Lisa Scottoline - Dead Ringer

“Shoot,” Bennie said, and Murphy leaned forward. Only DiNunzio hung back, lost in her emotions over St. Amien. She had evidently postponed her Washington trip, and Bennie made a mental note to deal with that later. The phone began ringing but they all ignored it. Bennie turned her attention to Carrier, who was gearing up.

“Let’s take a long, hard look at our new best friend, Bill Linette.” Carrier held up a palm like a traffic cop, a gesture Bennie recognized from her own repertoire. “Obviously, I’m thinking out loud, but here goes. Linette had the same motive as Mayer, only less so, but when we’re talking millions, it’s a matter of degree.”

Bennie smiled to herself. This, from a child who never met a payroll. Still. “Go on, Carrier.”

“Well, Linette comes in here, trying to buy us. By the way, we’re saying no, right?” She glanced at Bennie for confirmation.

“Table that for now. Go ahead with the theory.”

“Like we always do, think of who benefits from Robert’s death. If Robert is dead, then the only viable competition for lead plaintiff is gone. Linette wins the jackpot, lead plaintiff and lead counsel fees. And he gets to represent the entire class, and get their fees, too. Just what he wanted.”

“Linette.” Bennie was shaking her head. “You think he’d kill to be lead counsel?”

“If it’s worth twenty to thirty million dollars in fees?” Carrier answered. “Sure. Remember, you thought Mayer would kill to be lead plaintiff, and you were right to suspect that. Money is a powerful motive, I don’t have to remind everybody of that, and look at the other facts that point to Linette.” She held up her index finger, with its chewed fingernail. “First off, the timing is too coincidental. Right after you kick Linette’s ass in court, he finds another way to eliminate the competition. I mean, Bennie, you were making a serious challenge to his claim for lead counsel, weren’t you?”

Bennie nodded, cringing. They want to kill us, don’t they? She hadn’t mentioned that tidbit to the associates. It hurt too much.

“And everybody in town was talking about that Belgian guy’s murder, and Linette knows all about that. Let’s say he figures Robert’s murder would fit right in the pattern. And it does, which is why the police think it’s the tourist killer. How easy is that to fake?”

Bennie bit her lip.

“Point two.” Carrier held up a second finger. “There’s the humiliation factor, with Linette. Bennie, let’s face it, you embarrassed Linette in court, and he is the King of All Class Actions. But you took him on and you came out on top. His own client noticed, as he himself told you, and when did that happen? Probably after the hearing, he and Mayer had words, and Mayer told him he was impressed with you. Right?”

“Possible.”

“Worse, Linette may have spent the afternoon on the phone, taking calls from the other members of the plaintiff class, trying to plug leaks in the dam. He could see that his plaintiffs would defect to you, and so he needed you out of the action. So he kills Robert. It’s the same rationale that you’re using now, to think about his offer to buy us.”

“If I find the successor, we can still stay on the case.”

“That’s a big if, and time matters. Maybe Linette will go to the successor too. Who knows who that is?” Carrier’s voice got higher, in her enthusiasm. “See? It’s the perfect plan, if Linette is the killer. Take St. Amien out, cut you out, then buy you out.”

Murphy raised a sharp pencil, like a schoolgirl. “But why doesn’t Linette just offer to buy her, and not kill Robert? Why murder someone and take the risk of getting caught?”

Carrier thought a second, but only a second. A Boalt grad, she had the credentials of a legal scholar. “Because if he doesn’t, then Bennie has St. Amien and his war chest. She can stay viable and even prosper, which would increase the likelihood of defections to our firm by other class members. Get it? Linette has to kill Robert to make the plan work. Also, I’m not necessarily saying he did it himself. He could have hired someone to kill Robert.”

Bennie was actually considering it. The kid was almost making sense.

“We can’t reject the theory until we know more about Linette. First, where was Linette last night, boss? You didn’t ask him his whereabouts, did you?”

Damn . “No. I wasn’t even thinking of him as a suspect. I was too bollixed up with Alice, whom I’m still not letting off the hook.” Bennie felt a familiar dread at the pit of her stomach. Her eyes fell on the phone message in Marshall’s neat hand from David Holland. She felt a tiny wrench in her chest and wondered if she’d be able to call him back. What had he said- she was under attack -which was exactly how it felt. “Carrier, you may be right about Linette, but Alice is the wild card here. And we know she’s out to get me. To ruin me. And she’d kill to do it.”

Murphy’s green eyes narrowed. “But how would she know how important St. Amien was to the business?”

“She’s not stupid or unsophisticated. She’s a Rutgers grad, on scholarship, and she can tell that a class action that hits the newspapers is worth more than Brandolini, for example.”

DiNunzio didn’t look up, and Bennie let it go.

“And I was thinking, we know she’s been following me. What if she followed me yesterday, and was in that courtroom? Watching me and Robert? Seeing me fight for him and hearing my argument?” Bennie was convincing herself the more she thought about it. “Robert even came up and gave me one of those little kisses at the end. She could have guessed that striking at him would be a way to strike at me, both professionally and personally.”

The associates listened in silence for a change.

“And we have to look beyond the motive, to the character of the person. What kind of human being are they? I’d sooner believe that Alice is capable of killing someone than Bull Linette or Herman Mayer. They may be jerks, but she’s a psycho.”

Murphy seemed to mull it over. “I hear you, but I stay undecided. I’m not giving up on the tourist angle, either. The pattern is sort of compelling.” She tucked her long red hair behind her ear with a polished fingernail. “Now, for a moment, tell me about the future, Bennie. Are we going with Linette or not? I vote no.”

“Why?” Bennie asked, and Murphy squinched up her freckled nose.

“He’s a jerk and a lech.”

“It’s a hundred grand a year to you, Murph,” Bennie reminded her. “And I can’t promise you a future here. As it stands now, I got plenty of nothing. I’d have to find Robert’s successor, and I’m sure there’s committee upon committee to go through to make any decision about the lawsuit. We may not be able to stay open the week.”

“Still don’t want it. I’m with you until they throw us out, then we’re out together.”

Next to her, Carrier was nodding enthusiastically, a fuchsia blur. “It goes without saying. I would never work for Ego Boy, and I hate that kind of work. I’m with DiNunzio, Murphy, and you.” Carrier grinned happily, then nudged DiNunzio. “Wake up, girl!”

Mary nodded. “Of course. We stick together.” She looked up at Bennie. “Tell him no, Bennie. We’ll make a go of it somehow.”

Bennie’s throat caught, and she had to wait a moment for it to pass. “Thank you, ladies, but I won’t tell him no just yet. Let’s slow down this transaction. Give ourselves time to change our minds. We have to be reasonable.”

“We won’t change our minds,” Murphy said.

“And we hate being reasonable,” Carrier added.

Bennie smiled. “And it will also give us some time to see what happens. See if plaintiffs do start defecting, and if the phones begin to ring again.” Part of Bennie still held out hope for Rosato amp; Associates. She was stupid that way. “Regardless of what happens with St. Amien amp; Fils, if enough of them come over to us in the next few days, then maybe we can stay alive.”