The Client

Chapter 2 introduces Barry “the Blade” Muldanno, a prominent mobster and Romey’s boss. Barry is described as a flashy dresser, with slicked back hair and matching accessories that take hours to put together. He calls Romey’s office and complains to the secretary that he was supposed to meet the lawyer in a restaurant 40 minutes ago, but Romey never showed up. Barry hangs up when the secretary is unable to tell him where Romey is.

Barry is anxious to meet his lawyer because he is stressed over his recent criminal charges for the murder of Senator Boyette. The trial is one month away. Barry is anxious over this case because Romey is acting strange. He does not return Barry’s calls, acts detached, and began drinking too much. Barry wishes for a new lawyer who can delay the case.

Barry knows that there are no witnesses, and that the Senator’s body has not been found. Even still, he is afraid of the prosecutor, US Attorney Roy “the Reverend” Foltrigg. Barry is nervous Roy will soon find the Senator’s body, and he wants to move it.

Romey wants a quick trial because the quicker it arrives, the less time the prosecution has to search for the body. Barry had an explosive argument with Romey over the timing of the trial, and their relationship has not been the same since. Barry arrives at Romey’s office, but finds it locked. He schemes on his next move, remembering that one of his friends in Miami knows a good lawyer who is skilled at delaying cases. Barry muses that if Romey died his trial would be delayed even further by many months—even years.

Mark and Ricky return to their mobile home at Tucker Wheel Estates. Ricky falls into a catatonic state, scaring Mark. He begins obsessing over Romey’s body in the woods and decides to report the incident to 911.

As he reports the body, the 911 operator asks Mark his name. Mark refuses to reveal any personal information and only tells the location of the body. He hangs up before the operator can ask any more questions. Mark returns to the scene of Romey’s suicide and finds Memphis police crawling over the scene. As Mark is hiding in the bushes, a police officer named Sergeant Hardy finds Mark and interrogates him. When Mark reveals his name and home address, Hardy figures out that Mark is the one who made the 911 call.

Hardy interrogates Mark further on what happened. Mark tells him that he and Ricky were playing in the woods and stumbled upon the body. He says he called 911 because finding the body scared him. Hardy asks if the car engine was running when the boys found the car. Mark answers that he thinks it was running. Hardy offers to drive Mark home. Mark refuses, but Hardy insists and walks him to his car.

Sergeant Hardy brings Mark to his mobile home. Dianne Sway, Mark’s mother, has come home from work and is concerned about Ricky’s withdrawn state. Mark tells his mother they found Romey’s body in the woods that afternoon. Hardy observes that Ricky must be in shock from the day’s events. He insists that Ricky should be admitted to a hospital. Hardy calls an ambulance. Dianne goes with Ricky in the ambulance while Hardy drives Mark to the hospital.

Hardy confronts Mark and asks him if he has told the truth about everything. Mark asks if Hardy thinks he is a liar. Hardy says he is confused about some aspects of Mark’s version of events, such as Mark’s hesitation to tell the 911 operator his name and Ricky’s withdrawn state. Hardy maintains that if the boys only stumbled upon the body in the woods, they would not be as scared as they are.

Mark says nothing. Hardy presses him for an answer. He asks Mark about the cigarette butts he found near the scene. Mark insists that everything he has said is true, and that the events of the day just scared him. “We were just walking through the woods, thinking about maybe having a smoke, and we walked up on the car and Romey” (48), he tells Hardy. Hardy pauses and asks who Romey is.

Mark braces himself and realizes he has made a serious mistake. “In a flash, he knew it was over,” he thinks to himself. “He’d blown it. Said too much. Lied too much” (49). Mark tries to shrug off his mistake of mentioning Romey by name, saying he heard Hardy use that name. Hardy says he has only ever mentioned Jerome Clifford by his official name; he has never used the nickname. They reach the hospital, and Hardy parks his car as Ricky’s ambulance enters the hospital’s emergency dock.

Chapter 5 is dedicated to the perspective of the Honorable J. Roy Foltrigg, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Louisiana at New Orleans who is in charge of the murder case against Barry Muldanno. Foltrigg and his team are driving to Memphis to investigate Romey’s death. Because Romey was representing Muldanno, they want to search for any possible connections and information pertaining to their case.

Special Agent Larry Trumann, one of Foltrigg’s men in the car, tells the team that Romey died by suicide, and it has been discovered that two local boys witnessed the act. A suicide note was found, but it revealed nothing about the case. Foltrigg wants to see the note himself. Trumann says Memphis FBI Agent Jason McThune is working on securing the note.

Foltrigg’s team complain about how crazy the case has grown and the fact that Romey’s suicide means it will be drawn out even more. Trumann points out that it will give them more time to find Boyette’s body, which is needed for Muldanno’s conviction. Foltrigg’s Assistant Attorney, Thomas Fink, reveals that he and Romey went to law school together. Romey called Fink a week before his suicide and tearfully rambled about his stress over the Muldanno trial. He hinted to Fink that he knew the location of Boyette’s body.

After Fink’s story, Foltrigg is confident that Romey knew the location of Boyette’s body. He instructs his team to investigate Romey’s activity in Memphis and trace over any conversations he may have had.

Ricky’s doctor, Dr. Simon Greenway, talks with Dianne as Sergeant Hardy takes Mark down to the cafeteria for some food. Mark worries about Ricky. He is not only concerned about his brother’s health, but he’s also worried that Ricky will tell the doctors details about what happened in the woods that will prove Mark a liar. Mark decides that he must begin scheming for a way to control his situation and protect his family.

Hardy begins questioning Mark again. He asks what happened to Mark’s face. Mark does not tell Hardy that his bruises are from Romey; instead, he lies and said it was from a school fight. Hardy presses for details. When Mark dodges his questions, Hardy warns Mark that he thinks his story is full of holes. Mark says he can’t remember every detail because everything happened so fast, and Hardy drops his questions.

After Mark eats, he talks with Dr. Greenway and his mother in Ricky’s room. Greenway wants to know what happened to cause Ricky’s traumatized reaction. Mark leaves out details about his conversation with Romey and tells the doctor that they saw Romey kill himself.

As Mark talks with Greenway, Hardy talks with FBI Special Agent Jason McThune. McThune wants Mark’s prints so the FBI can cross-reference them with prints found in Romey’s car. Hardy has the idea to take Mark’s soda can and gives it to McThune to dust for prints. Dr. Greenway tells the Sways that Ricky has severe post-traumatic stress disorder. He says that Dianne and Mark must stay close by in case Ricky wakes up.

At night when everybody is asleep, Mark ventures out into the hospital to explore. He returns to the cafeteria, where he sees a lawyer named Gill Teal speaking with an injured man. Later that night, before he goes to sleep, Mark decides that he might try calling Gill Teal the next day.

The next chapter returns to Foltrigg and his men, who are now in Memphis. They meet with Agent McThune, who updates Foltrigg’s team on Romey and Mark. After they lifted prints from the soda can provided by Sergeant Hardy, the Memphis FBI team confirmed that Mark was in the car with Romey. McThune provides Foltrigg and his men with Romey’s suicide note. Toward the end, the note mentions Mark by name, but because Romey’s pen ran out of ink the rest is illegible. McThune is consequently convinced that the story that Mark told police—that he and Ricky found Romey already dead in the woods—is a lie.

The Memphis FBI team have also been digging into Romey’s activity while in Tennessee. McThune reports that Romey came to Memphis to kill himself because he was born there. The autopsy also showed that Romey was drunk and high on painkillers. Because Romey was clearly in an irrational state of mind, McThune maintains it is possible that he let information slip to Mark. Foltrigg tells McThune that “It is imperative that we understand everything Mark Sway knows” (83).

Dr. Greenway tells the Sways about the news swirling around the Boyette murder case and informs them that the FBI wants to talk to them, but he has tried to delay them. Mark agrees he does not want to talk to the agents yet; Greenway says he can keep them occupied until noon.

Mark leaves the hospital and goes to the Sterick Building a few blocks away. The building houses many lawyers’ offices, including Gill Teal’s. Mark stops by Teal’s office, but it is too busy. He randomly enters another office belonging to an attorney named Reggie Love. He introduces himself to Reggie’s assistant Clint Van Hooser. When Mark says he needs help with the FBI, Clint passes word onto Reggie, who agrees to meet with Mark.

Mark asks Reggie a series of questions, including what kinds of cases she usually takes and how much she charges. Reggie says she typically does child abuse and neglect cases and that she will take Mark’s case for one dollar—the token payment allows Mark to tell the FBI he has officially retained a lawyer to represent him. Mark shows Reggie the news about Romey’s suicide and tells her that he is one of the boys who found Romey’s body. He tells her everything except that Romey told him the location of Senator Boyette’s body.

Reggie says they are ready to meet with the FBI. She comforts Mark, telling him she’ll do all the talking and that he won’t need to tell them anything. Reggie says that after meeting with the FBI she and Mark can plan their next steps. Reggie tells Mark to call Dianne and update her on everything. When Mark calls his mother, he finds out that Ricky has woken up and that she can’t find Dr. Greenway. Reggie offers to walk Mark back to the hospital.

Barry Muldanno has hired a new lawyer, Willis Upchurch. Upchurch is excited to defend Muldanno because he believes it will catapult his career. Meanwhile, over at the Memphis hospital, Dianne, Dr. Greenway, and Mark are with the now-awakened Ricky. Ricky is still unable to talk. Greenway informs Mark he can no longer keep the FBI occupied. Mark says he is ready to speak with them and that he has hired a lawyer.

Mark meets with Reggie before talking with the FBI. She hides a microphone and mini tape recorder under his shirt and assures him that the agents will have no idea it is there. Mark meets with FBI Agents McThune and Larry Trumann, an agent from New Orleans and member of Foltrigg’s team. Mark asks if he needs a lawyer. They tell him he does not. Mark dodges the agents’ questions, and they get increasingly frustrated at the boy. Mark says he needs to go to the restroom. The agents allow him to take a five-minute break from the interview.

Seventeen minutes later, Reggie Love enters the room without Mark and tells the agents that she is Mark’s lawyer. She asks the agents if they questioned Mark without an adult present. When they deny it, she reveals that she has a tape of the conversation. Reggie threatens to release the contents of the tape and get both agents fired. She schedules a meeting with them at 3pm the next day to discuss the case further. If they do not cooperate, she will release the tape. She concludes their conversation by suggesting they bring Foltrigg along to their meeting.

The next chapter introduces journalist Slick Moeller, who works for the Memphis Press and wrote the front-page article about Romey’s suicide. Moeller is a well-known crime reporter in Memphis. His nickname is “the Mole” because of his abilities to work underground and pop up at fresh crime scenes.

Moeller decides to research the Sways for a new story and goes to the hospital for information. Moeller runs into a janitor in the elevator. He finds out the FBI have been at the hospital and that the Sways have hired a lawyer by the first name of Reggie.

Meanwhile, Foltrigg and his team are at the office of Tennessee District Attorney George Ord. All of the men begin to talk over the Sway’s retainment of Reggie Love and what it means for their quest of getting Mark to talk. One of George Ord’s assistants, David Sharpinski, reveals that he went to law school with Reggie Love at Memphis State University. Foltrigg grills him on information about Reggie. Sharpinski says that Reggie has a tragic past: she was once married to a rich doctor, but he left her for a younger woman and took custody of their children after drawn out, public divorce proceedings.

The divorce battle and custody decision made Reggie suicidal; she was even admitted to mental institutions. She tried law school, but she became addicted to pills and alcohol after her rough divorce, and her addiction caused her to drop out. After this low point, Reggie returned to law school and fought through her classes with a vengeance to secure her degree. Sharpinski is sure to note that Reggie “works hard, doesn’t make much money, but then, I don’t think money is important to Reggie” (125).

Foltrigg concludes the meeting by discussing Barry Muldanno’s new lawyer, Willis Upchurch. Foltrigg says he is unfamiliar with him, but Ord says he knows his reputation well. Ord warns Foltrigg that if he is going up against Upchurch in trial, his case has become “a nightmare” (127).a

It is the middle of the night in the hospital, and Mark cannot sleep. Mark leaves his room to go to the cafeteria. In the elevator, he meets Slick Moeller. Moeller tells Mark he knows he was at the scene of Romey’s suicide and wants to know if Mark has any comments for his upcoming article. Mark refuses to answer and gets off at a random floor, leaving Moeller behind. He finds an empty stairwell and begins to cry.

Foltrigg and Agents McThune and Trumann arrive at Reggie’s office reception area for their meeting. Reggie makes them wait 48 minutes before she meets them in her office. Foltrigg demands to know where Mark is. Reggie says he is at the hospital and does not plan to talk to Foltrigg or the FBI. Foltrigg presses Reggie, revealing that he knows Mark was in the car with Romey and that he needs to talk with the boy and get information from him. Reggie asks how they know Mark was in the car, and Foltrigg explains that the prints they took off the soda can match those found at the scene with Romey. He also shows her the suicide note mentioning Mark by name.

Reggie asks how they obtained Mark’s prints, and Foltrigg tells her about the soda can. She accuses them of violating Mark’s privacy, and Foltrigg defends the action. Foltrigg is privately impressed by Reggie’s maneuvering of the conversation and cannot believe she has only been practicing law for four years. Reggie says they should all meet the next day. Foltrigg says he is in a hurry with his case, but Reggie merely replies, “Well, I’m not. And I guess I’m calling the shots, aren’t I?” (138) Reggie maintains she needs time to consult with Mark. Foltrigg, Trumann, and McThune begrudgingly prepare to leave. Reggie says they can meet at 10am the next day. Foltrigg asks if Mark will be at the meeting, and Reggie ends their conversation by saying she doesn’t know.