“Judge Tifaro is too timid to make a decision,” said Madeline, breaking into the discussion.

“What you’re both trying to say,” I said, “is that all your attempts to kill our case have failed.”

“Yes,” said Prescott, giving me an appraising look. “That is it exactly.”

Saltz was the weakest of those cases my ex-partner Guthrie left behind when he fled our firm on his way to success. A real estate limited partnership had gone bad, as they all seemed to have gone bad, and Guthrie had convinced the investors to sue those who had syndicated and sold the deal. There was a lengthy complaint with wild allegations of fraud and conspiracy. We had the case on a one-third contingency. I had thrown away a pot of money investigating only to find that there was no real evidence of anything other than stupidity on the part of all involved. My investigation wasn’t helped by the fact that a crucial witness, the accountant who prepared the prospectus, a weasel named Stocker, had disappeared, taking certain of his clients’ trust funds with him. Without him we had nothing but a hope that we could bluff our way into a settlement. Which was why I was there, to take one last look at my hand, to press my lips together, to look around the table and back at my hand and then to raise, confidently, in the faint chance the bastards would fold. Not likely. I had been asking for half a million, hoping they’d give me a counteroffer in the mid-five figures, upon which I planned to leap.

“Would you like some coffee or a soft drink, Victor?” asked Prescott. He reached to a phone sitting on the coffee table between us and pressed a button. The pretty woman who had led me to the office immediately appeared. “Janice, a coffee for me, please. And for you, Victor?”

“Coffee, black.” Janice left without taking a request from Madeline.

“We’re not here to argue, Victor,” said Prescott, which was a lie, because that was precisely why we were there. “The syndicators have asked that I take a more personal interest in this case as we approach the trial. Glancing through the file, I noticed your name wasn’t on the complaint. It was filed by a Samuel Guthrie.”