“Okay.” Judy nodded, digging through the rice.
“But when you’re representing a person of interest, you have a golden opportunity. The police are still gathering evidence and trying to make a decision. They want to do the right thing. They don’t want to get the wrong guy, not only because they care, but because the DA wants a conviction. So as defense counsel, right from the beginning, I try to make them doubt their original theory. That’s exactly why Mary did the right thing in pointing out the lack of blood on Simon’s clothes and his hands.” Bennie gestured to Mary. “Same thing going forward. Normally, we might not give them information as we learn it, but with a person of interest, I would funnel to them every single fact we uncover that suggests Simon is not guilty. It will make them think, slow them down, and force them to keep the scope of their investigation as broad as possible.”
“That makes sense.” Judy glanced up from her plate.
Mary brightened. “So what do you think about their case?”
“I think you’re right to be concerned. They have a strong case against Simon, assuming the physical evidence comes in the way you think it’s going to, which I think it will. When they look in his phone, they’ll see that he called Todd. Given the surveillance video, any jury would believe that Simon initiated a meeting with Todd, met with him, and killed him.”
“I know, right?” Mary’s face fell again.
“Don’t look that way. Buck up. Don’t let a little opposition throw you.” Bennie felt her juices start flowing, as if the battle had been joined. “Worst-case scenario, he’s arrested, but not convicted. You have to fight to win, but we’re going to win. He didn’t do it.”
“But his daughter’s in the hospital, and she’s waiting to get a transplant. He’ll want to be there for her. She might, well, she might not survive.”
Bennie hadn’t thought of that. She felt the weight of the words in the conference room, which went suddenly silent. Mary swallowed hard, her Chinese food untouched. Judy even stopped chewing.
“Mary.” Bennie met Mary’s worried gaze. “Don’t be upset. Everything is going to be all right. Let me tell you what Judy and I are up to, and what I learned today. But believe me, after we have gathered all of our information and understood every detail, we are going to fight and we are going to win.”
“You think?”
“I know,” Bennie answered, then filled her in. As she spoke, she could see Mary regain her emotional footing, nodding as she listened. When Bennie was finished, she reminded herself again that she wasn’t in charge and had signed on to be second-chair to Mary’s first. “So Mary, got any theories?”
“I think someone was trying to frame Simon. Todd’s watch and wallet weren’t taken, so it wasn’t a random crime, and it wouldn’t be if the killer was Simon. And I think somebody wanted Simon out of the company—the reduction in his territory, the eventual firing, it’s like it was all part of a plan. Simon thought it was because of Rachel’s medical expenses, so we sued. But what if it wasn’t? What if Todd just said those things to cover up the real reason they wanted Simon out? And it culminates in framing him for murder.”
“Then why deny the statements?”
“To provoke Simon to sue. They knew he couldn’t take it lying down because of Rachel.”
Bennie wasn’t sure. “In that theory, Todd doesn’t really matter. The target is Simon.”
“Right. We just don’t know why.”
“The other possibility is that somebody had reason to want Todd dead, irrespective of Simon. The fact that these events are temporally connected doesn’t mean that they’re causally connected.”
Judy plowed through her rice. “Huh? I can’t think when I’m eating.”
Bennie smiled. “The fact that they happen in the same time doesn’t mean that there is a logical, causal relationship. It could be that the killer uses the litigation with Simon to his own ends and seizes the opportunity to kill Todd.”
“I’m following,” Mary said, nodding.
“We know that a lot of people knew about happy hour at the club and where Todd parked. So either somebody knew Todd would be there and they didn’t know that Simon was coming, or somebody knew Simon was coming and they framed him. The question is, who would want Todd dead?”
“Do you have any guesses, Bennie?” Mary leaned forward. “You met Todd, at least. I know more about Simon than you do. We just have to put our information together.”
Bennie mulled it over. “The framing theory is interesting, because motive is so clearly established with the lawsuits and Simon’s termination. Simon looks like the typical disgruntled employee who snaps and kills his boss. Either way, the killer has to be somebody who knows that Todd parks in the same place and goes to happy hour on Friday, rain or shine. That means it’s somebody in Todd’s circle of friends, maybe at work. Or circle at the club.”
Mary perked up. “To me, the logical place to start would be the two men who made allegations about Simon in the defamation complaint. Ernie and Ray. They were both willing to lie about Simon in the lawsuit and back each other up. That seems fishy, doesn’t it?”
“Agree. I met Ray at the interview. Kind of a close-mouthed, no-nonsense operations guy. And Ernie called Mike Bashir about the cops and the search warrant.”
Mary nodded, excited. “We should narrow in on them when we go through the documents and emails.”
“Okay.” Bennie got on the same page. “So what’s the plan of action?”
“In the morning, we go to the crime scene. I set it up for ten o’clock and I’d like you to go with me.”
“I will.” Bennie felt pleased.
Mary turned to Judy. “You stay here, okay? You make sure all the docs are boxed and that courier gets them. Do you mind doing all the Xeroxing tonight?”
“Fine with me.” Judy nodded, chewing away. “But I’m keeping the lid closed. I’m not a fan of radiation, unlike somebody we know.”
Mary blinked. “What lid?”
“On the machine. I don’t want a third ovary.”
“Forget it,” Bennie interjected. “Mary, you were saying?”
Mary faced Bennie. “I think you should take the sales info, and I should take the email. I’ll eliminate the emails that are irrelevant, then make a document index like we do on any big civil case, classifying the relevant documents by subject, using a keyword, and making it searchable by subject.”
“Right, do it down and dirty. Narrow it down to the past six months, for starters. I’ll learn everything about Simon’s sales and we can put our facts together.”
“Yes.” Mary rose with a smile. “I got a second wind!”
“Me, too.” Bennie stood up, opposite her. “Let’s get to work.”
“Can I have the last spring roll?” Judy asked, but the others were already leaving.