Well, it came in the mail to-day, a letter from the splendidly named Clement W. Pyles, Attorney-at-Law, who evidently is now representing my Crazy Ex Landlord. Mr Pyles has filed an objection to the Magistrate's decision of last month.

There were several pages detailing the faults he found with the judgment, all of them ludicrously inaccurate. Even the details which you'd have thought he'd have gotten right, such as the date of the original trial, were incorrect. Except for the part where he explained Isabelle's absence from the trial, apparently due to the fact that her aged father had been suffering delusions and needed Isabelle's care. That sounds extremely plausible. Of course he'd been suffering delusions. Of course there's mental issues in her family. It only stands to reason. You don't get as manifestly bat-shit insane as Isabelle is unless you've got a little help from genetics.

Anyway, I bear no ill-will to the old gentleman, but frankly this whole lawsuit deal is getting to be a pain in the ass. Evidently, the Crazy Ex Landlord is getting bored with it as well, because Mr Pyles wrote that she would prefer to settle if an agreement could be reached. So I called up Mr Pyles, who told me that she wants this all to "just go away". I pointed out, politely, that if she just simply paid the freaking judgment, this unpleasantness would indeed do just that: go away.

Needless to say, the CXL is reluctant to pay what the Magistrate ordered, which really isn't surprising, because it was her strange reluctance to pay my security deposit back which has occasioned this whole legal folderol to begin with.

Mr Pyles, who doesn't appear to have taken the time to acquaint himself with the facts concerning the case, asked me how much she shorted me in the deposit, and offered a ridiculously low-balled figure to settle. Needless to say, I refused that out of hand, but when he asked what figure I would agree to, I had to admit I was stumped. Obviously, if we go back to Court, the possibility exists that I might lose the entire judgment, but on the other hand, if Mr Pyles thought he had an unassailable case, he probably wouldn't be so eager to settle.

I believe I should get legal advice. I believe I should speak with Rapid.

Amateur hour is over.