Equivocal Death (6 page)

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Kate stared at Andrea uncomprehendingly.

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“Hey, it’s not so complicated, Kate. Susan’s up for partner next 3

year. Get it? The fiancé’s just the latest stage of a transformation.

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Come on, you must have noticed. First she lost the short haircut.

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Then she went blond. The wedding was only a matter of time.”

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Kate sat back in her chair as the pieces fell into place. But An-7

drea was already moving on. “Hey, I got an e-mail from Collins yes-8

terday.” Craig Collins was a former colleague, an associate who’d 9

left the firm a few months back to start a judicial clerkship.

10

“Does he still like clerking?” Kate asked.

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“Loves it. Says that when you get rid of both the partners and 12

the clients, it’s amazing how much better the profession gets.”

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Kate giggled. “Makes sense to me.”

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Andrea picked up another french fry. “So how are things on the 15

WideWorld watch? That’s quite a case you’ve got.”

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Kate sneaked a hand toward Andrea’s plate for a fry; she’d re-17

solved to skip the added calories today but now regretted her deci-18

sion. She chewed ruminatively, her eyes lingering on a large and 19

indifferent painting on the opposite wall, a run-of-the-mill land-20

scape that reflected both great diligence and an utter absence of 21

native talent. There were canvases like this all over the building, 22

prominently hung in out-of-the-way rooms and hallways, a conces-23

sion of sorts to familial pressures.
Partner-wife art,
Andrea called it.

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“Say, what do you know about Madeleine Waters?”

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Andrea leaned the side of her head on a hand. “Not a lot,” she 26

said. “Just the rumors about her and Mills. I’ve been wondering 27

about her myself.”

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“Why’s that?”

29

“The last few days, I’ve been doing some work again for 30

Drescher.”

31

Kate’s eyes widened. “Oh my God, Andrea. You poor thing.”

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Andrea shrugged her shoulders philosophically. “It’s okay. I 33

mean, it won’t be forever. He’s just short an associate, since Belk-ort 34

nap left last month.”

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If left to his own devices, Kate thought, Martin Drescher could 9858_01_003-152_r5hb.qxd 9/28/00 3:57 PM Page 31

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clear out the firm single-handedly. Drescher was what was known 1

in Samson parlance as a “screamer” — a partner known for blow-2

ing up on the tiniest provocation and sometimes for no reason at 3

all. For a moment, Kate pictured him in her mind’s eye. The thin 4

orangish hair, the damp, red face, the protuberant eyes. She re-5

called his habit of storming into a room and barking off orders. Or-6

ders that often contradicted what he’d said just an hour or two 7

before. “Why doesn’t he just line us up and say, ‘Fuck you,’ ‘fuck 8

you,’ ‘fuck you’?” Andrea had once remarked. “It would take a 9

whole lot less time.”

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“Has he been managing to act marginally human?” Kate asked.

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Andrea shrugged again. “He’s been okay. I’m trying to cut him 12

some slack. You know, he’s not the typical Samson partner. He’s 13

really had a tough life. I was talking to Sheila about him last week, 14

asking her how she’s managed to be his secretary for as long as she 15

has, and she sort of defended him. Said he had this alcoholic father 16

who used to beat him up and stuff. His family was really poor. Any-17

way, after both his parents died, he supported a bunch of sisters 18

along with working his way through law school.”

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“Interesting.” Kate was reluctant to see any redeeming qualities 20

in Martin Drescher. But there was no need to press the point.

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“Anyway, I haven’t even seen him today,” Andrea continued.

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“We were supposed to have a meeting at nine this morning, but I 23

don’t think he’s made it in yet. It’s the second time this week he 24

hasn’t shown up for something.”

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“Do you think he’s drinking again?” Kate asked. Drescher’s his-26

tory of alcoholism was a well-known secret. Though word was that 27

he’d been on the wagon for the past few years, since a stint in an 28

upstate rehab.

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Andrea rubbed her chin. “It’s certainly occurred to me,” she ad-30

mitted. “But please don’t spread it around. It’s not like I have any 31

proof. And besides I . . . I sort of feel sorry for the guy.”

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“I can think of better people to feel sorry for. Like the lawyers 33

who work for him. But fine, I’ll shut up for now. How did we end 34 sh

up talking about Drescher anyway?”

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“You asked about Madeleine. She’s been around his office a lot.

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At first, I thought she might be working on the case, but I don’t 3

think that’s it. Especially if she’s working on that WideWorld thing 4

with you. I can’t really imagine Drescher and Mills sharing her.”

5

Andrea was probably right. Mills and Drescher were leaders of 6

opposing camps, with conflicts dating back more than a decade, to 7

when Mills had defeated Drescher in a bitterly fought contest for 8

managing partner. Now, recalling the unmistakable tension be-9

tween Madeleine and Mills, Kate wondered if it might be linked to 10

her newfound coziness with Drescher.

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“What’s Madeleine like to work with?” Andrea said.

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“Fine, so far. I mean not much has happened yet. I did have sort 13

of a weird meeting with her this morning, though. We were talking 14

about the Thorpe case. Then, out of the blue, she comes over to 15

me, grabs my shoulder — hard — and tells me that I should be 16

very careful.
Those were the words she used.”

17

“Any idea what she meant?”

18

“None. She was about to say something more, but the phone 19

rang. We never finished the conversation.”

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“Well, I wouldn’t worry about it. It was probably no big deal.

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Something related to the case. You’ll clear it up later.”

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“Yeah,” Kate said. “That’s what I’ve been thinking.”

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“So, what’s it like working with Carter Mills?”

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“We’re just getting started. But so far so good. Actually, I’m 25

really excited.”

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To her surprise, Kate found that she was blushing. Andrea 27

looked at her curiously.

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“Didn’t Mills interview you at Harvard?”

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“Yeah.” Kate felt a quiver close to her heart as the memory 30

flooded back. Samson & Mills. As legendary for the demands it 31

placed on attorneys as for the unparalleled prestige of its name. No 32

wonder the firm was often referred to by its initials, S&M. And yet, 33

despite the horror stories, despite the tales of exigent partners, im-ort 34

possible deadlines, and endless rounds of all-nighters, Samson still reg 35

had its pick of young lawyers.

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Kate thought back to the scene at Pound Hall. Surrounded by 1

giddily anxious classmates, waiting for their names to be called, 2

she’d had to force herself to stay put. The simple act of putting on 3

a suit and pumps had been almost more than she could take. All 4

she’d wanted was to crawl back home. To curl up in bed and cry.

5

And then she’d met Carter Mills.

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“Carter is probably the reason I came to Samson & Mills.”

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Kate’s voice was soft.

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Andrea frowned. “How’s that?”

9

“It’s hard to explain. He was just so . . . charismatic, I guess. He 10

made you feel like being a lawyer at Samson & Mills was the most 11

wonderful thing in the world. I know, it probably sounds stupid, 12

but it meant a lot to me. I still remember what he said. ‘You’ve 13

been number one all your life. Don’t short-change yourself now.’ ”

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“What becoming modesty,” Andrea said dryly.

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Kate ignored her. “It was great,” she said earnestly. “My self-16

esteem was at an all-time low. And here was this amazing man ac-17

tually taking an interest in me, telling me that I had a future.

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Which was something I hadn’t felt for a while. Remember, 19

Michael had just broken up with me. Before that, I’d just assumed 20

that I’d be moving to Washington with him that fall, when he 21

started his clerkship on the D.C. Circuit. And there I was suddenly 22

without a boyfriend, with no idea what I was going to do next.”

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Andrea looked at her skeptically. “Come on, Kate. You were 24

graduating from Harvard Law School. You had great grades. You 25

knew you were going to practice law, right?”

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“Well, sure. But it was tied up with the idea of being with 27

Michael, too. All of the firms I’d looked at were in D.C. And I was 28

mainly looking at ‘lifestyle’ firms — you know, where they actually 29

don’t expect you to spend the night on a regular basis. I wanted us 30

really to have a life together.”

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Even as she described the scene, Kate felt a sharp pain in her 32

chest. “Anyway,” she said, anxious to complete the story, “I was 33

wandering around campus feeling like a lost soul. I only signed up 34 sh

for a Samson interview because Justin made me. I definitely wasn’t 35 re

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expecting much. And then — it’s hard to explain — but when I 2

met Carter Mills, everything seemed okay again. For the first time 3

in weeks, I felt hopeful, like my life was going to work out.”

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Andrea looked at her frankly. “Kate, you know I adore you. But 5

I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

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“Well, it began like a normal interview. He asked me about Har-7

vard — classes, journal work, that sort of thing. But then we got to 8

talking about my family. I told him about my parents splitting up 9

when I was a kid. And then we talked about what it was like when 10

my mom died — that was during my last year in college. I . . . I 11

even told him a little about breaking up with Michael.”

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“You talked to Carter Mills about that kind of stuff? In an
inter-13

view?
Were you out of your mind?”

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“I know. It’s strange, isn’t it? I’m generally not so keen on dis-15

cussing the past. I’m a big believer in forward momentum. But he 16

seemed interested. Really interested. Like he cared.”

17

“If you say so. But it sounds a little bizarre.”

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“It didn’t feel bizarre at the time. It just felt . . . good.” Kate felt 19

herself blushing again. “You know, for weeks after that interview, I 20

had this fantasy that Carter Mills was my father. That we’d go away 21

for a trip to the country or the beach and that I could tell him 22

everything — everything that was wrong with my life — and that 23

he’d tell me how to fix it.”

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Andrea shook her head. “I’m not even going to touch that one,”

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she said.

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Kate was about to respond but stopped herself. Andrea’s parents 27

had recently celebrated their thirtieth wedding anniversary. How 28

could Andrea, with her parents and husband and teenage kid 29

brother, ever understand how it felt to be facing the world alone?

30

As she herself had since her mother died. There was her father, of 31

course, but she hadn’t seen him for more than a decade, since he 32

moved to California with his new wife and child. For several years, 33

he’d sent birthday cards, and then even these had become spo-ort 34

radic. Those had been the most painful years, the occasional cards reg 35

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only serving to underscore his general lack of concern. It was bet-1

ter once the cards stopped coming.

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Kate felt a hand on her shoulder.

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“Hey there!”

4

“Justin!” Kate jumped up to give him a hug. As usual, Justin 5

Daniels looked as though he’d just stepped away from a photo 6

shoot for some men’s fashion magazine. He was almost too hand-7

some, with an athlete’s graceful build and strong, chiseled features.

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They’d met over lunch at the Hark, as the law school commons 9

was called. She’d immediately decided that no one that good-10

looking, and smart enough to be at Harvard, could be anything 11

other than a jerk. But she’d been wrong. Four years later, he was 12

one of her closest friends.

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“It’s great to see you!” Kate said. “Why don’t you join us?”

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Justin paused, then shook his head. “No thanks, it’s going to be 15