The Sixth Man (Sean King & Michelle Maxwell 5)

“And there’s obviously no retainer agreement in the files for the Roy case?”

“No. I already checked that.”

“But if Edgar Roy didn’t hire him, and from what I’ve seen of the man it’s highly doubtful he had the capacity to do so, someone with a power of attorney or something like that had to do it. You can’t just appoint yourself as someone’s lawyer. A court has to do that and only under certain conditions.” She stared at Hilary. “Are you sure that wasn’t the case here?”

“No. If the court had done so there would be a record of that in the file. Mr. Bergin has served as a public defender assisting indigent clients, but not in this case. And I don’t believe Mr. Roy was indigent. He had a job and a home.”

“Yeah, he’s just comatose. I’m not sure in this instance which one is worse.”

“I can’t speak to that.”

“Maybe a family member retained Bergin? Roy’s parents are dead. Any siblings? Sean couldn’t remember the media mentioning any.”

“I really didn’t get into that with Mr. Bergin,” said Hilary demurely.

“But weren’t you curious when he started representing the man? No retainer agreement? No payments?”

Hilary looked uncomfortable at this query. “I must admit that I thought it unusual. But I would never have questioned Mr. Bergin over a professional matter.”

“But it was also a business matter. A retainer agreement and getting paid for services is important, too. He’s running a business, after all, and you’re part of that business.”

“Again, I never questioned it. Mr. Bergin certainly would know what he was doing. And it was his practice after all. I… I was just his employee.”

Michelle studied the woman. But you wanted to be more. Okay, I get that.

“He never let anything slip about who might have hired him? The financial arrangement?”

“No.”

“So the client never came here?”

“Well, I’m not here 24/7, but no one like that, no, at least while I was present.”

“So there were no clients in from the time he started representing Edgar Roy?”

Hilary looked confused. “I don’t understand.”

“If it was a new person you wouldn’t necessarily know why they were here until they met with Bergin.”

“Oh, right, I see what you mean. Well, with new clients they typically make an inquiry by phone. I would ask them their personal information and what the matter related to. Mr. Bergin doesn’t do all aspects of law so I wouldn’t want people wasting their time coming here.”

“You serve as a filter.”

“Exactly. Then they make an appointment if he can do what they need. And if they come to an understanding I would provide them with a retainer agreement.”

“The same day they’re here?”

“Sometimes. Or if it was out of the ordinary and Mr. Bergin had to revise the standard document, it might be sent out a few days later to the client’s address. Mr. Bergin was a stickler for that. No work was done until the retainer was signed.”

“Except in the case of Edgar Roy, apparently.”

> “Apparently,” sniffed Hilary.

“Anyone call here asking for Bergin you didn’t recognize?”

“Well, we get a lot of calls. Most of the people I know, of course. Some I don’t. But nothing like that sticks out in my mind.”

“Did anyone come in to meet with Bergin around the time he started representing Roy, anyone who you didn’t send out a retainer agreement for?”