“Let’s worry about Pensiera. That’s the priority. She’s going to have her hands full with the murder case, and the other case is going to take a backseat.”
“What other case?” Judy frowned. “I thought there was only the one case, the ADA case.”
“They filed a retaliatory suit for defamation.”
“Yikes!” Judy slid the copy from the tray. “How do you know that? I didn’t even know that. It must have happened when I was out this afternoon. I had to be home for the loom delivery.”
“I read the pleadings online. We can put our heads together when she gets here.” Bennie hit the button on another PO.
“Can we order lo mein? We always order lo mein when we work late. It’s our food reward.”
“Yes, fine, whatever. Could you please go start Xeroxing? Use the copier in the coffee room. I really don’t need you to help me Xerox. I have a J.D.”
“Okay, but I’m closing the cover.” Judy hustled off.
Half an hour later, Bennie was still feeding copies into the Xerox machine, with Judy doing the same thing in the coffee room, except that her ears were plugged with earphones while she listened to music. It meant that Bennie was the only one to hear the ping coming from the elevator lobby, signaling that Mary had arrived. Bennie turned from the machine and went to meet her, and Mary appeared at the head of the hallway, carrying her belongings and a big brown bag with grease spots in the bottom, the Chinese food.
“Hi, Mary.” Bennie forced a smile. She felt awkward, which surprised her. Seeing her soon-to-be-ex-partner provoked emotions in her that she thought she had put away today. She briefly considered telling Mary that she’d been fired by Dumbarton, but that wouldn’t have helped anything, as a legal matter. Bennie had worked for Dumbarton, so her being fired by them, especially for disloyalty, didn’t cure her conflict of interest. Plus if Mary really wanted to leave the firm, Bennie didn’t want to guilt her into staying. Besides, they had a murder case on their hands.
“Hi, Bennie,” Mary called back, and to Bennie, her smile seemed equally forced. Mary looked around quickly. “Where’s Judy?”
“She’s in the coffee room.” Bennie put her hands out for the Chinese food bag, which smelled like curry. “Here, I’ll take that bag and I’ll bring it in the conference room, so you can go get her.”
“Sure, thanks.” Mary handed her the bag, and Bennie accepted it, turned away, and entered the conference room. She unpacked the white containers of rice, plastic tubs for the noodles and other entrees, chopsticks, and paper plates and napkins, then made place settings around the table, as she heard Judy and Mary talking excitedly in the coffee room.
Bennie stood around, waiting for them, and realized why she felt so awkward. It was disorienting, not knowing her role. She had a partner, but then again she didn’t. She also had an associate, but the associate might become her partner. She was here to work on a murder case, but for the first time ever, the case was Mary’s and she was working for Mary, like an associate. And she didn’t even know if she was wanted. Maybe Declan had been right.
“Hey, guys, listen—” Bennie blurted out, as Judy and Mary came into the room together.
“Yes?” Mary asked.
“What is it?” Judy blinked.
“I just wanted to say, I guess to Mary, that I’m here to help. I don’t know if you feel like you need my help, or if you want my help, but I’m here. If you don’t, just say so, and I can just go.” Bennie realized she was practically babbling, but Mary started smiling in a soft way.
“Bennie, no, don’t go. Thank you so much for being here. I should’ve said something right off, but I was so touched when I got your text. This is really above and beyond, especially after, well, what I said about leaving the firm. I’m glad you’re here and I can use the help.”
“Good, because a murder defense takes some doing, and if he’s just a person of interest, you only have a small window of time that you can work in. You need to move quickly and back them off”—Bennie caught herself taking charge, so she dialed it back—“anyway, that’s why I’m here. I’m assuming it’s all hands on deck.”
“It is, that’s exactly what it is.” Mary nodded, looking relieved. “I appreciate the help and I need help, I just didn’t want to ask for it in the circumstances.”
“So let’s not even worry about our partnership right now. This time we really can agree to disagree.” Bennie sensed it had to be said, and if so, it had to come from her. “Let’s worry about the thing that really matters, your client, your friend Simon.”
“That would be so great!” Mary brightened.
“And the thing is, I recognize this is your case, so I’m at your disposal. You run it and you’re in charge. You tell me how you think I can help you best.”
“That’s so nice of you.”
“Good.” Bennie’s chest felt oddly tight, but she ignored that too. Emotions could be such pesky things.
Judy smiled, then pulled up a chair. “So does this mean we can eat?”
“Yes,” Bennie and Mary answered in unison.
Mary added, “Why don’t you both start eating, and I’ll bring you up to speed on everything that happened at the Roundhouse.”
“Good. I’ll get some coffee.” Bennie went to the credenza and started brewing herself a cup.
“Mph,” Judy said, her mouth full of noodles.
Bennie drank her coffee and Judy ate lo mein as Mary recounted the events of the day, starting with something about a locket and ending with the interview at the Roundhouse, after which Simon had given bodily samples and surrendered his phone to the police. Bennie listened carefully, and when Mary was finished, she seemed to look at Bennie across the table, with an uncertain smile.
“Well, Bennie? What do you think? I had to make a lot of decisions on the fly and I’ve never really represented a person of interest.”
“I think you did terrific,” Bennie said, meaning it. “I wouldn’t have made any decision differently.”
“That’s good to hear.” Mary sat straighter.
Judy paused between mouthfuls. “Bennie, what’s the deal with a person of interest versus someone who was arrested for the crime?”
“There’s differences in the rights accorded each of them, but for our purposes, that’s not critical. The critical difference is that with someone already under arrest, the police, DA, and the entire law-enforcement mechanism has bought in. He’s their guy and they’re invested. They throw the full weight of the Commonwealth against him, all of their resources.”