She looked at her watch. "It's almost six. But I guess so, yeah."

I pulled out of the garage and headed directly for Flannery's office. We parked in the cramped garage underneath his office building on M Street and took the elevator up to the lobby, then to his law office. The office of the well-known firm was stately. People were leaving, and the receptionist was shutting down her computer when we arrived. We told her we were there to see Flannery. She asked us to wait and he would be with us shortly.

Flannery came up and I stood to greet him. I introduced myself and Rachel, and he escorted us into a glassed-in conference room next to the reception area. He closed the miniblinds to block the view into the conference room from the reception area and told us how the meeting would proceed. Just a meeting, the witness would say whatever he wanted. After the meeting we would all figure out what we were going to do.

The door from the back of the conference room opened and the witness walked in. He wasn't at all what I expected. He was dressed poorly, had a bad haircut, and obviously did not eat well or exercise. He wasn't exactly fat, but he was lumpy. He had the hands of a workingman, and the eyes of someone who could anger quickly, particularly when intoxicated, which I guessed was often. He sat next to Flannery across the table from us.

"Good evening, I'm Mike Nolan and this is Rachel Long."

The man sat silently and stared at us. His attorney responded, "He would love to tell you his name, but we are not to that point yet. The purpose of this meeting of course is to discuss whether or not you're interested in the information that he has, and whether you are willing to meet his terms to obtain that information." Flannery paused as he searched for exactly the right words. "I am taking no position on the appropriateness of his demands. He has asked me to put this meeting together, to protect his identity, and to make sure he crosses no boundaries. I have done that, and he is here. You may ask him questions, to which he will respond as he deems appropriate."

I wasn't sure where to start. An uneasy tension was in the room. "You have some information about the accident that you think we might want to know. I believe that's why you called me."

"Yeah. I called. I have information that will blow the case wide-open."

"In what direction?"

"In all directions. Case over."

" 'Case over' meaning what exactly?"

"I can't go into it until we decide whether you're going to meet my terms."

"I'm not even going to consider your terms until we find out what information you have, at least in general. Do you know why this helicopter crashed?"

"I know what happened to the helicopter before it flew. And it will end the case."

"How? How did you gain access to this knowledge?"

"I was there."

"Meaning what?" I watched him as he considered how to answer.

"I'm not going to say. You might figure out who I am." He sat back in the leather chair. He looked uncomfortable.

"If I don't know how you got your information, let alone what it is, how can I recommend that you get paid?"

"You have to tell me that you're willing. You have to give me your word. Then I'll tell you."

"Will it be admissible? Can I get it into evidence at trial?"

"I don't know anything about that."

"And what if your information is all crap and you don't know anything?"

"You want this or not?"

"I don't know. What kind of compensation are you looking for?"

"Hundred thousand dollars, cash. No questions asked. Tell you what, you bring that cash to this attorney here, leave it with him, I'll tell you what I know. You don't like it, you take the money back. Otherwise, I take the money and disappear. You'll be able to get more based on what I tell you. You can go ask other people questions. You think about it."

The man stood up and walked through the door from which he had come. I looked at his attorney as I closed my notebook, not having written anything. "This is real sketchy."

Flannery was uninterested in a discussion. "I'll be here when you call."

As I pulled out of the garage, Rachel said, "Are you buying that?"

"I don't know. I really don't. I'm going to tell WorldCopter about it and see what they think. I want you to take another look at Braden's memo. Check the cases and ethics opinions of the state bar. See how close to the line this is. And check one other thing. What if the client does the paying and not the attorney? They're not bound by our ethical obligations. What if we can't control them?"

"Can't?"

"Or don't."

The next morning my cell phone rang as I was dressing. New York number. I answered quietly, "Mike Nolan."

"What were you thinking?" a female voice demanded.

It sent an awakening jolt of adrenaline through me. It was Kathryn. "What do you mean?"

"You let the press sit in on Melissa Collins's deposition? Have you seen the headlines? Let me read from the front page of this morning's New York Post, which I was just privileged to pick up. 'WorldCopter Lawyer Grills Marine One Pilot's Widow on Sex Life.' Did you do that?"

"I wouldn't put it like that, but basically, yeah. Of course. Just like you did when you were practicing. Those questions are routine."

"You don't grill a widow about her sex life in front of a roomful of reporters!"

"I didn't anticipate him inviting them, but it wouldn't have made any difference. I could have adjourned the depo and gotten a protective order, which probably would have been denied, and that would have been worse. 'WorldCopter Tries to Grill Widow in Secret.' And then I would have asked the same questions anyway."

"The protective order may have been granted. It would have cut down on the circus. We have to get a protective order for the other depos now. Hackett's whole idea is manipulation, winning in the press. It has nothing to do with the facts."

"I know that, and you know that. But we've got to be willing to take some lumps to prepare this case. Otherwise you can just write him a check."

She paused, obviously frustrated. "Just try to see these things coming so we can talk about it before it happens. All right? I don't like talking about bad things unless I anticipated them and prepared for them."

"Fair enough." I'd been working with Kathryn for years. I'd never heard her raise her voice. Hackett was really starting to piss me off. Trial was now sixty days off, and I had thirty days to finish my discovery, come up with my theory, get my expert reports together, and otherwise look like a genius. This thing was going to trial whether I was ready or not.

As I drafted an e-mail on my BlackBerry to Rachel about a protective order, I saw a new e-mail from Tripp at WorldCopter. The light bluish white screen glowed in the dark as Debbie slept. Tripp had read my e-mail report on the secret witness and wanted to meet with him immediately. If this guy was going to lead us to evidence, Tripp wanted to get on it right away.

I told Tripp where Flannery's office was and he said he was on his way. I called Flannery after Tripp, and he said he could have the witness there at 9 AM. I had a couple of minutes to talk to Tripp before we went into the conference room. I sent Rachel an e-mail asking for anything she had found about Braden's memo.

We went to the same conference room as the day before, and Flannery went through the familiar routine of lowering the shades. The witness walked in right on cue. He was wearing the same clothes he had been wearing the night before, and his hands were still dirty.

Tripp didn't want to hear about his clothes or hands or what he might do for a living. He knew the man had information that could exonerate WorldCopter. After the introductions, Tripp jumped right in. "What is it that you know that would be so valuable to us?"