Daniel Woods sat in the parlor of his mansion, a former Minster house, chewing on the thick stub of an old cigar.

At forty-five, he was already looking unusually old for his age.

His emaciated face revealed prominent lines, precisely defined about the eyes and mouth.

And, his closely-cropped hair, once a natural dark brown, was now entirely gray.

Today, there was something on his mind.

A black scowl covered his face.

He tried to conceal it.

Yet, he lacked the ability.

For years, he and his partner, Glen Julsonnet, had been amassing a fortune, operating out of the Wood’s family residence.

As young civil attorneys, they had begun their careers, dispensing legal advice and acting as advocates in court.

Their big break had occurred in their second year, when they had won a multi-million-dollar lawsuit against a huge corporation.

Their popularity instantly skyrocketed.

Their services were suddenly in high demand.

Yet, instead of accepting the new challenge, promising riches and fame, Julsonnet, against Woods’ expressed wishes, had gone off on a different tact.

He had begun accepting retainer offers from other large corporate clients, the language of which restricted Woods and Julsonnet from working in certain areas of interest and from competing against the holding firms with respect to any and all legal matters.

Soon, Woods and Julsonnet found themselves raking in the profits, collecting huge retainers for the protection that they afforded, without ever lifting a finger.

Moreover, Julsonnet had fashioned language in most of the addendums, which had given them the expressed consent to retail their cases to other law firms.

The proviso called for certain margin thresholds to be reached with the sale, after which Woods and Julsonnet would split the profits with the holding firm.

It was an ingenious ploy, and slightly-illegal, if not wholly unethical.

Yet, it worked.

Competing law firms began to purchase their cases, offering higher and higher sums to advocate, what they perceived to be, potential winning cases, against the same holding firms.

It was amazing.

And, it was a good living.

They had gained great power with the control of both the corporations and their outstanding cases.

Yet, at last, Woods was sick of it.

The wiliness, the double-dealing, the duplicity and subterfuge, had all taken their toll.

But, most of all, he had suffered from his own remorse, despite the fact that Julsonnet had been the driving force behind what Woods considered to be simple skullduggery.

Just then, he heard voices in the hall.

The door of the parlor swung open.

A short, chubby man with a round face forced his way in past a woman, pressing his black hat in his hands.

He was of foreign descent, which was obvious when he opened his mouth to speak.

“I see de Mr. Woods!” he insisted.

He pushed past an angry assistant, advancing with a wild light in his eyes.

“Mr. Richt, you must wait!” she ordered.

“No! I wait no more! I come here to deman’ de justice!”
he fumed, shaking his finger at Woods.

“It’s okay, Abigail,” Woods offered.

He then faced the man straight on, as he had learned to do.

It was as if to say, “Or what?”

The man read his expression easily.

“Or, I burn dis house to de ground!”

Woods held up his hand.

“Now, let’s just calm down a little.”

The foreign man looked about at the parlor, richly paneled in oak and luxuriously furnished.

Through a pair of folding doors, he could see a fine dining room and the drawing room behind that.

All this had been paid for by him and others, just like him.
“Please sit down, Mr. Richt,” offered Woods.

However, the man continued to stand where he was, growing angrier with every passing second.

Woods, too, was unusually anxious, although he forced a veil of sophistication.

He leaned over, looking about theatrically, as though the walls might have ears.

“Sir,” he confided, “for some time I have been considering your case.”

The man waited.

“I am now prepared to release it to you, at no cost!”

He then drew back to observe the effect of his words on the man.