Of course there was. Fate wasn't likely to give me only good news now, was it? "So hit me with it."
"As you are aware, John Nadler is an extremely elusive man. He has an office in Collins Street, but is rarely ever there, and while he owns a house in Brighton, none of his neighbors can tell me the last time they saw him."
"Well, he's not a ghost, because the heirs of both James Trilby and Gavin Appleby are suing the consortium for a bigger piece of the money pie, and a ghost generally can't hire lawyers or appear in court."
"Ah, but he hasn't yet appeared in court—and won't, because the case settled out of court yesterday."
I frowned. "Even if the lawyer handled the settlement, surely Nadler has to appear to sign the papers."
"He may have to sign the papers, but he didn't actually have to appear at the meeting to do that. Apparently Frank Logan—the lawyer in question—was meeting Nadler at two today to do all the official stuff, but the meet wasn't at the office."
I raised my eyebrows. "And you know this how?"
"Because I talked to the secretary."
And no doubt raided her mind in the process. It was the only way he'd get that sort of information. I couldn't imagine someone who had Nadler as a client employing anyone who gave out confidential information, however minor.
"So we have nothing."
"Not exactly nothing." A waiter went past and filled up the nearby nut bowl. Jak snagged it and pushed it between us. "We still have the lawyer."
I scooped up some peanuts. "You've made an appointment to talk to him?"
Jak snorted. "The man charges like a wounded bull. On my salary, I can't even afford his first-appointment rates."
"So you want me to go talk to him?"
"Well, yes and no—and this is where the good news comes in. He's apparently going to be at the Financial Markets Foundation for Children gala tomorrow night. I want you to get us tickets."