Messick is in his office, feet up on his desk, listening intently to the speakerphone.
“So what do we have left, maybe a day or two?” it asks.
“I think so.”
Messick is trying to control his own optimism, but he’s glad to hear his friends express their excitement.
“You've done a brilliant job, Ben. And I think I speak for all of us when I say that we're grateful you haven't needed us.”
That kind of thing means even more when it comes from the voice of conservatism. But Messick is still cautious. “It's not over yet, and you all have been crucial to our success so far. I could not have done this without you there to support me every night.”
“Well, that's debatable. But it looks like all our contingency plans were unnecessary, and I'm very glad about that.”
The last voice is the one with which Messick was most familiar. “Like I said, it's not over yet, John, and I don't think we should be too confident. What has surprised me a little is how many people are literally crawling out of the woodwork to join our side, now that it looks like we might prevail.”
“Everybody loves a winner!” the speakerphone says. And then in a different voice, “I get the impression that people were scared shitless of Gallo, and maybe they don't have to be any more.”
There are a lot of other people to be afraid of in addition to Gallo, Messick thinks. “But unless you guys disagree, I don't see any reason to change our game plan and include any more witnesses from those that have been calling in to offer their testimony in support.”
“No, I agree. There's such a thing as overkill for the jury. I think we're in good shape and don't need to change a thing.”
Then Messick remembers his pending appointment. “I'm going to meet with this one guy tonight anyway.”
“Who's that?” the speakerphone wants to know.
“Some guy who's flying all the way from Japan, says he just has to see me.”
“What’s his name?” the same voice asks.
“Kyoto, I think.”
“Doctor Kyoto?”
“I think so. Why?” Messick hadn’t recognized the name when the call came through. But apparently the speakerphone does. It explains.
“Do you remember, way back, when we were first planning our strategy, we talked about an epidemic that had hit Japan in the '60s, and how many similarities it had to AIDS?”
Messick shrugs, but no one can see. “Vaguely.”
“Well, we talked about getting Dr. Kyoto to testify about...seems to me the disease was called something like SNOM, or SMON. Anyway, it sounded fascinating, and very pertinent. The only problem was that Kyoto was outside U.S. jurisdiction and we couldn't subpoena him. If he's volunteering to come all this way to talk with us, we must really be making some waves.”
A different voice sounds less enthusiastic. “When do you meet him?”
Messick looks at his calendar. “Midnight.”
“Tonight? You’ve got to be kidding!”
“No, supposedly it's the only time he's got. His plane arrives around eleven from Tokyo.”
All excitement in the speakerphone has now disappeared, replaced with worry and concern.
“Where’s this meeting taking place?”
“At that 24-hour café downtown, near the courthouse.”
“Ben, you better watch your back.”
“Why? Why would the Japanese be after me?”
“I agree with John, Ben. You've become a real threat to a lot of big money around the world. And we're so close to the end. Just be really careful.”
“You've got to stay alert, buddy. I wish one of us could get there in time to go with you.”
“That's definitely not necessary, Tom. I'm sure he wants to tell me something he thinks is really important, and if he wants to fly twelve hours to see me, the least I can do is listen for a few minutes to what he has to say. That's all there is to it. I'll be fine.”
“All right. But do me a favor and call me when you get back home.”
“Oh, come on, John. That’ll be in the middle of the night for you.”
“I don't care. Call me anyway.”
“Well, thanks for the concern, guys. Now let's talk about how we want to end this thing next week....”