Дэвид Балдаччи - The Sixth Man

“Why?”

“He has a small practice. He’s made a good income over the years, but a case like this requires a lot of time and expenses. It would have taxed his resources too much.”

“Well, it’s a high-profile case. Maybe he was doing it for the notoriety.”

Hilary made a face. “Mr. Bergin was not into notoriety. He was a very well-respected lawyer.”

“Well, maybe the client made it a condition of the retainer that he couldn’t tell anyone. Do you have bank records? There might be a deposit in there that didn’t go through you.”

Hilary clicked some keys on her computer. “We maintain an account with a local bank. All funds from the practice go in there. I have online access, so let me check.”

She looked at various screens and then shook her head. “I made every one of these deposits going back six months.”

“Might have been cash.”

“No, there are no cash deposits listed.”

“Did he keep another account?”

Hilary looked offended by even the suggestion. “If he did, he never told me about it.”

“And there’s obviously no retainer agreement in the files for the Roy case?”

“No. I already checked that.”

“But if Edgar Roy didn’t hire him, and from what I’ve seen of the man it’s highly doubtful he had the capacity to do so, someone with a power of attorney or something like that had to do it. You can’t just appoint yourself as someone’s lawyer. A court has to do that and only under certain conditions.” She stared at Hilary. “Are you sure that wasn’t the case here?”

“No. If the court had done so there would be a record of that in the file. Mr. Bergin has served as a public defender assisting indigent clients, but not in this case. And I don’t believe Mr. Roy was indigent. He had a job and a home.”

“Yeah, he’s just comatose. I’m not sure in this instance which one is worse.”

“I can’t speak to that.”

“Maybe a family member retained Bergin? Roy’s parents are dead. Any siblings? Sean couldn’t remember the media mentioning any.”

“I really didn’t get into that with Mr. Bergin,” said Hilary demurely.

“But weren’t you curious when he started representing the man? No retainer agreement? No payments?”

Hilary looked uncomfortable at this query. “I must admit that I thought it unusual. But I would never have questioned Mr. Bergin over a professional matter.”

“But it was also a business matter. A retainer agreement and getting paid for services is important, too. He’s running a business, after all, and you’re part of that business.”

“Again, I never questioned it. Mr. Bergin certainly would know what he was doing. And it was his practice after all. I… I was just his employee.”

Michelle studied the woman. But you wanted to be more. Okay, I get that.

“He never let anything slip about who might have hired him? The financial arrangement?”

“No.”

“So the client never came here?”

“Well, I’m not here 24/7, but no one like that, no, at least while I was present.”

“So there were no clients in from the time he started representing Edgar Roy?”

Hilary looked confused. “I don’t understand.”

“If it was a new person you wouldn’t necessarily know why they were here until they met with Bergin.”

“Oh, right, I see what you mean. Well, with new clients they typically make an inquiry by phone. I would ask them their personal information and what the matter related to. Mr. Bergin doesn’t do all aspects of law so I wouldn’t want people wasting their time coming here.”

“You serve as a filter.”

“Exactly. Then they make an appointment if he can do what they need. And if they come to an understanding I would provide them with a retainer agreement.”

“The same day they’re here?”

“Sometimes. Or if it was out of the ordinary and Mr. Bergin had to revise the standard document, it might be sent out a few days later to the client’s address. Mr. Bergin was a stickler for that. No work was done until the retainer was signed.”

“Except in the case of Edgar Roy, apparently.”

“Apparently,” sniffed Hilary.

“Anyone call here asking for Bergin you didn’t recognize?”

“Well, we get a lot of calls. Most of the people I know, of course. Some I don’t. But nothing like that sticks out in my mind.”

“Did anyone come in to meet with Bergin around the time he started representing Roy, anyone who you didn’t send out a retainer agreement for?”

“Not that I can remember, no.”

“But like you said, you’re not here 24/7. He could have met with the person during nonbusiness hours. Or they could have called in when you weren’t here.”

“Certainly. He could come and go whenever he wanted.”

“What can you tell me about Megan Riley?”

“She came to work here just over two months ago. Mr. Bergin had been saying for a long time that he needed to get an associate. That he wouldn’t be practicing forever. And the workload was pretty substantial. There was more than enough for a second attorney. And, of course, he was representing Mr. Roy by that time, and it was demanding a lot of his attention. He needed some help.”

“Did he have a lot of applicants for the job?”

“Several. But Megan and he had chemistry, right from the beginning. You could see that.”

“You like Megan?”

“She’s very nice and works very hard. Now, she’s not very experienced, so she makes some mistakes, but that’s to be expected. Mr. Bergin was being a fine mentor to her, smoothing out some of the wrinkles.” She paused.

“What?” asked Michelle.

“Mr. Bergin and his wife never had any children. I think he looked on Megan as the daughter or even granddaughter he never had. That was probably another reason he brought her on. The other applicants were older.”

“That makes sense. Bergin apparently talked to her on the day he… on the day it happened. Did she mention that to you?”

“No. But if it was after hours she probably wouldn’t have. She went straight to court the next day, and I didn’t get in touch with her until she called afterward. That’s when I passed along Sean’s message.”

“Megan said she brought up all the files on Roy. Do you think she might have left anything behind here?”

“I can check if you want.”

“Please.”

Twenty minutes later Hilary held up a small file that contained only two pieces of paper. “This was stuck in accidentally with another client file. That’s most likely why she missed it.”

Michelle took the file, opened it, and stared down at the writing on the paper.

It was from the FBI. It was a request for information from Ted Bergin on his representation of Edgar Roy. As Michelle saw who’d signed the letter, she gave a start.

Special Agent Brandon Murdock .

SEAN HAD GOTTEN back to the inn and literally fallen into his bed. He’d gotten up in time for a late lunch. There had been no call from Megan. He’d finally phoned her but it had gone directly to voice mail. Then he’d worked through the legal files twice more but found nothing of value. The case was very undeveloped, and Sean could not determine what Bergin had been planning in the way of a defense. But then again the case wasn’t that old. He was probably still feeling his way. And it didn’t help matters that Edgar Roy wasn’t of much assistance.

Now it was dusk, and he pulled the rental with the shot-out windows to the shoulder of the road and got out. The police and Feds had finished their work here and gone; their yellow barrier tape and warning signs had gone with them.

He started his investigation by standing where the car had sat. He envisioned Bergin driving along late at night. What would make him pull off the road in the first place? Was it someone in distress? Had someone flagged him down and claimed some sort of emergency? Bergin was a smart man, but someone of his generation in particular might have been more apt to pull over and help.