The Sixth Man

CHAPTER 14

SEAN FLIPPED THROUGH the last few pages of a litigation binder and then looked over at Megan Riley, who was rubbing her eyes and sipping on a mug of now lukewarm tea. They were in Sean’s room. Mrs. Burke hadn’t put up any fight about another woman being in his room, so Sean concluded it was simply Michelle the lady didn’t care for.

Sean had confirmation of this after the innkeeper had brought them up sandwiches, a couple slices of pie, coffee, and the tea for Megan. Before leaving the room Burke asked, “Where’s your friend?”

“Running down a lead.”

“Has she had supper?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Well, it’s very late and the kitchen is closed.”

“Okay. I’ll let her know.”

Sean put down the binder and looked at the notes he’d written on a legal pad. “How did Ted come to take this case in the first place?”

Megan sat forward in her chair and put down her mug. She picked up half of her turkey sandwich. “I’m not sure. He mentioned it in passing several weeks ago. To tell you the truth, I hadn’t really focused on Edgar Roy. I mean I’d read something in the paper about what had happened, but I was busy getting my feet wet as a newbie lawyer. When Mr. Bergin told me I’d be on the legal papers too, I asked him about the case, and he spent a few minutes going over it with me. God, it was horrible. Edgar Roy must really be a wacko.”

“That wacko is now your client, so keep that opinion to yourself.”

She sat up straighter. “Oh, right. Sorry.”

“And you said you did some research for Ted on the case?”

She swallowed a bite of sandwich and wiped a smudge of mayo off her mouth. “Right. Pretty mundane things. Jurisdictional issues. Competency grounds. That sort of thing.”

“Any defense theories?”

“I’m not sure Mr. Bergin had any yet. But he seemed anxious to go to trial.”

“How do you know that?”

“From things he said. He really seemed to want to move forward with it.”

“Which again begs the question of how he ended up being Roy’s lawyer. If the guy was incompetent he couldn’t have hired Ted. And I can find nothing in the record that shows the two had a preexisting professional relationship.”

“Well, does he have any family that could have hired Mr. Bergin?”

“That was my next question. But the billing records aren’t in the file.”

“I think Hilary keeps those separate,” said Megan.

“But there’s no correspondence going out to a client. And that should be in these files.”

“I thought I got everything, but I might have overlooked something.”

Sean’s phone rang. Ironically it was Hilary.

“I just got back from Mr. Bergin’s house, Sean. There’s no one there.”

“No one there now. Could you tell if people had been there before you?”

“The place is pretty isolated, but there is a house you have to pass to get to Mr. Bergin’s. I know the woman who lives there. I asked her if the police or anyone had been by and she said no. And she’d been home all day.”

“Okay, Hilary, I really appreciate you doing that. Look, I’m here with Megan. Right, we had her fly up tonight. She brought the files, but there’s nothing in here about who Ted’s client was. It couldn’t have been Roy. At least I don’t think it was. And the correspondence file isn’t in here. Who do you send the legal bills to?”

“There aren’t any bills.”

“What do you mean? He was doing this pro bono?”

“I’m not sure. I guess he might have. Or else he’d set up a different payment system.”

“But he still had to be engaged by someone. He had to contact them. There has to be a legal representation engagement letter somewhere by a person authorized to act on behalf of Edgar Roy.”

“Well, I don’t know who that is.”

“Was this typical for Ted?”

“What do you mean?”

“To hide the identity of his client from you?”

She didn’t say anything for a few seconds. “This was the only time he did.”

“Okay, thanks, Hilary. I’ll be in touch.” He put the phone down and gazed at Megan. “Looks like we have a mystery on both ends.”

The door opened.

Agent Murdock stood there with his men right behind.

“Megan Riley?”

The young lawyer spilled her tea as she stood on trembling legs. “Yes?”

“FBI. You’ll need to come with us.” He looked over at Sean. “And be thankful your ass isn’t being charged with obstruction.”

“How would that be possible?”

“You know the lady is pertinent to our investigation.”

“Pertinent but not a material witness. And I’m entitled to conduct my own investigation.” Murdock started to say something but before he could get the words out, Sean added, “The way I see it I did you a favor. I brought her up to Maine. I’ll be sure to send along a request for reimbursement of her plane ticket to the Bureau.”

“Don’t hold your breath,” growled Murdock. “Let’s go, Ms. Riley.”

Megan looked imploringly at Sean, who said, “Call me when they’re done. I’ll come and pick you up.”

“No you won’t,” snapped Murdock.

“You holding her against her will?”

“No.”

“Then I will pick her up when she calls.”

“You better watch yourself.”

“I suggest you do the same, Agent Murdock.”