Pro Bono

Chapter 32

32

M artha heard the outer office door open and looked up. She said, “Good morning, gentlemen. They’re waiting for us in the conference room. We have refreshments in there—coffee, tea, soft drinks, water, Danish pastries, and so on.” Then she closed the office door and locked it. “Follow me.”

She walked ahead of them into the conference room. Seated around the table were Charles Warren, Linda Warren, and Vesper Ellis. Charles Warren stood up and shook hands with Copes, and then with Minkeagan. “Please take what you’d like to eat and drink, and then join us.”

Minkeagan and Copes went to the counter along the wall and took bottled water and pastries, then sat down. Copes said, “I’ve never seen a law office that was open on Sunday before.”

“You still haven’t,” Warren said. “This is a one-time private business meeting. It is now four months since the last of the claims we filed to get the money stolen by Daniel Rickenger, aka McKinley Stone. The final payment of the recovered funds arrived Friday.”

He lifted a loose-leaf notebook that was thick with papers and handed it to Copes. “In that notebook are copies of the documents from the treasury departments of the six states showing the sums of abandoned accounts that they were transferring to my mother, Linda Warren. The second section is devoted to confirmations of the transfers of investment accounts from his name to hers by financial services companies. The last page is the executive summary that we compiled. As of the close of markets on Friday, the total amount recovered was sixteen million, four hundred eighty-two thousand, three hundred and sixty-one dollars and four cents. The investments have been converted to cash.”

“So what do we get?” Minkeagan said. “And when?”

“Your share will be broken up into parts. You’ve each been paid electronically a million dollars. We checked this morning to see if it was posted in the holding account. The money is officially a fee for finding the Rickenger papers, researching them, and locating the rightful owner. That’s in this set of papers over here on the counter. Fill in your full names, social security numbers, and addresses, and then sign. Do not use fake names or numbers. This is for your new bank accounts.

“You’re also being retained as consultants to the firm of Warren and Associates. For that, you’ll each get two hundred and forty thousand dollars a year deposited to the bank accounts in your names, twenty thousand a month beginning now and ending with your death. Your taxes will be figured and filled out here in this office, and deducted from your pay even if you move to another state. The taxes you owe will be paid on time. The reason for following these procedures is to keep you on the right side of the law and protect us all. Understood?”

“We can hear,” said Minkeagan.

“Yes,” Copes said.

“Is that agreeable?”

“It should be more,” Minkeagan said. “We’re old. We could die in a month.”

“Then we won’t miss it,” Copes said. “You know it’s more than we ever thought there even was, and it all got stolen from his mother.”

“Okay, okay,” Minkeagan said. “It’s enough.”

The next part of the meeting was devoted to having Linda Warren, Charles Warren, Minkeagan, and Copes sign legal documents and Vesper Ellis and Martha Wilkes sign as witness and notary. When this had all been accomplished, Minkeagan and Copes stood up. Copes said, “We appreciate that you lived up to our agreement. Thank you.”

Minkeagan said, “Unless the reason you had this meeting on a Sunday was that the banks are closed so we can’t check the accounts.”

Copes shrugged. “Either way, we’ll be nearby for a while.” He walked toward the door. Mineagan said, “Easy to reach.” He gave a nod to Charlie Warren, then turned and walked after Copes.

As Martha was collecting the papers, careful to be sure each page of each set was kept separate from the others, she picked up another set of papers with a cover on it. “What’s this one? Were they supposed to sign it?”

“I don’t remember what it is,” Charlie said. “Take a look.”

Martha opened the folder and read. “Bonus payment to Martha Wilkes. One million, four hundred thousand dollars? What the—”

“Oh, yeah,” he said. “Now I remember.”

Linda said, “I knew I wouldn’t be able to sit here and give so much to them and nothing to you. It’s to set the universe back in balance.”

One night six months after the meeting with Copes and Minkeagan, Charlie and Vesper were out to dinner at Paradis. As Charlie signed the bill and put away his credit card, Vesper said, just loudly enough so the older people at the next table heard, “I loved that dinner, but there must have been something in it. Now I can’t keep my hands off you, so if I were you, I’d take me right home.”

“Thank you. That’s all I’m saying in public.”

She whispered, “You’re so fun to embarrass. I can’t seem to resist.”

“Maybe we can get out of here before you think of anything to add. Ready to go?”

“Yes.”

They got up and walked out through the rounded arches of climbing roses and down the quiet street toward Charlie’s parked car. When they reached the darkest part of the block, Charlie stopped, turned to face her, produced a small velvet box, and opened it. Then he got down on one knee.

“What a gorgeous ring, Charlie,” Vesper said. “You have such good taste. And I’m flattered. But, um, no. Get up and come home with me.”

He stood. “Why don’t you want to get married?”

“I’ve been married. I mostly liked it, but nowhere near as much as I like being with you the way I am. And partly thanks to you, I have no practical reason to get married again. Give me a compelling reason to get married sometime and I will. Like one of us gets demented, or pregnant or something.”

He stood up. “Do you want me to hold on to the ring?”

“I think it would be smart. Things change, and I love the ring.”