The Street Lawyer by John Grisham

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Categories	Thrillers & Suspense
Author	John Grisham
Publisher	Anchor; Reprint edition (November 23, 2010)
Language	English
Paperback	448 pages
Item Weight	9.1 ounces
Dimensions	4.16 x 1.09 x 7.48 inches

I. Book introduction

The Street Lawyer is a legal thriller novel by John Grisham. It was Grisham’s ninth novel. The book was released in the United States on 1 January 1998, published by Bantam Books, and on 30 March 1998 in the UK, published by Century.

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Michael Brock is billing the hours, making the money, rushing relentlessly to the top of Drake & Sweeney, a giant D.C. law firm. One step away from partnership, Michael has it all. Then, in an instant, it all comes undone.

A homeless man takes nine lawyers hostage in the firm’s plush offices. When it is all over, the man’s blood is splattered on Michael’s face—and suddenly Michael is willing to do the unthinkable. Rediscovering a conscience he lost long ago, Michael is leaving the big time for the streets where his attacker once lived—and where society’s powerless need an advocate for justice.

But there’s one break Michael can’t make: from a secret that has floated up from the depths of Drake & Sweeney, from a confidential file that is now in Michael’s hands, and from a conspiracy that has already taken lives. Now Michael’s former partners are about to become his bitter enemies. Because to them, Michael Brock is the most dangerous man on the streets.

Plot

A homeless man, identifying himself only as “Mister,” enters the offices of the powerful Washington D.C. law firm Drake & Sweeney and takes many of the lawyers hostage while angrily demanding information about some kind of eviction that took place. Although he is eventually shot and killed by a police sniper, one of the hostages, an antitrust lawyer named Michael Brock, is concerned by what he has learned and feels compelled to investigate further.

Brock finds his way to the 14th Street Legal Clinic, where he meets Mordecai Green, an advocate for the homeless. Green, along with his abrasive but brilliant staff, work to provide legal help to the most downtrodden members of society. Brock discovers that Drake & Sweeney were involved in the sudden approval of a federal building project on the site of a condemned building that had been serving as rent-payment housing for formerly homeless families. These individuals were tenants and thus entitled to a full legal eviction/contestment process, but a senior Drake & Sweeney partner ignored this information because the firm had a large stake in ensuring the federal project start on time, and thus illegally evicted the tenants in the middle of winter, resulting in the death of a homeless family. Brock takes a confidential file, intending to copy it, but is quickly suspected of its theft.

Shocked by what he has found, Brock leaves Drake & Sweeney to take a poorly paid position with the 14th Street Legal Clinic, which works to protect the rights of the homeless. This leads to the severing of his links to his previous white collar life, as his already-dying marriage officially ends in an amicable divorce. Brock later becomes emotionally involved in the case of a woman named Ruby, whose drug addiction led to her losing custody of her son. He also meets a young homeless advocate named Megan and they start a relationship. As Drake & Sweeney comes after Brock with theft and malpractice allegations, the clinic files a lawsuit against the firm and its business partners. The firm makes a deal where Brock has his license temporarily suspended, while they settle for a large amount of money and fire the partner whose actions led to the young family’s deaths.

Drake & Sweeney’s head partner, deeply troubled by the events, offers to make his entire staff available for pro bono work to assist the clinic in fighting for the rights of homeless people. The book ends with Brock taking a short vacation with Megan and Ruby, and them reflecting on their lives.

Editorial Reviews

• “Compelling…if there’s any justice, The Street Lawyer will be his biggest hit yet.” —Entertainment Weekly
• “An entertaining read with an important theme.”—Chicago Sun-Times
• “The plot surges forward, pulling us along as we turn those pages a mile a minute.” –San Francisco Chronicle

About John Grisham

John Grisham (born February 8, 1955 in Jonesboro, Arkansas) is an American novelist, lawyer and former member of the 7th district of the Mississippi House of Representatives, known for his popular legal thrillers. According to the American Academy of Achievement, Grisham has written 28 consecutive number-one fiction bestsellers, and his books have sold 300 million copies worldwide. Along with Tom Clancy and J. K. Rowling, Grisham is one of only three authors to have sold two million copies on a first printing.

Grisham graduated from Mississippi State University and earned a Juris Doctor from the University of Mississippi School of Law in 1981. He practised criminal law for about a decade and served in the Mississippi House of Representatives from 1983 to 1990.

Grisham’s first novel, A Time to Kill, was published in June 1989, four years after he began writing it. Grisham’s first bestseller, The Firm, sold more than seven million copies. The book was adapted into a 1993 feature film of the same name, starring Tom Cruise, and a 2012 TV series which continues the story ten years after the events of the film and novel. Seven of his other novels have also been adapted into films:

• The Chamber,
• The Client,
• A Painted House,
• The Pelican Brief,
• The Rainmaker,
• The Runaway Jury, and Skipping Christmas.

Grisham is a two-time winner of the Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction and was honored with the Library of Congress Creative Achievement Award for Fiction.

When he’s not writing, Grisham serves on the board of directors of the Innocence Project and of Centurion Ministries, two national organizations dedicated to exonerating those who have been wrongfully convicted. Much of his fiction explores deep-seated problems in our criminal justice system.

John Girsham lives on a farm in central Virginia.

II. Reviewer: The Street Lawyer

Here is a summary of the book Review “The Street Lawyer by John Grisham”. Helps you have the most overview of the book without searching through time. Please access “BookQuote.Net” regularly or save it to keep track and update the latest information.

1. LIZ SMITH reviews for The Street Lawyer

I’ve felt guilty, not leaving a review until now. I read a lot and Grisham is my new favorite author. He’s not really new to me, but it has been awhile. I remember reading “The Firm” when it first came out and that book knocked my socks off, but these last three books that I have read are just…so right. “Sooley” broke my heart while giving me hope, too. The next book took me to our crappy justice system and death row; convictions based on a single lie, coupled with a coerced confession. Now, with this third book I am faced yet again with a shameful issue in America: that of poverty and homelessness. “The Street Lawyer” delivers a powerful punch. While fiction, I know that all of Grisham’s books will tell a good story, filled with truth. We can all use a bit of truth.

2. CONNIE HENDRICKX reviews for The Street Lawyer

Michael Brock rethinks his life at Drake & Sweeny after a homeless man follows him up the elevator and follows him as he enters the offices. He calls himself Mister and hold several lawyers hostage in a conference room holding a grudge against the firm. After several hours, he orders food from a homeless shelter because everyone is hungry, after the food is delivered and the door is opened, a cop with a scope kills “Mister” and the blood splatters on Michael. The others in the room run for it, thinking that Michael has been hit, too.

After he reads the Post (D.C.) he discovers his name and that he was homeless, and also that Mordecai Green, a lawyer and director of the 14th Street Legal Clinic. He drove to the clinic and talked with Mordecai thinking that Devon Hardy might have AIDs and he was splattered with his blood. They talked awhile and since there was a blizzard coming he was more worried about making sure all the homeless were somewhere safe in a shelter.

Later, Michael, steals a file from Braden Chance, a real estate lawyer with the help of his paralegal, Then he is in a horrible car accident, with the file in the car when it was towed away. That’s when the story twists and turns, and Michael turns down his huge salary of a hundred, and twenty thousand a year to thirty thousand as a street lawyer for the poor. His wife, Clare, knows she can’t afford their exclusive, expensive home, so she divorces him, and the marriage was ending anyway. He is comfortable with his new lifestyle, and keeps the file, plus finds out that Chance has shredded the most important memo that the homeless were evicted from their makeshift apartments without a thirty day notice, and thrown out on the streets. Mordecai and Michael sue the firm and end up with five million plus, however, after returning the file, Michael license is suspended from practicing law for nine months, but the story continues….

3. W.S.WALCOTT reviews for The Street Lawyer

John Grisham is one of the best-selling authors of all time, so obviously he knows how to write a compelling story, but The Street Lawyer is so good, I felt I had to write a brief review. The Street Lawyer is a breezy read, but not in a way that insults your intelligence. It’s just so good, so well written, so compulsively readable, that you don’t even realize how quickly the pages fly by.

In addition to it’s readability, The Street Lawyer’s themes are as important now as when it was written. Without being preachy, Grisham makes you stop and think about the less fortunate and almost challenges you to take a cue from the Street Lawyer himself and get out there and try to make the world a better place.

Highly recommended!

4. AMELLIA reviews for The Street Lawyer

Legal, Medical and Aviation are 3 majors in college where upon earning your degree the graduate begins looking at how much money they stand to earn in the future. Mike Brock, Atty. was working at a prestigious law firm when he learned how important it is to try to make a difference in another person’s life. He found out how important it was when he began investigating the homeless situation in D.C. As a RN it was my goal every day. Now it’s time for an Attorney to realize how important making a difference is. Mr. Gresham did a good job as he described the need in lives of the homeless. To understand why, you need to read it and I hope you do.😇

5. MARY ANN reviews for The Street Lawyer

This is one of Grisham’s best: upbeat,interesting, and restores your faith in human nature. Not all lawyers find happiness in chasing the almighty dollar. Some actually use their skill to help the forgotten and neglected of society. You get a glimpse of the homeless community, and the uphill battle that their advocates fight every day. Grisham lets you see them as human beings. Besides, you’ve got to love this guy who quits an important law firm to become it’s biggest headache when he represents a class action against them.

The story is interesting, the characters are intelligent and you are delighted with the ending, which is not the case in many books. I gave it to my neighbor who loved it, and lent to to her sister. It’s that good.

6. S.P.ARUNA reviews for The Street Lawyer

One of Grisham’s most inspirational novels, and among those that turned me into a Grisham fan.

It is clear that the author was disturbed by the plight of the homeless and decided he would write a fictional vehicle to raise awareness of this problem. What makes the story more striking is the contrast presented by the protagonist’s own affluence, and the price he must keep to maintain it.

The story starts out with a bang, literally, an event so traumatic that the main character, Michael Brock, is forced to reflect upon his life and on those of others much less fortunate.

In terms of writing, the style is engaging, the first person narration candid, the story upbeat and heartwarming. However, there are two risks Mr. Grisham took in writing this novel.

1. A political stance is taken within a work designed for entertainment. This will alienate those who do not agree with the views the story is clearly expressing.
2. Exacerbating the first point, is that events take on extreme turns during the course of the story, so much so that some credibility is lost. But there is always a degree of “suspension of disbelief” when reading fiction, the amount of it depending on the genre and the author’s reputation. Grisham may have come close to the edge in this one.

Still, I congratulate him for taking these risks,, and of course as a multi-million selling international author, one could say he could well afford to. But then again who else can, even though many in his position never do.

I gave it 5 stars, and I acknowledge that this rating is based on a very personal and subjective judgement. This book moved me.

7. ROB reviews for The Street Lawyer

A stand alone legal novel by John Grisham first published 1998.

I really enjoyed this. It’s a novel full of moral rectitude and the question it asks is ‘why, in the world’s most affluent nation, is there so much poverty’?
It’s all a bit black and white but the message is still strong for all that. The homeless are portrayed as down trodden innocents where as the legal profession are, for the most part, portrayed as money grabbing whores.

Michael Brock works in one of the nation most powerful legal firm. He makes a gross amount of money but the pursuit of all this money has made Michaels marriage a joke.

On this particular day Michaels life is about to change for ever. When entering the elevator to his office floor Michael is followed by a large smelly man dressed in lots of very dirty old cloths. This man then proceeds to follow Michael to his office where he pulls a gun and holds a handful of staff members for interrogations. In the midst of the alteration a swat team arrives and shoot the man in the head. Michael survives incident but as he stands in the office covered in the mans blood and brains he knows he will never be the same again.

With a need to understand why all this happened Michael finds himself in the offices of a legal team that is dedicated to providing legal assistance to homeless people. It doesn’t take Michael long to decide that this is what he should be doing, and so, much to his families consternation and the end of his marriage Michael leaves his well paid job to go work for the homeless.

For all its commentary on the plight of the homeless this is still a legal thriller with all the twists and turn that you would expect.

So in summation, this is a legal thriller with lots of heart.

A terrific 4 star read.

8. ADAM reviews for The Street Lawyer

People here claiming a white upper class lawyer (from Yale remember) in the 1990s is racist because he (Michael Brock, the character remember, not the author John Grisham) noted how basketball was popular and Washington D.C. jails and juries would be majority black, need to have their SJW cards revoked and get off their high horse and soapboxes.

It continues to amaze me the incompetence of readers and lacking insight and nuance.

If you can’t handle facts even today in your snowflakey world then best not to read anything pre-2020 that isn’t written but a certified Marxist lefty gender fluid furry.

This is why we can’t have nice things.

9. ETHAN reviews for The Street Lawyer

I personally have become a recent fan of John Grisham’s book and to any of those fans out there, this is a book that will not disappoint you. Even for those who aren’t John Grisham fans, this book is a must read. Grisham captures the life of the impoverished and needy in downtown D.C. and he shows how the law treats different class’s different ways. This book is not only a page turner but a fast page turner. I found myself rushing at times, anxious to read on and discover more about this mysterious and dangerous case that Brock was working on. Grisham uses a narrative style that lets the reader into the main characters thinking and it help the reader discover the characters own traits and how he is affected by the events around him. Grisham used descriptive language beautifully in this book and I felt the words were jumping off the page for me to see them played out right in front of me.

This book is not only compelling and exciting but it’s advocating for those who don’t have a voice themselves. Grisham uses the microphone he’s been giving through pages and words to illustrate the need our country has and the situations of many underprivileged people in our county. One thing that I’ve always liked and I’m sure others enjoy too, is the themes and moral lessons Grisham always has in his novels and how they all have a redeeming quality to them. Overall, I think this book was extremely well done and is one of Grisham’s finest. I highly recommend this book to all readers. Grisham, like always, captivated me with his exciting plots and deep description, making this one of the best books I have ever read. If you have the opportunity, give Street Lawyer a chance, you won’t regret it.

10. HUMA KHAN reviews for The Street Lawyer

One of my favourite authors is John Grisham. His books are one of the reasons that I decided to study Law for my degree. Even though his portrayal of the law and the job that comes with it is slightly exaggerated and intense, I believe there is truth behind his novels. He is an American lawyer specialising in Criminal law. This is evident within his novels as he is best known for his legal thrillers. I have read the majority of his books and out of all of them, The Street Lawyer has by far been my favourite read.

The Street Lawyer is a story of a wealthy, successful lawyer in Washington DC, Michael Brock. One day at work within his law firm, Drake and Sweeney, they are challenged by a homeless old man who walks into the office armed. The old man is shot by the police and Michael, in shock by this, investigates and soon realises that his law firm had made the old man homeless. With his marriage breaking up in his personal life and the trouble surrounding him in his professional career, he decides he can no longer work for the law firm. He meets Mordecai Green, who runs a law firm which helps the homeless, and decides to join him. Michael goes against his law firm and steals evidence from them which proves that the company evicted the old man and other tenants. Michael leaves his wife and begins work in a shelter for the homeless. His company realise that he knows the truth and do everything possible to try and stop him from revealing their dark secrets, resulting in his arrest. The book then builds on the case where Mordecai Green defends him.

The book is gripping in the sense that you don’t know what the company are going to do next. They are so desperate to keep their secrets hidden and it is scary to read how far they are prepared to go to stop Michael, their ex co-worker and friend. The most appealing aspect of the book to me is not just the law system and the corruptions which surround it, but also the storyline regarding the homeless. In reality, a growing number of people in big cities are homeless. Some lose their jobs and cannot afford to live; some leave their home or are forced to leave their home to avoid domestic violence and abuse. Whatever the reason, the sad truth is that the local governments have shelters but they are usually crowded. Charities run hostels and soup kitchens where they offer hot food but even they are crowded and, sadly, some end up on the streets and survive by begging. Young people tend to find seeing someone on the streets somewhat amusing and I think the reason for this is that they are not educated behind the reasons of what can put a person in this position. The systems to provide shelter are long winded by paperwork and old-fashioned traditions, leaving the homeless helpless and lost. Unfortunately, this happens more than we, as society, like to acknowledge and it is easy to forget. So I like this book because it broadens your mind about everyday life occurrences and shows you the ugly truth which society tries to avoid.

I would say this book is appropriate to read from the ages of 11 and above. I read this book at a very young age myself and it really makes me grateful to my teachers who made it possible for me to read. The Street Lawyer always reminds me that education is a powerful instrument which can make a difference in your development, both academically and socially. Reading not only develops your imagination but can change you as a person. If mature reading can be instilled into an individual from a very young age, it will have a positive effect on their future aspirations.

I believe this book can be used to make older students discuss attitudes toward the poor and homeless, developing their social awareness skills. The book teaches you about helping those in need and looking beyond the face surface of situations. It can also be used for students to begin thinking about their future aspirations and maybe if they want to carry out a career in law or even anything else. Students can also be asked to carry out role-play activities in relation to the conversation between the characters in the book. This will involve working together in pairs or in a group with the aim of creating a scene from their own interpretation and understanding of the book. There is a certain emphasis on the media within the book so the book can be used to promote interest in one of the powerful sources of society which acts as a social change. Students can be divided into groups to talk about the media, focusing on the power of the media and how their intervention changed the course of events. This can lead to intellectual discussions and also may get young adults to engage in conversations over every day events and how they are portrayed in the news and newspapers today. This book can be used with young people for many activities. Reading this book can be viewed as both relaxing and fun, but at the same time educational. It is insightful, interesting and thrilling, all at the same time.

III. The Street Lawyer Quotes

The best book quotes from The Street Lawyer by John Grisham

“Cops are not trained to deal with the homeless, especially the mentally ill and the addicts. The jails are overcrowded. The criminal justice system is a nightmare to begin with, and persecuting the homeless only clogs it more. And here’s the asinine part: It costs twenty-five percent more per day to keep a person in jail than to provide shelter, food, transportation, and counseling services. These, of course, would have a long-term benefit. These, of course, would make more sense. Twenty-five percent.”

“Privileged people don’t march and protest; their world is safe and clean and governed by laws designed to keep them happy.”

“I didn’t dare think of the future; the past was still happening.”

“Privileged people don’t march and protest; their world is safe and clean and governed by laws designed to keep them happy.”

“I’ve lost my love for money. It’s the curse of the devil.”

“Mine was the only white face in the crowded restaurant, but I was coming to terms with my whiteness. No one had tried to murder me yet. No one seemed to care.”

“You spend more on fancy coffee than I do on meals. Why can’t you help the poor, the sick, the homeless?”

“You don’t do it for the money. You do it for your soul.”

“I thought you were a lawyer,” I said, spreading peanut butter.
“I’m a human first, then a lawyer. It’s possible to be both…”

“Mordecai was not one to worry about the things he couldn’t change. His desk was covered with the battles he could win.”

“Thirty-one real people were waiting for me to get food stamps, locate housing, file divorces, defend criminal charges, obtain disputed wages, stop evictions, help with their addictions, and in some way snap my fingers and find justice.”

“I closed my eyes tightly and offered a short but sincere prayer of thanks.”

“I cursed Mister for derailing my life. I cursed Mordecai for making me feel guilty. And Ontario for breaking my heart.”

“There’s more to being a lawyer than billing hours and making money. Why do we want to become corporate whores? I’m tired of it, Barry. I want to make a difference.” “You sound like a first-year law student.” “Exactly. We got into this business because we thought the law was a higher calling. We could fight injustice and social ills, and do all sorts of great things because we were lawyers. We were idealistic once. Why can’t we do it again?”

“I was a street lawyer, and I could dress any way I wanted.”

“I didn’t know what I expected. But the smell of fresh paint make me nauseous.”

“Your clientele will be a mixture of thirds,” he said, driving badly with one hand, holding coffee with another, oblivious to any of the other vehicles crowded around us. “About a third are employed, a third are families with children, a third are mentally disabled, a third are veterans. And about a third of those eligible for low-income housing receive it. In the past fifteen years, two and a half million low-cost housing units have been eliminated, and the federal housing programs have been cut seventy percent. Small wonder people are living on the streets. Governments are balancing budgets on the backs of the poor.”

“They would soon become my clients, and I would threaten and litigate with a vengeance until they had adequate housing. I couldn’t wait to sue somebody.”

“You see, Michael, the homeless have no voice. No one listens, no one cares, and they expect no one to help them. So when they try to use the phone to get benefits due them, they get nowhere. They are put on hold, permanently. Their calls are never returned. They have no addresses. The bureaucrats don’t care, and so they screw the very people they’re supposed to help. A seasoned social worker can at least get the bureaucrats to listen, and maybe look at the file and maybe return a phone call. But you get a lawyer on the phone, barking and raising hell, and things happen. Bureaucrats get motivated. Papers get processed. No address? No problem. Send the check to me, I’ll get it to the client.”

“I’m thinking about public interest law.” “What the hell is that?” “It’s when you work for the good of society without making a lot of money.”

“I’m a human first, then a lawyer. It’s possible to be both—not quite so much on the spread there. We have to be efficient.”

“The rights of the homeless would be protected, as long as they could find us. And their voices would be heard through ours.”

Excerpted from The Street Lawyer by John Grisham

Chapter One – The Street Lawyer

The man with the rubber boots stepped into the elevator behind me, but I didn’t see him at first. I smelled him though–the pungent odor of smoke and cheap wine and life on the street without soap. We were alone as we moved upward, and when I finally glanced over I saw the boots, black and dirty and much too large. A frayed and tattered trench coat fell to his knees. Under it, layers of foul clothing bunched around his midsection, so that he appeared stocky, almost fat. But it wasn’t from being well fed; in the wintertime in D.C., the street people wear everything they own, or so it seems.

He was black and aging–his beard and hair were half-gray and hadn’t been washed or cut in years. He looked straight ahead through thick sunglasses, thoroughly ignoring me, and making me wonder for a second why, exactly, I was inspecting him.

He didn’t belong. It was not his building, not his elevator, not a place he could afford. The lawyers on all eight floors worked for my firm at hourly rates that still seemed obscene to me, even after seven years.

Just another street bum in from the cold. Happened all the time in downtown Washington. But we had security guards to deal with the riffraff.

We stopped at six, and I noticed for the first time that he had not pushed a button, had not selected a floor. He was following me. I made a quick exit, and as I stepped into the splendid marble foyer of Drake & Sweeney I glanced over my shoulder just long enough to see him standing in the elevator, looking at nothing, still ignoring me.

Madam Devier, one of our very resilient receptionists, greeted me with her typical look of disdain. “Watch the elevator,” I said.

“Why?”

“Street bum. You may want to call security.”

“Those people,” she said in her affected French accent.

“Get some disinfectant too.”

I walked away, wrestling my overcoat off my shoulders, forgetting the man with the rubber boots. I had nonstop meetings throughout the afternoon, important conferences with important people. I turned the corner and was about to say something to Polly, my secretary, when I heard the first shot.

Madam Devier was standing behind her desk, petrified, staring into the barrel of an awfully long handgun held by our pal the street bum. Since I was the first one to come to her aid, he politely aimed it at me, and I too became rigid.

“Don’t shoot,” I said, hands in the air. I’d seen enough movies to know precisely what to do.

“Shut up,” he mumbled, with a great deal of composure.

There were voices in the hallway behind me. Someone yelled, “He’s got a gun!” And then the voices disappeared into the background, growing fainter and fainter as my colleagues hit the back door. I could almost see them jumping out the windows.

To my immediate left was a heavy wooden door that led to a large conference room, which at that moment happened to be filled with eight lawyers from our litigation section. Eight hard-nosed and fearless litigators who spent their hours chewing up people. The toughest was a scrappy little torpedo named Rafter, and as he yanked open the door saying “What the hell?” the barrel swung from me to him, and the man with the rubber boots had exactly what he wanted.

“Put that gun down,” Rafter ordered from the doorway, and a split second later another shot rang through the reception area, a shot that went into the ceiling somewhere well above Rafter’s head and reduced him to a mere mortal. Turning the gun back to me, he nodded, and I complied, entering the conference room behind Rafter. The last thing I saw on the outside was Madam Devier shaking at her desk, terror-stricken, headset around her neck, high heels parked neatly next to her wastebasket.

The man with the rubber boots slammed the door behind me, and slowly waved the gun through the air so that all eight litigators could admire it. It seemed to be working fine; the smell of its discharge was more noticeable than the odor of its owner.

The room was dominated by a long table, covered with documents and papers that only seconds ago seemed terribly important. A row of windows overlooked a parking lot. Two doors led to the hallway.

“Up against the wall,” he said, using the gun as a very effective prop. Then he placed it very near my head, and said, “Lock the doors.”

Which I did.

Not a word from the eight litigators as they scrambled backward. Not a word from me as I quickly locked the doors, then looked at him for approval.

For some reason, I kept thinking of the post office and all those horrible shootings–a disgruntled employee returns after lunch with an arsenal and wipes out fifteen of his co-workers. I thought of the playground massacres–and the slaughters at fast-food restaurants.

And those victims were innocent children and otherwise decent citizens. We were a bunch of lawyers!

Using a series of grunts and gun thrusts, he lined the eight litigators up against the wall, and when their positions suited him he turned his attention to me. What did he want? Could he ask questions? If so, he could get anything he damned well pleased. I couldn’t see his eyes because of the sunglasses, but he could see mine. The gun was pointed at them.

He removed his filthy trench coat, folded it as if it were new, and placed it in the center of the table. The smell that had bothered me in the elevator was back, but not important now. He stood at the end of the table and slowly removed the next layer–a bulky gray cardigan.

Bulky for a reason. Under it, strapped to his waist, was a row of red sticks, which appeared to my untrained eye to be dynamite. Wires ran like colored spaghetti from the tops and bottoms of the sticks, and silver duct tape kept things attached.

My first instinct was to bolt, to lunge with arms and legs flapping and flailing for the door, and hope for luck, hope for a bad shot as I scrambled for the lock, then another bad shot as I fell through the doorway into the hallway. But my knees shook and my blood ran cold. There were gasps and slight moans from the eight against the wall, and this perturbed our captor. “Please be quiet,” he said in the tone of a patient professor. His calmness unnerved me. He adjusted some of the spaghetti around his waist, then from a pocket in his large trousers produced a neat bundle of yellow nylon rope and a switchblade.

For good measure, he waved the gun at the horrified faces in front of him, and said, “I don’t want to hurt anybody.”

That was nice to hear but hard to take seriously. I counted twelve red sticks–enough, I was certain, to make it instantaneous and painless.

Then the gun was back on me. “You,” he said, “tie them up.”

Rafter had had enough. He took one very small step forward and said, “Look, pal, just exactly what do you want?”

The third shot sailed over his head into the ceiling, where it lodged harmlessly. It sounded like a cannon, and Madam Devier or some female shrieked in the foyer. Rafter ducked, and as he attempted to stand upright the beefy elbow of Umstead caught him squarely in the chest and returned him to his position against the wall.

“Shut up,” Umstead said with clenched jaws.

“Do not call me Pal,” the man said, and Pal was instantly discarded as a reference.

“What would you like us to call you?” I asked, sensing that I was about to become the leader of the hostages. I said this very delicately, with great deference, and he appreciated my respect.

“Mister,” he said. Mister was perfectly fine with everyone in the room.

The phone rang, and I thought for a split second he was going to shoot it. Instead he waved it over, and I placed it squarely before him on the table. He lifted the receiver with his left hand; his right still held the gun, and the gun was still pointed at Rafter.

If the nine of us had a vote, Rafter would be the first sacrificial lamb. Eight to one.

“Hello,” Mister said. He listened briefly, then hung up. He carefully backed himself into the seat at the end of the table and sat down.

“Take the rope,” he said to me.

He wanted all eight of them attached at the wrists. I cut rope and tied knots and tried my best not to look at the faces of my colleagues as I hastened their deaths. I could feel the gun at my back. He wanted them bound tightly, and I made a show of practically drawing blood while leaving as much slack as possible.

Rafter mumbled something under his breath and I wanted to slap him. Umstead was able to flex his wrists so that the ropes almost fell loose when I finished with him. Malamud was sweating and breathing rapidly. He was the oldest, the only partner, and two years past his first heart attack.

I couldn’t help but look at Barry Nuzzo, my one friend in the bunch. We were the same age, thirty-two, and had joined the firm the same year. He went to Princeton, I went to Yale. Both of our wives were from Providence. His marriage was working–three kids in four years. Mine was in the final stage of a long deterioration.

Our eyes met and we both were thinking about his kids. I felt lucky to be childless.

The first of many sirens came into range, and Mister instructed me to close the blinds over the five large windows. I went about this methodically, scanning the parking lot below as if being seen might somehow save me. A lone police car sat empty with its lights on; the cops were already in the building.

And there we were, nine white boys and Mister.

….

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