Hardy chuckled and swallowed the rest of his drink. “You just can’t
accept even a sliver of the good life, can you?”
“Hell, I can accept it, so long as I don’t have to pay for it. I’m
figuring dinner for two here would run about what I have in my
retirement plan.”
The two men chatted for a few minutes while the waitress returned,
situated their drinks and then stood ready to take their dinner orders.
Sawyer looked over the menu, which was written very clearly, but
unfortunately only in French. He put the menu down on the table.
“What’s the most expensive item on the menu?” he asked the waitress.
She rattled off a dish in French.
“Is it real food? Not snails or crap like that?”
With raised eyebrows and a stern expression, she assured him that snails
were on the menu and were excellent, but the selection she had mentioned
was not snails.
With a grin at Hardy, he said, “Then I’ll have that.”
After the waitress departed, Sawyer swallowed his gum, grabbed a hunk of
bread from the basket in the center of the table and munched on it. “So,
you find out anything on RTG?” he said between bites.
Hardy put his hands on the table, smoothing out the linen cloth.
“Philip Goldman is RTG’s top counsel and has been for many years now.”
“Doesn’t that strike you as funny?”
“What?”
“That RTG would use the same lawyers as Triton, and vice versa.
I mean, I’m no attorney, but isn’t that setting somebody up for a nasty
fall?”
“It’s not that simple, Lee.”
“Gee, why am I not surprised.”
Hardy ignored the remark. “Goldman has a national reputation and he’s
been RTG’s top dog for a long time. Triton is a relative newcomer to
Tyler, Stone’s fold. Henry Wharton brought the account in. At the
time, the two companies had no direct conflicts.
Since then, there have been some tricky issues as the two companies’
businesses have expanded. However, they’ve always worked through
that–full disclosures, written waivers, all papered properly. Tyler,
Stone is a top-flight firm and I think neither company wanted to lose
that expertise. It takes time to build that continuity and trust.”
“Trust. Now, there’s a funny word to use in a case like this.”
Sawyer fiddled with the bread crumbs in front of him while he listened.
“Anyway, with the CyberCom deal, there was a direct conflict,”
Hardy continued. “Both RTG and Triton want CyberCom. Tyler, Stone was
barred by the code of legal ethics from representing both clients.”
“So they opted to rep Triton. How come?”
Hardy shrugged. “Wharton is managing partner. Triton is his client.
Enough said? They sure as hell weren’t going to let both companies be
represented by someone else on this deal. Too tempting for another firm
to walk away with the whole kit and caboodle.”
“I take it Goldman was a little upset when the firm dissed his client
like that.”
“From what I could find out, homicidal was more like it.”
“But who’s to say he can’t work behind the scenes to get RTG the prize?
“Nothing. Nathan Gamble is no dummy; he’s well aware of that.
And if RTG beats out Triton, you know what might well happen, don’t
you?”
“Let me guess. Gamble might find some new lawyers?”
Hardy nodded. “Besides that, you read the headlines. They are mad as
hell at Sidney Archer. I think her job security might be a lit the
weak.”
“Well, the lady’s not too thrilled herself right now.”
“You talked to her?”
Sawyer nodded and finished off his bourbon. He debated and then decided
not to fill in Hardy on Sidney Archer’s confession to him.
Hardy worked for Gamble, and Sawyer was pretty sure what Gamble would do
with that information: Destroy the lady. He threw out a fact as a
theory instead. “Maybe she went to New Orleans to meet her husband.”
Hardy stroked his chin. “I guess it makes sense.”
“That’s the problem, Frank, it doesn’t make a damned bit of sense.”
“How’s that?” Hardy looked surprised.
Sawyer put his elbows on the table. “Look at it this way. The FBI
shows up on her doorstep asking a bunch of questions. Now, you’ve