Fletch Won by Gregory McDonald Read Free Book Online Page B

if the case has any value to the partners socially, or if it might generate beneficial publicity, or whatever, even if the client doesn’t have sufficient wherewithal to be worth robbing, the case is taken. It is then handled with such dazzling speed and efficiency the world is breathless as it watches. The old-boy network is used. Private deals are struck. A settlement is arrived at swiftly, and cheaply, not always to the client’s complete benefit.”
    “And the law firm’s reputation becomes even more solid.”
    “I’m giving you the internal workings of your average, greedy law firm. At least of Habeck, Harrison and Haller. How some lawyers look at the law, you might say.”
    “You’re robbing me of my innocence.”
    “The third thing that might happen is that which happened this morning, which is what I’m trying to tell you about.”
    “If a person who engages himself as a lawyer is a fool, what’s a person who engages Habeck, Harrison and Haller?”
    “You can see why violence is not always an illogical solution.”
    “A solution discovered by an increasing percentage of our population,” Fletch said. “Have you heard the complaint, The courts don’t work’?”
    “Once or twice,” Alston admitted. “The third thing that can happen with an impecunious client is what I saw happen this morning. A burglar rushes from the court and finds himself being interviewed by Mr. Haller.”
    “The presumption can be made that if the burglar had enough money to afford Habeck, Harrison and Haller, he wouldn’t be a burglar.”
    “A lot of burglars do afford Habeck, Harrison and Haller. There’s a system to everything, you see.”
    “The legal system.”
    “Burglars, obviously, must be represented.”
    “They have their rights.”
    “They are in a hazardous profession. No telling when their presence might be requested in a court of law.”
    “That’s the breaks. And entering.”
    “So Mr. Haller, this morning, after pretending to listen to the bare bones of our new burglar-client’s difficulty, explains to the burglar that many of his colleagues in the burglary business retain Habeck, Harrison and Haller on an annual basis. A kind of occupational insurance, you see. Just in case their earning a living is threatened by an arrest, conviction, and jail sentence. For example, Mr. Haller explains, if our burglar this morning had already paid such a retainer to Habeck,Harrison and Haller, a Habeck, Harrison and Haller lawyer, such as myself, would have been waiting for him at the police station when he was arrested Saturday night, to do the proper and necessary. He wouldn’t have even had to set bail for himself.”
    “How much of a retainer?”
    “Ten thousand dollars. Not much, really, when you consider that a burglar in prison is no good to anyone. Not to his family, not to his friends, not to the economy, and not to Habeck, Harrison and Haller. In jail, he can’t make a living.”
    “Alston, if this guy had ten thousand dollars Saturday, why would he go burglarizing Saturday night?”
    “That’s not the idea. He wouldn’t have ten thousand dollars. The law firm would have ten thousand dollars. So the man can go earn his living without fret. Peace of mind, Fletcher, is worth almost any price.”
    “I’ve heard.”
    “So our burglar-client is told this morning by Mr. Haller that if he comes up with ten thousand dollars within ten days—that is, before his next court appearance—he may look forward to the full services, support, and talents of Habeck, Harrison and Haller. If not, Mr. Haller can recommend to the burglar a smaller, cheaper, less prestigious firm which can be counted on to represent the burglar to the best of their limited resources.”
    “How the hell is a two-bit burglar supposed to come up with ten thousand dollars within ten days?”
    “Guess.”
    “You’re kidding.”
    “I’m not kidding.”
    “You mean, a senior partner, in a major law firm, is sending a burglar out to