Equivocal Death (22 page)

her, a cleaning woman perhaps, she could simply explain that she 29

was looking for a document she needed. She wouldn’t even have to 30

lie. She just wouldn’t tell all of the truth.

31

Minutes later, Kate stepped out of the elevator onto the fifty-32

seventh floor. Just as she’d expected, she’d yet to see another per-33

son. The corridor was tomblike, office doors closed and locked.

ort 34

Kate stopped at the door to Drescher’s corner suite, and quickly reg 35

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E Q U I V O C A L D E A T H

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surveyed the scene. Still no one. She turned back to the door. The 1

knob turned easily in her grasp.

2

She stepped into Drescher’s reception area, closing the door be-3

hind her. The corner suites were all laid out according to the same 4

plan, and Kate knew that Drescher’s private office was behind the 5

closed door she was facing. It was probably locked tight, in which 6

case she’d just go back downstairs. But when she turned the knob, 7

the door swung open.

8

Quickly, she proceeded to Drescher’s desk. But except for a blot-9

ter, a telephone, and a paperweight, its polished wood surface was 10

empty. She’d planned to leave at this point, if the file wasn’t in 11

plain view. But now that she was here, something pushed her on.

12

She tried the top two desk drawers. Locked. The bottom two were 13

locked as well. She plopped into Drescher’s leather chair and con-14

sidered where to look next. Against the far wall, her eyes lit on a 15

bookcase with cupboards at the bottom, and she was instantly on 16

her feet again.

17

Back across the room, Kate opened the right cupboard door and 18

there, on top of a stack of papers, she saw a file folder labeled in the 19

neat printing she recognized from Madeleine’s date book: Billing 20

Records. Kate pulled out the contents of the file and rifled through 21

the slim stack of papers. Then she stopped, puzzled. What the file 22

seemed to contain was a collection of duplicate WideWorld bills 23

signed by Carter Mills. This sort of information was readily acces-24

sible from Accounting. So why had Drescher been so hot to get it 25

from Madeleine’s files? And what was it doing in Madeleine’s desk 26

in the first place?

27

Kate was just mulling over these questions when she heard the 28

sound of muffled voices from the reception area. Not the lilting 29

Spanish and Italian accents of the female cleaning crew, but low 30

men’s voices. One of which sounded like Drescher’s.

31

Kate felt her blood go cold. The possibility that Drescher him-32

self might return at this hour was something she hadn’t even con-33

sidered.

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In a flurry of activity, Kate closed the cupboard door, turned off 2

the light — thank God partners’ offices were spared the automatic 3

lighting system — and raced across the room. Pushing back the 4

chair, Kate squeezed herself into the cubbyhole space under 5

Drescher’s desk. She’d just pulled the desk chair back behind her 6

when she heard the door swing open. A wedge of light fell across 7

the room. Then a click and the whole room was bright as day.

8

“Have a seat.” She’d been right; the voice really was Martin 9

Drescher’s.

10

Kate heard the faint sound of bodies settling into upholstered 11

seats. As her brain sought to organize the information she’d re-12

ceived, Kate realized that she’d made a terrible choice. After all, 13

she might have been able to explain her simple presence in 14

Drescher’s office. Say, a file needing immediate attention that 15

someone in the managing clerk’s office had thought Drescher 16

might have. But how could she possibly explain her presence be-17

neath his desk? Her situation was ridiculous, absurd. If she’d seen it 18

in a movie, she would have rolled her eyes. Things like this didn’t 19

happen in real life. Certainly not in hers.

20

And yet, here she was.

21

Curled in a fetal position, her head smashed against the top of 22

the desk, her legs crushed against her chest, Kate desperately tried 23

to come up with a story. Then she felt a renewed burst of hopeless-24

ness.

25

Clutched in her right hand was Madeleine’s file.

26

“What the hell were you thinking, Martin? Why the hell did 27

you tell McCarty?” To her astonishment, Kate recognized that this 28

second voice, brusque and commanding, belonged to Carter Mills.

29

“I’ve told you.” Drescher’s voice was tense. “It didn’t come from 30

me. What would I have to gain?”

31

“Jesus, Martin. Who else could it have been? We’re the only lit-32

igators involved. You’re not suggesting that the leak came from 33

one of the corporate guys?”

ort 34

“I’m just saying that it wasn’t me,” Drescher said. “If you ask me, reg 35

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this thing has your fingerprints all over it. You know what I think?

1

That you set this up to discredit me.”

2

Carter Mills snorted. “I won’t even respond to that. There’s no 3

question that the e-mail came from you. I had computer services 4

check it out. From you to Bill McCarty.”

5

Kate shifted slightly, careful not to make any noise. All of her 6

senses seemed heightened. The outline of her hand against her 7

knee seemed oddly distinct. The smell of dust and wood was over-8

powering. For one terrifying moment, she thought she might sneeze, 9

but she managed to hold it back.

10

“Let’s cut to the chase,” said Drescher. “What are we going to do 11

now?”

12

“There’s not a hell of a lot we
can
do,” Carter Mills said curtly.

13

“I took a poll this morning. Without Madeleine, we’re two votes 14

short. If we’d been able to handle this quietly
as we agreed,
we still 15

could’ve pulled it off. But McCarty’s on the warpath now, and he’s 16

rounding up support. As it stands, the rank and file have enough 17

votes to keep the lockstep draw in place for the foreseeable future.

18

And you can kiss Stroesser and the rest of his M&A gang good-19

bye. They’ll be out the door by the end of the year. Do you have 20

any idea what that means for this firm? Mergers and Acquisitions 21

brought in more than $40 million last year.”

22

Even in her panicked state, Kate found herself mesmerized by 23

the exchange. Fragments of conversation, so inscrutable only mo-24

ments before, now fell into place.
They were planning to do away
25

with lockstep compensation.
Lockstep, as everyone knew, was a relic 26

of Samson’s patrician past. While associates received fixed salaries, 27

partners were paid from firm profits. Under the lockstep system, 28

partnership profits had always been based strictly on seniority, with 29

rainmakers getting no special treatment. While most New York 30

firms had discarded such systems in recent years, adopting “eat 31

what you kill” payment structures, Samson had shown no signs of 32

budging. The lockstep system had always been viewed as sacro-33

sanct, a safeguard against unseemly squabbling.

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A M Y G U T M A N

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Until now.

2

Kate’s mind raced ahead as she pictured the storm that would 3

ensue if the lockstep system were ditched. Millions of dollars 4

would be up for grabs. There would be big winners, such as Mills 5

and Drescher, and big losers, such as McCarty and other team play-6

ers who could never compete with the rainmaking kings. Bruce 7

Stroesser, the high-flying chief of M&A, must be threatening to 8

jump ship. No wonder Mills was upset. Losing Stroesser and his 9

clients to another firm would mean phenomenal losses for every-10

one, not to mention the publicity.

11

Suddenly things fell into place.

12

Bill McCarty’s stormy exit from Carter Mills’s office the day he’d 13

practically knocked her down.

14

McCarty’s insistent phone call to Madeleine Waters’s office.

15

Bill McCarty was in a fight for his professional life.

16

“For now, we’re going to sit tight,” said Mills. “The last thing we 17

need on top of Madeleine’s murder is some media explosion tied to 18

firm politics.”

19

“It’ll blow over,” said Drescher. “We’re not the first prominent 20

firm to have a partner murdered. Think of Cravath, with that part-21

ner killed in a sleazy motel by some black kid he’d hooked up with 22

for sex. That’s much worse than what we’re facing here. Remember 23

the publicity? That big article in the
New Yorker
a few years back.

24

People talked about it for weeks. But Cravath came out of it all just 25

fine.”

26

“There
is
one critical difference,” said Mills. “At Cravath, they 27

knew from the start who the killer was. And they knew it had 28

nothing to do with the law firm.”

29

“What are you saying?” Drescher said. A note of uncertainty 30

had entered his voice.

31

A pause. When Mills spoke, his voice was low and deliberate.

32

“The night Madeleine was killed, she was supposed to have dinner 33

with Chuck Thorpe at Ormond. Earlier that day, someone claim-ort 34

ing to be from Thorpe’s office called to reschedule for seven, an reg 35

hour earlier than they’d planned to meet.”

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“So you’re saying she was set up?” Drescher sounded incredu-1

lous.

2

“I don’t really think it’s a coincidence, do you, Martin?

3

Madeleine shows up at the restaurant — we’ve checked the reser-4

vations, and she did make it there — and a few hours later she’s 5

dead.”

6

“What about Thorpe?”

7

“He got there at eight, waited half an hour or so, and then took 8

off.”

9

“He has an alibi?”

10

“Yes, Martin. He has an alibi. We spoke with the driver.” Mills’s 11

voice was cold.

12

“So, what’s your point?”

13

“That whoever killed Madeleine knew about her meeting with 14

Thorpe. And used it to ambush her.”

15

“My God.” Drescher was clearly stunned. “So you’re saying that 16

it could be someone here at the firm, someone with access to her 17

schedule.”

18

“We don’t know that, Martin.” Impatience was evident in 19

Mills’s voice. “We have no way of knowing who Madeleine told 20

about that meeting. Or who Thorpe told, for that matter. We don’t 21

have enough information to speculate.”

22

“But . . . it wasn’t random.”

23

An exasperated sigh from Mills. “No. I don’t think that it was 24

random. Do you?”

25

“Was it Thorpe? Is he the bastard who killed her?”

26

“Don’t be ridiculous. Thorpe has enough trouble on his hands.”

27

“But he’d be capable of it, the son of a bitch.”

28

“I didn’t say that, Martin.”

29

“Thorpe was after Madeleine, you know that as well as I do.

30

He’d been trying to get into her pants for months.”

31

“If that were a motive for murder, Madeleine would have been 32

dead a long time ago. And Chuck Thorpe wouldn’t be the only 33

suspect.”

34 sh

The two men continued to talk, but Kate had stopped following 35 re

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their words. All her thoughts were centered on the astounding 2

thing she’d just heard. Madeleine’s killer wasn’t some random psy-3

chopath. He was someone who’d known her plans, someone who’d 4

tracked her movements.

5

By the time Kate regained her focus, Carter Mills was speaking 6

again. “— and on top of everything, we’re facing this mess with 7

McCarty. As I see it, Martin, that’s your baby. You got us into it, 8

and you can bloody well find a way out.”

9

“Don’t threaten me,” Drescher said sharply. “How many times 10

do I have to tell you. I had nothing to do with that leak.”

11

Kate heard the abrupt sound of a body rising. “This meeting’s 12

over,” said Mills. The words were followed by the thud of a closing 13

door. Then the room went silent.

14

In the dim light, Kate checked out her watch. Just after mid-15

night. She strained her ears for sounds inside the office. Had they 16

both left? Then she heard a heavy sigh, and her heart skipped a 17