Still, there was no denying that something was telling her to take this case. She felt positively giddy, just looking at the folder. If ever there was a time to choose joy, that time was now.
She turned and ran into her office, hauling out her stack of cases. "Did I hear you say you'd trade ten cases for this one, Jack? Let's see. . ." She sat down next to him and started to pull her stack apart.
Jack chuckled nervously. "It was just a figure of speech, Constance."
"Oh yes, definitely this one." She slapped the folder into his lap. He jumped a little, then clutched it.
"Wait a minute. I. . ." Another folder dropped onto him. Then another. "Cut it out, Constance."
"I'm sorry, did I miss something, counselor? Perhaps you'd like to defend the child pornographer. I can see you now, standing next to him while a bank of photographers snaps your picture." Two more folders got tossed into his unwilling lap.
"Stop this!"
"Stop what, Jack? I heard you offer a deal. Ten other cases if you don't have to do this one. I think I may have ten cases here somewhere. . ." She gave him a devilish smile and kept sifting through her stack.
This is fun. She was having a great time unloading on Jack. She made it to the bottom of the pile and forced him to take three more cases. "I'm giving you a discount today, Jack. Eight of my most tedious cases instead of the ten you offered to take." She held the child pornographer's case out to him. "Which will it be, Jack? This one or those?"
He tightened his mouth and glared at her. "Fine. But I'm not taking you out to dinner." Everyone in the room laughed at that.
Constance smiled at Phil. "Have you got anything more for me?"
Phil grinned. He and everyone else in the room had obviously found it amusing to see Jack take his lumps. "No, I suppose that's enough."
The meeting wrapped up, and people started to leave. Constance couldn't wait to find out why this case was making her so happy. As she headed back to her office, Phil caught up with her. He pointed to the folder that almost seemed to be glowing in her hand. "Let me tell you about this case. There's something about it that doesn't sit right with me. It doesn't make sense."
This is encouraging. She continued into her office, and they sat down. "What's wrong with the case?"
"Well, they found a huge pile of photographs, all marked with prices." He furrowed his brow. "Nobody actually sells photographs anymore; everything's gone digital. Downloads, CDs, DVDs. Nobody buys and sells actual prints these days." His furrow deepened.