Once We Were Brothers by Ronald H. Balson

of the Loop. Yesterday’s mail, delivered through the brass chute in the door, lay scattered on the wooden floor. There was a message from Catherine on his voice mail: “I’ve scheduled a meeting with Ben Solomon today at 1 p.m. Would you please join us?”
    He dialed her office.
    “Ben’s due to arrive in a little while,” she said. “I want you to come and sit in with us.”
    “I’m sorry, Cat, but I’ll have to take a pass. I have a meeting with Lawrence McComb on a new job. From what I understand it’ll be a big project. Lots of witnesses, statements, pictures.”
    “Liam, you’re the one that roped me into this. Solomon is a difficult client – he’s hard to keep on task and I’m worried about the time he’s taking. Besides, he unnerves me, fading in and out of conversations like he does, and Adele can’t come today. The least you could do is sit with us. Are you sure you can’t get away?”
    “I’ll try to get there late this afternoon, maybe around five or six, if you think he’ll still be there.”
    “He’d still be here next Christmas if I let him. Please. Whenever you can. By the way, did you see the news last night? The dedication ceremony?”
    “You mean Rosenzweig? Chicago’s treasure? I saw it.”
    “How can I support bringing a lawsuit accusing Chicago’s Treasure of being a Nazi?”
    “Are you harboring thoughts of representing him?”
    “Absolutely not. Right now, I’m merely doing a favor for you and Adele. Keep that in mind. It’s a favor.”
    “And I appreciate it. Evaluate his case and then decide if you want to go further.”
    “Wait a minute. Let’s clarify my role here. Evaluation only. There is no further . If there’s sufficient evidence, I’ll send him over to Tryon at Justice. If he insists on a civil case, I’ll help him find an available civil lawyer. That’s it, Liam, but I have to tell you, so far I haven’t seen enough factual support to justify either. I can’t even get him to focus on the relevant issues. He just wants to give me history lessons.”
    “Cat, please be a little patient. I know you’re busy and I realize this isn’t Jenkins and Fairchild’s usual inventory, but Ben’s a sweet old man and he’s been through a lot. He just needs someone to listen to him. You never know. He may have something.”
    “Liam, you don’t understand the kind of pressure that large law firms put on associates. They don’t give me time to talk to sweet old men. And frankly, I have concerns about his sanity. He holds conversations with ghosts. I think I’ll rue the day you talked me into this. Get here as soon as you can.”
    “Rue the day?”
    “Just get here.”
    “I’ll do what I can.”
    Catherine hesitated and then spoke quietly. “Liam, there’s something else.”
    “What is it?”
    “I’m not sure. But there’s more to this story than betraying his family and stealing their jewelry.”
    “Why? Did he tell you something on the phone? What did he say?”
    “He didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to. I just know it. Lawyer’s intuition. There’s something deeper involved here. No one would be driven like this if it was solely about money and property.”
    “Well, Adele said he betrayed Ben’s family. They raised him and cared for him and he became a Nazi.”
    “There’s more. You can bet on it.”
    “Keep on digging, Cat. You’ll find out.”
    Shortly after one o’clock, Catherine was informed that Mr. Solomon had arrived. She found him in the reception area shaking his head, wheezing and complaining about the buses and the traffic.
    “I know you think I’m just an old fool kvetching about public services, Miss Lockhart, but two buses drove right past me. They didn’t even slow down. Once you reach your eightieth birthday, young lady, you start thinking that whatever time is left to you shouldn’t be spent waiting for buses.”
    Catherine walked him back to the conference room and opened the file she had started. There were