Why do say "plunder as they wish?"
The plaintiff's lawyers put in a list of demands at the request of the City. The city promised acounter-demand. That's how things normally work. The first round is pie-in-the-sky. Everyone knows that.
Obviously, the City took the plaintiff by surprise by doing something low and dirty, calling in the press, calling the initial demand "extortion" in public [[like crying fire in a crowded room here) instead of negotiating as they had promised. So the plaintiff took her story and accusations to the press in return.
The pliantiff may never get a cent but she reveals absolute chaos on the 11th floor [[ and there's all thoseresignations & firings to corroborate her story) and, with the reappearance of McPhail, we learn that the Mayor is a powerless old man and Dumas with mcPhail is now calling the shots. At least that's how it appears here.