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Daniel was horrified. “You discussed this with him?” The thought appalled him. He loved and admired his father, but there was a part of Pitt that was different and always would be, a self-control he had tried to instill in Daniel, not often successfully. Daniel wore his heart very much on his sleeve, and he wasn’t too sure his father would understand why he had allowed himself to think this might be a case he should take up.
?
??No! No, of course not. He’d have to defend Sidney. He’s part of…”
“The government?” Daniel finished for him. “And you think members of the government always agree with each other? I knew the American government was different from ours, but I didn’t know it was that different! It takes half an hour for them to agree on what day it is! And diplomats are the worst. By the time they’ve finished being polite, you’ve forgotten what you were talking about in the first place.”
Patrick was smiling. “Well, I haven’t forgotten what I’m talking about, and you must have forgotten that I’m Irish if you think I can’t talk around in circles with the best of them. Those diplomats might have learned it, but it’s in my blood! Are you going to help or not?”
“Very circular,” Daniel said drily, to give himself time to think. Before committing to a promise he would have to keep, he needed to be certain what he could do, and what he believed. “Do you want me to help prosecute?”
“Yes. To be certain they don’t wrap it up before the whole story is told. You might learn why he stole the diamond. Perhaps he needed to sell it to replace the money he embezzled. Of course, he wouldn’t say so, but it might be provable.”
“Have they found the diamond?” Daniel did not have to feign surprise; he was astounded. “Anyone could prosecute that! You could tell them what you suspected, even if they did not ask you.”
“No,” Patrick said flatly. “He’s probably sold it already.”
“?‘Probably’ isn’t going to cut it.”
“I know! That’s why we need a clever prosecutor, one who knows about the attack on Rebecca and the theft,” Patrick said reasonably.
Daniel opened his mouth to say “has heard about it,” but he knew from the look on Patrick’s face that this was not the time. Had Pitt really told Patrick that Daniel was a good lawyer? Did he truly think so, or was he just standing up for Daniel? “It’s an important case, because of the people involved,” Daniel said instead. “And because it’s international, if it ever gets the assault of Rebecca into it. The embassy will want it handled very carefully, even settled out of court, if possible.”
“Can they?” Patrick’s voice was bitter now. “If it’s embezzlement? What will they do? Sweep it under the carpet so no one knows? Get his father, or whoever, to put the money back, and perhaps a little extra?”
Daniel felt the muscles in his jaw tighten so hard he heard his teeth grind. “Why, is that what they do in America?”
Patrick’s shoulder muscles bunched and he shifted his weight, then relaxed. “Sorry,” he said.
Daniel was not sure if he meant he was sorry for the offense, or only that he had said it aloud, because it was bad judgment. “No,” he said. “It isn’t how they do it here. At least not very often. If they’re caught, they’ll go down for it.”
Patrick was silent for a few moments, then apparently decided to behave graciously. “I thought you were pretty good. I trusted you couldn’t be bought.”
“I am pretty good,” Daniel said tartly. “They’ll want very good. And no, I cannot be bought. I hope I can’t be threatened or persuaded, either. But before you lose your temper again, I can’t act for the prosecution because I’m not senior enough, or for the defense—”
“Defense?” Patrick interrupted.
“There’s got to be a defense. You don’t want him to plead guilty or there’d be no trial! Or nothing at all will come out!” Daniel reasoned.
“Yes. Yes, I can see that. Defend him of the charge of embezzlement but work toward exposing the assault and the theft. You’d have to be damned good to bring that about.”
“My senior colleague Kitteridge is. He’d let me sit second chair, I think. I already told him something of the case.” Daniel was not sure if he should have mentioned that, but it was past the time of playing games. The big question, though, was whether Kitteridge would have anything to do with so dubious an idea as to defend a man on one charge in order to have him tried for another.
“Good!” Patrick decided immediately. “How do I get in touch with this Kitteridge? And even more to the point, how do we get Sidney to choose him for his defense? That could be a flaw in your idea, rather a big one.”
“Fford Croft and Gibson is one of the best firms in London,” Daniel said with some pride. “If Kitteridge offers, Sidney will take him if he has any sense. We’re not only good, we’re discreet. I don’t think people will be lining up to defend Sidney in this.”
“Is Kitteridge really that good?”
“Yes, and I’ll help him.”
“Thank you. And…Daniel?”
“Yes?”
“The Thorwoods are our friends, Jem’s and mine. Particularly Rebecca. They are…they’ve been good to us. They had a son who would have been about my age. Lost him in an accident. It’s got nothing to do with guilt or innocence, but it’s got a lot to do with friendship, with debt, if you like.”
“I understand,” Daniel said quietly. He understood loyalty, but a small part of his mind wondered if Patrick wasn’t taking his loyalty to the Thorwoods a little too far. “Just so it’s absolutely straight, I don’t want to be wondering how far I can trust the evidence. If he’s guilty, we’ll get him. It’s not as if we were looking for someone and didn’t know who it was, or what he did.” As soon as he said it, he wondered if he had gone too far. Not in provoking Patrick—that was fair enough—but in making a promise he might not be able to keep.
