When I woke up, Sam was standing over with me with a cup of coffee. She was fully dressed.
‘Time to rise and shine,’ she said. ‘I brought this for you. White, no sugar, yes?’
I sat up abruptly, rubbing my eyes.
‘Yes, thanks. What time is it?’
‘Relax,’ she replied. ‘It’s just after seven thirty. You have plenty of time.’
‘I’m sorry. I was sound asleep.’
‘I know. You looked like you needed to be sound asleep for a while, so I didn’t wake you. Arlene and I got up early because we had stuff to do, but there was no reason to disturb you.’
‘What stuff?’
‘We wanted to be sure we had enough copies of the Complaint and the forms for signing up as a plaintiff. We want to be able to hand them out as people are coming in. We are also handing out your card, and Powalski’s, so they have no excuse for not knowing how to contact us.’
‘OK,’ I said, ‘I’ll jump in the shower and get moving.’
I began to sit up, but she pushed me very gently back down.
‘Drink your coffee first. It’s all under control. Just get yourself ready to wow the van Eyck family. That’s your only job for today. Leave the rest to us.’
Arlene and Powalski had set up trestle tables at the entrance to the conference room, and were welcoming the family members as they arrived, and handing out the paperwork. Sam was also standing at the back of the room, introducing herself to the family members as they made their way to their seats. The committee had reserved places for Sam and me at the top table, which was perched on a low platform, with Joe Kenney and Jeff Carlsen. The two committee members who had got in late the previous night were also to sit at the top table: Susan van Eyck Poulson from Boulder, Colorado; and Edwin van Eyck from Los Angeles, another attorney – and in his case, a sole practitioner, a trial lawyer who did personal injury and fatal accident cases. It was pretty obvious that Jeff had already briefed them about our meeting the evening before, but they weren’t giving away any clues about what they thought about it all.
It was while I was watching the family streaming in, with their coffees and bottles of water and guides to New Orleans in hand, that I knew how right I had been to file the lawsuit before coming to the reunion. I had knowingly given a hostage to fortune by filing before we had even begun to collect evidence, but, as I had hoped, I had their attention. We were going to be very close to one hundred per cent attendance, which I suspected might be a new record for a business meeting at a van Eyck family reunion. As I took my seat, I saw Aunt Meg sitting in the very centre of the front row, resplendent in a mauve blouse and long grey skirt.
When everyone was in place, and the waiters had refreshed the supplies of coffee and iced water at the back of the room, Joe Kenney rose to his feet. There was a microphone. It was a close call whether it was needed in a room of that size, but if it was a close call it was probably a good idea. I decided I would use it. It seems to be a rule that, when people who are not used to microphones are confronted with them, there is always an outbreak of feedback. Today was to be no exception. Joe got far too close to it, and then for some reason, tried to remove it from its stand. It was pretty loud and jarring, and Aunt Meg had a finger firmly in each ear. But a waiter came and whispered in his ear, and calmed things down. After that, Joe stood back a bit and left the microphone alone, and all was well.
‘Ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to welcome you to the city of New Orleans for this reunion of the van Eyck family. I know you are all going to have a fine time, seeing people you probably haven’t seen for quite a while, and catching up with the latest news. I’ve already seen a few people myself that I haven’t seen in… must be five or six years at least. And I hope you will all feel that the program allows you enough time to talk and catch up, as well as giving you time enough to enjoy New Orleans. I am told – I can’t verify this from personal experience – but I am told that there are a few acceptable restaurants and other places of entertainment in the city.’
He paused for a ripple of laughter.
‘Laissez les bons temps rouler!’ someone shouted from the back.
‘Yes, indeed – whatever that may mean. Now, I want to keep this part of business meeting as short as possible, because as you all know, we have one particular item of business to deal with that’s causing some excitement. But before we get to that, as we always do, I do need to share with you the names of those members of the family who have passed since we last met.’
This put a bit of a dampener on things for a few minutes, as Joe read out a litany of the departed, and invited a moment or two of silent reflection. The list included Sam’s father, and she bowed her head as his name was read. I touched her briefly on the back of the hand. She looked up at me and smiled, quickly brushing away a tear. Mercifully, the moment or two of reflection did not last too long, and people sat up in their seats as Joe announced that he was now handing the meeting over to Sam.
Sam and I had both decided on business suits for today. Mine was the lawyer’s traditional black. If I had harboured any doubt about that choice, it had evaporated when I met Aunt Meg the previous evening. Sam, however, had settled on a bright yellow suit with an orange scarf and shoes. She looked spectacular. But it was what happened next that stopped me in my tracks. I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised. She’s an actress, and she was on stage now; she was in her element, and it looked effortless. But still, it was the closest thing to magic I had ever seen. The atmosphere in the room changed in an instant.