DM-R: The sky isn't smoggy yet during your early morning Monday commute. The bus is already crowded by the time it arrives at your stop, as usual. Stop-and-go all the way to Pasadena, almost hypnotic. Another Monday. ***Carl mutters, puts the George R. R. Martin book he was reading into a pocket, and grabs a strap. DM-R: It's less than a block from your stop to the firm, Merriman & Watt. ***Carl starts walking. DM-R: As you walk in through the door, you see Dale McCormick, one of the junior partners, talking on the phone. DM-R: His body language is tense, and he's rolling his eyes. His tone is patronizing. ***Carl nods a greeting as he heads to his cubicle to sort out the work he took home before. DM-R: (Dale) "That sounds very serious, Mrs. Lopez. Uh-huh. Mmm-hm." DM-R: He catches your eye and makes some sort of unintelligible gesture, then pantomimes a handset. ***Carl points at his own phone, looking the obvious question. DM-R: (Dale) "Let me transfer you to Carl to get your information..." ***Carl picks up the phone. DM-R: (woman) "Hello? Hello? Mister Dale?" DM-R: Dale breathes a sigh of relief. DM-R: He pantomimes something vaguely like drinking and flashes you a thumbs-up. Carl: "This is his assistant Mr. Barker, Ma'am." ***Carl grabs a pad of paper and a pen. Carl: "So, Mrs. Lopez, if you could give a brief description of your situation for filing purposes?" DM-R: (Mrs. Lopez) "We need to sue Los Angeles for causing my son to catch fire on the bus!" Carl: "I see. And what is your son's name?" ***Carl also casually moves the useful information he found last night for Mr. McCormick's case to the bottom of his to-do stack for the day. DM-R: (Mrs. Lopez) "Carlo. Carlo Lopez. He was riding the Greyhound from Los Angeles to Bakersfield." Carl: "Was there faulty wiring in the bus's lighting or something? Was there anything unusual Carlo was wearing?" DM-R: (Mrs. Lopez) "You've got to help him! The insurance company said they don't cover spontes combussion and Mendez & Sons told us you deal with kind of case a lot." Carl: "What kind of condition is Carlo in?" DM-R: (Mrs. Lopez) "He's in the hospital right now, they're watching him, he was burned on his hands and chest pretty bad, but they say he'll be ok... But it's going to cost a lot! It's not Carlo's fault, Carlo is a good boy, he would never set himself on fire!" Carl: "Er, which hospital, precisely? There are quite a few between here and Bakersfield." DM-R: "Oh. Ehh... Martin Luther King." DM-R: That would be Martin Luther King, Jr. General Hospital, on Wilmington. Carl: "All right. Is there a way we will be able to reach you once one of our partners has reached a conclusion about this?" DM-R: She rattles off a phone number, with area code. Carl: "Thank you. I can't promise anything at this point, but I'll see what can be done." DM-R: (Mrs. Lopez) "Okay, please call back soon." ***Carl jots down the remaining notes and hangs up. DM-R: Well, what a great way to start the week. Carl: Time to go talk to Dale again. DM-R: Dale comes back from the coffee machine with two foam cups, and hands you one. Carl: "Thanks. How much did she tell you?" DM-R: (Dale) "Sorry about that, it was too much crazy for me before coffee. Something about the bus set her son on fire, and that we need to sue Greyhound, and the mayor, and Los Angeles, and GM." Carl: "Tsk tsk. She forgot the clothing manufacturers, too. I'm not sure even faulty wiring in the bus could do that unless he was wearing something really weird." Carl: "Though if things looked like what she described, that would be my first guess." DM-R: Dale sips and looks at you. DM-R: (Dale) "You think there's actually a case here?" Carl: "Not the case she thinks." Carl: "Well, OK, it's theoretically possible. But the problem that's actually sticking her is that her insurance is refusing to pay." Carl: "That may or may not be legit, and she definitely doesn't know her options with respect to that." Carl: "Whether or not Mr. Lopez set himself on fire is probably a separate issue, but you'd think somebody else would have noticed that." Carl: "If her son's not insured for accidental damage, I doubt there's a lot we can do." DM-R: (Dale) "Well, okay. But from what I'm seeing, we have two possibilities. Either he set himself on fire, or he didn't. If he did, we have no case. If he didn't, then either the insurance covers the details, or it doesn't, and that'll take legwork. If the insurance doesn't cover it, we have no case, and if it does, and we can prove it, either they'll roll over and pay it, or they won't. If they roll over, they won't cough up anything extra... that's just par for the course, and I don't think Mrs. Lopez can even pay for the consultation." DM-R: Dale is watching you carefully as you think. ***Carl is picking his words carefully. Carl: "I think I mostly agree, though if she can pay for the consultation, I don't see the harm in it." Carl: "Not my position to decide, of course." Carl: "I have to admit, I do find it kind of odd that someone would be able to ignite themselves in a crowded bus without anyone noticing." DM-R: He seems to be weighing something. Carl: "Oh. One other thing she said was a little odd." DM-R: "Hm?" Carl: "She mentioned that we were explicitly recommended by Menendez as having experience in these sorts of things." Carl: "Somehow, I don't think she was talking about insurance contract law." DM-R: (Dale) "Hah, that. That's just Mendez fucking with us." DM-R: (Dale) "You watch any Monty Python, Carl?" Carl: "Only Life of Brian and that Grail one." DM-R: (Dale) "Well, there's this Flying Circus sketch, it's this guy who's looking for all these imaginary books, and the guy at the shop is getting more and more frustrated, and recommends that he try this other bookstore, only they recommended him to this store." ***Carl nods Carl: "Yeah, that sounds about right." DM-R: (Dale) "Guess you had to be there. Anyway, yeah, it sounds like a crazy story, and I don't think we're gonna take it. But I think you got the impression that she didn't sound like she was lying, or sounded particularly crazy either." Carl: "Yeah, I do feel kind of bad for her. I wonder if there's an easy way to get to 'there's no case'." ***Carl blinks. Carl: "Actually, there might be." DM-R: Dale downs the rest of his cup. Carl: "If he set himself on fire, the doctors are probably going to be able to notice it, because it'll be something they've seen before." Carl: "We can't get that directly, of course, but she can, because she's family." Carl: "And if they tell her that he's been burned across the hands and chest by from a cigarette lighter, that's pretty much that." Carl: "If they say it's an electrical burn, then there's an actual case here, probably against Greyhound, and I get to kick it back into your lap, or possibly we both kick it upstairs." DM-R: (Dale) "Alright. I admit I'm curious too. Tell you what. You can't bring her in unless she can pay. If she can, well, that's different. But if she can't, go see her and check things out, off the record." DM-R: (Dale) "Think of it as a side-bet... I'm betting your hourly rate that there's a case." DM-R: (Dale) "If I'm right, we have a case, if I'm wrong, you get paid for it anyway." Carl: "Sounds good to me. That reminds me." ***Carl digs out the papers he buried before. Carl: "I managed to finish Shepardizing these after you left on Friday. The General Dynamics case you wanted to rely on is still good law, and it should work out." ***Carl hands those over. DM-R: (Dale) "Ah, good, thanks." Carl: "OK, I think this is my game plan, then." Carl: "First, I call her back and see if she can afford a consultation on the insurance matters. If she can, I forward that back to you pros and you can handle it yourselves. If not, I arrange to meet her at MLK later." DM-R: (Dale) "Sounds good." Carl: "Then, I go and send these" -- here I gesture at the rest of the papers from Friday night -- "to their respective inboxes, and then I go look into the situation. Then it's either over, or I again kick it back up to you if there's evidence of malfeasance." DM-R: He goes back to his desk. ***Carl calls back the number Mrs. Lopez gave him before. DM-R: (woman) "Hello?" Carl: "May I speak to a Mrs. Lopez, please?" DM-R: (Mrs. Lopez) "Oh, yes. Is this Carl?" Carl: "This is he. I've discussed matters with one of our partners." ***Carl outlines the insurance matters and gives a ballpark estimate of what a consultation would cost. Carl: "Is this within your means?" DM-R: There's silence on the line for a few moments. DM-R: (Mrs. Lopez) "Oh. Oh..." Carl: "... I see. Well, we thought that might be the case. Bear with me a moment..." Carl: "Without more information on what the situation is, we really have no idea whether or not there is a legitimate case here. However, only you, or another family member, are authorized to actually get medical or insurance information, since at the time we would not be representing you." Carl: "However, it is likely that more detailed information about the nature of the injury your son sustained will clarify the nature of the case." Carl: "If it turns out that it is an electrical burn, or some other kind of thing where we can reasonably prove that Greyhound has done something wrong, then that would change the case entirely." DM-R: (Mrs. Lopez) "Okay..." Carl: "If not, I may be able to recommend some other firms that occasionally do pro bono work." Carl: "Would you be able to meet me at the MLK hospital at 1 PM?" DM-R: (Mrs. Lopez) "Yes, okay. But do I have to pay?" Carl: "Not unless we decide there's a case, and you decide to hire us to represent you." DM-R: (Mrs. Lopez) "Oh, okay. One o' clock." DM-R: (Mrs. Lopez) "Thank you, Carl." Carl: "Thank you, Mrs. Lopez. Before you go..." DM-R: (Mrs. Lopez) "Yes?" Carl: "I'm wearing a navy suit, and will be in the hospital lobby reading a yellow paperback with a TV screen on the cover. My last name is Barker." Carl: "How will I recognize you?" DM-R: (Mrs. Lopez) "Oh, yes. I am wearing a pink dress, with a black purse." Carl: "That should be sufficient. I will see you in a bit under three hours, than, unless there is something else...?" DM-R: (Mrs. Lopez) "Okay, gracias, Carl." *click* Carl: Cue dealing with the remainder of the Friday leftovers, which I imagine is unentertaining. ***Carl finishes his pending work, then takes the bus to the hospital, grabbing lunch nearby. DM-R: After your lunch of choice, you arrive at Martin Luther King, Junior General. ***Carl checks the lobby to make sure she hasn't already arrived, then finds a seat somewhere conspicuous and resumes reading, checking up and around every few minutes. DM-R: A few minutes before 1 pm, a Hispanic woman (in her early-40s you'd guess) wanders in through the automatic doors, wearing a pink dress, with a faded black purse. She looks carefully around at everyone in the lobby until she spots you, and walks over. ***Carl looks up. "Mrs. Lopez?" DM-R: (woman) "Ah, yes, Mister Carl?" Carl: "Well, Mr. Barker, but yes." ***Carl puts his book away, and stands up. DM-R: You're a good head taller than her when you stand up. DM-R: She wrings her hands on the handles of her purse anxiously. Carl: "Is he still OK?" DM-R: (Mrs. Lopez) "Yes, he's okay, the doctor said the burn is only 2 degrees." Carl: "Oh, that's good. Do you know if they know what caused it?" DM-R: (Mrs. Lopez) "They didn't tell me. Should I ask?" ***Carl also dramatically changes his mental picture of the incident. Carl: "I think it would good to know. Especially since it will let us know who, if anyone, is at fault." Carl: "It's not strictly important right now, but no matter what happens, you'll want to have your information about your insurance policies ready. Bits you aren't sure of about that may be known by the hospital personnel." DM-R: (Mrs. Lopez) "Okay. Carlo gets his insurance from work, I'll ask him where it is. I go get a doctor." DM-R: She goes over to the receptionist. DM-R: (Receptionist) "Hi, may I help you?" DM-R: (Mrs. Lopez) "I need a doctor." DM-R: (Receptionist) "Is something wrong with you?" DM-R: (Mrs. Lopez) "No, it is my son, he's burned badly." DM-R: The receptionist looks around. DM-R: (Receptionist) "Do you need us to bring him in?" DM-R: (Mrs. Lopez) "Oh, no, he's upstairs." DM-R: (Receptionist) "... oh." DM-R: (Receptionist) "What is your son's name, ma'am?" DM-R: (Mrs. Lopez) "Carlo Ricardo Lopez." DM-R: *tap tap tappety* DM-R: (Receptionist) "He's already being taken care of, ma'am, does he need a doctor right now for something?" DM-R: (Mrs. Lopez) "Oh, no, I just need to know what caused the burns." DM-R: (Receptionist) "Ohhhh." DM-R: He picks up the phone and dials. DM-R: (Receptionist) "Okay, if you'll go meet Doctor Grune, up on the third floor, to the left from the elevator." DM-R: Mrs. Lopez looks back at you, and then walks to the elevator. ***Carl follows. DM-R: You exit the third floor, and follow the directions to a waiting area. The receptionist here gets up and opens the door. DM-R: Mrs. Lopez goes through the door, into the hallway, following the receptionist to a small office with a door labeled "Doctor Grune, MD." DM-R: The man behind the desk stands up as Mrs. Lopez enters. DM-R: (Doctor) "Mrs. Lopez! ... And who might you be?" Carl: "I'm Carl Barker, sir; I've been helping Mrs. Lopez deal with her situation." Carl: "If my staying will violate doctor/patient confidentiality, I will wait in the waiting room." DM-R: He looks at you warily. ***Carl looks slightly put upon. "Not like that." DM-R: (Doctor) "Mrs. Lopez, is this man your legal counsel, or otherwise here with your express permission?" DM-R: (Mrs. Lopez) "Oh, yes, he's my lawyer for the insurance." Carl: "I am not her counsel, sir." DM-R: He tries to digest this. Carl: "However, it would appear I have her permission." DM-R: He looks back at her. DM-R: (Mrs. Lopez) "Yes, he's okay to listen." DM-R: Doctor Grune clears his throat a little and frowns. ***Carl sits. DM-R: (Doctor) "Please, have a seat." DM-R: She sits as well. Carl: "Sorry about the confusion, sir. I'll explain later if you wish." DM-R: He sits down and nods at you. DM-R: (Doctor) "Now, how may I help you, Mrs. Lopez?" DM-R: Mrs. Lopez looks to you uncertainly and asks, "What caused the burns?" DM-R: Doctor Grune leans back in his chair a little and shifts a little. ***Carl raises an eyebrow, too DM-R: (Doctor) "The burns, when taken in isolation, are consistent with a grease fire..." DM-R: (Doctor) "But the burn pattern is contradictory - no splash patterns, only burn patterns consistent with an open flame, like a candle." DM-R: (Doctor) "Not to mention the unlikelihood of that quantity of burning grease on a Greyhound." Carl: "Hrm. I had heard that the burns covered both hands and much of the chest?" I glance at Mrs. Lopez to confirm. DM-R: (Doctor) "That's right, both hands, and parts of Carlo's chest, where the shirt burned off." Carl: "That's a mighty big candle." ***Carl is, incidentally, noticably nonplussed; this is not what he was expecting. DM-R: (Doctor) "Yes... And since the police department hasn't come asking after Carlo, I'm guessing none of the other passengers were hurt." DM-R: (Doctor) "So, short answer... We don't know." Carl: "It sounds quite unusual. You mentioned the police; I don't suppose anyone actually witnessed the... explosion? ignition? itself?" DM-R: (Doctor) "Well, Carlo, and anyone sitting by him, probably. We don't investigate these things, and as far as I know, the police haven't gotten involved... There doesn't seem to be a crime." ***Carl nods, still trying to work through what this means. DM-R: (Doctor) "Mrs. Lopez, you could ask your son what happened. He's only told us that he doesn't know either, but if it'll help for insurance purposes..." he shrugs as he trails off. Carl: "Mrs. Lopez, have you actually seen him since he was hurt?" DM-R: (Mrs. Lopez) "Yes, I come and sit with him every day." Carl: "Dr. Grune, just to make sure I'm clear on the situation, when you say "looks like a grease fire, but the pattern is as a flame", does this mean that he would have been burned by a grease fire in front of him, or that he has somehow had grease placed on him and burned without getting a spatter pattern?" DM-R: (Doctor) "I mean the flesh is burned as if spattered by a grease fire, but the shape of the burn pattern is as if from an open flame." DM-R: (Doctor) "There was no sign of grease on either the skin or clothing, though." Carl: "... I see." DM-R: (Doctor) "Is there anything else I can help you with?" Carl: "Mrs. Lopez, would it be all right if I talked to your son? ... Actually, Doctor, I suppose I'd need to ask you that too. Is he in any shape to be spoken to?" DM-R: (Doctor) "If Mrs. Lopez says it's okay, and Mr. Lopez has no objections." DM-R: (Mrs. Lopez) "Yes, okay, we can go talk to Carlo." Carl: "All right." DM-R: She gets up. DM-R: (Mrs. Lopez) "Thank you Doctor Grune." Carl: "Thank you as well." DM-R: He nods in a relieved sort of way. DM-R: Mrs. Lopez finds her way out to an EXIT sign in one of the doors in the hallway. DM-R: When you catch up, she heads to the elevator. DM-R: She takes you up another two floors, then goes to the orderly to get permission to enter Carlo's room. DM-R: She takes you to one of the rooms and enters. DM-R: (Mrs. Lopez) "Carlo? I brought you a visitor today." DM-R: There's a groan from the bed. DM-R: Carlo is a boy in his late teens, possibly early 20s, with short black hair. Thin, 120ish, maybe 5'10, 5'11, but you can't tell because of the sheets. There are dressings on Carlo's chest and hands. DM-R: Mrs. Lopez bends down to kiss him on the forehead. DM-R: (Carlo, Spanish) "Who's the white guy?" DM-R: (Mrs. Lopez) "Ay, don't be rude, Carlo, this is Mr. Barker from the lawyer people." Carl: (Spanish) "It's all right, if he'd rather talk in it." (English) "I can't manage speaking it for long, though." DM-R: (Mrs. Lopez) "He's going to help us with the medical insurance people." DM-R: Carlo sighs. Carl: "I hate to bother you like this, but I do have to ask. What was it that happened?" Carl: "I was originally going to ask 'how did it happen?' but the doctor convinced me that's not the right question." DM-R: (Carlo) "I was on the Greyhound to Bakersfield, right? The guy sitting next to me gets off early, like at Pasadena or something, so I stretch out on the seat so no one coming on will take it, right? And I fall asleep." DM-R: (Carlo) "Next thing I know, I was like, feeling all hot and shit, right, like the air con is busted or something. And then it starts to fuckin' hurt, you know, so I wake up, and my fuckin' hands were on fire, and I started screamin' and shit and slapping it out on the seat in fronna me." Carl: "How full was the bus when you fell asleep?" DM-R: (Carlo) "I donno, it was pretty full when I got on at LA, and only a couple people left at Pasadena." Carl: "You weren't wearing or carrying anything weird that day, were you?" DM-R: (Carlo) "Nah man, I just had my butterfly knife, you know? And nothing else was weird or nothing. My fuckin' CK shirt man, it's ruined." Carl: "Jesus." Carl: "Oh, right. The insurance stuff. Do you have any idea why aren't they just treating this as an accident?" DM-R: (Carlo) "They said that spontaneous human combustion counts as an act of God, man." Carl: "Wait, they're actually calling it that?" DM-R: (Carlo) "Yeah man." Carl: "And your work's insurance normally covers personal injury and stuff?" DM-R: (Carlo) "I guess, I dunno, I never been hurt at work before." Carl: "Ehh, fair enough." Carl: "That helped a lot, man. I'm going to talk to my boss, and then we can figure out what can be done." Carl: "So, uh, yeah. Thanks a lot. Hope you're up and about again soon." DM-R: (Carlo) "Hey, can you get the orderly to give me more Vicodin on your way out?" Carl: "Sure, I'll ask." DM-R: Mrs. Lopez kisses him on the forehead again. DM-R: (Mrs. Lopez) "You be a good boy, Carlo, and get enough rest." DM-R: Mrs. Lopez follows you out of the room. ***Carl goes over to the orderly. "Carlo Lopez in room 513 asked for painkillers as we were leaving." DM-R: He sighs and nods, getting heavily to his feet, and heads over with his clipboard. Carl: "Thank you, sir." ***Carl continues out with Mrs. Lopez. DM-R: She stops when you get to the lobby. DM-R: (Mrs. Lopez) "So, you will call us after you talk to your boss?" Carl: "Yes, I will. As I said before, I'm just an assistant, so I can't promise we'll take the case. But if we don't, given the circumstances, I think it should be straightforward to find someone who will take the case as service to the community." Carl: "I'll have some names for you to check in that case." DM-R: (Mrs. Lopez) "Thank you so much, Mr. Barker." She smiles gratefuly and takes her leave. ***Carl smiles back and heads back to the office. DM-R: When you get back to the office, Dale is not in evidence, and there's a sticky-note on your desk with "MEETING A CLIENT, UPDATE ME TOMORROW" in Dale's scrawl. ***Carl then goes to check his own inbox, since he's been gone for... what, 2 hours? Not counting the lunch break? DM-R: A couple of memos to proofread, not much else. DM-R: Nothing crazy happens for the rest of the work day. ***Carl gets down his notes and thoughts for the Lopez case, and also checks the Rolodex for people to refer her to, just in case. ***Carl heads home, with the intent of showing up early enough to make sure to catch Dale before he meets up with other clients.