Equivocal Death (4 page)

15

“Would you —”

16

“No. I’m just fine here. This is perfect.” Catching Carter Mills’s 17

eye, Madeleine gave him a faint smile. “
Perfect.
”

18

The smile seemed familiar. Then Kate realized where she’d seen 19

it before. On a sphinx at the Metropolitan Museum. The so-called 20

archaic smile, mysterious and ever watchful. Again, Kate studied 21

Madeleine’s face.
She really is lovely,
Kate thought. Up close, she’d 22

expected to discern flaws, a harshness of expression or tone. What 23

she saw instead was an utterly harmonious play of feature: a tumble 24

of dark hair tamed by a velvet band, high cheekbones, clear skin, 25

wide-set eyes that seemed to match the vivid green of her dress.

26

Madeleine must be in her late thirties by now. However, hers was 27

the sort of beauty that lasts, defiant of the passage of time.

28

Carter Mills drew a pair of reading glasses from the pocket of his 29

starched white shirt. After placing the glasses on his nose, he 30

clasped his hands on his desk. “I assume you’ve all read the draft 31

complaint. Based on the facts alleged, I don’t see much chance of 32

dismissal or summary judgment, though we’ll certainly want to ex-33

amine those options. Assuming the complaint’s actually filed on ort 34

the thirteenth, when is our answer due?”

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“Under Rule 12, we have twenty days,” Peyton said. It was the 1

sort of critically important yet mundane fact that associates were 2

charged with tracking. Failure to meet a deadline could result in 3

dismissal of a case. “So if the complaint is actually served next 4

Wednesday, the answer would be due on February second.”

5

“Fine,” Mills said, making a notation in a leather-bound ap-6

pointment book. “In the meantime, we need to get straight on the 7

facts and law. I’ve scheduled a meeting on Wednesday at one with 8

Chuck Thorpe and Jed Holden. Please plan to be there. After that 9

we’ll be in a better position to devise a game plan.”

10

Again, Kate felt a thrill of excitement. Jed Holden. Wide-11

World’s CEO. One of the nation’s most powerful businessmen.

12

The closest most Samson associates would ever get to someone of 13

Holden’s stature was preparing an affidavit for his signature. For an 14

associate, and a junior associate at that, to attend a meeting with 15

Holden present — it was almost unthinkable.

16

“Are there any questions?” Mills said.

17

“I have a question, Carter.” Madeleine’s low voice seemed to 18

linger in the office air. “Would you agree that we can’t represent 19

both WideWorld and Thorpe without a conflicts waiver from 20

WideWorld’s board?”

21

Mills looked at her, his face impassive. “No,” he said. “I would 22

not.”

23

The two partners locked eyes. Sensing the tension, Kate found 24

herself staring at her lap. There was something unsettling about 25

the scene. She was curious, of course — who wouldn’t be — but 26

also strangely disturbed. It was almost like she was very young 27

again, listening to her parents argue.

28

Seemingly oblivious to the younger lawyers, Madeleine pressed 29

ahead, her tone deceptively light. “You can’t ignore the fact that 30

WideWorld has potential claims against Thorpe. When Wide-31

World agreed to buy
Catch,
Chuck Thorpe was fully aware of Ms.

32

Friedman’s sexual harassment claims. He’d already been informed 33

that the EEOC would investigate. Yet he failed to disclose the po-34 sh

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tential liability — something the stock purchase agreement clearly 2

obligated him to do. If there’s an adverse judgment in this case, 3

WideWorld may have to consider asserting claims against Thorpe.

4

WideWorld’s stockholders can’t be expected to foot the bill for 5

Thorpe’s —”

6

“We’ll talk about this later, Madeleine.” There was a warning 7

note to Mills’s voice.

8

Madeleine shrugged, and settled back in her seat. The same 9

faint smile Kate had noticed earlier again played on her lips.

10

Kate tried to make sense of the exchange. What Madeleine had 11

said seemed logical, obvious even. Samson’s duty was to its client, 12

WideWorld. You didn’t need to be a specialist in legal ethics to 13

know the dangers of dual representation in a situation like this.

14

But simply thinking this through felt somehow disloyal. After all, 15

Kate chided herself, without actually
reading
the purchase agree-16

ment, it was impossible to know anything for sure. And even if 17

Madeleine
did
have a point, why raise the issue like this — why 18

pick a fight with Mills in front of two associates? Only one thing 19

seemed clear: if Carter and Madeleine had ever been lovers, the af-20

fair had not ended well.

21

For a time, Mills seemed lost in thought. Then, he suddenly re-22

sumed command, as if the previous exchange simply hadn’t oc-23

curred. “That’s about it for today.” He was speaking directly to the 24

junior lawyers, as if Madeleine wasn’t there. “Madeleine will be 25

overseeing your work on this case. Of course, you’re free to come to 26

me with any questions.”

27

Surprised, Kate glanced across the room. Her eyes met 28

Madeleine’s. There was an appraising glint in the other woman’s 29

eyes. For a confused moment, Kate wondered if Madeleine had 30

been watching her. But before she could be sure, it was over.

31

Madeleine was studying her folded hands, and Carter Mills was 32

winding up the meeting. “I want a legal memo by the end of next 33

week. I’d like Kate to start in on that. If there aren’t any other ort 34

questions, I’ll see you all Wednesday afternoon.”

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After the two associates left the room, Madeleine Waters re-1

mained seated on the leather couch. Still smiling, she studied 2

Mills. But when she spoke her voice was cold.

3

“I can see that the magic hasn’t faded.”

4

He returned the gaze but said nothing.

5

“In any case, that was quite a demonstration. Make them feel 6

like they’re part of your world. The quickest path to loyalty and de-7

votion. Not to mention endless billable hours. That’s what you 8

taught me, isn’t it? Well, congratulate yourself. It worked like a 9

charm. You could see it in their faces.”

10

Mills had assumed an air of calm detachment. “You see what you 11

want to see,” he said. “You always have.”

12

Madeleine paused, as if contemplating the next maneuver in 13

some delicate game of chance. “How comforting to find that noth-14

ing has changed,” she finally said. “It’s been quite a while since 15

we’ve worked together.
Closely,
that is. And you always wonder” —

16

and here she pronounced the words with odd emphasis — “if —

17

something — might — change. And then you realize that nothing 18

ever does.”

19

A smile flickered across Mills’s face.

20

“It sounds like you’ve got it all figured out, Madeleine. Let’s be 21

clear about this. Neither of us is happy with this arrangement. Un-22

fortunately, Thorpe has demanded that you work on this case. Ob-23

viously, we have no choice.
You
have no choice. I’m sure you 24

understand that.”

25

But Madeleine was barely listening. Her mind seemed to be 26

somewhere else. “That associate. Kate Paine. You hired her, didn’t 27

you? It’s because of you that she came to work here.”

28

Mills’s expression didn’t change. “I have no idea what you’re 29

talking about.”

30

And now it was Madeleine who was silent as her eyes roamed 31

Carter Mills’s face. Then, abruptly, she laughed. When she spoke 32

her voice was heavy with scorn.

33

“You’re so
obvious,
Carter. It would be fascinating if it weren’t so 34 sh

pathetic. Are you wondering how I knew?
Just look at her.
”

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Tuesday, January 5

2

3

9:22 a.m. The morning was not going well. Just out of the shower, 4

Kate had spent a good five minutes rubbing hair conditioner into 5

her sunburned legs before realizing her mistake. Swearing under 6

her breath, she stuck her legs under the bathtub faucet and turned 7

on the water full force. What was it with chic cosmetic lines? Why 8

did all the little bottles have to look alike?

9

Toweling off her legs, Kate smeared moisturizer into her tanned 10

skin — carefully checking the label first — and grabbed a new 11

pack of stockings from her dresser drawer. She’d already snagged 12

one pair. She skipped breakfast, planning to grab a bagel at the firm 13

cafeteria. But by the time she got to her desk, the red light on her 14

phone was already flashing. A message from Madeleine Waters, 15

who wanted to see Kate right away.

16

Now, twenty minutes into the meeting, Kate was still unsure ort 17

why she’d been summoned, and the rumbling in her stomach reg 18

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

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small talk, Madeleine had embarked on a series of questions about 1

the memo Kate would be writing. But as Kate wracked her brain to 2

respond, she had a strong feeling that Madeleine’s thoughts were 3

elsewhere. Madeleine’s gaze seemed to wander from Kate to some 4

point far in the distance. The older woman’s face was pale against 5

the neckline of her black raw silk suit and there were faint violet 6

circles beneath her eyes.

7

“So I think that the key issue will be whether Stephanie Fried-8

man welcomed — or at least consented to — Chuck Thorpe’s ad-9

vances,” Kate concluded, trying to convey a confident enthusiasm 10

that she was far from feeling. After all, she’d just gotten the assign-11

ment yesterday morning. What did Madeleine expect? But when 12

Kate looked up, she saw that Madeleine was drawing on a small 13

notepad. Kate sneaked a look at her watch. She’d scheduled dinner 14

tonight with Tara, but every minute away from her desk was put-15

ting those plans in jeopardy. Then, feeling slightly guilty, Kate 16

forced her mind back to the case.
Concentrate,
she told herself.

17

The phone rang. From the two short rings, Kate could tell it was 18

a call from inside the firm. Madeleine glanced down at the LCD

19

display and, with an audible sigh, picked up the receiver.

20

“Hello, Bill.” Madeleine’s voice was cool. Kate could hear muf-21

fled words from the other end. Bill. It must be Bill McCarty on the 22

line.

23

As Madeleine shifted the telephone receiver beneath her chin, 24

Kate noticed a thin gold band on the ring finger of her right hand.

25

Not a wedding ring; that would be on her left hand. And besides, 26

it was common knowledge that Madeleine was single. Had she ever 27

regretted not marrying? But then, she must have had many chances.

28

“We went through this yesterday,” Madeleine said, irritation 29

suffusing her voice. “I’m sorry, but I just can’t help you.”

30

Another pause while Madeleine gazed stonily ahead. Once 31

again, Kate could hear what sounded like impassioned pleading 32

from the other end. What could have Bill McCarty so upset? Re-33

calling his inflamed demeanor outside Carter Mills’s office, Kate 34 sh

wondered if there was some connection.

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“I really have nothing more to say about it,” Madeleine said 2

shortly. “You’re going to have to handle this without me.”

3

After Madeleine hung up, she looked reflectively at Kate. “So 4

where were we?” she said.

5

Damn.
Kate had been sure that the meeting was near an end.

6

She blinked against the harsh winter light that poured through the 7

plate-glass windows and tried to gather her thoughts. She hadn’t 8

slept well last night — postvacation fatigue coupled with Thorpe 9

case adrenaline — and today she was feeling the effects.

10

“I was saying that the threshold question is whether the plaintiff 11

welcomed Chuck Thorpe’s advances. Obviously, that’s a factual is-12

sue.”

13

“Obviously.” Madeleine’s lips curved softly. Again, Kate thought 14