“Well, this is certainly unorthodox.” Vanessa smiled, surprised. “Most defendants never want to set eyes on the Complainant who sued them, ever again. Thelastthing they want is them on the premises.”
“I’m sure, but that’s not how we operate. The Complaint wasn’t filed that long ago, so it’s not as if we accumulated bad will, and certainly, we have a better perspective on life, after the loss we suffered as a firm.”
“I can see how that would be so.” Vanessa’s expression brightened. “I must say, I didn’t expect this at all. I expected something on the order of righteous indignation.”
“Oh, I could do that,” Mary said, with a smile.
Roger laughed. “Believe me, she could.”
Vanessa smiled back. “My, my, this is a game-changer.”
“I would think so.” Mary wanted to hammer the point home. “After all, we pay associates extremely well, and it’s what these three men wanted when they applied. It’s more than reasonable as a settlement offer, don’t you agree?”
“I must say, it’s impressive.”
“Will you recommend that they settle?”
“I have to discuss that with them before I discuss it with you. Regardless of any recommendation of mine, they are free to make any decision they wish. But I will certainly discuss this with plaintiff’s counsel, and it will be up to them to decide what they want to do.”
“Of course.” Mary put on her game face, gambling that Machiavelli wouldn’t out-Machiavelli them and instruct the three plaintiffs to accept the job offer, since she didn’t think he would do that, or they would accede. What she gained was a possible settlement of the reverse-discrimination case, having called hisbluff by their offer. If Machiavelli refused such a reasonable settlement offer, the Commission would never go his way. Plus Mary got the added benefit of not revealing she was onto Machiavelli, not only with respect to his manufacturing the reverse-discrimination suit, but his owning Home Hacks in theLondon Technologiescase. Because what she really wanted was to get Machiavelli onmurder.
Vanessa returned to her laptop. “Mary, let’s complete the interview, just in case.”
“Of course,” Mary said, but she was already thinking about stage two of their plan.
Which went into effect right now.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
After the interview, Mary and Bennie went to the Roundhouse, having called for a meeting with Detectives Krakoff and Marks, who listened and took notes while the two women explained how the reverse-discrimination case was manufactured by Machiavelli in order to eliminate John on theLondon Technologiescase, and ultimately, why they believed that Machiavelli was responsible for John’s murder, whether he had killed him himself or hired someone to do it. They had decided not to mention the surveillance videotape while Judy’s legal fate was still in jeopardy, and it wasn’t a clear enough image of Machiavelli anyway, so it wasn’t their strongest evidence.
Mary handed Detective Krakoff the corporate registration for Home Hacks, ending her argument. “So that’s it, in a nutshell. We think you need to investigate Machiavelli for this murder.”
Bennie straightened her chair. “So Detectives, what do you say?”
“Thanks for coming in, ladies.” Detective Krakoff closed his pad, sliding the pen in the spiral on one end.
Mary didn’t hide her impatience. “What does that mean? Are you going to investigate Machiavelli?”
“Mary, we’ve been through this. I’m not about to divulge police business to you.”
Bennie interjected, “Detective, we would keep this absolutely confidential.”
Detective Krakoff frowned, eyeing Bennie. “Excuse me, but you weren’t here the more recent time that your partner Mary came in. You were here only the first time, when she had those dreadful labor pains. I’m not going to ask you if you took her to the doctor—”
“What does that have to do with anything?” Bennie shot back. “This isn’t about us, it’s about John Foxman.”
“Mary was in here the other day, telling me that Mike Shanahan was a likely suspect in the murder and that we should investigate him.” Detective Krakoff turned to Mary. “Mary, I don’t know what game you’re playing.”
“I can explain,” Mary said, defensive. “I told you about Shanahan because I thought that he was a real possibility. But now I have new information—”
“Or you were promoting any suspect you could to deflect attention away from your client Judy Carrier.”
“That’s not what’s going on,” Mary shot back. “Machiavelli is the one you need to be looking at. And of course Judy isn’t guilty, not in the least. Somewhere in your heart, you have to know that. It’s absurd to suspect her.”
Bennie threw up her hands. “Detective, you know that in any investigation, new facts arise. We came to you as soon as we got this information. We didn’t want to waste any time. We assume you don’t either. So are you going to investigate Machiavelli?”
Detective Krakoff pocketed his steno pad. “As I said, you’re not immediate family, so you’re not entitled to that information.”
