Chapter 858: Money Is Always a Big Problem
Of course, an old fox like Walter wouldn’t give up easily.
He had a hundred ways to clear the case without Luke and Selina’s help so that in the end, they wouldn’t get any share of the credit.
So, he didn’t panic at Dustin’s interference, and simply followed his own plan.
As the old lady spoke excitedly to Walter and the rest, someone walked out of the office.
The man was stunned when he saw Luke. “Luke? What are you…”
Luke greeted him with a smile. “Good morning, Foggy. I’m working.”
Foggy looked at the two men and saw their badges. He then looked at Luke. “You, too…”
Smiling, Luke pulled out the metal chain from inside his jacket and revealed his badge. “Let’s reintroduce ourselves. Luke Coulson, a new detective who reported to NYPD yesterday.”
Foggy gaped. “You? A detective?”
As a lawyer and a native of New York, Foggy certainly knew a lot about NYPD.
In his opinion, although Luke was mature, that was more likely a result of his upbringing; he didn’t even look like he was twenty years old yet.
He was under twenty but had joined NYPD as a police officer, and was even part of the Detective Bureau, where all the sly foxes were.
Luke smiled. “Most of your cla.s.smates are still interning in law firms, but you opened your own law firm and are your own boss now, aren’t you?”
Foggy smiled bitterly. “Alright, quit joking around. Luke, why are you looking for Elena?”
Luke briefly explained the situation.
Foggy frowned. “You’re only here to look for clues, and you might not be able to solve Elena’s problem?”
Luke sighed, then looked meaningfully in Walter’s direction. He lowered his voice and said, “When I went to work today, I was put on this case. That Lieutenant Walter is the one in charge of the investigation, so you understand.”
Thinking about the detective t.i.tle on Luke’s badge and Walter’s lieutenant rank, Foggy couldn’t say anything.
It was just like how an intern at a law firm couldn’t tell a senior partner what to do.
Of course a minor detective wasn’t qualified to instruct a police inspector on a case, not to mention that Luke was new.
Looking at his face, Luke continued in a low voice, “But if we find any clues, it’ll be better than settling the ‘renovation dispute’ for Elena, right?”
Foggy was intrigued. “Is that so…”
Smiling, Luke patted his shoulder and said, “You can go over now and see what Lieutenant Walter has to say. Since coming to NYPD, I haven’t even spoken to him for five minutes all up.”
Foggy didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. You’re too good a newcomer!
However, Luke’s att.i.tude improved his mood.
As expected, this young man didn’t have the hypocrisy that Foggy hated.
Someone with principles was always more likable than someone who sat on the fence.
Luke wasn’t selling Walter out, because what happened to Elena had nothing to do with Walter. He was investigating the explosions, not the small matter of Elena’s apartment being smashed up.
Elena called the police, and the 15th Precinct concluded that it was a “renovation dispute.”
The old lady indeed should thank Walter for his meddling. That way, she could at least look forward to the 15th Precinct’s conclusion being overturned.
Foggy wasn’t stupid. Anyone who could be a lawyer couldn’t be stupid, or they would very quickly be taken of.
In the time it took him to walk over, he had already sorted out the key points in the information that Luke had divulged. He walked over with a smile and began to help the old lady, Elena.
In fact, it was precisely because of this “renovation dispute” that Foggy had gone over to Elena’s place to talk, so he had been in the apartment on the night of the explosions.
Foggy had a clear head and spoke in an organized manner; he was clearly a better witness than the old lady, and had been able to notice certain details.
Walter had initially been afraid of trouble and didn’t want to talk to the young lawyer, but after talking to Foggy for a while, he couldn’t help but ask more questions, and the old lady was left alone.
Luke simply gestured for Selina to call for him if something happened.
He took a few steps forward and returned to Nelson and Murdock’s office.
Now that he was examining the so-called law firm, he shook his head. The two young lawyers seemed to have encountered the most common and biggest problem when starting their own business: money.
Money was always a big problem for most people in the world.
The two young lawyers had started their own business, but had taken on a lot of cases from the poor when they needed money the most.
The only way to make a lot of money from the poor was basically through lawsuits claiming damages and compensations — the New York subway and signboards had 888 phone numbers along with two smiling lawyers who specialized in this sort of service.
These two young lawyers, however, didn’t take on lucrative jobs like these.
Their current cases involved either obtaining new work visas for migrant workers or reducing the punishment for poor people who couldn’t pay the fines and didn’t want to go to jail. Also, they were helping Elena negotiate with the landlord about fixing the apartment.
These people couldn’t afford an hourly lawyer fee of a hundred dollars. What they gave the two young lawyers in return was just cheap food and fruit.
They were piled in a corner of the room, but it wasn’t a lot; it would last the three of them two days at most.
Alright, a certain lawyer might only be able to eat two meals at most. After all, those who liked to engage in physical labor would be more exhausted.
The blonde, Karen, noticed Luke.
Like her, it was very hard to ignore Luke’s looks in a place like this.
She asked curiously, “Is there anything I can help you with?”
Luke smiled. “I’m a friend of Foggy’s, but I’ve never been here before. Do you mind if I take a look around?”
Karen smiled awkwardly. “That’s fine, but… we only have three rooms.”
Luke looked at her and shrugged. “It’s never easy starting a business. Don’t worry about me, I’ll just take a look.”
As he spoke, he walked to the door of the room that should be the office of the two lawyers and looked inside.
There were two desks and a cabinet full of files, and an antique computer connected to an old printer.
Looking at the old scratches on the printer, Luke felt that the printer might be as old as Claire.
On one of the tables was a stack of envelopes that were very familiar to most Americans.
They were urgent notifications from various companies.