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meeting as a misunderstanding between consenting adults is the correct one, and that Mr. Sanders bears a responsibility for that misunderstanding. He was an active participant, Louise, no way around it. He took her panties off. Nobody held a gun to his head. But since there was fault on both sides, the proper thing is for the two parties to shake hands, let go of all animosity, and return to work. Apparently Mr. Garvin has already proposed this to Mr. Sanders, and Mr. Sanders has refused. We believe that under the circumstances Mr. Sanders is acting unreasonably and that if he does not reconsider in a timely manner, he should be fired for his refusal to show up for work.”

“Son of a bitch,” Sanders said.

Fernandez laid a restraining hand on his arm. “Ben,” she said calmly. “Is this a formal offer of reconciliation and return to the company?”

“Yes, Louise.”

“And what are the sweeteners?”

“No sweeteners. Everybody just goes back to work.”

“The reason I ask,” Fernandez said, “is that I believe I can successfully argue that Mr. Sanders was aware the tape was being made, and thus it is indeed admissible. I will argue further that it is admissible under discovery of public records over common carriers as defined in Waller v. Herbst. I will argue further that the company knew of Ms. Johnson’s long history of harassment, and has failed to take proper steps to investigate her behavior, either prior to this incident, or now. And I will argue that the company was derelict in protecting Mr. Sanders’s reputation when it leaked the story to Connie Walsh.”

“Wait a minute here—”

“I will argue that the company had a clear reason for leaking it: they desired to cheat Mr. Sanders out of his well-deserved reward for more than a decade of service to the company. And you’ve got an employee in Ms. Johnson who has had some trouble before. I will claim defamation and ask for punitive damages of sufficient magnitude to send a message to corporate America. I’ll ask for sixty million dollars, Ben. And you’ll settle for forty million—the minute I get the judge to allow the jury to hear this tape. Because we both know that when the jury hears that tape, they will take about five seconds to find against Ms. Johnson and the company.”

Heller shook his head. “You’ve got a lot of long shots there, Louise. I don’t think they’ll ever let that tape be played in court. And you’re talking about three years from now.”

Fernandez nodded slowly. “Yes,” she said. “Three years is a long time.”

“You’re telling me, Louise. Anything can happen.”

“Yes, and frankly, I’m worried about that tape. So many untoward things can happen with evidence that is so scandalous. I can’t guarantee somebody hasn’t made a copy already. It’d be terrible if one fell into the hands of KQEM, and they started playing it over the radio.”

“Christ,” Heller said. “Louise, I can’t believe you said that.”

“Said what? I’m merely expressing my legitimate fears,” Fernandez said. “I’d be derelict if I did not let you know my concerns. Let’s face facts here, Ben. The cat’s out of the bag. The press already has this story. Somebody leaked it to Connie Walsh. And she printed a story that’s very damaging to Mr. Sanders’s reputation. And it seems that somebody is still leaking, because now Connie is planning to write some unfounded speculation about physical violence by my client. It’s unfortunate that someone on your side should have chosen to talk about this case. But we both know how it is with a hot story in the press—you never know where the next leak will come from.”

Heller was uneasy. He glanced back at the others by the fountain. “Louise, I don’t think there’s any movement over there.”

“Well, just talk to them.”

Heller shrugged, and walked back.

“What do we do now?” Sanders said.

“We go back to your office.”

“We?”

“Yes,” Fernandez said. “This isn’t the end. More is going to happen today, and I want to be there when it does.”

Driving back, Blackburn talked on the car phone with Garvin. “The mediation’s over. We called it off.”

“And?”

“We’re pushing Sanders hard to go back to