The Deposit Slip

37





She’s gone,” the voice said over the phone.

“You’re certain?”

“Yes, I saw her board the train to Venice.”

Marcus felt a wave of satisfaction.

“You should know, though. The lawyer—Neaton—he knows about the pressure I applied.”

“What do you mean?”

“Neaton put her on the train himself. He may have been holding her ticket.”

The satisfaction evaporated. “How could that be?”

“I couldn’t keep her from talking to Neaton. My job was to keep her from coming home. That’s done.”

What would Neaton do now? Go to the police—or worse, the judge? Claim that a witness had been tampered with?

“He’s got no proof she was contacted,” the voice went on, as though anticipating Marcus’s thoughts. “That’s guaranteed.”

If that were true, the judge was unlikely to take Neaton’s word for it. Neaton had no legal power to compel the Spangler witness to return to Minnesota to testify. Any accusations that she was threatened would sound like sour grapes about a witness who chose not to get involved.

Marcus said thanks and hung up. Neaton had a week to respond to the summary judgment and no evidence to present.

Using this resource in Athens had been a good idea. The case was nearly done.





They met at the Fickle Pickle, a deli they used to frequent for lunch when Jessie was still at Paisley. After leaving the firm, she had usually insisted on meeting her former colleague Yvonne somewhere they weren’t likely to run into others from the old crowd, but today, when Jessie reached Yvonne on a quick trip to Minneapolis, Jessie just agreed to this location.

She hadn’t gotten together with her old friend for many weeks. Too much time spent up in Ashley. And even when back in Minneapolis, Jessie seldom had the energy to run downtown for lunch.

They hugged on seeing each other, worked their way through the food line, and then found seats in the crowded restaurant. Over salads, Jessie let Yvonne fill her in on family and the office. She didn’t feel much like sharing anyway—couldn’t bring herself to talk about Jared and her decision to quit.

“So, are you coming back?” Yvonne asked.

Jessie was startled. “What do you mean?”

Yvonne shrugged. “Well, you know. You mentioned how tight things were with Jared last time we had lunch. Then we didn’t talk for a while. So when you called to get together today, I just thought maybe you’d decided to jump ship.”

Jessie was lost for a response. She looked around the deli and saw familiar faces from Paisley. Someone waved.

Was that why she’d said it was okay to meet here? Was she considering going back?

“Because one of the attorneys was asking about you,” Yvonne went on.

“Who was that?”

“Frank. Frank Whittier. From what he said, I think Marcus Stanford’s interested too.”

Jessie set down her fork. “What do you mean?”

“Frank was asking about you.” Yvonne smiled and leaned forward. “He came to me and asked how things were going with Jared. I think he’s hoping he could hire you back.”

Keeping her voice even, Jessie asked, “And what did you tell him?”

“Oh, I kept the door open. I didn’t want to discourage him, so I mentioned how you were getting pretty tired out over there, all on your own—especially with that big trial you just finished. Stuff like that. I think he got the message. How’s the pasta salad?”

Jessie didn’t respond. “When did you have this conversation?”

“It was weeks ago. Not long after our last lunch.”

She suddenly felt ill.

“He didn’t get in touch with you?” Yvonne asked.

“Whittier and Stanford are jerks,” Jessie let slip.

Yvonne’s face went blank with concern. “Did I do something wrong?”

“No, it’s fine.” Jessie picked up her fork and forced a smile.

“Because, you know,” Yvonne said, her voice buoying, “people have the wrong idea about Marcus Stanford.”

Jessie was only paying half attention. What was the timing of Frank’s talk with Yvonne? Was it before or after Clay pulled his funding? How about when Paisley started courting Jared’s clients?

“I mean it, Jessie. I know something that’s not common knowledge.”

Was it possible Frank had been fishing for information; used it against Jared when he was vulnerable?

“Kate—in Accounts Receivable—told me something very private. You know those rumours about Mr. Stanford doing important pro bono work? Well, Vivian said she knew where that came from. Apparently, something really bad had happened to this little girl. I think there was some terrible abuse involved. Well, apparently Mr. Stanford insisted on handling the case without fees—for him or for Paisley—so the little girl would get every dime. He got special permission from the management committee to do it. Apparently they settled without even starting a lawsuit, and to make sure her identity stayed secret, Mr. Stanford insisted on handling every detail. The file didn’t even have a name assigned to it.”

“Uh huh.” They were capable of it. First, they shut down Clay’s support by threatening his pension, then they strip Jared of his clients. Her feeling of nausea was growing.

“Kate told me Mr. Stanford even insisted on personally depositing the settlement check into the trust account.”

Jessie looked up at her friend, replaying what Yvonne had said through her head.

“Are you listening to me?” Yvonne asked.

“Did you say that Stanford handled a big case and insisted on depositing the settlement himself?”

Yvonne nodded. “Don’t you get it? Mr. Stanford could have gotten a lot of accolades for something like this. If people knew what he’d done, they’d have a whole different impression of him—in the firm and outside it. But Mr. Stanford insisted it stay quiet—only the management committee even knows it happened, and Vivian told me even they weren’t in on the details. The only reason I know about it is because Kate is second in charge now in Accounts Receivable, and she had to ask some questions because of this ‘secret trust fund’ deposit that’s still on the books.”

“How big was this settlement?”

“I don’t know.” Yvonne glanced around the restaurant. “Well, I’m not supposed to know. No one is. But Kate got a sense of it when she was adjusting the books. It’s supposed to be huge. Lots of zeros.”

“And when did Marcus Stanford make this deposit?”

“Kate didn’t have an exact date,” Yvonne said, enjoying Jessie’s renewed attention.

“But around when,” Jessie pressed.

Yvonne shrugged. “Around three. No, no, I remember. It was around four years ago.”





Jessie set her purse down on the desk in the quiet office. She looked at Jared’s office door and tried to remember how long it had been since he’d been in there.

She hardly recalled the drive from downtown following her lunch with Yvonne. The implications of what Yvonne had told her were stunning. Was it possible Stanford was so deep in this case that he’d deposited the Larson money in the Paisley trust account under the guise of a pro bono settlement?

It was hard to believe Stanford would ever go so far. Never for a client. But for himself?

Jessie pulled her cell from her purse, checked her address book, and pressed a number. The muted voice of the investigator Towers answered.

“Richard, have you had any luck tracing that man we saw at the Perkins last week?”

“Yes. The gentleman appears to be Mick Elgart. He’s a high-end private investigator who works for institutional clients. I was going to report it to Mr. Neaton when he got back.”

“Paisley?”

“Elgart has an extremely closed practice, and he doesn’t advertise. But, yes. Some of his competitors believe he works for Paisley.”

“How about Marcus Stanford?”

“I couldn’t get that much detail. I’m still working on it.”

Jessie thanked him and hung up the phone.

So it was Stanford and Whittier—following Jared, cutting him off from Clay’s support, starving him of the oxygen of funding. And now maybe hiding the deposit money. And their strategy was working, she thought. Jared was hanging way out there now trying to keep the case alive.

Realizing Paisley’s manipulation of Jared released some of her anger at him. Whatever she thought about Jared’s reasons for taking the case, what Stanford and Whittier were up to made her angrier. What could she do to help?

He needed funding. There had to be a source of money to keep things going. Jessie didn’t have anything like the savings to do it; neither did Jared’s dad. What other resources could be tapped?

Her eyes came to rest upon a single bankers box behind her desk, now covered with the detritus of a law office spinning out of control. Uncovering it and placing it on her desk, she took off the lid and quickly paged through the financial documents inside. She lifted the phone and dialed.

It rang three times before he answered. “Talk to me.”

“Mr. Olney?”

“Philip. Who is this?”

“It’s Jessie from Jared Neaton’s office. I have your bank records here. I wanted to tell you that I believe we have an expert to review them.”

“Oh great. That’s a relief. I think my scumbag brother’s ripe for settlement; he calls me every other day, and I can hear he’s scared. We just gotta know how much he stole.”

“Yes. We can get the audit done right away. But I wanted to share another opportunity with you—if you’re able to settle the case with your brother. An opportunity to invest in a big case in our office. No pressure, of course—only if you’re interested. But the opportunity will only be available for a few more days.”