Sparring Partners

Kirk and Diantha panic about the implications of Rusty’s loss in court: They suspect that Rusty was drunk when he rejected the initial settlement, which leaves the firm vulnerable to lawsuits by Brewster’s family. Diantha discusses the financial situation with Stuart Broome, the firm’s unlicensed accountant. For years, Stuart helped the firm shift fees and hide money from both the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Bolton Malloy’s late wife, Tilda. Stuart advises Diantha to remind Bolton, when she visits him, that he’ll always have the tobacco money.

In 1998, the firm took part in a lawsuit between the four largest tobacco companies and representatives of 46 US states seeking reimbursement for medical costs associated with smoking. As a part of the settlement, the litigating firms, including Malloy & Malloy, were awarded over $8 billion. Bolton’s share of the settlement was $21 million, and he was determined to keep the money for himself. With Stuart’s help, the deferred award money was routed through shell corporations and offshore accounts, so that Bolton could take possession after his release from jail. Kirk and Rusty believe they are entitled to some of the money as partners, but cannot agree on how to confront their father.

The next day, Diantha travels to Saliba Correctional Facility to visit Bolton. Diantha and Bolton once had an affair. In Diantha’s memory, the relationship was coercive: Bolton was her boss, and she felt that if she didn’t give into his advances, she would lose her job. In Bolton’s mind, she was having sex with him to advance her career. Although Bolton believes they have reconciled, Diantha still feels anger and resentment toward him.

Bolton tells Diantha that he does not miss his wife and the thought of Tilda’s death still makes him smile. After two health scares, Tilda’s doctors ordered her to leave St. Louis and spend time in the country. Bolton insisted that she go to his fishing cabin, and that he accompany her. One night, he snuck a nonvenomous snake into their bed, hoping that it would scare Tilda into another heart attack. The plan worked, and Bolton deliberately delayed getting her medical attention; she died in his car on the way to the hospital. Bolton then paid a funeral director $1,000 to cremate her that day, before the legally required 24 hours had passed. One week after Tilda’s funeral, Bolton aggressively pursued a $5 million life insurance payout. As a result of this suspicious behavior, the insurance company decided to investigate her death. The investigators found that Tilda had been dead for over an hour when Bolton arrived at the hospital, and that the drive should have taken only 50 minutes. They were also able to confirm that the snake found by police at the cabin was not wild, but had been purchased by Bolton. Bolton was arrested and charged with manslaughter, and his lawyers convinced him to take a plea deal with 10 years of prison time.

Three days after visiting Bolton in prison, Diantha affirms to her therapist that her relationship with Bolton was never consensual; she plans to make him pay for her continued silence. Meanwhile, the Malloy brothers meet at a hotel to discuss the future of the firm. They agree that their best option is taking control of the tobacco money, which they believe their father should share with them as partners in the firm. Rusty’s calculations indicate that the $3 million annual tobacco payments should last 14 years. They decide to ask Stuart and Diantha to help them access the money and lie to their father until he gets out of jail. Diantha, eager to cash out and leave the firm forever, agrees. Stuart rejects the trio’s initial offer, leaving Diantha worried about his loyalty to Bolton. Meanwhile, the firm is sued on behalf of the family of Trey Brewster, who are seeking $10 million in compensation and $10 million in punitive fees.

Rusty asks a private investigator to place an anonymous call to the prison where Bolton is incarcerated and inform them about Bolton’s illicit cell phone usage. As a result, Bolton is put into solitary confinement, making it impossible for him to influence the firm’s actions. Rusty then threatens to fire Stuart immediately unless he agrees to help Rusty, Kirk, and Diantha access the tobacco money. Stuart reluctantly agrees. As soon as the initial payments are made—$1 million to each of the four partners—Rusty, Kirk, and Diantha all move their money to offshore accounts.

Rusty visits his father in prison. Bolton asks him to support the incumbent Republican candidate for governor, Dan Sturgiss. Rusty, who is a staunch Democrat, refuses. Kirk, however, holds a $25,000 a plate fundraiser for Governor Sturgiss. At the fundraiser, Diantha speaks to Jack Grimlow, known as the Jackal, the governor’s most notorious henchman, who implies that the governor and Bolton are in communication. Shortly after, Rusty is contacted by Walt Kemp, a private investigator working on behalf of the Jackal’s wife, who is hoping to prove infidelity and divorce him. During the course of the investigation, Kemp uncovered an email suggesting that Bolton bought a pardon from Governor Sturgiss for $2 million. Rusty tells Kemp to delete the evidence.

Rusty arranges a meeting with Kirk and Diantha to discuss Bolton’s potential pardon. Diantha, spooked by Rusty’s reluctance to speak on the phone, decides to record the meeting. Rusty and Kirk decide to offer Governor Sturgiss $2.5 million to reject Bolton’s bribe. Although the brothers insist that there’s no law against not selling a pardon, Diantha loudly expresses her disapproval of the plan. Diantha leaves with the recording, and schedules a meeting with a prosecutor in the DA’s office. She passes along a letter to the DA, promising to provide evidence of the pardon-selling scheme if she is offered immunity. The DA quickly agrees to her terms, which also include immunity for Stuart. He encourages her to return to the firm and act like nothing has happened while the investigation continues.

The federal government quickly takes action to prove Diantha’s accusations. The FBI wiretaps the Jackal’s phones and the offices of Malloy & Malloy. When Kirk and the Jackal arrange a meeting, the FBI bugs the restaurant where they meet. Soon, they have recordings of two meetings. In the first, Kirk offers the Jackal $2.5 million for the governor not to pardon Bolton. In the second, the Jackal tells Kirk that governor wants $3 million to revoke the pardon and Kirk agrees.

Diantha schedules a meeting with Kirk and Rusty and asks them to make her a full partner in the firm. As partner, Diantha would be entitled to one third of the firm’s future earnings, including the tobacco money. Diantha argues that she has been the firm’s de facto managing partner, and is also owed the partnership for Bolton’s continued sexual harassment. Kirk and Rusty reluctantly agree to sign the contract, rather than have Diantha leave the firm with evidence of their crimes.

Shortly after, a grand jury returns indictments against Kirk, Rusty, and the Jackal: one count each of conspiring to bribe a public official. The governor is not arrested, but news agencies and the public quickly link him to the scandal. Rusty meets with his lawyer, F. Ray Zalinski, who encourages him to cooperate with the prosecution, blame his brother, and secure a favorable deal. Kirk meets with lawyer Rick Dalmore, and plans to do the same thing.

Governor Sturgiss is reelected; Rusty, Kirk, and the Jackal are released from jail on bond. The Missouri State Bar Association temporarily suspends Rusty and Kirk’s licenses, pending the results of the criminal investigation. Zalinski attempts to make a deal with federal investigators, but they reject him based on Diantha’s tapes, which prove that both brothers were involved in the deal. The district attorney will seek 30 months in prison for both brothers, and for them to be disbarred for at least five years. As a result of the brothers’ legal troubles, Diantha is made managing partner of the firm. Diantha and Stuart meet with the IRS and protected by their immunity agreement, admit that the firm has been misrepresenting the size of the tobacco settlement. They offer to pay back taxes and report future income from the tobacco settlement fairly.

The novella ends with Diantha as the sole representative of the firm while the Malloy brothers struggle through their legal problems. Diantha, who still has her share of the stolen tobacco money, begins to dismantle the firm. She and her family leave Missouri for Zurich, Switzerland, where she opens new offices for the firm, and deposits the tobacco money safely in a Swiss bank.