He wasn't surprised by my question at all and responded naturally, "Of all my cases I'm handling now, yours has the highest fee. So I used your birthday as the password. I always follow the money."

"What about helping me?" I asked.

He chuckled lightly, "First comes friendship, then comes money. Not everyone gets the chance to help a friend while making money."

Clearly, he was avoiding a real answer, so I decided not to press further and closed my eyes ...