Breach Of Promise

“Oh, my God, you had me going there. I had the strangest idea,” said Nina, putting a hand to her pounding chest. “I thought maybe, I don’t know what I thought…”

Wish left Nina and Sandy for a moment, trotting swiftly into Sandy’s office and back, while they stared at the tiny thing on the ledge.

When he came back, he was holding one of those spy magazines that caters to teenagers. “See this?” he said, pointing excitedly at a quarter page advertisement near the last page. “Same thing.”

The women continued to stare, only now they stared at the page. SLY BOY! trumpeted the boldface. THE WORLD’S TINIEST BUG!

“Told you,” said Wish.

Sandy opened her mouth, then closed it. She folded her arms.

“But… how could Winston get a bug?” Nina asked.

“Anybody can buy surveillance equipment,” Wish said. “Really. There are spy catalogs on-line from all over the world. Haven’t you ever checked it out on the Internet? You can buy neat stuff. I wrote a paper on state-of-the-art technology for one of my classes.

“In the 1950s the Soviets bugged the American embassy in Moscow by hiding a little round thing like this behind a wooden carving of the Great Seal of the U.S., a gift from them that hung above the ambassador’s desks. Whoever said the Slavs have no sense of humor, huh? That was a different device.”

“How does this one work?”

“It’s a simple radio transmitter. There’s a range, like maybe eighty to a hundred megahertz, where you can tune in to hear it.”

“How far away can you be for something like that to work? I mean, could I go home and listen in?” Nina asked, gripping the windowsill.

“You’d need a receiver. Of course those can be very tiny, too, but the quality isn’t very good unless you’ve got something, say the size of a transistor radio, to collect and amplify the sound. Maybe two hundred meters? It varies. This is pretty sophisticated stuff.”

Nina and Sandy couldn’t seem to think of another thing to say.

“So someone bugged Winston’s office,” Wish said. “Who do you suppose was interested in listening in on Winston’s conversations? Hey, Nina. Do you think Riesner and Casey bugged his office to find out what you guys were up to before the trial?”

“No,” said Nina. “I don’t.”

“It is terrific how small they can make those things,” said Sandy, taking the object from her son. “Now, Wish, you take that trash out to the Dumpster. There’s a couple of chairs left in the reception area you forgot. They need to go, too. I’m not paying for any damages, so you’ll want to be very careful.”

“But…”

“Move it.”

Grumbling at being ordered around, Wish left.

“You don’t think someone was bugging Winston,” Sandy said.

Nina sat down on the floor. “No. Nobody planted that thing behind the baseboard. It was lying there, loose. I think the bug is his. God, what was he doing with that thing? I knew how desperate Winston was to win the case but…” She sniffed. Sandy handed her a tissue, and she blew her nose. “He was not around during those couple of days the jury deliberated. He did a lot of jogging.”

“With that disc player-radio thing he always wears,” said Sandy, frowning.

“Could he have been listening in? Or maybe he had a receiver hooked up to a recorder in his car, and just listened later, some of the time. All he would have to do was park his car somewhere near the courthouse.”

“But, Nina. It doesn’t make sense. What’s the use of bugging the jury room? At that point, you can’t control the outcome of the case.”

“My God. Maybe Paul was right. Maybe he… did something to Clifford Wright’s food, to stop him. He might not have realized how serious it could be.”

“But, Nina, they always leave the jury’s food in the private hallway outside the judge’s chambers until it’s served, right? And the door to that hallway is locked.”

“Nobody bothers the lawyers if they pass through that hallway, and you can go straight through from the courtroom. I’ve done it myself. And Winston had a thing going with one of the clerks back there… He knew all about the allergy from our jury files, I’m sure. He knew about the vegetarianism. Cliff’s food was probably specially marked. He could have put something in the food.”

“Why leave the bug here?”

“I don’t know! I can only imagine. It’s very small. It must have fallen during the shuffle of moving. Either he didn’t notice, or couldn’t find it.”

“He’s got a good reputation, lots of clients. Why would he do this?”

“He lost his last case. He was desperate to win this one. His professional success really depended on that. And he knew he had a huge payoff coming if we won big enough to help him get out from under some heavy debts. Oh, Sandy.” She dropped to the floor like a sack of flour and hugged herself. “Oh, my God. My case.”

“You better call Paul.”

She couldn’t move. Reality had caught up with her, and she didn’t know what to do. “Paul’s gone, Sandy. I can’t call him.”

Genevieve appeared in the doorway, a leather bag dangling from her shoulder. “Everything okay in here?” she said. “I never saw two such blue faces in my life. What’s that thing you’ve got there?”

“Nothing,” said Nina, tucking the mike into her pocket. She stood up, dusting her hands off. She had to think more. No sense involving anyone else.

“Well, ladies,” Genevieve said, looking a little sad, “the much-anticipated, awful moment has arrived. Genevieve Suchat is leaving the building.”

They said their good-byes. “Don’t let her work you too hard, Sandy,” Genevieve said. “And, Nina, don’t you let Sandy drive you to an early grave. Oh, I’m go

When she left, gloom descended on them, as thick as dust.

35

“Where’s Paul, Nina?” Sandy said as they walked slowly back into Nina’s office.

“Going to Washington. For good.”

Sandy’s lips tightened. “Why that little… Where is he right now?”

“He might still be having lunch at Sato’s. He was going to stop on his way out of town.”

“Call him. He’ll know what to do about this thing. He’ll have some ideas.”

“No.”

“Okay, then. I will. We need him. He’s not getting out of this.”

“Don’t. I’ll figure this out myself.” Nina went into her office, shut the door, put her hands down on the table, and placed her head over them. She stayed that way for five minutes, then called Paul.

He didn’t answer his cell phone. Nina listened partway through “A

At Sato’s restaurant, the phone was busy. She tried again and again for nearly forty-five minutes, but the phone continued beeping rapidly. Paul would be out of there any minute. Nina made up her mind. Grabbing her jacket, she went back into the reception room. “Sandy, cancel anything I have left this afternoon. I don’t have court and tomorrow’s Saturday. I’m going to see if I can catch up with him.”

“You do that.”

“Meanwhile, keep trying the restaurant just in case you can get through. Tell him to wait for me there. I’ll keep my phone handy. Call me if you get through.”

Fortunately, the Bronco was gassed up. Pulling up to the front door of Sato’s, about to pull her parking brake, she spotted Paul heading for his van, which was parked across the street about a block behind her. Reversing quickly, she turned around and passed his van, backing up to parallel park smoothly in the slot behind him.

“Nina?” He got out of his car to meet her at her door.

“Who else, Paul?” she said, flooded with the emotion she hadn’t been able to express earlier, and with relief at finding him.

“To say that I didn’t expect you is an understatement… unless you caved in to a sudden uncontrollable yen for sushi?”