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everyone. Quite an experience, bud. And no charge."
    Otter was rubbing crumbs off the lap of his suit pants. "Tough time where?"
    "Father was a drunk. The worst kind. A rich lawyer drunk. All very tight with the board room boys. Mother disappeared when McEwan was a kid so they charged the old man with second degree. Surprised the shit out of him. I guess he figured he had the system licked. They never even found the body but the first jury said guilty anyway. They appealed and he was acquitted. Then they re-tried him again. That time he got life. At this point he gave up. Tired out is my guess. He died about five years later. A massive heart attack in prison. Kids ended up with the grandparents. And she comes from a big family, mostly boys. Two of them are lawyers too. And they all love it. Must be in the genes.
    “She doesn't look it, Otter.  Doesn't look like someone who belongs with hookers, pushers and petty thieves, but she's definitely in her fucking environment, as they say."
    "They don't exactly say it that way," said Otter.
    "Close enough, pard."
    Otter looked around at the afternoon coffee crowd. He recognized a couple of street cops from downtown and nodded in their direction. "So Dimmy quits Redfield and gets two years on Redfield's partner. That about it?"
    "Christ I was bored to tears. Tons of evidence. Printouts of programs, circuits, all kinds of shit with GeneFab 's name on it. Ludd freaked when saw it. He figured they just had some program of his, but it turned out they had a copy of every scrap of paper in his whole goddamn company. Case bogged down in all that garbage like a D50 Cat in a field of muskeg." He laughed, which was followed by a bout of coughing. "Some of the so-called evidence was a Dungeons and Dragons game. Made Tony look like a complete fool. You know Tony Hopper from white collar? He had his day with McEwan, all right. It turned out the suspects were on contract, which meant they had a right to have copies. Ludd kicked himself for that."
    "What do you mean, Ludd?" asked Otter, growing sleepy despite having just downed two cups of coffee so strong it could descale a commercial hot water tank.
    "Ludd was the plaintiff. He thought Redfield and Grieves might be trying to start up a new company or something. He was worth millions, but he was still a cheap bastard. He made a deal with Redfield and Grieves when he hired them to save costs by making it look like they were just on contract. That screwed us in court on the documents case."
    "They weren't technically employees then?
    "Nope. This guy Grieves was smart. He had all the angles figured out."
    "Those brainy types give me hives."
    "I can see why. Envy's an awful thing."
    Otter shook his head. "You’re a funny guy, Koz. Happy to be your straight man. So Grieves is a freaking master criminal genius. What about Redfield?"
    "Took the stand. Told the judge he knew nothing. Judge looked sympathetic.  Dimbrowsky finished the trial without Jayne the Pain riding over him. And he won - which he needed badly. Hadn't won a case in over a year. Our Dimmy was in a bad slump."
    "Sounds like a deal was made."
    "Cheer up! You'll get your turn with her. And at the rate this thing is going, soon."
    "No shit, Koz. It sounds like a deal."
    "Deal. Schmeal. Who cares?” He tapped on his partner’s wide forehead with his index finger. Otter winced. "Anybody home?"  Kozak knew it was a waste of time. Otter wasn't the type to let it go.
    "But, Grieves! What did he think about it?  Did he feel screwed around?  Did he hold a grudge? Did anybody check the guy out?"
    "Grieves checks in with his parole officer every week like a good boy. White Rock, British Columbia. Home of the yuppie. He's in his environment too. Probably using his computer to steal corporate secrets over the Internet. Anyway, I say who cares? What are you, deaf?"
    Otter held up his fists and punched his partner lightly in the shoulder. Under the material, the arm was as thin as a green twig.