Degree of Guilt Read Free Page B

of the nameless person with whom Mr Gepfer shared this document could be anyone’s work product. Really, Mr Starr, it seems you have but two choices. The first is to call Magistrate Riordan and present an argument that, quite likely, is without precedent in the annals of Western jurisprudence. That’s the option I favor, if only for the sheer interest of listening to it.
    ‘The second and more mundane choice is to take a ten-minute break and see if we can resolve this matter without compelling Mr Gepfer to answer any more questions.’
    Starr was impassive. Finally, he waved Gepfer and the court reporter from the room.
    ‘If you have something to say to me,’ Starr said at length, ‘I’ll give you ten minutes.’
    Terri could not help but admire the gall that made a trip to the abattoir sound like a concession to good manners.
    ‘Ten minutes,’ Paget responded, ‘is all I’m giving you to drop this lawsuit.’
    ‘What kind of crap –’
    Paget reached beneath the table, pulling a typed agreement from his briefcase. ‘This is a stipulation of settlement. It recites that you have become aware that your charges against Steve Rudin are mistaken; that Mr Gepfer has confirmed the error; that you are dismissing this lawsuit; and that your firm is paying Mr Rudin $250,000 to compensate him for his time and expenses.’
    ‘I won’t sign that.’
    ‘For at least six months,’ Paget went on, ‘you’ve had this document. Which means that you’ve known for at least six months that my client was innocent of fraud.’
    ‘You can’t hold me responsible for what Gepfer says now.’
    Paget looked at his watch. ‘Why don’t we save eight minutes and ask Gepfer what you knew?’
    ‘The man’s admitted falsifying documents. Now you want him to give false testimony. Whatever he says, no one will believe it.’
    ‘Won’t they? Frank was bankrupt when he killed himself. That leaves only two defendants with money. Gepfer has less than a million; but my client is very wealthy and covered by insurance. So you make a deal with Gepfer: if he doesn’t give anyone else the document and doesn’t tell anyone what really happened, you let him keep the money he stole and try to extract a settlement from my client by tying him up in an endless lawsuit you know to be a fraud.’
    Starr folded his arms. ‘You can never prove that.’
    ‘Care to find out? Because if the case against Steve Rudin goes one question longer, you’ll find out more than that. Whether we can prove it. Whether we can win a suit for malicious prosecution. Whether the legal press will enjoy watching us try. Whether the Bar Association will let you keep your license. Whether every judge in this district will start looking at you like some evolutionary cul-de-sac. And the only person who will enjoy that more than I is Steve Rudin – the man you charged with fraud.’ Standing, Paget looked at his watch again. ‘You have five minutes, it seems.’
    Terri followed him to his office.
    It was sparsely furnished: bright modern prints; two plants; a glass table; a single picture of a dark-haired boy. Paget collected art, she knew; one of the prints was a Miró. She had no idea who the boy was.
    Paget stood staring out the window.
    ‘Will they go for it?’ Terri asked.
    ‘Yes.’ He answered without turning. ‘Starr is driven by sheer self-interest.’
    ‘I can hardly believe he knew.’
    ‘Oh, he knew. Always expect people to be what they’ve been in the past. That way, they don’t surprise or disappoint you.’ Paget shoved his hands in his pockets, sounding suddenly weary. ‘Being surprised is a sin, professionally. But it’s the disappointment that can be so soul-wearing.’
    The remark was uncharacteristic; it was almost, Terri thought, as if he were talking to himself.
    ‘How did you get the document?’ she asked.
    ‘I promised not to say.’ He turned, smiling faintly. ‘But Starr really should treat his employees better.’
    There was a knock