for pressing criminal charges in this matter.”
Steve waved his hands. “But that’s not what we’re discussing. By all means, let’s talk settlement.”
“You have my offer. Twenty-five thousand.”
“And you have mine.”
“Yes. A hundred thousand. If you’re not going to budge from it, there’s nothing to talk about and we’ll see you in court.”
Steve smiled. “Did I say that, Mr. Castleton? We’re all businessmen here. You’ve come up. I’ll come down. Seventy-five thousand and call it a day.”
Castleton shook his head. “Out of the question.”
“Okay,” Steve said. “I think the situation’s clear. We have figures on the table neither one of us can live with. We need to come up with a compromise figure, or go to court.”
“Such as?”
Steve shook his head. “Your move. I just came down to seventy-five, remember?”
“That’s not even close.”
Steve sighed. “We have a problem here. The way I see it, the only issue here is how many more bids it’s gonna take us to get to fifty grand. You don’t wanna say fifty because you’re afraid if you do I’ll say seventy and then we’ll be arguing between those two figures trying to split at sixty. And I don’t want to say fifty because then you’ll say thirty and we’ll be arguing between those two figures trying to split at forty.” Steve threw up his hands. “It’s a no-win situation. The way I see it, we could be here all day. So I’m not naming a figure. I’m suggesting if you named the figure fifty thousand, it might end negotiations.”
“Are you stating such is the case?”
“Not at all. I’m talking tentatively and hypothetically.”
“All right. Talking tentatively and hypothetically then, if I named the figure fifty thousand, would you accept it?”
“If you named it, yes.”
“All right. Fifty thousand dollars, take it or leave it. Do we have a deal?”
“In principle.”
Castleton frowned. “What do you mean, in principle?”
“The cash compromise is satisfactory. But the deal is predicated on my receiving Kelly Blaine’s clothes and purse.”
“And upon you furnishing me with a blanket release.”
“Certainly,” Steve said. He reached into his jacket pocket, pulled out the papers, handed them over.
Castleton glanced at the papers just long enough to verify what they were, then nodded to Danby. “Get it.”
Danby turned and walked out the door with the air of a trained dog doing a trick. Castleton buried his head in the papers. He was still reading when Danby came back, carrying a purse and a shopping bag. He started to give them to Steve Winslow, but Castleton held up his hand. “One moment. I’m not done.”
Castleton finished the last page, set the papers down. “All right, give him the stuff.”
Steve took the shopping bag and the purse, walked over to a small table and set them down to examine them. In the shopping bag he found a skirt, sweater, bra, panties, stockings and shoes. The purse was of fabric rather than leather, a soft, flexible bag pulled closed with a drawstring that doubled as a shoulder strap. Steve spread the top open, reached in and examined the contents. He found the usual junk-tissues, lipstick, pens, paper, what have you. He also found a set of keys, a change purse with thirty-eight dollars and change in it, and a white envelope with Kelly Blaine’s name on it and eight one-hundred-dollar bills inside.
Steve looked up from the purse. “Where’s the wallet?”
“What?” Castleton said.
“There’s no wallet. There’s a change purse with money, but no wallet.”
Castleton looked at Danby. “Phil?”
Danby shrugged. “Then she didn’t have one. I assure you, her purse has not been touched.”
“There’s your answer,” Castleton said.
“I have to check with my client,” Steve said.
He walked over to the desk, picked up the phone, called the office and had Tracy put Kelly Blaine on the wire.
“Did you get it?” she asked breathlessly.
“Mr. Castleton and I have reached an agreement. I have your clothes and purse.”
“Oh, thank God.”
“There’s one problem. I checked the purse. Your keys are in it, and your change purse and your day’s pay. But your wallet isn’t.”
“That’s all right, I left it at home.”
“Fine,” Steve said. “See you soon.”
Steve hung up before she could ask any questions. He turned back to Milton Castleton. “All right, Mr. Castleton. We have a deal.”
4
Kelly Blaine certainly looked different when she emerged from the inner office where Steve Winslow and Tracy Garvin had left her to dress. Of course, Steve had only seen her in a grungy overcoat before, but still the change was amazing. She had taken the time to fix her makeup and comb her hair. As a result, the face that looked as if it could be attractive was attractive.
So was the figure. Her clothes, though discrete and conservative, covered a full-breasted, slim-waisted body that dressed differently could only be described as voluptuous.
Steve Winslow smiled. “‘Well, Miss Blaine, you do look better.”
She smiled back. “I can’t thank you enough. The whole thing was such a nightmare. I can’t believe it’s over.”
“Well, it is. Signed, sealed and delivered. I’ve had Miss Garvin draw you up a check.”
“Check?”
“Yes. Mr. Castleton naturally made the settlement out to me as your attorney. As I told you, I’m retaining a third as my fee. I’ve had Miss Garvin make you out a check for the balance.”
Steve nodded to Tracy, who picked up the check from the desk and handed it to Kelly. She took it, folded it, started to stick it in her purse.
“You’d better look at it,” Steve said.
“Why?” she said. She stopped, unfolded the check. Her eyes widened. “Oh, my god!” She stared at the check a moment, then looked up at Steve. “This check is for thirty-three thousand dollars.”
“Thirty-three thousand and change. That’s your share of the settlement. My share’s sixteen thousand and change. The settlement was fifty thousand.”
She stared at him. “I told you to settle for eight.”
“I know. I’m a bad boy.”
She shook her head. “You shouldn’t have done that.”
“Well, it’s done.”
“Yeah, but you could have blown the settlement.”
“If I had, you could sue me for malpractice. As it is, you take the money and run.”
Kelly Blaine looked at the check again. “Thirty-three thousand dollars.”
“Yeah,” Steve said. “I know I shouldn’t have done it, but I couldn’t help myself. It wasn’t just that I wanted a bigger fee or that I wanted the money for you. I was just pissed off at the smug son of a bitch for what he did to you, and I wanted to bash him one.”