Chapter 64

We quit with two kids. Hugo wouldn’t have minded more, and neither would I, really, but two pregnancies were more than enough for me. I felt fat and ugly, I worshiped the porcelain goddess far too often—morning sickness is really disgusting, what a rotten way to start the day, and to interrupt it, too; it isn’t just mornings—and we agreed that we were going to settle for two.

Hugo got them started early. He’d tell them bedtime stories from his own childhood, often continuing ones that left them on tenterhooks from one night to the next. When they were old enough he gave each of them George’s books to read; George did four after the first one was a smash. So it became part of their heritage. I’m not sure how much they really believe, but they know.

I took over as managing partner after Irving retired; as I told him, I can do trial but I’m really better behind the scenes. Hugo quickly became our primary litigator. His closing arguments are just as strong, just as moving as the speech he made to Irving that day in the cabin, and his handling of witnesses, always knowing when they’re telling it straight and when they’re lying, is nothing short of spectacular.

And prosecutors and the cops don’t hide exonerating evidence from us, either. The last one who tried it found Hugo in his office calmly threatening him with not only a mistrial but a bar association investigation. He couldn’t figure out how Hugo knew, but he turned everything over to us really fast and it was decisive, our client walked out a free man.

Of course Hugo doesn’t win all his cases, or even most of them; the majority of criminal defendants are guilty or they wouldn’t be defendants. But he’s terrific at pleading mitigation and at plea bargains; his clients serve smaller sentences than most. He’s pretty famous in legal circles these days, especially for the pro bono work he does in getting wrongfully convicted people out of prison. Other lawyers are amazed at how surely he picks up on guilt or innocence and how he can always nail down the flaws.

There are some cases we won’t take, though. Hugo makes it a point to vet every client, and he has pretty strict standards. One time he brusquely told a major drug dealer to find someone else and the idiot took offense and got pushy, even making some not-so-veiled threats. Hugo walked over and grabbed his shoulder, hard. The guy was a body builder but he couldn’t move.

“I’ve said this politely,” he told him. “Now I speak more plainly. You will not come near me or any here again. If you see us on the street you will cross to the other side. You will not send anyone. I do not tell you what happens if this is not so, I show you.”