Dark Harbor by David Hosp

case, I believe that he has violated his ethical obligations to the judicial system, and we intend to bring this behavior to the attention of the court.”
    “Well, you can obviously bring whatever motions you want before the court, Mr. Barnolk,” Finn retorted calmly. “But I have no doubt that the court will see clearly that the only reason you’ve become frustrated during this deposition is because you were woefully unprepared at the outset. That’s obviously neither the witness’s fault nor my fault, but it is something we can discuss with the judge. In any event, we won’t make this witness available again unless the court orders it. You’ve had a full and fair opportunity to question him, and we will
not
allow the safety of other rail passengers to be jeopardized while you waste the time of those who are charged with the heavy responsibility of administering public safety.”
    Finn and McGuire were standing now, and they pushed their chairs out from the table and started walking toward the door. As McGuire passed Barnolk on the way out, he smiled at him again. He leaned over the prissy lawyer, and his huge right hand swung toward him. In a moment of horror, Finn thought McGuire was actually going to punch Barnolk. That would be difficult to explain to the judge under any circumstances. Barnolk clearly had the same thought, because he threw himself sideways in his chair, knocking his notes off the table, and almost falling out of the chair himself. It was only then that Finn saw that McGuire’s hand was opened, and he was offering it in a handshake to Barnolk.
    McGuire laughed heartily, and left his hand out. “It was a pleasure to meet you,” he said through his own laughter.
    Barnolk looked up, clearly still shaken. Tentatively, he held his hand out to shake, and McGuire’s paw enveloped his.
    As they shook hands, McGuire leaned in and whispered something into Barnolk’s ear. When he turned back toward the door to head out, he was no longer laughing, but he was grinning from ear to ear. Over McGuire’s shoulder, Finn could see that all the blood had drained from Barnolk’s face.
    Back in the street outside Barnolk’s office, McGuire hailed a cab. He turned to Finn and held out his hand. “Thanks a lot, Counselor. I think it went pretty well in there. You were a pistol on those legal arguments.”
    Finn looked at the hand, caught in the memory of the bizarre exchange he’d witnessed up in the office between McGuire and Barnolk. He hesitated for just a second before he shook the hand. “Are you sure you don’t want to go back to my office and do a little postgame analysis to figure out where we might have taken any hits?”
    McGuire shook his head. “Nah, I gotta get back to my own office and see what’s happening there. We did well today, though. I already know it.” McGuire smiled again as he stepped into the cab.
    Finn couldn’t hold himself back from asking the question that was weighing heavily on his mind. “Hey, what was that between you and Barnolk up there?” he asked, trying to sound nonchalant.
    “What was what?” McGuire asked.
    “When you whispered to him, what did you say?”
    “You don’t need to worry about that, Counselor.”
    “I’m not worried, I’d just like to know,” Finn protested.
    McGuire laughed again. “I just told him you lawyers are the dumbest people I’ve ever had to hang around with,” he said. Then he roared with laughter one more time. “Listen, Counselor, don’t sweat it. You did great in there, and I’ll make sure Holland knows it.” With that, he nodded to the taxi driver to head out and closed the door.
    As the taxi pulled away, Finn looked down at his hand, still lost in the feeling that he’d witnessed some moment of import in the office upstairs. Something about the exchange made him feel queasy, as if an event of significance had occurred right before his eyes and he’d missed it. He hated that feeling. It made him question whether he