There were no two ways about it – Joanna Chyłka drove like a maniac. Normally, you didn’t see high-end BMWs or Mercedes driving so precariously on the open road – that was left to cheaper vehicles, where damage was much less of an issue. Granted, owners of these marvels of modern technology often drove fast, but without taking expensive risks. Chyłka, on the other hand, cut wildly in between other vehicles, leaving, Kordian felt, a margin of no more than half a centimetre.
Kordian assumed the music was affecting her. If he listened to that howling all the time, he’d probably have to release the stress somehow too. He took advantage of a momentary distraction to reduce the volume.
‘Don’t you dare. I’m the driver and I set the rules.’
‘You flare up pretty easily, don’t you?’
‘Yes. If the music’s too quiet, I stop wanting to drive, and we need to be at Białołęka by one.’
Oryński watched the vehicles passing, and thought Joanna could do with a CB radio, she must already have a serious collection of points on her licence. He glanced at her as she swerved sharply to avoid a car, almost banging his head on the windscreen in the process.
‘Haven’t they taken away your licence yet?’ he asked, taking advantage of a lull between songs.
‘God knows they’ve tried.’
‘And?’
‘As long as I refuse to acknowledge that I need to pay a fine, it’s OK,’ she explained, changing lanes without bothering to indicate. ‘As you know, the matter then goes to court, and while it’s being processed the penalty is suspended. I refused to acknowledge my first penalty points in 2006, when you were probably still at school, with the hots for your favourite teacher. To date, I haven’t had a single conviction.’
‘Not likely to anytime soon either.’
‘Shouldn’t think so,’ she replied with a smile, jumping a red light between Solidarność and Wybrzeże Gdyńskie streets.
‘Oh my God!’ exclaimed Oryński. He had nothing against stunt-driving or making a dash for it as the lights changed, but she had crossed the junction a good ten seconds or so after the lights had turned red.
He dreaded to think what would happen if she listened to death metal instead of just heavy metal.
‘That was almost green,’ said Joanna as she changed gear to overtake a bus from the inside, giving it just a few centimetres’ leeway. ‘Besides, we need to pump up the adrenaline, or you’ll be bored out of your wits.’
‘Meeting a cold-blooded murderer doesn’t sound boring to me.’
‘You’d be surprised; he’s very quiet.’
‘Reticent, you mean?’
‘I said quiet, and I mean quiet. Unless you’re just trying to annoy me. But I should tell you that if I’m annoyed, I drive like I’m bat-shit crazy.’
‘OK,’ muttered Kordian, his attention focused on the scooter they were passing. If the BMW’s wing mirror had been any bigger, the rider would have had a nasty shock. ‘Have you managed to get him to talk at all?’ Oryński asked, adjusting his seatbelt.
‘Yes, he’s proposed oral sex.’
‘I suppose it could have been worse.’
‘You’d better believe it,’ she said. ‘Clients are clients, but they can get incredibly abusive, with a list of grievances as long as your arm. The trial date is too late? Your fault. They sign an agreement as a result of which they lose their life savings? Your fault because they showed you the document, even though they had already signed it. Couldn’t get insurance for their house? Your fault, even if you’d warned them it was built on a flood plain.’
Oryński winced.
‘Do we really have to talk about all this now?’ he pleaded.
‘Absolutely. From the client’s point of view, you’re responsible for everything, because no one else will listen to them. If you have a good reputation, they’ll expect nothing less than miracles. If you get your client an acquittal for a murder charge after they’ve sold their car for less than it’s worth, assuming they won’t need it in prison, it’ll be your fault. I’m not joking. Once a client hurled the worst sort of abuse at me and almost hit me because I hadn’t warned them we’d win the case and they wouldn’t go to prison.’
‘Amazing,’ he replied, stifling a yawn.
‘Think what you will, but it’s the truth. The moment they receive your first invoice, you’re their whipping boy. They’ll pester you constantly to tell them whether or not they’ll win the case. But under no circumstance must you ever say you’ll win. Even if you’re a hundred per cent sure. Understand?’
‘Uh-huh.’
‘Just like a doctor should never tell a gravely ill patient they’ll pull through, even if intuition and experience tell him they will, you can never promise anything. If you do, get ready to change careers and become a prosecutor, because you’ll have no future in this profession. Unless of course you want to set up in some far-flung corner of the world. But I haven’t worked my butt off for so many years to settle for anything less than I’ve got.’
When Joanna paused to catch her breath, Oryński decided it was time to end the sermon, and changed the subject slightly.
‘So is Langer like that?’ he asked.
‘No, with Langer it’s different. It’s peculiar. You’ll see for yourself.’
‘In what sense?’ asked Kordian. He spotted a police car in front of the Grot Rowecki Bridge approach road, but the traffic police were busy with some other unfortunate driver.
‘This particular client would happily ditch his lawyers.’
‘So why doesn’t he?’
‘I don’t know,’ she replied, ignoring the traffic cops. ‘I get the impression that he can’t be bothered. Langer Senior pays the bills, so it would be up to him to terminate the contract, but I’m sure he’d do it at once if that’s what his son wanted.’
‘So what’s this guy about?’
‘I don’t know. Normally, I can work out in the first interview what it is the client expects, and what I need to do to get them what they want. With this case, it’s different.’
This didn’t sound good.
‘But I’m working on it,’ she said reassuringly. ‘I just have to find out what he wants.’
‘Is he guilty?’
‘He’s certainly giving that impression.’
‘So he’s innocent.’
‘You’re a clever lad, Zordon.’
‘And he won’t admit anything?’
Chyłka sighed, and explained that Langer basically gave everyone the impression he was guilty as charged, but he hadn’t actually said a single word to anyone about the murders.
He hadn’t said he was guilty, so he was being held in temporary custody until he cooperated. What’s more, despite Joanna’s strenuous efforts, there was no reason to believe he would be released soon. The state prosecution were trying hard to get him to make a statement, but Chyłka had no idea why. If she were the prosecutor, she wouldn’t have bothered. The evidence was strong, and they could be fairly certain of a conviction. The only question was the sentence – it would certainly be lower if Langer admitted he was guilty.
Kordian remained silent for a while.
‘Well, this is a good case for me to start with,’ he said finally.
‘You’re the one who wanted to come, remember?’
‘Oh yes,’ he murmured.
Earlier, he had thought this was where he could really prove his worth. He already had experience of working with clients – four semesters in a students’ legal advice centre, and several months as an intern in a number of smaller law firms. But he was sure now that none of this had prepared him for what he was about to encounter.