Square Diner

"Thanks for the coffee."

- Ben Urich

The Square Diner is a small diner in New York City.

Building a Story
Karen Page and Ben Urich met at the Square Diner to discuss how to proceed in the investigation of all the framework that was behind the Union Allied Construction Scandal. Urich told Page that he had already heard similar stories about companies that got caught in a scandal, and they simply filed for bankruptcy and then restructured under a new name.

Page said that the people behind Union Allied killed Daniel Fisher and tried to kill her, though it was something Urich did not have clear at all. He asked Page about what happened that night, as according to Page, Rance assaulted her inside her apartment, and then a man in a black mask saved her.

Page assured him at was the truth, the man simply appeared despite she had never seen him before. Page also asked her that the way Rance died hungin himself in the cell was suspicious, as that was what Clyde Farnum tried to do to her, but Urich informed her that Farnum was dead, just like her previous boss McClintock, and it was an obvious pattern that all those deaths had been stages.

Page wondered the reason nobody was investigating it, but Urich reminded her how lucky she was for being alive, and advised her to move on, as it would not be the first time a company simply changed some papers to continue existing under a different name. Page then told him that all the hardware belonging to the company, from the machine to the office equipment, was being liquidated, and it would offer a trail.

In order to dissuade her, Urich thanked Page for the coffee, and told him that such a story must have credible sources, and he had investigated Page's past activities. Page told him that she had read every big story that Urich had published over the years, such as the one about the briberies at the Department of Veteran Affairs, toxic spills and the Teachers Union scandal.

She was especially impressed about how Urich was able to bring down the Italian maffia years ago. Page asked what to the reporter that wrote that stories, and he revealed that he had simply got old a much less stupid.

Terms of Collaboration
Karen Page met Ben Urich again once the auction she attended to investigate Union Allied Construction, and joined him while he was having dinner. Urich asked her if she followed his advice to win any of the items in the auction, and she explained that she won antique office equipment for a value of 3,500 that she had to charge to Nelson and Murdock, which would probably cause to be fired.

Page called the waitress and asked for a decaf in order to appease her nervousness, and then asked Urich how did he knew that she was going to be in the auction. He explained that he was not looking for her, and explained that when he told her to move on, he was saying it to protect her, not because he was not interested in the story.

Page then realized that her clue was right, and that former members of Union Allied were buying back all their equipment, so if they followed that, maybe they could find the man responsible for everything. Urich then asked her about his most successful articles that she claimed to have read, and explained that the man who alerted him about the toxic spills was found dead in the same river a month after the article was published, and the man who tried to help her with the Teachers Union scandal had to move to another state because flyers were published accusing him of being a pedophile.

Urich claimed that men underestimated what powerful and corrupt people could do to keep their power, and that he thought Page would not make that mistake after everything that already happened to her. Page then asked him about the woman who helped him with articles about the Department of Veteran Affairs, and Urich explained that her fate was the worst, as she ended up being married to a man that put his work above everything else and never appreciated her, himself.

Page tried to apologize, but Urich interrupted her explained how they should proceed from then on, so he forbid her from visiting his office and from telling anyone else about their investigation. Also, he told Page to sign the non-disclosure agreement, as despite she could never talk publicly about the whole scandal in case she signed it, Urich claimed he would not sign anything.

Behind the Scenes

 * The Square Diner is an actual establishment located in the Tribeca neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City.