Before Midnight

He flattened his palms on the desk. "Mr. Dahlmann, who was apparently equipped to furnish the vitality and vigor formerly supplied by Mr. Lippert, has been killed-- by one of you. Mr. Assa, who rashly incurred great personal risk for the sake of the firm, has also been killed-- by one of you. Who, then, is the traitor? Who has reduced the firm to a strait from which it may never recover? If it is reasonable for you to expect me to regard my client's interests as paramount, as it is, it is equally reasonable for me to expect you to do the same; and you are simpletons if you don't see that those interests demand the exposure of the murderer as quickly and surely as possible."

His eyes fixed on the lawyer. "Mr. Hansen. You are counsel for the firm of Lippert, Buff and Assa?"

"I am."

"Are you Mr. Buffs personal attorney?"

"Of record? No."

"Or Mr. O'Garro's?"

"No."

"Then I charge you with treachery to your client. I assert that you betray your client's vital interests when you instruct these men to withhold answers to my questions. – -No no, don't bother to reply. Draft a twenty-page brief tomorrow at your leisure." He left him for the members of the firm. "I have noted that you have not raised the question of motive. I myself have not broached it because I know little or nothing about it--that is, the motive for killing Dahlmann. Mr. Cramer of course has a stack of them, good, bad, and indifferent. I have nothing at all for Mr. Hansen and next to nothing for Mr. Heery, and anyway the timetable shelves them tentatively. For Mr. O'Garro, nothing. For Mr. Buff, nothing conclusive, but material for speculation. I have gathered that he more or less inherited his eminence in the firm on the death of Mr. Lippert, who had trained him; that since Mr. Lippert's death he has gloried in his status of senior partner and clung to it tenaciously; that his abilities are negligible except for one narrow field; and that there was a widespread expectation that before long Mr. Dahlmann would become the master instead of the servant. I don't know how severely that prospect galled Mr. Buff, but you must know." He focused on the senior partner. "Especially you, Mr. Buff. Would you care to tell me?"