The Grass is Greener (15 page)

‘I have a good feeling about today,' he said. Claudia hoped his optimism was a positive omen.

Of all the cases Sebastian had given her, it definitely seemed the least complicated. They were representing an accounting firm who were suing Perth Domestics. This was a cleaning company who had damaged their office in Claremont by accidentally setting off the smoke alarm on the third floor. This, in turn, had activated the emergency sprinkler system, causing a burst pipe, fatal damage to their computer server and many work hours lost. The pre-trial conference was to discuss damages owing and perhaps settle the matter without going to trial, given the fault was so clear.

To Claudia it was a cut-and-dry case. It was obvious the cleaners had done the damage. It had occurred on their shift and security footage showed that they were the only ones in the building at the time. They were also the ones who had called McCarthy and Sons in the wake of the disaster, and their workers' cigarette butts had been found in an ashtray in the boardroom the next day. Further investigation showed that the particular cleaners who had been on the job that night were migrants, unable to speak English and unused to practices outside their own country – such as not smoking in an office building.

Her confidence in the case and herself was pretty high until she opened the door to the meeting room and walked in.

The first person she laid eyes on was Bianca Hanks.

Claudia stilled, unable to remove her hand from the door knob. It felt like it was glued there.

Bronwyn's mother was already seated on the left-hand side of the square table in the centre of the room. The pen that had been tapping the documents in front of her stopped as her gaze latched onto Claudia's face. The older woman pulled in a sharp breath. It was clear Ms Hanks had made two deductions in that split second.

First, that Claudia was working under Sebastian Rowlands, a job she thought she had tagged for her daughter.

And second, that she was the last to know about it.

Oh shit.

‘Claudia, will you please proceed.' Sebastian's crisp command sounded behind her.

She started, removed her hand from the door knob and quickly advanced into the room.

Claudia hadn't seen Bronwyn's mother in a long time but nothing much had changed. She had the same shade of blonde hair as her daughter and also the same blue eyes. Unlike Bronwyn, however, there was nothing soft or inviting about her features. She was corporately handsome and sleekly stylish. Her hair was worn blow-dried straight, her make-up was bold. Her eyes narrowed behind black wire-rimmed glasses as Claudia crossed the room to sit as far from her as possible.

Not sure whether acknowledging they knew each other was a good thing or not, Claudia nervously and rather stupidly did something in-between. She lifted her hand to give a small wave.

Unfortunately, the slight twitch of her fingers accompanied by a half smile came across more comical than anything else – as though Bianca had lifted a blanket and found her hiding beneath. If the temperature in the room was cold before, it now dropped a further two degrees.

‘Well, Claudia, this is a surprise.' Bianca's mouth seemed to form the words without her lips even moving.

In truth, the surprise was all Claudia's. Why hadn't she known that Bianca would be attending this case? The answer was simple. Because Seb hadn't
wanted
her to know.

You fool.

A case against Bianca Hanks!

She'll wipe the floor with you.

Claudia involuntarily cleared her throat, trying to keep her voice neutral, perhaps inspire Bianca to mercy. ‘Lovely to see you again,' she said.

Bianca did not respond in kind. Instead, she turned to Seb in accusation. He addressed her smoothly enough, mentioning the lawyer Claudia had been expecting.

‘Thank you for filling in for Margaret on such short notice.' He leaned over the table to shake her hand. ‘I was reluctant to vacate the pre-trial conference.'

‘Of course. It is, after all, in the best interests of our clients to settle this as quickly and cleanly as possible,' Bianca returned.

Claudia was at last able to turn her attention to Bianca's client – the owner and manager of Perth Domestics, Renee Ryder. She was a middle-aged woman whose fashion sense had not moved out of the eighties. Her white jacket was well endowed with shoulder pads and her red fizzy hair had been tied back in a satin scrunchie.

Suddenly, the door to Claudia's right opened to admit the registrar. He was a short, wiry man in a grey suit who strode in like someone who didn't have much time on their hands.

‘Good morning, Counsel. Let's get down to business, shall we?'

It was like suddenly being tossed a cricket ball without yet being ready with the bat. There were so many thoughts flying about in Claudia's head – the top two being the fact that she hadn't expected Seb's revenge to be quite so swift or for Bianca to be part of it.

The registrar prompted her again.

‘What do you have for me?'

‘Er … thank you, Registrar.' Claudia nervously gripped her pen and looked at the notepad of dot points she had prepared earlier. ‘Today I am here with my colleague Mr Rowlands
and our client, Mr Bill McCarthy. As per our client's filed statement of claim, our client is seeking damages for the property damage caused by the defendant, Perth Domestics, on December twentieth last year. As pleaded, the claim relates to water damage to my client's building, its furnishings on the third floor, and computer server. My client is also seeking damages for consequential losses associated with lost work and time, relocation of the employees who worked on that floor and the rental cost of new premises …'

The registrar interrupted her impatiently. ‘I have read your client's statement of claim – do you have anything to
add
?'

Claudia blinked.

Detail. Give him the detail.
It was so open and shut … wasn't it?

‘Registrar, as Perth Domestic's representatives are aware, we have photographs of the damaged areas as well as the cleaners' time sheets. Those timesheets demonstrate the cleaners were the only people present in the building at the time of the incident. We also have witness statements that the cleaners were smoking in the building just before the flooding on the third floor occurred. We believe this to be a cut-and-dry case, pardon the pun.' Claudia winced internally and decided to wrap it up. ‘Our client has come in good faith to negotiate a resolution to these proceedings so as to save the parties the costs of a trial, and to unnecessarily avoid using the Court's time any further.'

The registrar nodded, turning his attention across the table. ‘Bianca, your thoughts.'

The fact that he addressed the other lawyer by her first name dropped Claudia's confidence another notch.

Her adversary nodded. ‘My client now acknowledges the damage and is willing to pay a fair amount in compensation to Bill McCarthy and Sons for their part in it.'

Claudia's spirits lifted.

There you go, your first instinct was right. She hasn't even
tried to disprove you. You have a strong position. You've got this.

The registrar turned back to Claudia. ‘And what do you believe is a fair amount, Ms Franklin?'

‘We estimate the damages to be around seven hundred and thirty thousand. We are hoping that Mrs Ryder will agree to this figure or something close to it.'

Bianca clasped her hands together. ‘This figure seems to be rather random. How have you come to this amount?'

Claudia sat up straighter in her chair. ‘This is based on a number of quotes received from various tradespeople for repair and refurbishment of the premises. Also the time and work costs for the disruption, and additional building fees they have already incurred for relocation and temporary renting.'

‘All right, and where are these quotes?'

‘They are with the discovery documents.'

‘And where are the discovery documents?'

‘In our filing system at Hanks and Eddings.'

‘You didn't think to bring them with you?' Bianca asked silkily.

Every part of Claudia's face froze. It was very easy to see in hindsight why she should have those documents with her. But in the rush to get over to court, to prove her case, all she had brought with her were her notes and the statement of claim. In preparing she had focused on proving causation and forgotten about demonstrating quantum. The documents a lawyer pulled together when they were opening a case, not closing it.

Rookie mistake.

The ultimate humiliation
.

Words failed her. However, they were not needed. Bianca opened the thin beige folder in front of her. ‘We have done our own research into the damage and losses of McCarthy and Sons. We estimate, based on our client's own quotes and calculations, that the appropriate figure is $175,756, precisely.'

Bianca pushed the papers across the table.

‘But's that's not enough –'

Bianca held up her pointer finger for silence, and like a little kid told off by her classroom teacher, Claudia shut up.

‘This figure may seem smaller because my client, while admitting some fault, does not wish to claim all credit for this disaster. Your client has complained that when the emergency sprinkler system came on, a corroded pipe burst over the server, causing fatal damage to it that would otherwise not be the case. This is not my client's fault. This would not have occurred if McCarthy and Sons had done maintenance on the sprinkler system in a timely fashion.'

She pushed a second document across the desk. ‘I have another document here detailing a quote for the repair and maintenance of the building's emergency sprinkler system by a reputable contractor for Bill McCarthy and Sons. It is two years old and was never actioned.'

Corroded pipe.

How did I miss that?

Clearly, because McCarthy and Sons wanted to cover it up. But where was she supposed to go to from here, especially without those discovery documents on her?

‘So unless you have figures to dispute mine, I think we should settle on $175,756.'

Like a sword through the heart, Claudia knew she was spent. So did Bianca's client. Unlike her lawyer, she was unable to hide her emotion and her lips curled with the gloating triumph of success.

The registrar pulled the papers towards him and perused them briefly. ‘They seem to be in order and fair,' he agreed. ‘Will McCarthy and Sons take the deal, or would you like a moment to talk with your client?'

Bill McCarthy made a sound somewhere between a choke and a snort, his gaze fixed on Claudia like he wanted to kill her.

She didn't blame him.

There were no more guns left in her arsenal. Though it cut her to the bone, for her client's sake she glanced at Seb for help. He seemed to be expecting it as his face was already turned towards her with raised eyebrows. She cast her eyes down in surrender. He opened the files in front of him.

‘You'll have to excuse my associate. I didn't mention to her that I had packed our discovery documents. Though without reading them I can tell you that Ms Hanks's figures are grossly under the mark. McCarthy and Sons wish for an exact replacement of the existing carpet, which is a high quality brand known as Imperial English, currently available from only one carpet manufacturer in Australia located in New South Wales. It will need to be sourced and transported at a premium.' He drew Bianca Hanks's document towards him. ‘This carpet seems to be of a generic variety, similar but not the exact replacement of that which was damaged. I suggest that our documents indicate an appropriate price. Also, two of the paintings in the foyer were originals, not prints, and are irreplaceable. Compensation for them is much more expensive than indicated here, as is the case with several other of Ms Hanks's items.' Sebastian clasped his hands together and looked up with a smile. ‘And with regard to the corroded pipe, we acknowledge that there was indeed talk of fixing it. Perth Domestics knows this as they were asked repeatedly to clear out their storerooms so that a contractor could access damaged sections of pipe that passed through there. They did not do this, holding up my client's plans to start the work. We will, however, allow a small reduction in the settlement for not being more firm.'

He pushed their discovery documents across the desk to the registrar, making Claudia feel sick at her lack of foresight. The registrar went through the documents and nodded. Renee Ryder's face fell.

Stiffly, Bianca received the documents from the registrar and perused them herself. After that, there was a bit more
haggling over a few minor points of contention. Claudia kept silent throughout it all, not trusting herself to speak.

I forgot documents.

I missed evidence.

How could I be so dumb?

In the end, Sebastian managed to settle the case at around five hundred thousand dollars, which was much more satisfactory to Bill than the paltry sum Bianca had initially suggested. It seemed clear now that her conversation with Seb earlier had been a big mistake. All she'd done was given him all her cards. And it seemed he knew exactly how to play them. What was worse was that the whole time they'd been talking, he had known they were meeting with Bianca Hanks. Perhaps he'd planned it. He'd always been suspicious of her. She wouldn't put it past him to pit her against Bronwyn's mum to see how she'd react.

When the registrar announced the case closed, Claudia rose numbly from her seat and they all began to file out. She and Bianca were the last to exit, and the older woman grabbed her arm just before she was about to pass through the door.

She turned bravely to face the firing squad.

‘Where is Bronwyn?' Bianca demanded.

‘Gone out of town.'