Jimmy and Old Mike sat on a bench at the police station as the young officer who’d come to investigate with Saunders yelled loudly in front of them. Peeking at the police notes was obstruction of justice—a felony. Jimmy calmly pulled out the notebook and handed it over, claiming he’d just found it on the asphalt in the parking lot outside the door. With that, the charges didn’t hold. The lie was borderline shameless yet airtight. The young officer was unwilling to let it go; the first thing he planned to do the next day was find Stacey, hoping she’d provide useful clues to put Old Mike behind bars. Old Mike watched him storm off calmly, knowing he’d get nothing out of it the next day.
After sending Jimmy away, Old Mike and Saunders—old friends who knew each other’s deepest secrets—finally got a chance to talk alone. They both already knew everything about what had happened, no need to spell it out. To be honest, Old Mike had taken a liking to that young officer; he was driven and passionate, just like Matt had been back in the day. The Philadelphia Police Department was rotten to the core and needed fresh blood like him. Once they’d said what needed to be said and discussed what needed to be investigated, Saunders stood up from the bench and left without even a goodbye.
Early the next morning, Jimmy brought water and food to Chuck. He searched the entire house but couldn’t find Chuck—only to be surprised by the sound of Chuck’s voice coming from outside. Ever since he’d been arrested by the police and spent half a day in the hospital, Chuck had started to realize he was just an old man waiting to die in his house. He was trying to adapt to the electromagnetic influences outside, spending time outdoors every day and gradually extending the duration. Once he built up tolerance to electromagnetic radiation, he’d be able to go out and work like a normal person. Jimmy knew Chuck’s issue was all in his head—there was no such thing as “electromagnetic tolerance”—but he was still happy for him. Suddenly, Jimmy had an idea: he still had a lot of unfinished wills in his car. He could leave these materials at Chuck’s house, and Chuck would definitely can’t help but finish drafting those wills. This way, Chuck could rediscover his passion for work, and Jimmy could lighten his own workload—it was a win-win. Jimmy carried several boxes of files into the house, claiming he had no space to store them in his office and needed to keep them there temporarily. After stepping outside, Jimmy peeked through the window and saw Chuck flipping through the materials in the boxes, then snickered and ran back to his car.
While Chuck helped with the work, Jimmy took Kim to a high-end office building. His business had been going well lately, and he’d saved over ten thousand dollars, so he planned to rent a suite in the building—bright and spacious—to officially open a law firm. Most importantly, he’d reserved the office with the best natural light for his future partner, and he hoped that partner would be Kim.
But Kim had to politely decline Jimmy’s kind offer. Given her current progress, in at most two years, she stood a good chance of becoming a partner at Hamlin, Hamlin & McGill (HHM). Moreover, the firm was covering all the costs of her law school studies—she couldn’t be ungrateful. Besides expressing his understanding, Jimmy had nothing else to say.
A few days later, Craig and Betsy Kettelman showed up at Kim’s office. Kim was in charge of their case, and she’d pulled all her connections and strings to strike a plea deal with the district attorney: if Craig pleaded guilty and returned the $160,000 he’d embezzled, he’d only have to serve a year and a half in county jail. If he refused, going to trial would be extremely unfavorable. Because of the previous “camping” incident, the jury would likely rule against him, and he could face up to 30 years in prison. This deal was the best Kim could get, but Betsy refused outright. She insisted Craig was innocent and had no money to return. Since Kim couldn’t get Craig acquitted, Betsy decided to find another lawyer.
When Jimmy received Betsy’s call, he was at a nursing home playing Bingo with the elderly and slipping in a little self-promotion on the side. He met the Kettelmans at a coffee shop as agreed, and after hearing the situation, he hesitated. Jimmy was happy to steal a client from Howard, but he didn’t want to hurt Kim in the process. He tried his best to persuade Betsy to go back to Kim, but Betsy was firm. What’s more, the plea deal required returning all the embezzled money—including the $30,000 that Jimmy had taken. Left with no choice, Jimmy went to Hamlin, Hamlin & McGill to pick up the relevant files from Kim’s office. Or rather, what used to be Kim’s office—Kim had been demoted for losing the client, and her future at the firm was hanging by a thread.
Jimmy ran into Kim at the entrance of the building’s underground parking lot. Kim wasn’t angry with Jimmy; instead, she wanted to warn him not to get involved in this mess. Craig was so stupid he didn’t even destroy the evidence—the prosecution already had a large number of fake checks he’d written, and the recipient accounts on those checks belonged to Craig. If they insisted on going to trial, they’d definitely lose. Jimmy had stayed up all night going through Kim’s files, which clearly and in detail laid out all the circumstances and listed every piece of evidence provided by the prosecution. Jimmy knew Kim was right—going to trial would only end in defeat. But Craig and Betsy would never give up the $160,000 they’d risked so much for. After thinking it over, Jimmy realized only Old Mike could help.
Of the $30,000 Betsy had bribed him with, only about $10,000 was left. Old Mike took the bundled $10,000 in cash, sprayed it with developer, and left it on the Kettelmans’ son’s toy car. Then he hid behind the low wall in the backyard, watching the Kettelman family’s movements. When it was time for the kids to go to bed, Craig took the trash outside and suddenly saw a stack of cash on his son’s toy car in the front yard. He broke out in a cold sweat, thinking his son had taken the money out to play. After scolding his son and daughter with Betsy, they put the money back where it belonged. Old Mike waited until the dead of night, when the entire Kettelman family was fast asleep, then pried open the door and snuck in. He turned on an ultraviolet light, and every fluorescent mark left by the developer showed him exactly where the $160,000 was hidden. In the bathroom on the second floor, under the sink, Old Mike found the huge sum of money hidden in a secret compartment—and the stack of $10,000 that glowed fluorescent.
Looking at the over $100,000 on the table, Jimmy admired Old Mike for keeping his word and not running off with the money. He tossed his own savings into the pile to make up for the money he’d spent; the next step was for Old Mike to deliver the money to the district attorney’s front desk.
When dawn broke, Jimmy rang the Kettelmans’ doorbell. He was there to tell Craig and Betsy to accept the deal Kim had offered. The money hidden under the sink should now be on the district attorney’s desk—they had no other choice. Betsy flew into a rage, screaming that she’d expose Jimmy for taking a bribe. Jimmy reminded her again: if she exposed the $30,000, it would be equivalent to admitting she knew about Craig’s crime and covered it up. Kim’s deal only involved Craig; Betsy’s impulsive act would only land herself in jail too, leaving their two kids without their mother. At that, Betsy collapsed onto the sofa, powerless.
Jimmy had done the right thing, but he felt no joy at all. Howard was on TV, giving an interview and beaming with pride. Kim had gotten her rightful position back. Only Jimmy had nothing—he’d lost that bright, spacious office and his beautiful dream.