"Twenty-eight thousand feet, 73-mile-an-hour winds." "The South Col." "With 500 climbers all crowding the same route in the one three-week period, it's a nightmare on Everest." "That's Hillary Step." "I shot this just below the summit." "There's always a bottleneck waiting to use the ropes." "And that's where Robert Lambros died?" "Yes." "And that's his body there?" "Yes." "He was a guide." "One of the members of his party collapsed and died above Hillary Step and Bobby stayed to help and then succumbed too." "I'm sorry." "I liked your brother." " You okay?" "Now, Regarding his book," " the defendant's." "Have you read it?" "I have." "In it, he claims that my client," "Mr. Oliver Cardiff, came upon the dying Robert Lambros and not only stepped over his body to get to the summit, but then took his bottled oxygen." " You're aware of that accusation?" " I am." " Do you disagree?" "I do." "I was climbing Everest for a documentary and I saw Mr. Cardiff here, climbing with the British team." "And this is below the Hillary Steps?" "Step." "Yes." "So Mr. Cardiff couldn't have been near Lambros?" " He was lower on the mountain?" " Yes." "That would follow." "So this book is untrue?" "Well, I hate to question another climber, especially a friend, but Danny was at base camp and didn't see what I saw." "No further questions." "Nothing personal, but I have to rip your friend apart." "Be gentle." "Mr. Branch, what is the death zone?" "The death zone?" "In mountaineering parlance, it's the altitude above 26,000 feet, where oxygen is insufficient to sustain life." "It's also a place where perceptions are not to be fully trusted?" " Sometimes." " You believe that bottled oxygen has hurt the sport of mountain climbing," " so you climb without oxygen?" "I do." "And an absence of oxygen would increase the likelihood of untrustworthy perceptions?" " Yes." "So when you say that you saw the plaintiff below the Hillary Step, we have to take your word for it and yet your word could be colored by your oxygen-deprived perception." "I believe that follows." "Your Honor, I'd like to make a motion at this time to dismiss this lawsuit." "This is a libel suit, not a criminal case." "The plaintiff needs not only to prove that my client's book was wrong, but that he knew it was wrong." " Which we're doing." " No." "There is too much inherent uncertainty here." "This is a case built on perception and the death zone makes those perceptions essentially suspect." "Responsibility?" "He's got a responsibility..." "Wow, he dismissed." "I'm..." "Heh." "I'm stunned." "Me too." " Thank you." " Oh." "The thought of him leaving my brother behind and then suing me for everything..." "I know." "It's over." " Hi, Eli." "Where are you?" " The meeting's in ten minutes." " And what meeting was that again?" "Okay, don't tease." "I'm not in the mood." "I'm heading back there now." "Thirty minutes." " Mickey, there you are." "Any trouble?" " Hey." "No." "Took the elevator to the 31st floor, walked on down." "Nobody saw me." "You look like crap." "Thanks." "This way." "Who was that?" "No idea." "Do you ever get the feeling we're losing control here?" "Every day." "The state's attorney can hire any law firm he wants to handle all civil cases against his department." "Glenn Childs had Brimly, Tully  Snider." "God, I hated them." "Peter Florrick fired them and is looking for new outside counsel." "It's $20 million a year in new business." " Florrick will never hire us." "It's his wife's firm." " His campaign manager's firm." "Which works against us." "He doesn't want it to look like a sweetheart deal." "We've been invited in to pitch." " How many firms have been invited?" " Eight." "Then you should pitch." " We should pitch." " No." " Is there something I should know?" " About?" "Well, I just don't wanna be blind-sided." "Have you noticed you're turning into me?" "All those sports metaphors." "A better version of you." "How the hell is it I can love a new car smell but hate a new office one?" "Because a car means fun and an office, work." " You getting laid anyways?" " Me?" "No." " You?" " Not since the summer of '08." "So you're the flavor of the month these days in crisis managers." "What happened with Weiner?" "Thought you'd be on that one." "Oh, God, the day politicians discovered Twitter." "Hear you're the flavor of the month in strategists." "What campaign are you on?" "Um..." "I need your help." " But I can't tell you who this help's for." " Okay." "I've been hired by a candidate who's setting up an exploratory committee." " For what?" " I can't tell you." "But he's got a problem." "A real problem." " Financial or sexual?" " Eh, I can't tell you." "Mickey, you want me to crisis manage a crisis you can't tell me?" "This guy wants options, okay?" "He wants to know the scandal can be handled if he chooses to run, but he doesn't want the scandal out if he chooses not to run." "This is BS." "It's like a bake-off without any ingredients." "It's a buyer's market, Eli." "If you choose not to play, there are others who will." "Now, I'm meeting with three crisis managers." "Whoever's got the best play, that's who I'm going with." "I'd like you to meet a good friend, Mickey Gunn." "Yeah, I get it." "You got Saint Alicia on your team." "I'll hear from you by Thursday, buddy." "Hi." "That was the big meeting?" "Who's the investigator here?" "Kalinda Sharma." "Why?" "I need her to investigate a scandal before it happens." "Mrs. Florrick." "Hello." "Hi." " Are you here to see someone?" "Yes, you." "James Thrush." "Very pleased to meet you." "And you." "How may I help you?" "Do you know the key distinction between the libel laws in your country and mine?" "Burden of proof is reversed." "In America, it is up to the person libeled to prove the accusations against them are either knowingly or recklessly false." "In England, it is up to the person libeling, your writing client, Mr. Lambros, to prove what he says is true." "This is already adjudicated, Mr. Cardiff." "Yes, in the United States." " Danny didn't sell books in England." " Actually, I'm afraid he did." "This, in fact, is one which I purchased not two weeks ago from your wonderful Internet site, Amazon." " You can't..." " Actually, I'm afraid I can." "I am Queen's Counsel of the Royal Courts of Justice and this is a writ of new proceedings for libel." "You had this ready for the day you lost." "Mr. Cardiff wished to exhaust American courts." "You're after the wrong man." "Danny did nothing wrong." "He accused me of killing his brother." "He ruined my reputation." "Read the charge." " I'm suing him for £20 million." " He's not rich." "He doesn't have your money." "Oh, let's not make this a classist issue, shall we?" "I know he's not rich." "Now he'll be poor." "Mr. Ash Brannon?" " Mm." "So sorry to keep you waiting." "I'm Alicia Florrick." "Yes, hello." "Um, I'm sorry." "Ah, Florrick, right." "Two R's?" " Yes, uh, come with me." " Certainly." " Filial air crock." " Excuse me?" "An anagram." "Sorry." "Nervous habit." "Sorry." "Okay." "Um, so you are the barrister that Danny hired." " Is that correct?" " Actually, no." "The solicitor." "No, not as posh as a barrister, but we try harder, ha, ha." "Ahem, sorry, I'm a bit punchy." "Just, uh, first trip to the States." "You know, just off the plane." "Where are the Olsen twins?" "Heh." "Would you like a cup of coffee?" "Will, this is Mr. Timothy Ash Brannon." "Oh, yes, the barrister." "Will Gardner." "Solicitor." "No on the coffee." "Heh." " Oh." " Warden Grill." "Anagrams." "It's not a deposition." "It's a letter rogatory." " And that's?" "Well, basically, it's a, uh..." "It's a deposition." "Evidence given before a trial." "The witnesses are primarily in America, so His Lordship has agreed to allow it to be videotaped here." "Good." "We'll try to get this kicked before trial." "Or we stall it." "Stall what?" "Cardiff doesn't need the money from this suit." "He wants the publicity." " That's why he's expediting this." " So?" "We can't just sit back." "We get this kicked, won't be any publicity." "But the burden works against us now." "We would have to prove that Danny's book is true." " Which we can't do." " Ah." "We can't stall." "My wife's house, it's in Toronto and my business too." "Uh, Canada is a British Commonwealth." " They froze your assets?" " Yes." " What was your strategy in court?" " Show there could be no certainty about the events on Everest." "There could be no libel." "Well, that strategy just went out the window." "What do we have?" "To prove Cardiff took Lambros' oxygen?" "Well, nothing." "The goal wasn't to prove it." "Can we, though?" "Can we prove it?" "What about the satellite call?" "Robert talked to his wife from his satellite phone just before he died." "We never needed the tape." "I'm on it." "Are you the investigator?" "I am." " Do you have a minute?" " Do you want me to have a minute?" "So there's a scandal of some kind but you don't know who or what it is?" "Yes." "Can you find out?" "How does this work when I investigate for you?" " I have no idea." " But you are one of my bosses now?" "Yes." "I think so." "You probably invoice in some way." "I have to pitch to a campaign manager on Thursday on how to manage a scandal, but he's afraid the scandal will be exposed, so he won't give me any information and I need that information to pitch." " Do you wanna sit down?" " No." "You want the information so he's forced to hire you or you'll expose it." "How have I never met you before?" "We move in different circles." "Sorry about that." "It's amazing how my life has gone from no calls to a call sheet of 85 a day." "Heh." "Yes, it's quite a change." "From prison back to the state's attorney's office." " How are you doing?" " I love it." "I really love it." "You don't mind if Cary sits in on this, do you?" " No, not at all." "Hi, Cary." " Diane." "He gives me insight into all the Lockhart Gardner matters." "So you guys are the survivors." "Of the economy?" "When I looked at the roll of Chicago firms since I was last in this seat, they're practically all gone." "Well, there's been some tough times, but we're fighters." " You've beaten us a few times." " No hard feelings?" "Uh..." "Hey, that's the reason you're in that seat." "We're hiring an outside caretaker for our civil cases." "Lawsuits against county hospital, the police, or SA's office, and we need to decide between three firms." "Really?" "I thought there were eight." " There were." "We whittled it down." " I'm honored." "The only problem is we have some concerns." "If it's about Alicia and Eli Gold, we've established a Chinese wall between their work and SA business." "No, I'm not going to reject a law firm because it might look bad to the public." "Lemond Bishop." "The drug dealer." "We only handle his legitimate business." "And I'm sure you'll find that every major law firm has a few potentially unsavory clients." "We have to have some assurances that your money isn't tainted." " Is that a fair word?" " It is." "Diane, look, I'm running a new office and I know that every state's attorney says that." "I said it my first term." "But this time, it's different." "Now, you're one of three law firms that I'm considering to hire as my attorney." "I need to know that you're clean." "So we just need you to voluntarily submit to an audit by the Illinois state Department of Taxation." "And that won't violate attorney-client privilege." "It gives me an independent confirmation that your hands are free of drug money." "You're asking us to voluntarily submit to an audit?" "Yes." "If you want the job." "Well, um, that's significant." "I'll need to talk to my partner." "Of course." " Will?" "Yes." " You two know each other, don't you?" " We do." "Why don't you bring him in next time and we'll all talk about the possibility of, uh, making this all work." "Eighty-sixth call." "You'll excuse me?" "Yeah?" "Hey, Dad." "I'm coming early tomorrow." " At 8, okay?" " Okay." " Is everything all right?" "Yeah." "Everything's fine." "I wanted to come early." "Okay, good." "Well, I'll make dinner." "Um..." "Well, thanks for the vote of confidence." "I think it might be more appropriate to respond, "Good morning."" "I understand the arguments for "Good evening,"" "but the court of record is in London, not in the United States, and as you can see, it is morning here." "Your Lordship, I will gladly defer." "Good morning to all." "And good evening to you, Mr. Thrush." "Who is the barrister representing the respondent?" "A solicitor, Your Lordship." "Uh, one Timothy O'Brannon." "Ahem, Brannon, Your Lordship." "No O." "Mr. Brannon, are there any applications to the court before we commence?" " There are, Your Honor." " Uh, Your Lordship." "Your Lordship." "This is a sham of a lawsuit." "It's libel tourism, pure and simple." "Rich plaintiffs like Roman Polanski, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Mr. Cardiff can't win their libel suits in American courts, so they take them to England." "Sir, I understand your passion in this matter, but I would ask you to address this court with a greater degree of restraint." "I..." " Apologies, Your..." " Lordship." "Lordship." "That must be an artifact of the Polycom." "I merely wanted to stress that there were only 18 copies of our client's books sold in the United Kingdom." "They were all bought online and they were all bought by Mr. Cardiff'ss staff." "As my learned colleague well knows, Your Lordship, where and who purchased these books is irrelevant." "Excuse me." "Mr. Cardiff bought the books that he is now bringing suit to here." "Mr. Gardner, what are you doing?" "L..." "What am I doing?" "Your body." " The disposition of your body." " You turned your back to the judge." " Are you kidding me?" " No." "You should let me argue." "Apologies, apologies, Your Lordship." "I am new to your court." "We would argue that your parliament is in the midst of rewriting these libel laws to prevent exactly this type of libel tourism." "Your Lordship, parliament was indeed considering revising these very laws until Rupert Murdoch and his recent News of the World contretemps." "I would argue that only 23 copies of Funding Evil were purchased through the Internet, yet this court ordered that book's destruction." "I think you'd better argue instead." "The judge likes demure." "Mr. Thrush made a fine point." "We will continue." "If I may, Your Lordship." "Yes, Mr. O'Brannon." "Uh, Brannon, Your Lordship." "We ask the court's indulgence in hearing evidence intended to refute the applicant's charge." "Proceed." "I love you." "I'm sorry." "It's just so cold." "Bobby, do me a favor." "Just get up." "You can do it." "Please?" "I'm so..." "I'm just so tired." "I know." "Your son needs you, Bobby." "He's here." "He needs his father." "Just get up and walk." "And this was your husband?" "Yes." "Ahem, he had a satellite phone." "He called from the South Col. He always called at noon." " And you recorded it?" " Yes." "I wanted his son to remember him." "Use the oxygen, Bobby, please?" "And get up and walk." "Ah!" "Over here." " Here." "Is someone there?" "Bobby!" "It's the British team." "Hold on." " But they didn't stop for him?" " No." "And they took your husband's oxygen tank?" "Yes." "I asked him to use his oxygen tank, but it was gone." "No apology, no money." "But we'll agree not to print the book in Great Britain." "Very emotional in there." "Nice touch using a female lawyer." "You Americans certainly do enjoy your drama." "So does His Lordship." "Did you see him?" "One-point-two million pounds and an apology." "So is this some of that famous stiff-upper-lip stuff I've heard about?" "God, I do love you Yanks." "You are so easy to distract." "With our accents and our periwigs, and our tea and crumpets." "And Benny Hill." "Don't forget Benny Hill." "But I am not the England of Big Ben and bobbies." "I'm not the England of doilies and cucumber sandwiches." "I'm the England of football hooligans and Jack the Ripper." "And this England don't play nice and they don't play fair." "And it don't ever stop." "Now, here's some advice, Mister, uh Thrush." "When you wanna intimidate someone, don't use so many words." "Intimidation isn't a sonnet." "It seems we understand each other perfectly." "Shall we?" "Mrs. Lambros, you used to be a mountaineer yourself?" "Yes, until I became pregnant." " And why did you stop then?" " Why?" "I couldn't risk it with a son." "Yes, of course." "Your husband kept climbing after you gave birth?" "Yes." "He was a guide." "It was his job." "But he was offered other climbing jobs on less-dangerous peaks." "In the Alps, for instance?" "Don't need to answer that." "We understand." "Tell me about hypoxia." "Uh, hypoxia is an extreme form of oxygen deprivation, prevalent at high altitudes." "Thank you." "Now, isn't one of the potential side effects of hypoxia, hallucinations?" "Potentially." "Mrs. Lambros, I put it to you that your husband was hallucinating on that telephone call." "I put it to you that your husband saw what he wished to see, the British team coming to save him." "Oh, come on." "You're kidding me." "Heh, I beg your pardon?" "You really think that Robert Lambros hallucinated" "Cardiff taking his oxygen tank?" " Really?" "How does that work?" " I think, my l..." "Your Lordship, I..." "No, seriously, how does he hallucinate the loss of his oxygen tank?" "It was my contention that he hallucinated its existence in the first place." "If you're going to blame the victim, at least use some better logic." "Your Lordship, I object to the tone that this..." "This what?" "This "American lawyer." Is that what you were going to say?" "Let us take a short break." " Demure, huh?" " Change of plans." "Hmm, I think I'm having American Revolution fantasies." "That turned me on." "Hmm." "Well, I can dress up." "I want to take you now." "Well, that might prove difficult." "Hmm." "In my bathroom." "Mm-hm." "We have 10 minutes." "I'll go first." "Oh, Will, we're being watched." "Where is that book?" "Mm." " To be continued." " Mm-hm." " Ah, we can't do that." " I know." "He said it was about Lemond Bishop." "They wanted to make sure none of our billing came from drug money." "It's like putting a bull's-eye on our back for the IRS." "I know." "Do you think he's after us?" "Florrick?" "I don't know." "Glenn Childs was this close to a RICO charge." "Maybe Florrick's taking up the hunt." "You really think he would do that to his wife's firm?" "I think he's trying to run a clean office." "What if we offer to open up our books to an independent accounting firm?" "Florrick might just be looking for a gesture like that." "I think if he's serious, it's worth a try." "But let's not expose ourselves on a subway platform unless we have to." "Oh, what a colorful and pointless metaphor." "Thank you." "It's the Brits." "I think I'm picking up their accents." "I noticed." "It really classes up the joint." "And here is Mr. Gunn meeting outside of his office." "And here is the SUV license plate." "Here it is driving away." "And here is the occupant." " Tsk." "Harold Burke." " Yeah, ex-senator." "Here's a photo of him with his family." " Any whiff of a scandal?" " Here's the children's nanny." "You're kidding." "Here's a photo of her leaving work." "Here's a photo of Mr. Burke leaving work." "And here is a photo of them at their destination." " Nicely done." " Thanks." " How do I know you?" " You don't." "And yet you look so familiar." "I just have one of those faces." "I'll need you again." "Then invoice." "Hey, Grace, set the table, please?" "Dad?" "Yeah?" " Why is Mom doing this?" " Doing what?" "Kicking you out." "We were just getting back to normal." "I don't get it." "What'd your mom tell you?" "She said that she wanted to make the marriage work but it didn't." "You don't kick someone out for no reason." "I wasn't always good to your mom, Zach." "Ah." "But that was a long time ago." "And she stayed." "It wasn't just..." "There were other things." " What do you mean?" " I mean..." "I hurt your mom with other things." "With someone else." "I think we should just leave it at that." "Dad?" " Yeah." "There's something wrong with the computer." "Okay, let's have a look." "So where are you from, Mr. Brannon?" "Sorry, where am I from?" " Yes." "County Cork?" "County Clare?" "Tipperary?" "I have a bit of an ear for accents." "I'm just trying to place your Irish brogue." "County Kerry." "Ah, the potato famine emigration, was it?" "Well, fair play, lad." "And good luck to you, my boy." "What's his anagram?" "Jams her tush." "There is this inbred deference I have to greater rank." "Yeah, I know." "Me too." " Really?" "You don't seem so." " I'm trying very hard to change." "Yeah." "I'm not well-disposed to change." "No, me neither." "Mandy Cox." "I am a music executive working in A and R." "Thank you, Miss Cox." "And you were intending to summit Everest at the same time as the events in question?" "Yes, sir." "It's always been a dream of mine." "Everest." "My mountain." "I've paid two guides over the past two years to get me to the top." "And you observed Mr. Cardiff on the South Col, is that correct?" "Yes." "Our Sherpa was injured in an icefall the day before." "Mr. Cardiff was kind enough to share one of his with us for the final assault." "So you made the last assault on Everest with Mr. Cardiff." "My goodness, that was not mentioned in Mr. Lambros' book." "There were a lot of things not in Danny's book." "Many of us in the climbing community were outraged at the many distortions." "Did you ever seen Mr. Cardiff step over a body or take anyone's oxygen tank?" "Of course not." "As far as I could tell, he was the perfect gentleman." "Thank you, Miss Cox." "Miss Cox, were you sleeping with Mr. Cardiff at base camp?" "If I may interrupt." "I suggest to my learned colleague that these News of the World type smear tactics are beneath the dignity of the court." "I would tend to agree, Mrs. Florrick." "I'm sorry, please move on." "We need to find another way to shake her." "Yes, well, unfortunately, the judge agreed with her." "I know." "Where's Kalinda?" "ELl:" "This is my associate, Kalinda Sharma." "She's been helping me prepare for this meeting." "And these are my associates." "I don't know their names, but they're expensive." "So let's hear it, Eli." "Three-day plan." "Day one, I meet your candidate." "I tell him the scandals are owned by the first man in." "Breitbart owned the Weiner scandal." "If Weiner had released those tweets with his spin, he would still be in office today." "Day two, I don't ask your candidate to tell me everything" " because candidates lie." " I'm falling asleep here, Eli." "But I do tell him we have to get the nanny's story straight so that she doesn't hop off to The National Enquirer." "Day three, we acknowledge there is some entertainment value in a father of three sleeping with his nanny." "And the goal is not to smother that value, but to harness it." "Hmm." " That's very interesting." " Thank you." "The only problem is it ain't Burke." "Well, Burke asked me to run his campaign, but I said no." "And that's what you saw when you accidentally followed me." " You're lying." " No, I'm not." "And here's the thing." "You follow any candidate, you're gonna find a nanny, a hooker, a mistress or an intern." "Right?" "Thanks for the pitch, buddy." "I'll see you." "Give me one more chance." "Okay." "I'm deciding Monday." "There are no other candidates." "I checked." "They all have strategists already." "Unless we go local." "No, no, he's a national kind of guy." "He may have gone with someone new, but why pick a rotten apple from the tree?" " Maybe it's a celebrity." " No, I can't see him tolerating that." "Ah." " What?" " I get it." "He's flipping sides." "It's a Republican." "He wanted to play in the presidential primaries." "I'm on it." "Mazel tov." "Thank you for returning." " No problem." "Before you went to Everest, did you have any surgery performed?" "No." "What do you mean?" "I mean, did you have any surgery performed?" "No." "What, do you mean like an appendix out?" "No." "Or LASIK surgery?" "Oh, yeah." "No, uh, I thought you meant like major surgery." "Yeah, LASIK." "That was a while ago." "I had contacts for farsightedness and I didn't wanna deal with them on the mountain." "Good." "And did you know that LASIK reacts poorly to decreased atmospheric pressure?" "L..." "I don't..." "What are you asking?" "I'm asking if you knew that." "No." "The vision of LASIK patients becomes blurry at high altitudes in the weeks following surgery due to decreased atmospheric pressure." " Was your vision blurry, Miss Cox?" " No." "Isn't that why you had Mr. Cardiff'ss Sherpa carry you" " the last 1000 feet up Everest?" " That's a lie." "People keep saying that but I wasn't carried." "Your Lordship, this is a sworn affidavit from Tenji Gelu, the Sherpa in question." "Now, he swears that Miss Cox had blurry vision and could not have seen any of the events in question." "He's lying." "He was always lying." "He hated me because I accused him of stealing my satellite phone." "Your Lordship, given the circumstances, we ask that Miss Cox be removed from the claimant's witness list." "I would regretfully agree." " I got it." " Oh, no, that's okay." "Mom, I got it." "Are you okay?" " Heh." "What, because I'm cleaning?" " Yes." "You have work." "I thought I'd let you do it." "Oh, you are so adorable." "Oh, come on, you know it's gonna happen so let it happen." "Hmm." "Good." "Thank you." " How's Dad?" " He's good." "Are you good with him?" " Am I?" "Yeah." "Mm-hm." "I mean, you know..." "What?" "Do you think I'm like him?" "Do I think you are?" "No." "Really?" "You're different." "Heh." "Very different." " Why?" " I just wanted to know." "I'll get it." " Diane?" " Yes." "I'm sorry, Alicia." "I'm here..." "Um..." "I'm trying to get in touch with Peter and the office said he was home?" "Oh!" "Um, well, no, he's not here." "I'm so sorry, Alicia." "I would never do this to you, but do you have a minute?" "We're competing with two other law firms for the state's attorney civil business." "It'd be very lucrative, as you know." "But Peter has asked that we be audited by the Department of Taxation." "And that..." "Well, ah, that would be quite invasive." "Grace, I'll be there in a minute." " How old?" " Fourteen." "That's a sweet age." "Anyway, I suggested to the state's attorney that we use an independent auditor, but he insisted on a departmental audit." "And that would open up our books in an alarming way." "I'm not sure I..." "I checked with the two other law firms under consideration." "They have not been asked to do the same." "So I was wondering is there something I should know about why Peter's only asking us?" "Diane," "I've worked hard to keep my home life separate from my work life." "I know." "And I respect that." "But I need to know if Peter is doing the same." " I don't know how to answer that." " Well, let me ask you this." "If you were assisting me in this decision, how would you advise?" "Agree to the audit or not?" "I would advise you not to." "Well, you really have a very lovely apartment, Alicia." "Thank you." "Take two." "Good morning." "So let's hear what you got." "Actually, Miss Sharma and I discussed it and we've decided to pass on your polite offer to pitch." "But thank you." " You're kidding me, right?" " Nope." "But thanks." "Heh." "What the hell is that?" "Don't you think you could have told me over the phone?" "I could have, but that would've taken up less of your time." "Go to hell." " What's going on?" " I don't like being used." "Heh, what are you talking about?" "How did I use you?" "You're considering joining a Republican presidential campaign." " No comment." " But the guy's too clean." "You can't find a single thing wrong with him." " He's too good to be true." " Heh, I don't know who you're talking about." "Okay." " And?" " You didn't have the money to vet him, so you hinted that you wanted to hire me so I would vet him for you." "Poor man's crawfishing." "You let the tourist set the bacon trap and then you go in and raid them." "Yeah, Mickey, uh, tell me the last time you were in the bayou?" "So cut the Trapper John crap, okay?" " Are you gonna offend me now?" " Oh, yeah, I'm just getting started." "Okay." " What'd you find out?" " No." "Come on." "I'll hire you." "No." "Here's how it works." "You first offer your services to your Republican then you hire me." " Heh, I already did." "He hired me." " Nope." "He's had two meetings, but he hasn't jumped yet." " Go get hired." " And you'll work for a Republican?" "I don't mind this guy." "He's not bad." "Okay." "I'll call you tomorrow." " No hard feelings, right?" " Go." " Hey, it's business." "ELl:" "Go." "All right." "See you." "I'll be calling on you again." "It's your dime." "Mr. Cardiff, good evening." "Actually, good morning." "Yes, ahem, of course." "Good morning." "A year before you climbed Everest, Mr. Cardiff, you successfully summited the Trango Towers in Pakistan, is that correct?" " Trango II, to be exact." " Trango II." "You came upon a team of Japanese mountaineers during that climb, did you not?" "Let's see." "It's, uh..." "It's been so long." "In fact, you not only came upon them, you took the ropes and pitons from a dying Japanese..." "If I may quickly ask my learned colleague to which materials he is referring here?" "The book Only in May." "The account of a French climbing expedition to the Trango Towers." "That was my worry." "Your Lordship, Mr. Cardiff previously brought suit, brought successful suit against the publisher of that very book." "It has been deemed libelous and therefore cannot be mentioned in these proceedings." "Well, then let me ask you this." "In that expedition, the one that I was just talking about..." "Apologies for interrupting again, Your Lordship, but as part of the successful suit against the aforementioned book," "Mr. Cardiff instigated a super-injunction, which, of course, means not only are we prevented from discussing the book, we are prevented from even discussing the supposed events alluded to in that book." "Oh, come on." "Even the request by my colleague must be stricken." "It is as if the book and its events, and even events questioning the events, never happened." "Unless, of course, it's discussed in the English press, Your Lordship." "And we would ask for a super-injunction to prevent the mention of the super-injunction." "Only in England." "Look, I'm sorry, but that is not necessary." "We need to get that book in." "The climb to Trango Towers, it shows a pattern of abuse." " Where are you going?" " I have an idea." "No, there's nothing there." "What am I looking for?" "I don't understand what the purpose of this whole page is." "Eli, you still have your geek squad together, right?" "Oh, hello, Alicia." "How are you?" "Do you have your Internet trolls who tweet anonymously?" " Yeah, why?" "What do you need?" " I need some tweeting." "The tweeting fairies did their work during the night." "I don't know what you're talking about." "One hundred thousand tweet followers, Your Lordship." "The super-injunction and Mr. Cardiff'ss actions are now a matter of discussion in the English press." " This is an obscenity." " In this morning's Chronicle:" ""What did Oliver Cardiff do on the slopes of Trango II?"" "Where is the respect for our laws when any young thug with a computer and a Twitter account can circumvent a lawful injunction...?" "I'm sorry, Mr. Thrush, but I haven't finished." "Yes." "Please continue, Mr. Brannon." "The subject of Mr. Cardiff'ss actions during his Pakistani climbing expedition are now a subject of concern in the English press, Your Lordship." "Therefore, I do not need the manuscript of Only in May in order to ask these questions." "We still believe the stricture of the super-injunction applies, Your Lordship." "I did nothing wrong." "You didn't take the rope and climbing gear from the Japanese team" " on Trango Tower?" "Trango II?" " I did nothing wrong." "Why did the French team say they found you with the Japanese pitons?" "We do not use pitons." "We're clean climbers." "We use chockstones and quick draws." "Yes, which you took from a Japanese climber." "He was dying." "Tsk." "The hypocrisy here is amazing." "You, Danny, you were on K2 when a Korean climber died." "I know for a personal fact you passed him on the way to the summit." "That was different." "How was that different?" "Because he wasn't your brother?" "He froze to death and you left him." "I left him." "Every climber left him." "And why?" "Because we would've died carrying him down." "It is the law of the death zone." "We all know we can't be carried out." "And so you did it on Everest?" "The events as described in Danny's book are a lie." "Even though you passed a dying Robert Lambros on Everest?" "The book, as told, is a lie." "Mr. Cardiff, are you planning another climbing expedition?" " Yes." "When?" " Don't answer." "Patagonia." "One month." "Your Lordship, there is qualified privilege as an exception to our libel laws." "And what is that, Mr. Brannon?" "When they are a warning." "Mr. Cardiff has demonstrated a predisposition for bypassing stranded climbers at altitude." "Now, if this book is a warning to climbers in the future, then it is no longer held to the same burden of proof maintained by our libel laws." "I therefore ask that this suit be dismissed because this book, Your Lordship, is a warning." "Your Lordship, that is a strange interpretation of the law." "No, Mr. Thrush, I'm sorry." "I don't think it's a strange interpretation of the law at all." "In fact, it seems right." "We would agree with Mr. Brannon and therefore dismiss the suit in letter rogatory." "Oh, ahem, apologies, uh, Your Lordship." "Ahem." "Thank you." "Seriously." "It's been a pleasure." "So you decided against an audit?" "Smart." "Have Alicia and her husband separated?" "Is it any of our business?" "If there is blowback on our firm, then, yes, it is our business." "Is there blowback on our firm?" "Will." "This is my life." "It's yours too." "Have Alicia and her husband separated?" "Ask her." "We can't be the enemy of the state's attorney." " We're not." " He wanted to audit us." "Because he wants to run a clean office." "This is crazy." "She's supposed to work for us." "If she's working against, we should let her go." "She's not." "But if she is?" "Then, we'll let her go." "If she works against us, we are letting her go." "I can hold you to that?" "Yes."