Deadly Justice

35

LATER THAT AFTERNOON, AS Ben struggled to keep his eyelids open, he was relieved to see Christina walk into his office. Not only was he desperately sleepy—he was bored. While the Nelson case was pending, he’d been in constant motion. Now that the case was over, he had nothing to do. He had assumed he would get another case, but so far, nothing.

“Have you heard anything about Crichton?” Ben asked.

“I heard he’s going to be released from the hospital soon. Knowing him, he’ll probably be back in the office the next day.”

“Probably right.” Ben pressed a finger against his lips. “Isn’t it funny? Since you and I came here, we’ve been on two of these macho corporate outings, and both times Crichton has managed to get hurt.”

“I was thinking the same thing myself,” Christina said.

“Almost as if someone was out to get him, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. Almost.”

“Had any luck with the Kindergarten list?”

She shook her head no.

“Blast. Tomorrow’s my deadline with Chief Blackwell. If I don’t have something concrete for him, he’s going to bury me so deep you won’t be able to visit me without a warrant.”

“I’m doing everything I can,” Christina said. “I pulled the personnel files on the fifteen employees on the list. They’re in different departments, answering to different bosses, doing all different kinds of work. I can’t find any connection among them, other than that they’re all Apollo employees, most of them at a fairly high level.”

Ben slapped his palm on his desk. “Hell. Maybe we should just ask them what the Kindergarten Club is.”

“Right. That’s likely to produce results. ‘Excuse me, we’ve uncovered evidence that you’re involved in some kind of weird organization linked to the mutilation-death of four teenage girls and possibly Howard Hamel. Would you mind talking about it?’ And then we could just sit back and watch the attorneys congregate.”

“I suppose you’re right.”

“Your problem, Ben, is that you’re just too honest. Instead of making some gigantic frontal assault, let’s try something with a bit more élan. Something more…surreptitious.”

“I’m not breaking into any more offices!”

“I’m not saying you should. All I’m suggesting is that you take a profitable walk down the hallway.”

“I don’t follow.”

“Look, everything we’ve learned about this case points right here, inside the legal department. All our best suspects are just down the hall. Hamel seems to have known something that someone else did not want to get out. If Hamel had some sensitive information pertaining to this Kindergarten Club, maybe some of the other lawyers do, too.”

“Makes a certain twisted sense,” Ben admitted. “But I don’t see how it gets me a course of action.”

“Go forth and investigate,” she whispered. “Search their offices.”

“During office hours?”

“Well, as we’ve discovered, these offices are never entirely vacated. And it will be considerably more suspicious if you get caught rummaging through someone’s office at two in the morning.”

“This is true.” Ben thought for a moment. “But I can’t just go wandering around, poking into desks and file cabinets. I need some kind of excuse.”

“Easily contrived. What are you working on right now?”

“Well, actually, nothing.”

“Nothing at all? Have you talked to Rob? He’s acting as Crichton’s messenger.”

“Crichton hasn’t given me an assignment since the Nelson case ended.”

A deep furrow crossed Christina’s brow. “Is that a fact? Well, all the better. Since we came here Crichton’s been griping that he can’t tell what cases are pending and what cases aren’t. I think you, the bright hardworking young lawyer, should seize the initiative and compile a litigation calendar.”

“A litigation calendar?”

“Sure. Identify pending cases, list any pressing deadlines, future plans, that sort of thing. Of course, you’ll have to get information from the other lawyers about their cases. And if they’re not in their offices at the time…you might have to hunt around a bit to get what you need.”

“And if they are in their office?”

“Make sure they aren’t.”

“I dunno, Christina. Sounds dangerous.”

“True, this is a risk. But Chief Blackwell is a certainty unless you come up with something in the next twenty-four hours.”

“Well, since you put it like that…let’s get to work on the calendar.”