drea’s voice trailed off.
20
Kate found her thoughts returning to that final meeting with 21
Madeleine. And then the terrible scene described in the morning’s 22
papers.
23
The phone rang. Kate looked down at the LCD screen, then 24
back to Andrea. “Carter Mills’s office,” she whispered.
25
Andrea rose as Kate picked up the receiver. “Talk to you later,”
26
Andrea mouthed, gently closing the door behind her.
27
“Ms. Paine?” Kate recognized Clara Hurley’s voice, calm and 28
even, utterly impervious to the events of the past twelve hours.
29
The perfect secretary.
30
“Speaking.”
31
“Mr. Mills would like to see you.”
32
Kate’s heart skipped a beat. “Now?”
33
“Right away, please. He’s waiting.”
34 sh
w
35 re
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Carter Mills extended his long legs and leaned back in his chair.
2
With one hand he held the phone to his ear. With the other he 3
rubbed his forehead. The gentle rise and fall of his chest was barely 4
detectible beneath his starched white shirt. His suit jacket hung on 5
the back of his chair.
6
“I’ve already answered that.” From the doorway, Kate could hear 7
the fatigue in Mills’s voice. “At this point, there are no suspects 8
that we know of.”
9
There was a pause as Mills listened to the voice at the other end 10
of the receiver. For the first time, Kate noticed deep grooves run-11
ning between his brows and along the sides of his mouth.
12
“The firm will be offering a substantial reward for any informa-13
tion leading to an arrest,” Mills said. “My partners and I will be dis-14
cussing the details this afternoon.”
15
Another pause, longer this time.
16
“There’s absolutely no reason to think so,” Mills finally said. “If 17
she’d received threats of any type, I’m certain she would have in-18
formed us.”
19
After a final brief exchange, Mills hung up the phone and 20
looked up at Kate. “Please,” he said, waving her toward the same 21
chair she’d occupied Monday morning. “I was just finishing up 22
with the Times. ”
23
He didn’t say Madeleine’s name. He didn’t have to.
24
“I’m so sorry,” Kate said. It was hardly an original response, and 25
she worried it might sound unfeeling. But Mills barely seemed to 26
hear her words.
27
“We were very close,” Mills said. His voice was slow and rhyth-28
mic, almost as if he were talking to himself. “I was her mentor, you 29
know. I hired her.”
30
“Yes,” said Kate. “I know.” As she spoke, Kate felt a tightness in 31
her chest. It was a moment before she realized that she was jealous.
32
Jealous of the young woman who had once so captivated Carter 33
Mills. Madeleine Waters was dead. Yet, her strongest emotion was ort 34
envy. What kind of person was she?
reg 35
“It’s such a waste,” Mills said, his eyes meeting Kate’s. “Such an 9858_01_003-152_r5hb.qxd 9/28/00 3:57 PM Page 95
E Q U I V O C A L D E A T H
9 5
incredible tragedy and waste. Madeleine Waters was one of the 1
finest lawyers — and people — ever to enter this firm.”
2
Again, the small stab of jealousy. A wave of shame overtook her.
3
Her father’s voice floated back from the distant past. Everything’s 4
not about you, Kate. The world doesn’t revolve around you. She felt a 5
sudden determination to talk back to that voice, to show that she 6
was, after all, capable of sharing someone else’s pain.
7
“I know how you must feel,” she said. “I — when my mother 8
died — it was the hardest thing in the world for me. And even 9
then, I had time to prepare. It must be so difficult, everything hap-10
pening so fast —” She broke off midsentence. Again, she worried 11
that she’d said the wrong thing. Hadn’t she hated it when people 12
told her they knew how she felt? When secretly she’d been con-13
vinced that no one had ever felt as she did, that no one had ever 14
been so alone? But Mills seemed touched.
15
“That’s right,” he said softly. “I remember talking to you about 16
that when you interviewed with me at Harvard.”
17
He continued to look at her, with the gently penetrating gaze 18
that she recalled from their first meeting. He remembered. A slow 19
warmth melted through her body, and she felt inexplicably lighter.
20
He remembered.
21
Mills was nodding reflectively. “When a death happens so sud-22
denly, you don’t have time to . . . to say the things you would like 23
to have said. The things that you ought to have said.”
24
Kate had an odd sensation that he was pleading with her, asking 25
for reassurance. “I — I’m sure Madeleine would have understood 26
that,” she said.
27
“Perhaps.” For a moment, Mills looked almost wistful. He 28
seemed younger than he had when she walked in. Younger and 29
strangely vulnerable.
30
Kate felt herself leaning forward. Something in Mills’s expres-31
sion touched her, made her want to do something to prove her 32
concern. “If there’s anything that I can do,” she began. And then 33
stopped short. Ridiculous. After all, what could she possibly do?
34 sh
But the words seemed to call Mills back to the present. “That’s 35 re
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actually what I needed to speak with you about,” he said. His face 2
once again registered a calm authority. Kate could feel herself re-3
lax. The brief intimacy had been tantalizing but unsettling.
4
“I need your help in cataloguing the contents of Madeleine’s of-5
fice. We’re under a lot of pressure from the police. This has to be 6
done by tonight. I’ve dictated the protocol. You can get it from 7
Clara. Talk to me if you have any questions.”
8
Kate sat for a moment, stunned, her mind rapidly outlining the 9
parameters of her task.
10
“Kate?” Mills’s voice was peremptory. He was waiting for her re-11
sponse.
12
Kate quickly looked up. “I’ll get started right away,” she said.
13
14
15
In a world of open doors and soft voices, the door to Madeleine’s 16
office suite was shut
tight, a tacit announcement that something 17
unusual had occurred within. Not that this was likely to come as 18
news to anyone passing by. Kate knocked three times, her knuck-19
les dully reverberating against the solid wood.
20
She heard a rustling inside, and then Carmen Rodriguez cracked 21
open the door. Kate could see that Madeleine’s former secretary 22
was not having an easy time. Carmen’s dark eyes were red, and her 23
vivid makeup had a slapdash look. Instead of her usual bright suit, 24
Carmen wore blue jeans and a yellow shirt. Her dark brown hair 25
was held back in a yellow scarf.
26
“Oh, hi,” she said flatly, opening the door to let Kate pass.
27
Inside, Carmen had already begun packing up the contents of 28
the built-in cabinets lining Madeleine’s reception area. Several 29
large cartons were piled full of folders. Nearby a stack of collapsed 30
boxes stood ready to be constructed. The tinny sound of soft rock 31
clattered from a radio somewhere.
32
“These are just old client files that I had in my drawers.” Car-33
men sounded defensive, as if she expected to be challenged.
ort 34
“Carter told me to go ahead and pack them up. I’m keeping a list.
reg 35
I haven’t touched anything in Madeleine’s office.”
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Kate nodded, searching her mind for something to say. Not only 1
had Carmen’s boss been killed, but she would also have to be reas-2
signed, which meant dealing with Samson’s notoriously inept sup-3
port staff bureaucracy, a division that often seemed to take sadistic 4
pleasure in incompatible pairings.
5
“This must be really hard on you,” Kate said. “How long had you 6
worked for Madeleine?”
7
“Five years.” Carmen looked down. Kate could tell that she was 8
trying not to cry. Even the support staff at Samson knew that tears 9
were a sign of weakness.
10
“Do you know where you’ll go now?”
11
Carmen’s eyes flashed. “I’m getting the hell out of this place,”
12
she said, her voice cracking with emotion. “Now that I’ve seen 13
how they treat people . . . I never would have believed it. Every-14
one thinks that Samson & Mills is such a fine place. Well, they can 15
have it. I’ve got a friend at Paul Weiss. She thinks she can get me a 16
job there. And even if she can’t, I’m not hanging around. I’ll move 17
in with my mother if I have to.” Her tirade ended, Carmen turned 18
back to the boxes. The look of weary defeat returned to her face.
19
“It doesn’t matter anymore,” she said. “I gave notice first thing this 20
morning.”
21
Kate watched Carmen pack, her movements sharp and birdlike.
22
The reception area was quickly assuming the impersonal air of 23
places that no longer belong to anyone in particular. In the back-24
ground, Kate was vaguely aware of the radio, of the Supremes 25
singing about how you can’t hurry love. But she was still focused 26
on Carmen’s words.
27
“I don’t understand,” Kate said finally. “What are you talking 28
about?”
29
“Chuck Thorpe,” Carmen said.
30
Kate looked at her, surprised. “What about Chuck Thorpe?” she 31
asked.
32
Carmen placed her hands on her hips. Her eyes, almost black in 33
the harsh office light, seemed to send off sparks. “They used her,”
34 sh
Carmen said. “She couldn’t stand the man. But he wouldn’t take 35 re
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no for an answer. Not that anyone cared. All they cared about was 2
money. Using her to keep him happy. Made her have dinner with 3
him and God knows what else. Disgusting. Finally, she stood up for 4
herself. And look what happened.”
5
“You think Thorpe had something to do with the murder?”
6
Before Kate could think, the words were out. Carmen’s head 7
snapped back to the file in her hand, her face gone blank as a plate.
8
Kate knew at once she’d moved too fast. The question had re-9
minded Carmen of what was at stake if she spoke her mind. Sam-10
son employee or not, she could hardly take on WideWorld Media.
11
“I’m not saying anything. ” Carmen’s voice had turned sullen.
12
“Look, if you have any questions about the files, I’ll be back in 13
about an hour. I’ve got some errands to run. Just be sure that no 14
one else gets into Madeleine’s office, okay?”
15
16
17
Kate chewed on a thumbnail and looked around. Madeleine’s of-18
fice was perfectly still, illumined by a clear winter light. The pol-19
ished top of her desk was almost empty. Just a phone, a small lamp, 20
and a recent issue of American Law. Her leather chair was pushed 21
thinking of a painting she’d studied in a college art history class.
23
Still Life with Lemon Peel. A bright yellow fruit nestled in a clutter 24
of silver and crystal, its peeled skin scrolling off the table’s edge.
25
You had a sense of something interrupted, as if a diner had been 26
called away. Her professor had called this painting a vanitas, a re-27
flection on the transience of life.
28
From Madeleine’s desk, Kate’s eyes drifted to the wall behind it, 29
to the photograph she’d noticed Tuesday morning. A seascape.
30
She could see why Madeleine loved this picture. There was some-31
thing mesmerizing, transporting about it. The surf slamming hard 32
against the shoreline. The impervious rocky coast. The photo 33
seemed to suggest a contest of wills, a contest with a far-from-ort 34
certain outcome. Madeleine had said the picture was taken by a reg 35
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9 9
friend. Was it a place from her past, somewhere she’d once spent 1
time? Or was she, like Kate, simply drawn to the image itself?
2
Pulling her gaze from the picture, Kate walked over to 3
Madeleine’s desk. After a moment of hesitation, she sat down.
4
Madeleine’s chair was larger than her own, larger and softer, with a 5
buttery leather cushion. The simple act of sitting there filled Kate 6
with a vague unease. She felt strangely exposed, as if she were tak-7
ing some sort of unwarranted risk. As if at any moment Madeleine 8
might appear, demanding an explanation.
9
What are you doing in my office?
10
But time was flying by. Kate tried to forget about Madeleine’s 11
murder, about the facts that had brought her here. Gingerly, she 12
reached for the handle on the top drawer of Madeleine’s desk. An 13
irrational anxiety coursed through her, as if she were an actress in 14
some B-grade movie, in search of a terrible secret. But there was 15
just the usual assortment of paper clips, pens, and rubber bands, all 16
neatly arranged in a plastic tray.
17
What Carter Mills wanted was pretty straightforward: a list and 18
description of office contents. Jennifer could type up her notes at 19
the end of the day, and the list would be on Carter’s desk by morn-20
ing. Kate closed the top drawer and moved on to a much larger 21
drawer on the desk’s left-hand side. As she’d expected, it was 22
stuffed with folders. Gathering up the first bunch — fifteen or 23
twenty files — Kate heaved them off the hanging metal rods and 24
placed them on top of the desk. On a yellow legal pad, she began 25
to jot down captions from the labels. The first few folders con-26
tained general firm materials: interoffice memoranda, time sheets, 27
general correspondence. Then came a file labeled Investments.
28
Madeleine’s personal records. Kate felt a twinge of curiosity. Noth-29
ing to do with the murder. Still, she couldn’t seem to stop herself.
30
It’s really none of your business. But she’d already opened the file.
31
The top page was a summary from a brokerage house statement.
32
Kate’s eyes scanned the sheet, looking for the bottom line. Three 33
million dollars. And that was just in this account. Kate wasn’t 34 sh
35 re
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really surprised by the amount. It went without saying that Samson 2
partners were wealthy. And three million dollars was hardly what 3
it used to be, not in an era when young investment bankers were 4
bringing home more than a million bucks a year. But there was 5
something arresting about seeing the figure in black and white.
6
Three million dollars was still a lot of money.
7
Staring at the figure, Kate felt a wave of desolation. All that ef-8
fort, all that stockpiling, and for what?
9
Vanitas, vanitas . . .
10
What had Madeleine planned to do with her savings? From the 11
firm directory, Kate recalled Madeleine’s Park Avenue address. She 12