Equivocal Death (13 page)

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terests. I think the idea of joint representation under these cir-2

cumstances is extremely ill-advised. Simply put, I just don’t see 3

how Samson & Mills can effectively represent both Chuck Thorpe 4

and WideWorld Media.”

5

Holden glared at Epstein. “Richard, we’ve already discussed 6

this,” he said. The icy tone revealed a fixity of purpose at odds with 7

his low-key demeanor.

8

“Yes. And I’m afraid that we disagree.” Epstein’s voice was flat.

9

Kate glanced over at Mills, who showed no reaction. It was pre-10

cisely the point that Madeleine had made on Monday. She waited 11

for Mills’s response. But before he could speak, Thorpe broke in.

12

“What the hell’s wrong with you, Epstein?” Thorpe’s voice was 13

laced with fury. “Don’t try to tell me this isn’t personal. Every step 14

of the way, you’ve —”

15

“You can think whatever you like, Chuck,” Epstein interrupted.

16

“That’s entirely your concern. But I have ethical obligations to this 17

corporation. Ethical obligations. Not something you’d know a 18

whole lot about.”

19

“There’s not a goddamn thing wrong with that schedule,”

20

Thorpe shot back. “You didn’t ask for a list of every single god-21

damn stupid threat that any idiot ever made against
Catch.
There 22

aren’t enough trees in the world for
that
list. What you wanted —

23

and what you got — is a list of pending and foreseeable litigation 24

with a
material adverse effect
on my income statement. That’s what 25

MAE stands for, in case you’ve forgotten.
Material adverse effect.
I 26

had no idea that Stephanie was going to pursue this thing like she 27

has. Surprised the hell out of me. Still does. To be honest, I 28

thought it was sort of a joke, just a way to get my attention.”

29

“Well, I guess she got your attention,” Epstein said dryly.

30

Mills intervened. “Jed and I’ve discussed this,” he said, directing 31

his words to Epstein. “I understand your concerns, but I don’t share 32

them.”

33

So that’s that, Kate thought. But why had Madeleine been so ort 34

convinced of the truth of what Epstein was saying?

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Epstein opened his mouth as if he were about to speak, then 1

clamped it shut. Mills turned to Thorpe.

2

“Of course, if you want to retain a personal lawyer, Chuck, 3

you’re certainly free to do that.”

4

“Whatever.” Thorpe yawned. He seemed to have lost interest in 5

the conversation, and his eyes drifted across the table. Kate could 6

feel his gaze slipping over her. Almost reflexively, she crossed her 7

arms. Was she imagining it, or did a triumphant smile flash across 8

Thorpe’s face? Before she could be sure, his eyes moved on. The 9

tension seemed to have left his body, as if his anger had played out.

10

“Now where, oh where, could Miss Madeleine be?” Chuck 11

Thorpe asked the room at large.

12

w

13

It was almost eleven that night by the time Kate got home. Flip-14

ping on an overhead light, she glanced around her apartment. In 15

Manhattan, they called this a “luxury” one-bedroom, though just 16

what the luxury consisted of remained unclear. White stucco ceil-17

ings, worn parquet floors, a windowless galley kitchen, and a tiny 18

bathroom. Large sliding windows looked out on an adjacent build-19

ing. Still, the apartment had its advantages. Simply put, it was 20

clean and safe. After three years in ramshackle Cambridge apart-21

ments, Kate had opted for modern convenience over charm. The 22

building had a doorman — pretty much a necessity, given her 23

round-the-clock schedule — and it was less than two blocks from 24

the subway. It was quiet, another New York anomaly. And it was 25

only —
only —
$2,500 a month. Faced with a rental market 26

tighter than at any time since the booming eighties, she’d snapped 27

it up.

28

She still had some work to do. Dropping her coat and briefcase 29

on the couch, Kate made her way toward the kitchen. Coffee. That 30

was what she needed. She opened the freezer and pulled out some 31

Gold Coast Blend — her favorite Starbucks mix — and dumped it 32

in the Braun coffeemaker. Good thing those machines were built 33

to last. Hers was certainly doing overtime. She was a little hungry, 34 sh

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too. Opening the refrigerator door, she gazed inside. Slim pickings.

2

Half a loaf of Zabar’s semolina bread purchased God knows when.

3

A hunk of cheddar cheese, its rind chalky with age. A few jars 4

of jam. Pickles, chutney, Dijon mustard, organic peanut butter.

5

She finally settled on peanut butter and saltines, one of her law 6

school mainstays for late-night snacks. She did her best to spread 7

the peanut butter, still stiff from the cold. Then, munching on 8

the crackers, she wandered off to her bedroom for a change of 9

clothes.

10

The rich smell of brewing coffee drifted in from the kitchen, and 11

Kate felt her spirits lift. Sometimes it really didn’t take much. She 12

was rummaging through a dresser drawer, trying to locate her fa-13

vorite ratty and ultrasoft Harvard Law School sweatshirt, when the 14

telephone rang.
Tara,
she thought immediately.
Damn, I forgot to
15

call her.
But when she picked up the receiver, the voice was male 16

and unfamiliar.

17

“May I speak to Kate Paine?”

18

“Speaking.” Holding the receiver under her chin, Kate pulled 19

out a pair of tattered black leggings, acquired several years back at 20

the Gap. Just the thing.

21

“This is Douglas Macauley,” the voice said. “I’m a friend of Tara 22

Wilkie’s. I think she mentioned me to you. I —”

23

Kate sat down hard on her bed. “I know who you are,” she said, 24

the words sounding more abrupt than she’d intended. After all, it 25

was hardly his fault. But she could
kill
Tara. Could she have made 26

her feelings on the subject any clearer last night?

27

“I was wondering if you’d like to have dinner Friday night.

28

Maybe go to a movie afterward.”

29

“Listen, I appreciate your calling, but I —”
What? Don’t go out on
30

dates since my boyfriend dumped me two years ago?
She felt a renewed 31

burst of annoyance at Tara for putting her in this spot.

32

“Tara told me that you’re really busy,” Douglas said. “If Friday 33

isn’t good for you, I’m pretty flexible.”

ort 34

“No, no . . . , it’s just that —”
I don’t go to the movies or eat dinner?

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I’m coming down with Lyme disease? I can already tell from your voice
1

that you’re not my type?

2

“So Friday’s okay?” He sounded tentative, as if he didn’t quite 3

get what she was saying. Too late, Kate realized that she should 4

have said that she
already had plans.
The fact that she almost never 5

had plans had caused her to overlook this simple all-purpose ex-6

cuse. And if she tried to wiggle out now, it would sound fake. She 7

decided to cut her losses.

8

“I guess I could meet you for a movie,” she said. “As long as it’s 9

after seven.” A movie would be all right — three hours tops —

10

hardly any time for conversation and then she’d beg off as soon as 11

it was over — early day tomorrow, not much sleep last night. She’d 12

hardly have to talk with him at all! She congratulated herself on 13

this solution: she’d see a movie and get Tara off her back, all in one 14

easy step.

15

“Great!” He sounded genuinely pleased. Kate wondered what 16

Tara had told him. “You live on the Upper West Side, right?”

17

“Right.” A jolt of annoyance. Why had Tara told him where she 18

lived?

19

“Shall I pick you up?”

20

“Let’s just meet at the theater,” she said quickly. “Why don’t you 21

call me at the office on Friday morning, and we’ll figure out the de-22

tails.”

23

“Fine. So . . . I’ll talk to you then. I’m looking forward to it.”

24

“Right. I’ll speak to you Friday,” Kate said.

25

After hanging up the phone, she finished getting dressed. The 26

call had been disconcerting, but all in all she’d handled it well, she 27

decided. Maybe this would even convince Tara that she was on the 28

road to a normal social life.

29

Kate slid on a pair of worn shearling slippers and padded back to 30

the kitchen for coffee, her mind already racing to the legal cases 31

waiting on her desk. Before sitting down, she turned on the televi-32

sion for company. The cheery sit-com voices provided a soothing 33

illusion of companionship. In a few minutes, the news would be 34 sh

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on. Outside it had started to rain, a dull pounding against the win-2

dows. Sipping her coffee, Kate felt cozy and safe, as if she were a 3

law student again, cramming for the big exam.

4

A stack of Westlaw cases beside her, she was absorbed in the 5

Supreme Court’s decision in
Meritor Savings Bank, FSB v. Vinson
6

when a familiar name caught her ear. “Madeleine Waters, a partner 7

at the eminent law firm of Samson & Mills —” At first Kate 8

thought she’d misheard. But as she turned her chair to face the 9

twelve-inch television screen — a relic from her student days —

10

she heard the name again.
Madeleine Waters.
An unprepossessing 11

middle-aged man, windblown and impatient, spoke rapidly into a 12

microphone held by a slender young woman in a short red coat, 13

the two figures outlined against a desolate urban landscape. In the 14

background Kate could make out water — the Hudson River, by 15

the looks of it. The man was all business, clearly eager to have 16

done with this frivolous intruder. “The body was identified earlier 17

today,” he said curtly, his voice raised to be heard over the din of 18

traffic. “I’m not at liberty to say anything more at this time. We’re 19

keeping all our options open, and I’d rather not speculate on any 20

specific possibilities.”

21

“Thank you, Detective,” the young woman said, her voice fight-22

ing with the wind and street noise. Standing up abruptly, Kate al-23

most knocked over her coffee. She felt a sudden need to walk, to 24

move. She started across her apartment and then turned back 25

toward the television, forcing herself to listen. She tried to focus 26

on the words that continued to flow from the cherry-red lips of the 27

young reporter. “Brutal slaying . . . sure to spread shock waves 28

through New York’s legal community . . . one of the few female 29

partners at what is often described as the city’s most prominent law 30

firm.” The words seemed random, disconnected.
Concentrate.
In-31

stead, Kate found herself incongruously noting that the shade of 32

the reporter’s lipstick exactly matched her coat.

33

As the report wound to a close, the screen filled with a photo-ort 34

graph of Madeleine. The picture showed her smiling, triumphant reg 35

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some time back, perhaps at the time of her partnership election.

1

Her hair was straight and much shorter. She looked both older and 2

younger than Kate remembered. While her demeanor was strictly 3

professional, it also hinted at a sort of jaunty optimism entirely ab-4

sent from the woman she’d briefly known.

5

The next story flashed on the screen.

6

Kate found herself rubbing her hands together, as if she were try-7

ing to keep warm. Shock, fear, anxiety — the feelings swarmed 8

through her along with a deeper pain that she couldn’t name. She 9

had a sudden urge to speak with Justin. Justin. Just the thought of 10

him seemed to bring her emotions down a notch. She picked up 11

the phone with a trembling hand and punched in the familiar 12

number. Justin picked up right away.

13

“H’llo?” His voice was hazy with sleep.

14

“Justin, it’s me,” she blurted. “Madeleine Waters was murdered.

15

They just found the body. It was on TV. My God, I just can’t —”