Foggy thought for a moment, then explained, “It’s free legal aid.”
Luke gave an “oh.” “Okay, it seems I’ll have to wait for your invitation a little longer.”
Foggy and Matt paused again, and Foggy quickly said, “Tonight, tonight. After work, we’ll treat you and Selina at the bar.”
Luke nodded with a smile. “Okay, we won’t bother you anymore, bye!”
At that moment, Karen was standing at the door with two boxes. She said, “Luke, the cake you gave us last time was really good. Just nice that you’re here today; take these back with you.”
As she spoke, she handed him the boxes.
Luke saw that it was full of donuts.
Looking at the clearly ordinary packaging and the brand he had never heard of, it was probably another “thank you gift” from the neighbors.
He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, but he couldn’t refuse.
He was the one who had made the joke; he could only grit his teeth and accept it.
Saying thank you, he said to Foggy and Matt, “Contact me after work tonight. Hm, good luck with your business.”
Then, he quickly left with the two boxes of donuts. Otherwise, Karen would feel that this “return gift” wasn’t enough, and it would be troublesome if she gave him two more boxes.
Foggy and Matt smiled bitterly again.
Their “business” would definitely be booming in the next few days, but they weren’t making any money from it.
Why did the detective like to say such hurtful things?
Luke and Selina squeezed out of the office and got into the car outside. Selina wiped her forehead and said, “There are too many people. I’m sweating.”
Luke gave her two boxes of donuts. “Try them.”
“What brand is this? Why haven’t I seen it before?” Selina opened one box and took a bite of a donut. “It tastes ordinary and too sweet.”
Luke said, “Give them to Gold Nugget. Doesn’t it love sweets?”
Selina thought for a moment, then tossed the two boxes of donuts into the backseat. “Gold Nugget, these are all yours.”
Gold Nugget: “Huh?”
Selina said, “Don’t complain, they’re very sweet.”
Gold Nugget hesitated for a moment before it opened its mouth.
It was becoming more and more picky about food, but that was mainly with salty stuff and fresh raw seafood.
It couldn’t refuse donuts.
After successfully tossing the two boxes of sweet donuts to Gold Nugget, Selina asked, “It doesn’t look like Foggy and the others are working on a lawsuit. They’re doing pro bono work. If they don’t make money, how are they going to pay the rent? You said yesterday that they’re already stuffed to the brim with bills?”
Luke drove the car to the back and parked in the garage on the first floor. “Ask them tonight.”
Selina asked, “You seem to like them?”
Luke chuckled. “Of all the lawyers we’ve met, these two should be in the top three in terms of integrity, and what lawyers lack the most is integrity.”
Selina was lost for words.
To put it another way, it would be unjust to kill all the lawyers in America, but too many would escape the net if half of them were killed.
Lawyers with moral integrity were like capitalists who didn’t want to make money.
At half past seven in the evening, Luke received a call from Foggy, who invited him and Selina to have a drink at Josie’s Bar on the corner.
Luke and Selina went out and reached the closest bar in less than two minutes.
The bar’s business was so-so, and had an average number of customers; it was hard to do good business in Clinton.
The three law firm executives were at the counter, and Luke and Selina sat down next to them.
They looked exhausted, but were in good spirits and chatting happily.
The three of them greeted Luke and Selina with smiles.
Foggy waved his hand. “Order whatever you want. It’s on me tonight.”
Luke took a deep breath and smelled the fake whiskey that was in front of Foggy.
Looking at the dark gray “olive” next to the cup, Luke felt that it was either moldy or not an olive at all.
He quickly said, “Two bottles of Corona beer.”
The lady boss, who was wearing a red and black plaid shirt, turned around and looked at him. “Are you an adult? I think I need to look at your driver’s license first. Don’t take out your student ID.”
Luke smiled and looked at Foggy.
Foggy said, “Josie, he’s my friend. How can he be a minor? Just give him the beer.”
Josie curled her lip. “You don’t look like an adult, either. Except for your face, of course.”
Foggy: “…”
After dealing Foggy a blow, Josie gave Luke and Selina two bottles of Corona.
She had only said that because she liked Luke’s soft-looking face.
Otherwise, nobody in Clinton would care if Luke drank or not.
Just like that, the five of them chatted and talked about the “unprecedented event” at the firm.
As he listened, Luke suddenly said, “What you’re saying is that what most of them want to do is fix up their places, right?”
Foggy took a sip of his whiskey. “That’s right.”
Luke rubbed his chin. “Wouldn’t it be better to help them find a cheap maintenance company?”
Foggy shook his head. “That’s impossible. There’s no cheap maintenance company in New York. Just repairing a door costs at least two hundred dollars. That isn’t cheap.”
Luke said, “Then, what if we set one up ourselves and find a few locals?”
Both Foggy and Matt were confused. “Locals?”
What did this have to do with the locals? The locals also had to make money, and wouldn’t do charity work.
Luke said, “The fact is that a maintenance company needs to make money in order to keep running and hire workers, so the prices can’t be too low. But we can cut costs in these two areas.”
Foggy said, “Tell me about it.”
Luke said, “We can hire some locals as interns and then bring in skilled workers from outside. If we don’t focus on making money but purely on hiring people, we can cut down a lot on maintenance costs.”
Foggy shook his head. “That’s impossible. Even if we hire someone, it won’t be cheap.”
Luke chuckled. “I know two candidates. They can be interns. They’re also very familiar with transporting and unloading construction materials.”
Foggy didn’t understand for a moment, but Matt’s expression changed. “You mean Charlie and Raqael?”
Luke nodded. “That’s them. Also, we can talk to Temple and Raqael’s mother about this, and get them to come in as community volunteers. It just so happens that this is a charity foundation.”
Matt and Foggy frowned and gave it some thought.
It was because Charlie and Raqael were minors that Luke was making this suggestion, since hiring them might cause trouble if they didn’t do it right.
Once this thing started, it would be a major project.
If their law firm was going to step out, it was even more important to consider these legal issues.