So all three top-level executives in the Renault espionage saga have now played their cards in public.
The three have broken cover, vehemently arguing their innocence and employing some extremely high-profile lawyers to boot to polish their cases.
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The latest to put himself in the teeth of the storm is Mathieu Tenenbaum – believed to be deputy head of Renault’s electric vehicle programme.
Lawyers acting for the three – Renault has never named them, but they have each voluntarily put themselves forward in the public domain – have all been extremely vocal this week acting in their clients’ interests.
The latest salvo fired from m’learned friends has seen Tenenbaum’s lawyer make some pretty dark statements about people being allowed to “keep the money and go” – a reference to rumours swirling around France that secrets may or not have been sold to foreign interests.
For its part, Renault is vigorously contending any such offer was ever made and indeed, it’s possible to feel a twinge of sympathy for the automaker.
Holed up in its Paris citadel, does Renault react to every single sound-bite put out by clever lawyers, or does it stay mum, letting its CEO Carlos Ghosn off the leash every now and then to tour the TV studios?
Now that all three sacked employees have made their pitch in public, will Renault maintain a period of purdah or itself go on the offensive?
