‘Still waiting to be told,’ said Reid.
Jordan held out a calming hand towards the North Carolina lawyer. ‘We’re not in competition, remember? But whoever they are they must have been watching Alyce here, in America. And found nothing. Which they would have done, if there was anything to find, judging from the completeness of their observations in France. That’s surely in Alyce’s favour: part of the mitigation even?’
‘I’m not sure it goes as far as the mitigation, but it’s a point I thought we’d already touched on,’ said Reid. ‘Nothing’s going to go unchallenged but there’s a danger in the very word you used – completeness – in what they achieved in France. It’ll be a narrow path to walk. But I’m obviously going to walk it…’ The man paused, looking at the other lawyer. ‘I’m not sure whether it does more harm than good to your case.’
‘Neither am I,’ agreed Beckwith, philosophically. ‘But the rules are the rules. Your primary responsibility is to your client, my primary responsibility is to mine. We both do what we have to do.’
That hadn’t ended up as he’d intended, acknowledged Jordan. There was still more than enough time to improve upon it. He was encouraged at Appleton’s lawyer being wrong-footed by him personally contesting the claims, if indeed Bartle had been wrong-footed; he only had Beckwith’s impressions from one end of a telephone conversation.
The two lawyers had continued talking during Jordan’s reflections, but to all practical purposes they were technically establishing between themselves – although always consulting Alyce and Jordan on their availability – the precedence of prehearing submissions and unfulfilled exchange demands to Bartle to be made individually between the two of them. Twice, when they weren’t part of any discussion, Alyce smiled at Jordan, on the first occasion mouthing ‘thank you’, which Jordan didn’t understand.
It had gone six before they finally broke off, Jordan holding back for Alyce and Reid to leave the building separately and ahead of him. Still in the annex, Beckwith said, ‘I thought everything went very well.’
‘I want everything to go better than very well,’ said Jordan. ‘I want everything to go completely in our favour.’
‘He’s an arrogant son of a bitch,’ accused Reid. ‘Suddenly he’s a trial lawyer!’
‘I told you he was arrogant before you met,’ reminded Beckwith. ‘The points he made were valid, though.’
They were eating in a restaurant in Little Italy, a cavern filled with noise making it difficult for them to hear each other and impossible to be overheard by others.
‘We’d have got it covered,’ insisted Reid.
‘He covered it first,’ said Beckwith. ‘I prefer clients who think for themselves instead of expecting me to do everything for them.’
‘You really think Bartle was surprised at your third-party involvement?’
‘I even thought at one stage he was going to suggest a pretrial consultation between us.’
‘To slim down the claims to an agreed settlement?’ guessed Reid.
‘There’s an argument for doing so. As you said at the meeting, the adultery is admitted.’
‘Do you think Jordan would go for it?’
‘He’s made the point a few times that gamblers don’t gamble. If he got the possibility of millions pared down to a few thousand – but with the guilt legally established – it might appeal to him.’ He gestured towards the other lawyer. ‘You just dropped spaghetti sauce down your tie.’
Reid scrubbed at himself with his napkin. His head still bent he said, ‘That would kind of divide us, wouldn’t it?’
‘And be a clever legal move for Bartle to make.’
‘What are you going to do?’
‘Nothing. Wait for him to come to me. Like I told you, it’s only my guess.’
‘When are you going to file your dismissal submission?’
‘Tomorrow. Everything’s ready.’
‘So we could get a submission date set as early as next week?’
‘Not if Bartle hasn’t complied with all the exchanges. And we’re still waiting on Leanne Jefferies. I really can’t see why he’s holding back on Appleton’s medical stuff.’
‘Unless it proves Appleton was or is infected.’
‘If it does, Appleton’s case is holed below the waterline,’ insisted Beckwith. ‘It can’t be that simple.’
‘Then why?’ demanded Reid.
‘I don’t know,’ admitted Beckwith. ‘When I file for dismissal I’m going to make the point that if I lose the submission I can’t proceed to full hearing until I’ve received everything that’s legally got to be exchanged.’
‘Did you tell Bartle that?’
‘It was when I told him exactly that I thought he was going to offer negotiation.’
‘Maybe you’ve put a fox into the hen coop?’
‘Rather me doing it to him than the reverse, his doing it to us.’
‘You going to mention it to Harvey?’
‘Not unless I get the approach from Bartle. There’s no point until I do.’
‘I’d like to hear, the moment you do. It could affect everything as far as I am concerned.’
‘Of course you’ll know. If it happens…’ Beckwith pointed across the table. ‘You’ve dropped some more sauce.’
Jordan recognized Alyce’s voice the moment he picked up the telephone in his Carlyle suite. ‘Hello,’ he said, in reply to her opening, pleased the curiosity didn’t sound in his voice.
‘I want to say thank you again, for what you did today, said today. A lot of things wouldn’t have been brought out if you hadn’t been there.’
‘Change your lawyer if you’re not happy,’ offered Jordan.
‘He’s the best there is in Raleigh.’
‘Which doesn’t say much for Raleigh.’
‘From being with you in France I wouldn’t have thought you were this ruthless.’
‘This isn’t France and we’re not having an adventure. This is reality with blood on the floor.’
‘I wish it wasn’t,’ Alyce countered.
‘You and me both. How did you know I was here, at the Carlyle?’
‘Bob told me. He showed me your statement, too. Why did you tell me you were an investment banker when you’re not?’
‘I thought it sounded better: more respectable.’
‘We weren’t being respectable.’
Jordan hesitated, considering his reply. ‘And now look where we are.’
‘If you don’t get dismissed from the case I want to take full responsibility in court.’
‘You discussed that with Bob?’
‘No.’
‘Don’t you think you should? It might screw up the way he’s going to argue your case.’
‘I did use you, to get my own back on Alfred.’
‘And told me as much in France. You didn’t know all this was going to happen.’ He’d have to tell Beckwith what she was saying: offering. It might do more to harm than help his defence, although he couldn’t think how.
‘We’ll see. You going to make the trip back to England?’
‘I think so. You going to stay on here in Manhattan?’
‘I think so. When will you be back?’
‘I don’t know. I shouldn’t need more than a day in London. I can fly back here on the last flight the second night.’
‘I want it all to be over soon.’
‘You said.’
‘You don’t mind my calling?’
‘Of course I don’t.’
‘I’m sorry you got caught up in everything like this,’ Alyce apologized.
‘You said that, too. More than once.’
‘Take care.’
‘And you. Try to think more about the three years immediately after your husband left Harvard.’
There was a pause from Alyce’s end of the line before she said, ‘You have this number?’
‘No.’
‘You have a pen?’
‘Yes.’
She dictated it and added, ‘Call me when you get back?’
‘I will,’ promised Jordan. He knew from accessing the computers of Appleton and his enquiry agency that they weren’t under surveillance any more, so they didn’t have to bother about their lawyers’ warnings about being together.
Seventeen
Harvey Jordan extended his intended absence from New York by twelve hours, getting back into Manhattan by the middle of the third day. There were three messages waiting for him at his Carlyle suite, which he’d maintained to provide just such a contact point. One was from Daniel Beckwith. The other two were from Alyce. Before responding to any of them Jordan checked his intrusion traps, which were undisturbed, and after that settled before his laptop at the bureau and steadily worked his way through his illegal Trojan Horses, none of which he’d accessed from London, adhering strictly to the unbreakable operational rule never to cast his phishing nets from more than one dedicated computer. He was particularly careful going into the system of Appleton and Drake, alert for any indication that his entry had been picked up on, which there wasn’t. Still preying on the currency trades, he spread almost $22,000 between his five accounts.