Equivocal Death (34 page)

all. Maybe it was just a delayed reaction to what had happened last 30

night. Her emotions were raw today, magnifying the impact of 31

everything that happened. She wished she could explain this to 32

Justin. But for now she had to keep it to herself.

33

Kate rolled her head back to look up at Justin. “I’m sorry,” she ort 34

said earnestly. “I don’t know why I’m being like this. I’m happy for reg 35

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you.
Really.
Maybe I’m just afraid that if you get a girlfriend, you 1

won’t have as much time to hang out with me.”

2

Justin grinned. “In that case, I guess I should be flattered,” he 3

said.

4

“So tell me her name again.”

5

“Laura Lacy.”

6

Even the name was impossible, Kate thought. Like something 7

from a romance novel. Or
Melrose Place.

8

“What’s she look like?”
Is she prettier than I am?
Now where did 9

that thought come from? Why should she even care?

10

“She’s pretty,” Justin said, the corners of his lips edging up ever 11

so slightly. “Sort of an all-American type, blond hair, blue eyes.”

12

“Your basic nightmare,” Kate muttered. She meant it to be 13

funny, but it didn’t come out that way. She quickly moved on. “I 14

can’t wait to meet her,” she said. “I’m sure we’ll get along fine.”

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1

Wednesday, January 13

2

3

Taking

a deep breath, Kate flung open her office door. Heart 4

pounding, she scanned the familiar space. Her body was on red 5

alert, ready to bolt from the room at the first sign of danger. But 6

there was nothing. Morning sun streamed through the window.

7

Her desk, cluttered with computer printouts and reference books, 8

looked as if she’d just taken a break. The corner where Chuck 9

Thorpe had held her pinned against the wall was just that, a 10

corner, an empty space by the window. The books she’d dropped 11

were now stacked on her desk. And the office lights . . . whatever 12

Chuck Thorpe had done to interfere with their functioning had al-13

ready been repaired.

14

Kate unwrapped her cape and hung it in the office closet. Here, 15

too, things were just as she’d left them. A couple of sweaters. Spare 16

shoes. Not bothering to look in the closet mirror, she closed the ort 17

door and went to her desk. She wasn’t quite sure how she felt. On reg 18

the one hand, it was a relief that her office had escaped contami-9858_02_153-356_r6jm.qxd 9/28/00 3:59 PM Page 195

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nation. On the other, it was a little disturbing. Shouldn’t there be 1

some sign?

2

Taking a seat at her desk, Kate tried to think about the day 3

ahead. First thing on her agenda was a phone call to Carter Mills.

4

But after picking up the receiver, Kate paused for a moment, un-5

certain. What exactly did she plan to say? After all, WideWorld 6

was not just one of Samson’s largest clients, it was also Carter 7

Mills’s personal crown jewel. However much he might like her, 8

Mills would have a vested interest in rejecting her account, in find-9

ing some way to dismiss it.

10

There were other problems, too. Such as the lack of physical 11

proof. While there might be some trace evidence on the black suit 12

she’d stuffed away — hairs, fibers, something like that — what 13

would it really show? Just that she’d had some contact with Thorpe.

14

How could she prove that the contact was sexual in nature? Or 15

that it had been without her consent? Then there was the fact that 16

she’d waited so long. She hadn’t reported Thorpe’s attack at the 17

time it occurred or even the following day.

18

Kate slowly put down the phone receiver as her mind continued 19

to work. So many points that she hadn’t considered. For one thing, 20

there was Chuck Thorpe himself. It would be her word against his.

21

Thorpe would have his own story, and it wasn’t hard to imagine 22

how that story might go. He’d claim she’d made the whole thing 23

up. Or maybe that she’d led him on, that she’d invited him to her 24

office for a private talk and tried to seduce him there. In that case, 25

her failure to report the attack would add credence to Thorpe’s 26

story. As would the very recklessness of his actions. The whole sce-27

nario just seemed so far-fetched. Why would Thorpe risk attacking 28

her in her office, a place where anyone might appear? Of course, 29

she knew the answer: Chuck Thorpe was a psychopath. But why 30

should Carter Mills believe her?

31

Jennifer appeared in the doorway, carrying a huge stack of mail.

32

She looked at Kate, then did a double take.

33

“Are you okay?” she asked.

34 sh

“Sure,” said Kate. “I’m fine.”

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Jennifer put the mail in Kate’s in-box. “D’you want me to get 2

you something? Aspirin maybe, or coffee?”

3

“No, really,” said Kate. “I’m okay. I’m just feeling a little tired.”

4

Jennifer eyed her doubtfully. “Let me know if you change your 5

mind.” She was heading back to her station when she turned to look 6

back at Kate. “There was something wrong with your office lights. I 7

called downstairs. They fixed them right before you got here.”

8

“Thanks,” Kate said. “Thanks for taking care of that.”

9

Jennifer closed the door behind her.

10

Kate sat unmoving, staring blankly ahead. Her thoughts contin-11

ued to churn. Her mind returned to Carmen Rodriguez’s words the 12

day after Madeleine’s death. “
All they cared about was the money.

13

They forced her to work with him. And look what happened.
” If Made-14

leine had been pressured to work with Thorpe, that pressure must 15

have come from Carter Mills. But she shouldn’t make too much of 16

this. There was still no reason to think that Mills knew about 17

Thorpe’s violent streak.

18

Violent.

19

The word seemed so neat and contained compared to the real-20

ity of what she’d been through. Again, Kate felt Thorpe’s hands on 21

her body, his wet, heavy breath. She picked up the receiver. With-22

out pausing to think, she dialed Mills’s extension.

23

“He’s not in yet, Kate,” Clara said. Kate could hear the sound of 24

typing in the background. “Would you like to leave a message?”

25

“Could you just tell him I need to see him? And that . . . it’s im-26

portant.”

27

After hanging up, Kate felt depleted. She’d finally gotten up the 28

nerve to speak with Mills, and he wasn’t even there. But at least 29

she’d left the message. That was the important thing. Now she just 30

had to wait.

31

She turned to the mountain of mail that Jennifer had left for 32

her. Hard to believe that this much had piled up during just one 33

day away from the office. Lethargically, she sorted through the first ort 34

few envelopes. A mass mailing about CLE courses. A solicitation reg 35

for Legal Services.

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A few minutes later, Kate picked up the phone again, this time 1

to call Andrea. After a few rings, she heard a click as the call went 2

into voice mail. She listened to the first few words of Andrea’s mes-3

sage, then hung up the receiver. She was feeling a little hurt.

4

While Andrea obviously didn’t know what had happened, she must 5

know Kate had been out sick. Why hadn’t she called to check in?

6

A rap on the door interrupted Kate’s thoughts. Before she could 7

answer, Peyton Winslow stuck his head through the doorway, his 8

pale eyes distracted behind red-rimmed glasses. He looked like a 9

fashion-crazed owl. “The Thorpe complaint is supposed to be 10

served today. When will you have the rest of that memo?”

11

Today.
The irony took her breath away. “I’ll have it to you by to-12

morrow.” Kate didn’t mention her one-day absence, a tacit bow to 13

the Samson equation of physical illness with a failure of will.

14

“The sooner the better,” Peyton said. He was already edging out 15

the door. “We’ve got a meeting tomorrow afternoon with Holden 16

and Thorpe.” The words trailed behind him as he strode down the 17

hall.

18

A meeting with Holden and Thorpe.
Just last week, the prospect 19

would have filled her with elation, a sense that she had arrived.

20

But today, just the sound of Thorpe’s name made her feel physi-21

cally ill.

22

Kate’s hand was trembling when she reached for the next piece 23

of mail. It slipped out of her grasp and fell to the floor. As she 24

leaned over to pick it up, she noticed a glint of metal on the carpet 25

underneath her desk. A lost earring, perhaps? Kate knelt down on 26

her hands and knees and picked up the small gold object. A flat 27

disk with crenellated edges surrounding an ornate monogram.

28

Kate stared at it blankly for several seconds before realizing that it 29

was a cuff link. A man’s cuff link. Looking more closely, she made 30

out an ornate letter
T,
then a
C.

31

Chuck Thorpe.

32

Kate dropped the cuff link to her desk as if she’d been burned. It 33

must have fallen off Monday night while they struggled. Evidence, 34 sh

concrete evidence, that Chuck Thorpe had been in her office. It 35 re

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wasn’t much, but it was something. She tried to think what to do.

2

Grabbing a white office envelope, she stuck the cuff link inside.

3

After sealing the envelope’s flap, she stashed it in her top left 4

drawer. There was a small key in the drawer’s pencil tray. She 5

locked the drawer and put the key in the change compartment of 6

her billfold. Then, still trembling, she returned her attention to 7

the mail.

8

An hour or so later, she was almost halfway through when she 9

came upon a large white envelope. Aside from her name, typed on 10

a blank white label, there were no markings at all. Turning over 11

the packet, Kate saw that the flap was secured with a red wax seal 12

bearing the impress of the letter
M.
Curious, she studied the seal 13

for several seconds, her previous concerns forgotten. Then, careful 14

not to break the seal, she ran a letter opener under the flap and 15

reached into the envelope. From inside she pulled out two 81⁄2 by 16

11 pieces of plain white cardboard. Between them was a black-17

and-white photograph. A picture of a lovely dark-haired woman 18

somewhere in her early twenties. Kate stared at the photograph, 19

mesmerized. It was a picture of Madeleine Waters.

20

She was standing on the stairs of a low brick building, maybe a 21

walk-up apartment. She was dressed in bell bottoms and platform 22

shoes, smiling flirtatiously. With one hand, she pushed back a stray 23

strand of hair. With the other, she reached toward the camera. The 24

gesture was ambiguous, both welcoming and remote. Again, Kate 25

looked at the envelope, searching for some explanation. There was 26

no postage stamp, no postmark. It must have come from inside the 27

firm. She turned back to the picture, searching the image for clues.

28

The longer Kate examined the print, the more her confusion 29

deepened. As she studied the figure more closely, she saw her ini-30

tial mistake. While this woman resembled Madeleine, there were 31

obvious differences, too. The face was broader, flatter. The eyes 32

were more widely set. And the clothing was early seventies, well 33

before Madeleine’s time. Madeleine would have been quite young ort 34

back then, probably still in grade school.

reg 35

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And yet . . . what of the red letter
M?

1

The ring of her phone interrupted these thoughts. Carter Mills 2

would see her now.

3

Quickly, Kate tried to shift gears. Gathering up a notepad and 4

pen, she rehearsed what she’d planned to say.
I was returning to my
5

office, a little after ten on Monday night . . .