“Then how about we save that for another day?” Sara asked. “I’ve already met my embarrassment quota.”

“Fair enough,” Conrad said. “Now let’s talk about this problem you’re having. You’re wondering what to do with the case.”

“I know what to do with it – I have to prosecute it. I just don’t know if Victor’s going to let me.”

“If Victor and Evelyn both know you have it, and they still haven’t asked for it back, the case is yours. Like it or not, you’re stuck with it.”

“Do you think Victor’s going to take it out on me?”

“He’ll be pissed. I wouldn’t worry about it, though. All the supervisors are territorial.”

“If you say so,” Sara said, still wondering why the case had been marked for Victor.

“What about the fact that the case is a loser?” Guff asked. “Do you think it’s too small to save her job?”

“It may be a loser, but it’s the only thing I’ve got,” Sara said.

“That’s exactly right,” Conrad agreed. “And if you plan to impress this office, something is always better than nothing.” He got up from his seat and walked toward the door. “Now let’s get out of here.”

“It’s time to teach you how to fight crime,” Guff said.

“Do I need to bring my cape and utility belt?” Sara asked Conrad.

“Excuse me?” Conrad asked.

“Forget it,” Sara replied. As she followed Conrad to the door, she added, “Where are we going?”

“Back to ECAB,” Conrad said. Looking down at Sara’s hand, he continued, “By the way, let me give you another piece of advice: Lose the wedding ring.”

“What?”

“You heard me: Lose the ring. Now that you’re a prosecutor, you’re going to become enemies with some bad people. The less those people know about you, the better. And believe me, any piece of information you give the other side – no matter how small it is – they’ll find some way to use it against you.”

Walking back to his office after grabbing a candy bar in the firm’s cafeteria, Jared couldn’t wait for the day to end. From Hartley to Lubetsky to Rose, his entire afternoon had been a blur of professional hostility. As he wove his way through the serpentine cherry-paneled hallway, Jared did his best to forget his recent liability and instead thought about his most treasured asset: Sara, the one person who could always help him put things in perspective. He thought about what she would’ve said to Rose and laughed to himself. She’d never take that kind of abuse. When Rose was done with the attack, she’d rip him apart. He’d regret ever opening his mouth. Indeed, that’s what Jared loved about her. She did what he couldn’t. If Jared satisfied her need for predictability and organization, she satisfied his need for whimsy and spontaneity. Slowly, surely, Jared was able to relax again. That is, until he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“May I speak with you privately for a moment, please?” Thomas Wayne said, motioning to his office. Thomas Wayne was a founding partner of Wayne & Portnoy, and it was a rarity for anyone under the level of partner to have a private word with him. At six foot two, Wayne towered over most of his employees, which had led to the long-running rumor that the firm never hired anyone who was taller than Mr. Wayne himself. Naturally, the rumor was untrue, but Wayne enjoyed the mystique of it and therefore never quashed it. In Wayne’s eyes, rumors like that were what legends were made of – and if he’d planned to be anything, Thomas Wayne had always planned to be a legend.

“I hear it’s been a rough day,” Wayne said as he closed the door to his office.

“It certainly hasn’t been my best,” Jared responded.

“That may be the case,” Wayne said, taking a seat behind his large, but otherwise understated, walnut desk. “But days like this are not what built this firm. You have to understand, Jared, this firm was built with good, hard, roll-up-your-sleeves-”

“I understand what you’re saying, sir,” Jared interrupted. “But I have to be honest with you – Rose Microsystems may’ve paid a large sum of money, but I truly believe we saved them from a far worse alternative. No matter how much they kick and scream, I stand behind my work and its result.”

“Jared, have you ever heard of Percy Foreman?”

“The name sounds familiar, but I don’t know who-”

“Percy Foreman defended James Earl Ray when he killed Martin Luther King, Jr. And regardless of what you think of the moral issues, Percy was one of the greatest defense attorneys of all time. At one point in his career, he was defending a wealthy socialite who was accused of killing her husband. To take the case, Percy charged her five million dollars. Five million. Even by today’s standards, that’s obscene. But the woman paid, and Percy went to work. Throughout the trial, he dodged and slithered and cajoled his way out of every argument. And in the end, he won her a verdict of not guilty. But the press – they couldn’t get over the fact that this woman was charged those exorbitant legal fees. So when they got Percy on the courthouse steps, they asked him why he charged five million dollars. And with a straight face, Percy looked out at the crowd and said he charged her that amount because that was all she had.”

Wayne looked straight at Jared. “That’s the kind of attorney we need here. Being smart is fine; being honest is fine; even being aggressive is fine. But to bring in real business, the most important quality you can have is the confidence in your ability to win. Clients want to follow success – if they can smell the confidence on you, they’ll have confidence in you. And if they have that confidence, they’ll always trust you, and they’ll never argue with your decisions.

“That’s the problem you had this afternoon, Jared,” Wayne continued. “If Rose had complete confidence in you, he would have written that check with a smile. Instead, he’s threatening to leave, taking his three-million-dollar account with him. Now, if you were bringing in new clients, we’d care far less about losing Rose’s business. But looking at your records, it appears that client development is hardly your strong suit.”

“I know,” Jared said. “But I’m trying my best to-”

“Getting new clients requires more than just your best. It requires you to convince people to trust you with their lives. If we don’t have that trust, we can’t keep old clients, and we certainly can’t attract new ones. And if we can’t attract new ones, we can’t grow as a firm. And if we can’t grow as a firm, well, making partner becomes that much more difficult. Do you see what I’m trying to say, Jared?”

“Absolutely, sir,” Jared said, struggling to sound enthusiastic. “But you don’t have to worry. I know the value of old clients, I know the value of new clients, and without question, I know the value of being a partner in this firm.”

“Wonderful,” Wayne said. “Then I’m glad we had this talk.”

At ECAB, Sara, Conrad, and Guff headed straight to an office in the back of the room. Sara sat down behind the desk.

“Okay,” Conrad said. “Ask her the question.”

“A man pretending to have occult powers promises a sweet little old lady that he can exorcise the evil spirits affecting her little kitty named Shirley,” Guff said. “What can you get him for?”

“Huh?”

“The crime,” Guff explained. “What crime can you charge the evil-spirit guy with?”

As Sara looked down at the New York statute book on the desk, Conrad said, “Don’t use the book. Use what you know.”

“I’m not sure,” Sara said. “I guess it would be fraud.”

“You guess?” Conrad asked. “You can’t just guess. You’re an assistant district attorney. When a cop makes an arrest, he comes to you with the paperwork, and you’re the one who decides what the crime is. That means you have to know the elements of every crime, as well as the statutes.”

“No, you’re definitely right,” Sara said. “I should’ve-”