The Professor (McMurtrie and Drake Legal Thrillers #1)(48)
She shook her head. “Just what Buck told me.”
Rick felt his spirits sink. If Faith Bulyard had any personal knowledge beyond what Buck had told her, then he could destroy Willistone and probably add Ultron as a defendant. A conspiracy to make faster deliveries by forcing Willistone’s drivers to speed to make the load on time. Combined with Wilma’s testimony and the evidence of Dewey Newton going 80 in a 65, Ultron and Willistone would be begging for a multi-million-dollar settlement.
But with the documents gone and nothing beyond hearsay evidence...
Rick sucked in a breath, knowing that Buck’s statements to Faith would not be considered hearsay if he sued Ultron. Admission by party opponent, Rick remembered, thinking back to the Professor’s Evidence class. Buck was the president of the company. His comments to Faith would be an admission by party opponent which, by definition, isn’t hearsay. Then Rick felt his stomach tighten. But they’d also be protected by the husband-wife privilege. If I sued Ultron based solely on Faith’s memory of what Buck told her, Faith could claim the privilege and kill the case.
“Is there anything else?” Faith asked, looking from Rick to Dawn. “I really need to get to the gym if I’m going to get back in time to make dinner.”
“Ms Bulyard, if we sued Ultron for negligence, would you be willing to take the stand and tell a jury what your husband told you about the bills of lading?” Rick asked, feeling his heart racing in his chest.
Faith raised her eyebrows. “You want me to sell out my own husband so you can win a trial?”
“No. I want you to expose a conspiracy between two big companies that ended up killing my client’s family,” Rick said, his voice firm. “No way Hank Russell risks his job to help us. With the documents gone, you’re my client’s only hope of a jury hearing the truth. Please, Ms Bulyard...”
“No,” Faith said, shaking her head. “ I... I can’t. I’m sorry.”
Rick started to protest, but Dawn’s voice, hyper and high, cut him off.
“Ms Bulyard, do you think Willistone or Ultron had something to do with the fire that destroyed the documents and killed your husband?”
Damnit, Rick thought, sensing an opportunity being lost as Faith’s face turned pink. “Don’t worry about that, Ms Bulyard,” he said, shooting Dawn a hard look. “What we really need is...”
“I don’t give a damn about what you need,” Faith said, standing up from the table, her hands trembling with anger. She pointed a shaky finger at Dawn. “The fire marshal ruled out arson.” Then she turned to Rick and pointed at the door.
“Your fifteen minutes are up.”
33
“I’m sorry,” Dawn said, hanging her head once they were back in the car.
“Don’t worry about it,” Rick said, trying not to be mad. Even if Dawn hadn’t interrupted, his gut told him that Faith Bulyard wouldn’t have budged on testifying.
“I shouldn’t have blurted it out like an amateur. That was really uncool, and it messed up what you were doing.”
Rick shrugged. “I think we probably got all we could get from her. Besides, she didn’t really answer your question.”
“True,” Dawn said, nodding her head and coming out of her funk. “She didn’t answer the question. And after everything she said about her husband and Willistone, the fire seems even more fishy than before. Those bills of lading would’ve killed Willistone.”
“Ultron too,” Rick added. “If Buck Bulyard knew about the DOT violations and acquiesced to them because his company was making more money, then we could have also sued Ultron. But with Bulyard dead and the documents destroyed in the fire...” He sighed. The meeting had been one big tease. The information they learned was fantastic. But we can’t prove any of it in court.
“I guess, unless we were to sue Ultron, everything Buck Bulyard told Ms Bulyard would be hearsay,” Dawn said, reading Rick’s mind.
“Yep,” Rick said. “With Ultron as a defendant, it comes in as an admission by party opponent. Without Ultron in, it’s rank hearsay.”
“But we can’t force her to testify because of the husband-wife privilege,” Dawn added.
“Bingo. Glad I wasn’t the only one paying attention in Evidence.”
“So we can’t get anything she told us into evidence?” Dawn asked, her agitation matching Rick’s.
“Nope.”
“What about Wilma? Think she might have seen a bill of lading or two?”
“I guess it’s possible,” Rick said, shrugging. “Our better bet would be Dick Morris.”
Again, Dawn hung her head. “I’m sorry, Rick. I know I should’ve found Morris by now, but we’ve been so busy the last month and…”
“It’s not your fault,” Rick cut her off, as he pulled the Saturn into the parking lot. “I’ve been trying to find him myself with no luck, and my buddy Powell, who goes to Faunsdale every year for the Crawfish Festival, hasn’t had any luck either.”
“Isn’t the Crawfish Festival going on this weekend?”
Rick chuckled and opened his car door. “Yeah, and Powell’s going again. He said he’d ask around, so maybe he’ll get lucky.”