A few days later on, Thomas asked me to present my fee note and advised me that they settled for $250.000. Thomas appeared deeply moved by the Bank’s generosity. I thought it best to congratulate him. All the same, I bit my tongue!
Quentin looked perturbed when we met the following week. After solving together a Bridge quiz, both of us were again at home with one another. In the event, he opened the final discussion of the case.
“You, Peter, resent the ‘poor’ settlement.”
“I do indeed. Why didn’t the Bank fork out some $400,000. On the facts you conveyed to me, such a settlement would have saved the Bank from incurring any losses.”
“Look here, Peter. To start with your friend Thomas could have bargained. Well, he did not. Furthermore, the investigations we instituted cost a lot of money. The Private Investigator who unmasked the internal crook was dear. So was the chap who had a watching brief respecting the criminal proceedings. The settlement did not enrich the Bank. And our new practices re statements cost a packet. So don’t go on with your tirade about the ‘nasty bank’. You have uttered this ‘pearl of wisdom’ ad nauseam in your published pieces. I, too, know it by heart. And don’t keep telling me that the only difference between sharks and banks is that banks don’t display their ghastly teeth. Don’t make me shed tears of remorse.”
“But, Quentin, I get the impression that Lena and Freddie got off Scott free, except that Lena is temporarily fed and clad at the State’s expense. The real looser are the deceased’s younger two sons.”
“Up to a point you are right. And I am sure Lena enjoys Changi; and Freddie rubs his hands. Still, if the remaining family members really wanted to fight would they have instructed Thomas?”
“Why not?” I looked a him stupefied. “He used to teach ‘banking’ to the Institute of Bankers.”
“But this was a long time ago. Today he is an old man. And tell me: if you yourself wanted to have a ‘good day in court’ would you have engaged an Octogenarian?”
“Thomas is sill lively enough,” I protested.
“Yes, Peter, on the rare occasions in which he does not fall asleep during the proceedings.”
“Quentin, Quentin, aren’t you indicting the legal profession as a whole?”
“Not really, Peter. Most firms send you grazing when you are 60 or so. Some old timers continue thereafter on their own. But how well do they do? And look here: would you yourself take on the role of a lead counsel in such a difficult case?”
“Actually, I would not. I know I lack the stamina. Age has caught up with me. Effectively, I have retired from practice.”
“And you were an excellent strategist.”
“I was; but time does not stand still.”
“And your friend Thomas was never top class: not even in his heyday. I became suspicious about the case when I was told that he had been briefed. There are plenty of young lawyers who want to be constituted Senior Counsel. They would have given us a run for the money.”
“Well, well, well, Quentin. So, all in all nobody made a gain.”
“Except yours truly. You see: they moved me to Head Office when I unravelled the case and got rid of the internal crook. But banks – as you always tell us with a malicious grin – are parsimonious. I did not get a bonus; just a laudatory letter of thanks from the Chairman. The Roman Catholic church would, in the very least, have canonised me: St. Quentin, the Bloodhound.”
“I accept your analysis. But, then, why on earth did Thomas consult me? Why did he and Freddie make a half-hearted attempt to drag me into the ring?”
“Thomas needed an endorsement. Some respected lawyer, who would confirm they had a weak case. He must have got worried when you started to dig.”
“He did look uneasy. But I thought he feared losing face in front of the clients. Quentin, do you think he smelt a rat?”
“I can’t be certain, Peter. But he did not want to fight the case. Nowadays he prefers to settle. A day in court is becoming painful. He knew there were problems undermining our position as regards the applicable terms. But you, Peter, were told to keep out of that. He concluded that he better accept that our terms apply. He asked you to write an opinion on an obvious point.”
For a while both of us kept staring into the distance. I knew that Quentin was right. I had been used as a cat’s paw. Still, I had been paid and so had nothing to grumble about.
I realised that the issues of the case had been solved and sorted out. To change the subject, I took out of my briefcase a new book with Bridge Quizzes. Before long both of us were immersed in them. Lena, Freddie and Thomas were no longer relevant.