Equivocal Death (53 page)

warm from Mr. P., Valencia turned to the index and looked for 7

“Suicide.” Beneath this entry was a column of type, investigative 8

checklist . . . investigative considerations . . . background infor-9

mation . . . equivocal death.

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Equivocal death.
That was what she was looking for. Valencia 11

took down a few more page numbers and then turned to the first of 12

the references. The words, highlighted in yellow during some past 13

perusal, jumped out at her from the page. “Equivocal death inves-14

tigations are those inquiries that are open to interpretation. . . .”

15

For some time she continued to read. Then, looking up, she 16

thought back in time. Carter Mills’s blood-drenched office, the 17

shattered remains of his body. The Samson partners, circling their 18

wagons, tight-lipped as the members of a street gang. The shell-19

shocked young lawyer who’d discovered the scene.

20

And, Valencia realized, it wasn’t just Carter Mills’s death that 21

had her unnerved. Her uneasiness extended beyond that, back to 22

the Waters murder. There, too, the facts didn’t add up. There were 23

loose ends, missing pieces. And Carter Mills’s supposed suicide had 24

done nothing to clear them up. First, there was the fact that Wa-25

ters’s body had been moved from the actual crime scene, dumped 26

where it was sure to be discovered. Someone had taken the trou-27

ble — and risk — of leaving the body in plain view. Why? What 28

possible reason would Mills have had for wanting Madeleine’s 29

body found?

30

The fact that the body was left in plain view; it had to be by de-31

sign. The expert-for-hire quoted in the local paper knew the value 32

of a sound bite. But in labeling Madeleine’s killer disorganized, 33

he’d jumped to conclusions far too quickly. Whoever killed Made-34 sh

leine Waters had managed to escape undetected. Had managed to 35 re

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transport and dump the body, all without arousing suspicion. Even 2

the spread-eagled display of the body reflected an effort to control.

3

And most telling of all, perhaps, the killer had concocted the tele-4

phone scheme that lured Madeleine to her death. He’d known of 5

her scheduled dinner with Thorpe and called to reschedule it. In 6

essence, he’d set a trap. Such actions required planning, a patient 7

attention to detail. They were hardly the work of a disorganized 8

killer, someone veering toward insanity.

9

True, there had been some basis for the expert’s comments. The 10

lack of semen at the scene. The random postmortem stab wounds 11

to the face and breast. The candle in the victim’s vagina. Such acts 12

were generally committed by disorganized types. By a perp unable 13

to complete the sexual act, filled with uncontrollable rage. But 14

these elements could have been designed to mislead; it had cer-15

tainly happened before. An organized offender could stage a crime 16

scene, mimic a disorganized perp. While detectives searched for a 17

psychotic loner, someone barely functional, the real killer got on 18

with his life. He might be a model citizen, a family man. No one 19

would ever guess.

20

Carter Mills’s alibi was solid, but not until after eight. It would 21

have been tight, but not impossible. At least, that’s what she’d 22

been telling herself. Possible and yet . . . was it likely? She couldn’t 23

seem to get a grip. As a rule, homicide detectives relied on the the-24

ory of transfer and exchange, the notion that a perp leaves traces 25

at the scene. And that the scene, in turn, leaves it marks on him.

26

But here they’d come up dry. No fingerprints. No foreign hairs. No 27

semen. And lab reports indicated that the only blood was the vic-28

tim’s. Perhaps these dead ends partly explained why she and Glaser 29

had given in. That and pressure from the mayor. Mills’s suicide had 30

come as a stroke of luck, letting them both off the hook.

31

But the fact was, before Mills died, she’d thought they were get-32

ting somewhere. They’d finally gotten their hands on a copy of 33

Waters’s will. A document that bequeathed all earthly possessions ort 34

to her former husband, Sam Howell. Not a little surprising in light reg 35

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of Howell’s claim that he hadn’t seen his ex-wife in years. They’d 1

been on the verge of asking Howell to take a polygraph test. Of 2

course, that plan had gone out the window with news of Carter 3

Mills’s death.

4

But thoughts she’d banished from consciousness still haunted 5

her sleep each night. Now, wide awake at 4 a.m., the questions 6

rang in her mind.

7

What was the story with Howell?

8

Had they written him off too soon?

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w

10

In the morning, Kate again washed her kitchen floor, now cleaner 11

than it had been since she’d moved in. Her apartment and her life 12

seemed to bear an inverse relation, the former becoming ever more 13

orderly as the latter veered out of control. She’d just squeezed out 14

the mop when she heard the phone ring. Once, twice, three times, 15

before the answering machine engaged. From the next room, she 16

could hear a male voice, vaguely familiar from the distance. Was it 17

Douglas Macauley, perhaps? She didn’t much care right now.

18

She was still reeling from yesterday’s meeting with Drescher, 19

still didn’t understand what had happened. Even with his hatred of 20

Mills, how could Drescher be so cavalier? How could he ignore the 21

fact that a killer might still be at large? It didn’t make any sense.

22

Unless . . .

23

Kate froze in her tracks. What if Drescher himself was involved?

24

He’d certainly had access to Madeleine’s schedule. And who had 25

more to gain than Martin Drescher from Carter Mills’s untimely 26

death? As for Madeleine, there was no shortage of possible mo-27

tives. Perhaps a love affair gone wrong, if she believed what Jen-28

nifer had said. Or something to do with the WideWorld bills that 29

had been stored in Madeleine’s desk. It was even possible that 30

Drescher had planned the whole thing, killed Madeleine to set up 31

Mills.

32

Kate thought back to the night of Mills’s death, trying to re-33

member when she’d last seen Drescher. He’d definitely been at the 34 sh

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cocktail party, but she couldn’t be quite sure when. It would have 2

been easy enough for him to slip away. Could Drescher have killed 3

his rival and then returned unnoticed?

4

On the heels of this disturbing question came another chilling 5

thought. Her meeting yesterday with Drescher. She’d told him 6

everything. And if he’d been the lone blurred figure, the shadow 7

she’d seen in the hall? How could she not be a threat? Kate leaned 8

the mop against the kitchen wall, her mouth gone dry as paper. Af-9

ter quickly wiping off her hands, she went to find her purse. Stuffed 10

in her billfold was Valencia’s number, copied down from the card 11

she’d been given. Ignoring the flashing message light, Kate picked 12

up the phone and dialed.

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Wednesday, January 27

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2 p.m. Cathy Valencia chewed on the end of a ballpoint pen and 3

thought about what to do next. She’d been trading calls with Kate 4

Paine since yesterday afternoon and still hadn’t been able to reach 5

her. It was almost as if Kate was avoiding her. But that didn’t make 6

any sense. Kate, after all, had called her.

7

Kate had asked to be called at home. Normally, Valencia would 8

have respected the request. But something in the young lawyer’s 9

voice made Valencia eager to reach her. She’d waited long enough.

10

Besides, if she used her private cell phone, only Kate would know 11

who had called.

12

“Kate Paine’s office.” The woman who answered the phone had 13

a soft, ebullient voice with a hint of Brooklyn at the edges.

14

“Is she in?” Valencia tried to sound casual, as if she were a per-15

sonal friend.

16

“No, I don’t expect her today.”

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“D’you have any idea when I could reach her?”

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“I couldn’t really say. But I’d be happy to take a message. She’ll 2

definitely be checking in with me today.”

3

“That’s okay. I’ll try back later.” Valencia was about to hang up, 4

when the young woman spoke again.

5

“If you don’t reach her today, I’m pretty sure she’ll be in by four 6

tomorrow. She has an appointment then.”

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w

8

Arriving home that night, Kate felt like she was floating. She’d fi-9

nally taken Tara’s suggestion and spent the day at the Peninsula 10

Spa, where she’d been rubbed, wrapped, and pounded into a grate-11

ful torpor. But one look at the phone was enough to douse her good 12

spirits. The message light was flashing. While she was out, five calls 13

had come in.

14

In the end, it wasn’t so bad. Three calls were from Cathy Valen-15

cia, who seemed pretty anxious to reach her. A message from Tara.

16

Another from Sam Howell. “I’ve been thinking about you, Kate.

17

Just wondering how you’re doing. I don’t know what your sched-18

ule’s like, but I’ll be in the city this weekend. If you have time, I’d 19

like to see you.”

20

Howell’s call came as a surprise. Their encounters had been so 21

strange. Her frantic flight from his home in Sag Harbor. The 22

abrupt conclusion of their recent talk. She hadn’t gotten back to 23

him even though she’d said she would. Tomorrow she’d call both 24

Sam and Tara. Valencia, however, she should try right now.

25

But even as she reached for the phone, a part of her seemed to 26

pull back. Her day at the spa had relaxed her, done wonders for her 27

mood. Would it be so wrong to prolong it? All the things that had 28

seemed so pressing now seemed as if they could wait. That shadow 29

outside Mills’s office. Could she really be sure what she’d seen?

30

What had her so convinced that the movement was a human be-31

ing?

32

Slowly, Kate lowered her hand. She’d put off the call to Valencia, 33

return it tomorrow as well. For now, she’d just check her e-mail.

ort 34

And then, she’d climb into bed.

reg 35

“
You’ve got mail.
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Kate pressed a hand to her mouth. There it was. Another commu-1

nication from Adam0116. Her spa-induced calm was instantly 2

gone, replaced by a sense of foreboding. Her heart lurched against 3

her sternum, a cold fist lodged in her chest. She clicked on the 4

message line.

5

I have important information about a subject that interests you. I’m
6

sure you know what I mean. If you’d like to know more, meet me to-7

morrow at the Royalton Hotel at 9 P.M.

8

Kate stared at the lines as if hypnotized. The Royalton Hotel. A 9

popular watering hole for glitterati types, it was just down from the 10

Harvard Club.

11

I have important information about a subject that interests you.

12

Of course, she shouldn’t agree to the meeting. It was absurd, 13

maybe dangerous.

14

Still, she stared at the screen.

15

Kate thought about the Royalton Hotel. She’d been there for 16

drinks a few times. No place could be more public. No place could 17

be more safe. She moved her hands to the keyboard.
I’ll see you
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there,
she typed.

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Thursday, January 28

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It was a little after three when Kate arrived at her office. At the 4

sound of her approach, Jennifer’s head bobbed up from behind a 5