The Tenth Justice - Brad Meltzer [44]
“Oh, relax,” Ober said. “You have nothing to worry about.”
“What do you want?”
“Eric called me. He said he’d like to talk to you tonight.”
“What time?”
“Eight, if that’s okay with you.”
“That’s fine. I’ll see him then.”
“Who was it?” Lisa asked, noticing the irritated look on Ben’s face.
“Just Ober.”
A half hour later, the phone rang again. “Hello, Justice Hollis’s chambers,” Ben said.
“Is this Ben Addison?” a voice asked.
“Yes,” Ben said, annoyed to be pulled away from the Russell opinion.
“Hi, Mr. Addison. My name is Diana Martin, and I’m with The Washington Post. I was wondering if you had any comment on the story in this morning’s Herald.”
“Listen, if you work with Ober, tell him to bite me.”
“Mr. Addison, I think you have me confused with someone else. As I said, I’m with The Washington Post. I’d be happy to fax over my press credentials. In fact, if you’d like, perhaps we could meet for lunch and talk this over.”
Sitting up straight in his chair, Ben knocked over the coffee on his desk. “How can I help you today, Ms. Martin?” he asked as Lisa pulled a pile of napkins from her left-hand drawer.
“Well, as I said, I was wondering if you had any comment on the story in today’s Herald.”
As Ben lifted piles of paper from his desk, Lisa dabbed away the coffee. “I’m sorry,” Ben said. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“In this morning’s Washington Herald, there was a story about a possible leaking of information during the recent CMI decision. I was wondering if you had anything you’d like to say about it. If you’d like, I’ll keep your identity secret. You’ll be an unidentified source.”
Ben opened his top drawer and pulled out a small stack of papers. Searching through the stack and trying to avoid bumping into Lisa, Ben quickly found what he was looking for. Reading verbatim from the sheet titled “Response to Press,” he said, “I appreciate your concern on this matter, but as a clerk of the Supreme Court of the United States, I am not permitted to reveal any information to the press.”
“So are you saying that there is an investigation taking place, but that you just can’t talk about it?”
“Ms. Martin, I have nothing further to say,” Ben said, throwing aside the sheet. “Thanks for your time.” As Ben hung up the phone, Lisa finished soaking up the coffee. “Thanks for the help,” he said, wiping the remaining liquid from under his pencil sharpener.
“No problem,” Lisa said. She walked back to her desk. “Was that really the press?”
“I don’t believe it,” Ben said. “It was The Washington Post.”
“What’d they say?”
“They asked me about the story. I almost shit in my pants.”
“It sounded like you were fine,” Lisa said. “You did the right thing. That’s what the press sheet was designed for.”
“When I got this in August, I never thought I’d have to use it,” Ben said, putting the sheet back in his top drawer. “Do you think they know?”
“No. They probably called everyone. I’m sure they know that the clerks are the easiest ones to get information from.”
“I really think they know. They have to know.”
“They don’t know a thing,” she said. “In fact, I’m surprised we haven’t gotten more calls from the press. I’d heard that we’d be called before every big decision.”
“They haven’t called you,” Ben said. “Explain that, Miss Optimis—” Lisa’s phone rang.
Lisa smiled. “Hello, Justice Hollis’s chambers.” As Ben listened, she said, “Yeah, I really can’t talk now. Can I call you back later? Yeah, now’s a bad time.”
“Who was that?” Ben asked as Lisa hung up the phone.
“Just an old friend from law school.” Walking over to Ben’s desk, she said, “Listen, don’t let this get you down. I’m sure they’re just going through their list. I’ll get called.”
“Whatever,” Ben said. “It’s no big deal. I mean, they’re the press. They’re supposed to find these things out. It’s their job to wreck my life.”
“Ben, your life is far from wrecked.”
“Listen, I don’t need the pep talk. I know what I got into, and I’ll figure a way out of it.”
“It’s not a matter of figuring a way out of it. You’re not