The Client

Foltrigg is in George Ord’s law library researching different ways his team can legally force Mark Sway to divulge any information Romey may have given him. The core question at hand is, “If someone possesses information crucial to a criminal prosecution, and that person chooses not to talk, then how can the information be obtained?” (152) Foltrigg also wants to find out a way to make Reggie divulge what Mark may have told her.

Some members of Foltrigg’s team are skeptical of spending so much time chasing Mark Sway, but others are convinced it is the right call. Agent Larry Trumann, on Foltrigg’s orders, begins the process of getting the Sway family approved for the Witness Protection Program. Foltrigg wants to use this as leverage to convince the Sways to cooperate with the FBI and District Attorneys in exchange for government protection.

Mark, unable to sleep in the hospital, walks through the halls. He encounters Jack Nance in the waiting area. Nance is posing as an innocent father whose son is in the hospital in an attempt at getting information out of Mark. Mark is wary at first, but Nance performs well: he begins crying for his fake eight-year-old son who is in the ICU. Mark says his brother is the same age and tells Nance he is in a room around the corner from the waiting room. Nance suddenly gets up to leave, saying he needs to check on his son. Before he goes, he asks for Mark’s name, and Mark tells him who he is.

Mark wakes up to find he is the subject of a front-page story in the Memphis Press. The article, written by Slick Moeller, tells how Mark’s fingerprints were found all over Romey’s car, including on Romey’s gun. Mark wishes he could go back to being an innocent kid with no responsibilities.

Mark then encounters Jack Nance in the hospital elevator. Nance corners Mark and threatens him with a switchblade. He warns Mark that if he tells anybody about the location of Boyette’s body, he’ll kill Mark. Nance shows Mark a photo that he stole from Mark’s trailer home as an additional threat, proving that Nance knows where Mark lives. Nance leaves the elevator at a random floor.

Visibly shaken, Mark goes to Reggie’s office. He tells her he does not want to tell the FBI any information. She assures him that he does not have to. However, she tells Mark that Foltrigg will try to make Mark testify and legally compel him to spill information. She warns him that he could get in very big trouble if he lies in court. If he lies or refuses to talk, there is a possibility the judge would hold Mark in contempt of court and put him in jail. Mark replies, “If I tell the truth, I’m in bigger trouble” (165). When Reggie asks why, Mark breaks down in tears.

Clint digs through some research material about Senator Boyd Boyette. He reads that Boyette linked Muldanno and his mob family to an illegal toxic waste site they created in the Louisiana marshlands. Boyette was working on plans to shut down the waste site when he went missing. Shortly after, Foltrigg gave a statement to the press announcing his indictment of Barry Muldanno for the murder of Boyette.

Reggie comforts Mark and cancels the meeting with Foltrigg. Reggie plans on increasing the security around the hospital and placing guards outside of the Sways’ room. To comfort Mark, she says it is possible that the mob is bluffing with their threats. Mark insists that they are very serious and that he will not reveal what he knows.

Foltrigg storms out of Reggie’s office when she tells him the meeting is cancelled. Reggie warns Foltrigg’s team that she will put up a fight if they attempt to come after Mark. Back in their office, Foltrigg tells his team that he wants agents tracking Mark. He tells Ord he is leaving to go back to New Orleans but will return to Memphis in a few days. In the meantime, he insists that Mark will need to be watched closely—not only to track his movement, but to keep him safe from the mob.

Mark sits with Clint in Reggie’s office and asks about their work. Clint tells Mark that he met Reggie in law school, and after becoming close friends, they began working together. Clint says Reggie will tell Mark more about her background when she takes him to Mama Love’s house. Mark inquires who Mama Love is, and Clint says it is Reggie’s mother; Reggie takes all of her young clients to Mama Love for a warm meal and cozy bed.

Clint asks about Mark’s background. Mark tells him about his abused past, describing a story where his father, who had alcoholism, beat his mother. Mark intervened to beat his father with a baseball bat, but his dad stopped him and began beating Mark. Mark grows bitter telling the story, resenting how the cops simply labeled the incident a domestic disturbance and that no charges were filed. Mark’s father walked free, never being jailed for the abuse. When Mark’s mother filed for divorce, Mark testified on the stand for three hours. Mark tells Clint he was unimpressed with the divorce lawyer and that he likes Reggie much better.

Jack Nance watches from his car as Reggie and Mark leave Reggie’s office to go to the hospital. He goes up to Reggie’s office and finds the door unlocked. When he walks in, he finds Clint there. Nance pretends that he is a journalist looking to speak with Reggie. Clint says she is not here and asks for Nance’s credentials. Nance merely gives a fake name and leaves. Even though Nance did not get any firm information, he considers it a successful venture because he saw the layout of Reggie’s office.

Reggie and Mark are bombarded by the press at the hospital. Journalists shout out questions at Mark, trying to get information about Romey and Foltrigg. Reggie tells Mark to keep silent. Mark and Reggie meet with Dianne and Dr. Greenway, and the doctor tells them that Dianne has been fired because she’s missed work by being at the hospital. Reggie takes Dianne’s termination letter and tells the Sways to stay at the hospital to avoid the press. She says she will return to meet with them again at 4pm.

Reggie calls Clint and asks him to prepare a lawsuit against Dianne’s boss, Chester Tanfill. Reggie goes to Dianne’s workplace, Ark-Lon Fixtures, with the lawsuit in hand. Reggie is able to negotiate a deal that gets Dianne her job back, increases her pay, and allows Dianne vacation time to stay at the hospital with Ricky.

Back at the hospital, Dr. Greenway works with Ricky while Mark watches. When Greenway asks if Ricky remembers seeing a black car pull up in the woods, Ricky responds with a curt yes, but goes silent afterwards. Greenway tries to ask more questions, but Ricky launches into a traumatic episode and clings to Mark. Greenway expected this response and is not upset at Ricky. He thinks it is important they made it through the first session. He leaves the boys in their room and concludes their work for the day.

Foltrigg has returned to New Orleans and meets with his team to discuss how to proceed with compelling Mark to reveal what he knows. Foltrigg’s expert in legal research, Bobby, suggests filing a petition in the Juvenile Court in Memphis alleging misconduct by Mark. This would initiate a Juvenile Court hearing that would allow Foltrigg to argue his proof in front of a judge that Mark knows something crucial to the Muldanno case. The judge would then decide what happens next, possibly compelling Mark under the law to tell what he knows.

Foltrigg asks what would happen if Mark refused to talk on the stand. Bobby answers that it is up to the judge, and the judge could possibly put Mark in jail for contempt if he remains silent under a court order compelling him to talk. Foltrigg asks what would happen if Mark were held in contempt; Bobby says Mark could be held in juvenile jail until he speaks and purges himself of contempt. Thomas Fink asks if the petition could be filed privately, allowing Foltrigg’s team to move in secret and bombard Reggie and Mark with news of the hearing. Bobby affirms this would be possible. Foltrigg orders his team to file the petition in the Memphis Juvenile Court as soon as possible.

Back in Memphis, Muldanno’s man Paul Gronke is watching Mark along with Jack Nance. Nance is working on plans to bug Ricky’s hospital room. He has already bugged both Greenway and Reggie’s offices under Muldanno’s orders.

Reggie takes Mark out of the hospital for a field trip to Mama Love’s house. Mama Love greets Mark with a hug and kiss on the cheek. She tells him to take a seat and that the meal will be ready shortly. Mama Love asks how Ricky is doing, and Mark replies that he is getting better. He is cautious about telling Reggie’s mother too much; he wants to keep as much information between himself and Reggie as possible. Mama Love serves Mark and Reggie homemade lasagna. Reggie has to leave for a work obligation, and Mark stays behind with Mama Love and continues to enjoy her food.

After dessert, Mark observes some of the Love family photos. Mama Love tells Mark that Reggie’s brother, Joey, died as a test pilot in the Air Force. Reggie’s other brother, Bennie, is a marine biologist in Vancouver. Only Reggie had children. Both of Reggie’s kids are aloof and do not talk to Reggie or Mama Love. Both became addicted to drugs following Reggie’s difficult divorce from her husband.

Mama Love reveals that Reggie’s legal name is Regina, but she changed her name to Reggie after her divorce and experience in mental institutions. She went to law school and became a new woman with a new name to go along with her renewed mission in life. Mark asks why Reggie takes on so many adolescent clients. Mama Love responds that Reggie wants to help kids who need help but are ignored by the legal system. “Reggie has a soul, Mark, a conscience,” Mama Love tells him (216). When Reggie returns home, she finds Mama Love and Mark outside on the porch. Mark is asleep and has his head resting in Mama Love’s lap. Mama Love and Reggie arrange for Mark to stay the night.

Agent Trumann has come up with an idea to add pressure to Mark for him to reveal what he knows. Trumann tells Foltrigg that he had recently talked to K.O. Lewis, a high-ranking member of the FBI who is close to the bureau’s director. Because K.O. is in St. Louis, which is close to Memphis, attending a conference, Trumann says that Foltrigg should take K.O. with him to file the petition. K.O. can sit down with the Juvenile Court judge so the federal government can put pressure on the judge to help with their case against Muldanno. Trumann continues by saying that Foltrigg can also argue that Mark is in danger because of the mob and try to get the judge to take Mark into the Juvenile Court’s custody. This would place Mark behind bars in the Juvenile Court jail. Foltrigg and K.O. both agree to the plan.

Back at Mama Love’s, Reggie conducts her own legal research. She realizes that Mark will be forced to talk very soon because, legally, every American citizen has the duty to divulge information that would help the enforcement of American law. She knows that Foltrigg could use a grand jury subpoena to compel Mark to speak. She wants to advise Mark to lie, but she knows that this would be unethical. Mark wakes up in the guest room of Mama Love’s house in the middle of the night. He sees a man outside of the house on the sidewalk. Mark immediately suspects that the suspicious man is a member of the mob tracking Reggie and himself.

At 4am, a white van pulls into Tucker Wheel Estates and stops in front of the Sway’s trailer. A man approaches the trailer with a cardboard box and places it at the trailer door. After he drives away, the box explodes. The bomb was carefully crafted to let off a small, controlled explosion that only targets the Sway trailer. The Sway’s home burns down before firefighters can save it.

Reggie and Mark have breakfast at Mama Love’s before returning to the hospital. Mark tells her about the man he saw outside of Mama Love’s the previous night. Reggie tries to convince Mark that he was innocuous, but Mark does not believe her.

When they reach the hospital, Dianne is in tears. She tells Mark that their home burned down. Reggie asks how Ricky is, and Mark asks if he knows about their trailer being destroyed. Dianne says Ricky is doing very well and is awake and talking. He does not know about the trailer, and Dianne insists on keeping it a secret for now.

The chapter then introduces a new character named Harry Roosevelt, the judge who presides over Shelby County Juvenile Court in Memphis. George Ord, Thomas Fink, and K.O. Lewis meet with Harry. Ord explains to the judge that the federal government believes Mark Sway holds pertinent information concerning their case against Barry Muldanno.

Harry insists that Mark must be saved from the stressful experience of going before a grand jury. He says that he would rather deal with this matter in his court room to save Mark and his family any undue stress. Even still, Harry is uncomfortable with the federal government accusing a child of obstruction of justice. He tells Ord, Fink, and K.O. Lewis that he has an uneasy feeling about this case, but he acknowledges that the boy is in danger. He agrees to sign the order to take Mark into custody of the Juvenile Court. Harry says Mark is to be treated with respect when he is taken in, and he will personally call Reggie to notify her of this development in the case.

Mark is in Ricky’s room with his mother. He thinks about the trailer fire and concludes that it wasn’t an accident. He asks Dianne if the trailer will be covered by insurance, and she replies that she still needs to talk to the agent. Mark worries about his mother’s ability to handle finances.

Two police officers arrive and request to speak to Dianne. They introduce themselves as Detectives Nassar and Klickman, both with the Memphis Police Department. They present Dianne with a court summons for the hearing at Judge Roosevelt’s court at noon. They inform Dianne and Mark that the summons dictates that Mark be taken into custody. Dianne begins shouting that they cannot take Mark and even hits Detective Nassar when he tries to take Mark’s arm.

Despite the fight Dianne and Mark put up, the detectives successfully detain Mark. Mark is driven to the Juvenile Court detention center. Nassar and Klickman leave Mark with Doreen, the woman in charge of the detention center. She brings Mark to his cell. Mark asks for a telephone call, and Doreen says he cannot make a call until later in the day. Doreen leaves Mark, and he sits alone in his cell contemplating what has just happened to him. He wonders where Reggie is and wishes she was there to help.