Tuesday morning brought Will good news. At the office, at the very beginning of the workday, he was met by a cheerful David Lee with two paper cups of coffee.
Carefully closing the door to Will's office behind him, David began in a conspiratorial tone, sitting down in a chair.
"Will, you are incredibly lucky. Your Christopher Rizzo was found quickly. Divorcing his wife in New York. A rich family. A mansion on Long Island, several penthouses in Manhattan. A network of dealerships selling European cars. And that's not the most interesting thing"
"Well, actually, I was only interested in the fact of the divorce. But I'm curious to hear what else is there?"
"The whole business is run by his wife. Her name is Meredith. Not pretty, not young, but she can afford to buy herself a young educated husband. With the help of her connections, she got him a job as a teacher at an elite boarding school. Then Rizzo apparently got boring for her, and she decided to get a divorce... according to rumors, Meredith was seen with an even younger guy"
"Wait, David, Rizzo's wife initiated the divorce?"
"Exactly. Apparently, the lady wanted something new, and she found herself a younger lover. According to the terms of their prenuptial agreement, all property remains hers as acquired before the marriage. Income received during the marriage is the subject of dispute. Rizzo wanted to split it in half, but Meredith insists on an eighty-twenty split."
"And if during the divorce process one of the spouses disappears and cannot be found, does the process stop?"
"Yes, Will, until the missing person is officially declared dead or missing."
"Thank you very much, David." Will took a sip of strong coffee with pleasure. "You have no idea how much you helped me."
"Then I'll go. I have a meeting with a hysterical divorcing couple in ten minutes."
"Have a nice day, David."
Will happily leaned back in his chair. Yes, yes, yes. The Rizzo divorce changes everything. There were two versions equally valid: the wife got rid of the annoying husband and hired someone to solve the problem. Or the husband, anticipating the divorce and the loss of a good rich life, staged his kidnapping in order to think about how to slow down the divorce. All that was left was to collect the evidence with which to go to court. Not bad.
Having instructed Kalinda to go to New York to document Meredith's meetings with her young lover, Will went to tell Finn the news.
"Life is getting better. We'll tear them up in court like a monkey tearing up a newspaper," Finn said happily, slapping his knees.
"Listen, Finn, do you think Jeffrey Grant was guilty after all? Eric said he settled the matter with him once and for all. I understand what that means. But was he right?"
"Yes, Will. Unfortunately, yes. Jeffrey really was guilty. And you, deceiving yourself, almost lost your life."
Will had nothing to say in response to these words.
Wednesday came, but Kalinda did not return. She sent only an encouraging text message that there were many interesting things happening in Meredith's life and she needed a little more time to document the love affairs of the eccentric businesswoman.
After a second's hesitation, Will wrote back: "Move in with me. Let's try to become normal people." He was afraid to change everything, but he did not want to put off life for later.
Until the evening, Will helped Diane with routine work. Finn went to ordinary court for jury selection in one of the Diane's cases. The Lockhart/Gardner office lived in a normal working rhythm. Will still did not receive a response from Kalinda to his text message. Evening came, he was already beginning to think that he had done something stupid, when the iPhone made a short sound.
"I agree. Maybe something will come of this," Will read in a half-whisper and happily began to get ready to leave the office. The work day was over. Basketball and a nice quiet evening lay ahead.
The training with the Chicago Bulls went even better than Will's wildest dreams. The lawyer was greeted very warmly. The coach personally introduced him to all the players, gave a tour of the training base and presented him with a team jersey with the words : "Finn has told a lot about you. You are a hero and this is a great honor for us. Finn's friends are our friends." Will did not understand anything, but he was incredibly pleased.
Late in the evening, barely dragging his feet from fatigue, the lawyer reached the car. Systematic training was different from amateur games on Wednesdays. Tom made Will do warm-ups with the team and warm up his muscles, and then run twenty laps with the words, "At first, dude, it will seem like you're spitting out your lungs, but I'm going to make a real basketball player out of you. Forget about kindergarten in Georgetown." And Will believed. By the end of the game, he already felt his throwing technique completely different and even tried to throw the ball from the middle of the court. Life really did turn around one hundred and eighty degrees - for the better.
On Thursday afternoon, Kalinda returned with interesting news. Secluded with the investigator and Finn in his office, Will listened to a fascinating story about a passionate, stormy affair with Professor Rizzo's wife. Friends passed very high-quality photographs back and forth.
"Look, Will, this is the life! They have an apartment in a skyscraper with panoramic windows"
"Have you seen it, Finn? What a car. A Lamborghini. And what passionate kisses..."
"Why does Meredith need this gigolo? I'm much prettier. Maybe I should try my luck?"
"You're too old for her, Finn"
Finn threw a crumpled sheet of paper at Will in response.
Kalinda looked at the lawyers as if they were elementary school children.
Will was happy. This was already serious information in defense of his and Finn's client.
"People live," Kalinda sighed.
"Are they humans?" Will sighed in response.
Will spent the evening with Kalinda. They went to an exhibit at an art gallery, then watched the musical Chicago, had dinner, and walked the streets holding hands.
"It's not enough for you dealing with crimes at work, you also went to watch people singing about them." Kalinda laid her head on Will's shoulder.
"The songs are great. I love both the movie and the musical." Will smiled.
"Do you have to leave on Saturday?"
"Unfortunately, yes. We need to finish preparing for the trial. The stakes are too high - a person's life."
"Everything has been strange lately. There are only secrets around you and Finn."
"The peculiarities of our department. The less you know, the better you sleep." Will winked mysteriously at Kalinda. "Let's go home. I'm cold and I want to sleep. Finn and I are going to court tomorrow."
"I was just about to talk about him. Something is wrong with Finn."
"What exactly?" Will smiled.
"Have you noticed that he has a slight accent? Like he's swallowing the letter r."
"So what? Everyone speaks differently. I don't see a problem."
"Will, you don't understand. That's how people who've lived in Britain or the Commonwealth talk."
"Who knows where he could have lived. I didn't ask Finn about his life. All I know is that he graduated from the University of Illinois. Maybe previously he studied abroad."
"And I found out something. Yes, everything is clean with the university. Then working in the attorney's office - no questions either. But you know what's most interesting? Before Finn entered the university, it was as if Polmar didn't exist. There is nothing about him in the United States. Nowhere."
"Kalinda, it makes sense if he spent his childhood abroad. Believe me, there is no danger from Finn."
Kalinda looked again incredulously, but remained silent.
Back home, Will and Kalinda watched the comedy "Drowning Mona" in bed and, tired from the day, fell asleep.
At night, Kalinda jumped in fear when she went to the kitchen to get a drink of water.
"Good night!" Eric appeared out of nowhere behind, smiling like a Grinch and spreading chocolate spread on toast.
"Are you crazy to scare me like that? And how did you get here in the middle of the night?"
"Will and I had an agreement that I could show up at any time."
"It's three in the morning! Will is asleep. I'm not going to wake him up."
"What's wrong?" Will walked into the kitchen, yawning and disheveled. "Eric, couldn't you just ring the doorbell and walk in like normal people?"
"You know I don't take the easy way out. I just finished my work day and came straight to you."
"Maybe I should cook you a proper dinner?" Kalinda looked at the night visitor with pity.
"No, no, thank you, dear. I don't eat after six p.m," then, catching himself, added "Will, come to the courtroom with Finn tomorrow at nine in the morning. There will be special procedures during the hearing, so before the trial begins, I must tell you everything and show you everything. Otherwise, you will be nervous and make the wrong impression. In such courts, the main thing is not the truth, but the effect."
A second later, Eric disappeared along with the bread and the jar of chocolate spread.
"Where did he go?" Kalinda was surprised.
"I'll tell you later. It's a long story. Let's go to bed. It's time to get up soon."
Exactly at nine a.m, the lawyers were already standing near the court doors.
"Eric is late for some reason." Finn looked at his watch worriedly.
"He'll come." Will waved his hand.
At nine thirty, Eric finally showed up
"Sorry to keep you waiting, the morning traffic in your city is just unbearable"
When Will walked through the doors of the wizarding court, he expected to see something like the Inquisition with a guillotine, torture instruments and torches on the walls, but inside it turned out to be cooler than any tech company from Silicon Valley.
"Wow! I could live here. More stylish than the Google office" Finn whistled.
"And how do other people see this place?" Will wondered.
"Just an old, half-abandoned old courthouse wing, getting ready for renovation" Eric answered on the go.
The courtroom was also much more stylish than in ordinary court.
"Listen and remember. The twelve jurors are sitting over there," Eric pointed to the podium with high antique Gothic chairs that didn't quite fit into the modern interior of the courtroom. "In front is the judge, on the right side of the judge is the witness stand. The prosecution sits on the left side of the judge, the defense is on the right. The only difference is that the accused is chained to the chair in front of the judge. We didn't have lawyers at the hearings before. Another difference is the guards around the perimeter of the room. Their appearance may surprise you, but they will look impressive. Don't be afraid of them. Just think of them as an interior item."
"What about technical equipment?" Will asked intently.
"Phone on silent mode, laptops are not prohibited. Our judges are very liberal about clothing. They think you can come in even swimming shorts; all you need is clearly argue your position"
Will and Finn exchanged mysterious glances with smiles.
"No, don't even think about it" Eric shouted.
"Too bad, I wanted to come in a Yankees jersey" Finn sighed.
"For this, I would have sentenced you to fifteen years myself" Will grumbled.
"Now about serious things" Eric interrupted the lawyers "Never interrupt the judge, do not show disrespect. Forget the chatter from your regular courts. Reasoning is not welcome here. Question-answer, remark-parry. Like in fencing."
"What else should we know?" Finn asked, looking around the courtroom.
"What did I forget? Oh yeah. Do not be late for hearings, do not communicate with the jury outside the courtroom. And most importantly…" Eric took a thick black cloth from something standing on a stone pedestal in the middle of the courtroom.
"What beauty! The Scales of Anubis," Will admired the elegant gold scales with a sculpture in the form of a man's torso with a dog's head.
"Absolutely right, my friend. But the scales are used at the very end to determine guilt."
"I don't understand. Explain, Eric. Anubis used the scales to determine the guilt of the deceased who arrived in the afterlife, not a living person. He put the feather of the goddess of truth Maat on one balance, and the heart of the deceased on the second. We learned this in our first year of law school at Georgetown." Will looked at Eric with disbelief.
"Basic course. The history of state and law," Finn nodded.
"Our department has slightly reworked this concept. After all, truth is a very abstract concept, and the heart is just a muscle." Eric replied calmly
"If truth is an abstraction, then what is a lie?" Will was surprised. "And what is guilt?"
"I agree with Will. I'm confused too." Finn sat down on a chair. "Explain to us the concept of determining guilt in a wizarding court."
"First, I'll answer your question, Will. Guilt is a set of circumstances in which the accused was involved and which led to serious consequences. And whether this involvement took place is decided by the jury."
"In what way?" Will clarified.
"Each juror is given two coins - a silver and a copper. When the verdict is announced, the juror who finds the defendant innocent places the silver coin on the right side of the scale. If guilty, the copper coin on the left side."
"And if the votes are tied?" Finn was puzzled.
Eric was not surprised by the question.
"Just like in a regular court - the decision is made in favor of the accused, but here, tied votes are very rare. I think I told you everything. The first hearing will be in two weeks. I'll be waiting for both of you in New York at Moynihan Train Hall at noon on Sunday. I'll tell you how to get to school. There you will have exactly one week to find out the information you need. At first, I wanted only Will to go, but now the situation has become more acute and I'm afraid to let him go alone. Finn, would you mind going for a week?"
"Sure, Eric. I am also a lawyer in Professor Bruckman's case"
"Excellent. And you remember, Will. In our case, Finn is your father, mother, and fairy godmother. Listen to him in everything. This is a guarantee that you will stay alive and win your client's case."
After examining the courthouse, Will was very puzzled. Taking out his cigarettes, he lit up, handing the pack to Finn
"How do you like the courtroom?" Finn asked, taking out a cigarette.
"Impressive. However, I have concerns that a hearing in such a room can turn into a farce due to too many external attributes. I still don't really understand how it will all look in practice."
"I think, Will, it all depends on the mood with which everyone comes to the court hearing. Even an ordinary trip to the store for bread can turn into a farce"
"Listen, Finn, I wanted to ask. It's not that it's very important...if you don't want to, you don't have to answer"
"Will, let's be honest. I think the trust between us is already at such a level that we shouldn't feel awkward asking questions."
"Okay. Tell me honestly, who are you? "
"In general, or in particular?" Finn, as always, tried to joke "Just a person."
"No, not just a person. How do you explain that before entering university it was as if you didn't exist." Will exhaled smoke and stared into space.
"Why didn't exist? Existed, but in another country. Let's go get a drink and I'll answer all your questions."
"Actually, it's only noon. And Diane is still waiting for us in the office. She asked me to help her conduct a few interviews." Will hesitated.
"Wine won't do any harm."
"I don't like wine. How do people even drink this ink? Oka-a-a-y, let's go. We'll have lunch at the same time."
The friends settled down in a quiet, cozy place. Finn poured the wine into the glasses himself.
"So, Will. What did you want to know about Finn Polmar but were afraid to ask?" Finn looked at Will mockingly again.
"Who are you really?"
"Finn Polmar. I can show you my passport."
"I know your name. Where were you before you were 17? Why is nothing known about you?"
"There is no such thing as a person not existing before 17. I was born and lived until I was 10 in the small town of St. Ives in Cornwall, England. Then my parents sent me to school in Scotland. After school, I entered Oxford, but two years later the Second Wizarding War began and my parents took my sister and me to America. My education continued in Chicago, then I went to work in the New York attorney's office. That's all. No secrets. No one ever asked. That's why I have an accent, a slightly different attitude to clothes, to alcohol. You can't get away from national identity."
"Sorry, Finn, if I offended you with my suspicions. Let's have another glass and then go to work."
And so they did.