Fatal February (22 page)

“You mean the father left more of the company to Lillian than to her brother? You Anglos are a different
breed. That would never happen in an Hispanic family.”

“Oh, here we go with the macho stuff again. Do you want to listen?”

“Sure. Go ahead.”

“When she told me that, I knew that Jack Brandeis hadn’t killed Gary. There was a time where I actually suspected him. Lillian was the one he would want to do away with, if he wanted to run the whole company.

“Here’s the kicker. Bob Rose found a slip of paper in Maddie’s things she left behind. It said eleven a.m. L.Y. and the address of the Yarmouth condo on Miami Beach.

“Bob Rose wrote in his original report to Gary that Maddie was observed entering that building shortly before the murder. She stayed almost two hours.”

“Maybe she and Gary were having a good-bye funch, you know, fuck and lunch.”

“If that were the case, and Gary gave her some money, why would she kill him, and why would she come looking for an inheritance in Gary’s will?”

“Okay, what do you think happened, Ms. Worry-wart?”

“I’m afraid to think what I think.”

“Now you sound like a Spanish
muchacha
,” Carlos said.

“I think Lillian met Maddie at the condo, and they planned the murder together. She promised Maddie money to get out of town and that’s the money that
Maddie said she came into. Maybe she actually believed that Gary was leaving her money too.”

“Maybe Gary did give her money. You know there are other ways to arrange such things that have nothing to do with a will or any other legal document. Maybe Lillian had nothing to do with the murder or the money. She seemed so fragile when I watched her in court.”

“I think it was an act that she’s been using for years. She could have finally gotten fed up with Gary’s running around on her and decided to play the grieving widow. She’s a lot tougher than she appears.

“Look, Mary, we’ll never know for sure, unless the State finally catches up with Maddie. After the lousy job they did in the case, it seems unlikely that they’ll ever find her. Are you worried because you got Lillian off?”

“Not exactly. It’s my duty to zealously defend my clients. It’s not a matter of proving innocence. Not guilty is different than innocent. Not guilty means the government failed to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt. That’s the standard. That’s the way our system works.”

“So that’s what you did. You showed the judge and the state that they had no proof to show that Lillian committed a murder. What’s really bothering you about Lillian?”

“That she completely fooled me. I thought I was a better judge of people.”

“Well, in spite of your façade of skepticism, you believe what people tell you. Look at the time you wasted on Frank. But this is what I love about you. Inside you’re as soft as butter.”

“You better never let anyone else know that or I’ll get Marco to beat you up.”

“Come on,” Carlos said, let’s leave these dishes and I’ll show you how to forget all this worrying.”

“I thought you already showed me.”

“No, that was just a warm-up.”

Two days later, when I returned from a deposition, Catherine handed me a message. “Call Angelina Martin.”

Oh, oh, she’s back and she found Sam’s dog hair. I dialed her immediately. Then I hung up. Maybe I should call Carlos and find out what this was about, I thought. No, I’ll face the music. I dialed her number again.

“
Oye
,” Angelina answered. “I’m on the other line. Just a minute,” she said.

“Okay, I’m back,” she said after a wait of several minutes.

“Angelina, it’s Mary Katz, returning your call.”

“Of course, I know it’s you darling. I have caller ID, you know.”

“How was your trip? When did you get back? Thank you for the use of the beach house. It was a wonderful getaway.”

“Yes, yes, you’re welcome. We got back Sunday
night. It was fine. Now here’s why I called you. You are one smart lady.”

“Well, thanks. But why do you think I’m smart?”

“Remember when we were talking about my position on the board of directors at Elite, and I said Jack would be the new president and you said maybe Lillian would take over?’

“Yes, I remember.”

“I thought you were just kidding, but you were right.”

“What?”

“Today was the board of directors meeting to vote for the new president. Don’t tell me you don’t know.”

“Know what?”

“Lillian walked in with almost all the votes. She had all her shares, and Gary’s few shares he left to Beverly. You know, his secretary or assistant or whatever, and she voted for Lillian. Actually, Beverly nominated Lillian. Marian nominated Jack. Lillian and Beverly and one other member voted for Lillian and Jack conceded, so Lillian is now in charge of running Elite. And she made sure she was voted a nice big salary too. So you were right.”

“Maybe she just plans to be sort of the ceremonial president,” I said.

“Oh, no, she’s picked out her office and she said she’d be announcing some new sales policies in a few days.”

“How did Jack take it?”

“Marian told me on the way out to the car he’ll probably retire in a few months. Anyway, who knew Lillian was such a hard-nosed lady.”

“Yes, who knew? Thanks for letting me know, Angelina. I look forward to seeing you and J.C. again.”

“You must come for dinner soon, darling. Ciao.”

Well, that’s Lillian’s story. She’s turned into an effective CEO. I went by to see her at her office, which looked like an ad in
Ms
. magazine. She was as calm as a regular Valium user even though phones were ringing, and employees were dashing in and out.

Brett and Sherry have returned to Dartmouth. Lillian told me that Brett is thinking about coming into the business, and Sherry is considering law school. She got turned onto it by her mother’s case. And I received a case of Merlot from Elite Wines with a note from Lillian that she would be sending me more wines as new ones arrived.

So here I am back at the car wash waiting for my car. Like I told you at the beginning, I went to the car wash in February and I ruined my life. I mean I ruined my old life, I broke my engagement, I was fired, I was sued, and I got a bar complaint. On the plus side, I have a whole new life. I have my own law practice, I won a murder case, and, best of all, I have a sexy new boyfriend, even though he does have a Latin temper and an impatient streak.

The car wash is extra noisy today. I might as well not even open my briefcase. I wonder why the two young guys next to me on this bench are screaming at each other. Now they’re running down the sidewalk and they’re still screaming. I can’t make out what they’re saying. Something about cops. Now there are more guys chasing the first two guys. Oh my God, it’s the SWAT team. They just handcuffed the two young guys.

“Hi, can I be of help? I’m Mary Magruder Katz. Here’s my card. I’m a criminal defense attorney. Don’t say anything to these cops without your lawyer present.”