The Anniversary
Page 19
21
Classical music played in the background as they took seats at 22
a small round table. The room was an elegant oasis; the city 23
seemed miles away. There were lace curtains, swooping draperies, 24
soft carpets muffling footsteps. The china was white with blue-25
and-gold trim. There was a candle on the table.
26
“It’s been a long time,” said Melanie, as she picked up her nap-27
kin and placed it on her lap. “You look wonderful.”
28
“Thank you,” said Callie. Then, falsely, “You too.”
29
In fact, Melanie did not look good. For one thing, she was far 30
too thin. Her black knit sweater clung to her ribs as if it were a 31
second skin. The impression was one of angles and edges, some-32
thing tightly wound. But most of all, it was Melanie’s eyes where 33
Callie saw the change. Still the same remarkable blue, they 34
seemed somehow colder. Extinguished was the word that came to S 35
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mind, as if a light had gone out. The gleaming hair that once fell 2
to her shoulders now skimmed her jaw. It, too, seemed subtly 3
cooler. Moonlight rather than sun.
4
Behind their table, Callie glimpsed an enormous display of 5
lilies. Their scent floated through the room, gently perfuming the 6
air. But despite the tranquil atmosphere, Callie was on edge.
7
There were a dozen or so tables, two others occupied. In one cor-8
ner sat a sedate threesome, consuming tea and scones. A larger 9
table was occupied by a laughing group of young women. More 10
people than Callie had expected, certainly more than she’d have 11
liked. She found herself questioning Melanie’s judgment, won-12
dering why they had come here. This was hardly the setting she’d 13
have picked for a private conversation.
14
Callie opened her menu.
15
Melanie did the same.
16
“It’s on me,” Melanie said quickly, as Callie scanned the prices.
17
When the waiter arrived, Melanie ordered the full afternoon 18
tea. Uncertain and not terribly hungry, Callie followed suit.
19
The waiter left and Callie saw that Melanie was watching her.
20
“I don’t mean to stare,” said Melanie, when Callie’s eyes caught 21
hers. “It’s just that you seem so . . . different.”
22
Callie gave a faint smile. “I am different,” she said. “I’m a to-23
tally different person.”
24
“So you’re living in Massachusetts?”
25
“Merritt. The western part of the state.”
26
“The Berkshires?”
27
“Not too far from there. Closer to Amherst and Northampton.”
28
“There’s a college there, isn’t there?”
29
“Windham,” Callie said. “I finished my degree there — my 30
bachelor’s. Now I work in the alumni office and take a few classes 31
on the side.”
32
“I was up that way a few years ago. Lovely part of New England.”
33
Pleasant but utterly impersonal, the conversation drifted on.
34
Callie had the sense that they were marking time. Was Melanie 35 S
waiting for something?
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The waiter arrived with plates holding rows of triangular tea 1
sandwiches. Beside these edible pyramids lay a single flower.
2
As she waited for her tea to cool, Callie ate a sandwich. Her 3
appetite suddenly returned, and she found she was ravenous. She 4
finished a salmon sandwich and picked up a cucumber one.
5
“So you moved to New York from Washington?” Callie said 6
between bites.
7
“That’s right,” Melanie said. “I’ve been here going on five 8
years. I love living in the city.”
9
“And your husband?” Callie asked. “How does he like it here?”
10
Melanie’s features seemed to freeze. “I’m not married,” she said.
11
“I’m sorry,” Callie said. “I thought —”
12
“I was married, but I’m not anymore.”
13
Something in Melanie’s tone warned Callie to back off. “These 14
sandwiches are delicious,” she said, returning to neutral terrain.
15
Melanie was on her second cup of tea, but she hadn’t eaten a 16
thing. Now she pushed her plate away, with a look of vague dis-17
taste.
18
“I had a late breakfast,” she said. “I’m really not very hungry.”
19
Callie had finished her own sandwiches and looked at 20
Melanie’s. “Do you mind if I —”
21
Melanie waved a hand. “Please. Be my guest.”
22
The waiter brought strawberries. Callie continued to eat. Over 23
Melanie’s shoulder, she watched the festive group of young 24
women. Peals of laughter floated over from their large round 25
table. A bridal shower maybe. Or a sorority reunion. Whatever 26
their reason for being here, it was nothing like her own.
27
Callie spooned up clotted cream and dropped it on her berries.
28
She looked expectantly at Melanie, wondering what came next.
29
As if reading her mind, Melanie leaned forward.
30
“I wasn’t sure that it would be you.” She spoke very softly.
31
For the first time, Callie noticed the traces of a southern ac-32
cent. She looked at Melanie, baffled. “What?”
33
“When you called me, you sounded so different. I thought it 34
might not be you, that it might be some sort of trick. That’s why S 35
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I wanted to meet like this. I thought maybe you wouldn’t show 2
up. Or if you did, you’d be someone else.”
3
“Well . . .” Callie had no idea what to say. The admission as-4
tonished her. She’d certainly sensed Melanie’s wariness but never 5
grasped its extent. If Melanie had questioned her identity, what 6
other doubts might she have?
7
“What about the letter, the watch? Do you believe what I told 8
you?”
9
Melanie bit her lip. She seemed to be thinking something 10
through, then came to a fast decision. “We should talk about this 11
privately,” she said. “My apartment is just a few blocks away.
12
We’d be more comfortable there.”
13
Callie quickly agreed. Melanie tossed out a platinum credit 14
card. Soon they were on the street. Neither of them spoke during 15
the short cab ride to the building where Melanie lived.
16
The elevator glided the forty floors up to Melanie’s apartment.
17
“This is beautiful,” Callie said. She’d just stepped through 18
Melanie’s door and caught sight of the sweeping views. “You can 19
see the whole city from here.”
20
“The East Side. The park.” Melanie flipped on a light. “Here.
21
Have a seat.”
22
Callie sank into the couch and looked around curiously. White 23
walls, white sofa, white armchair. Melanie White, in her home of 24
white. It was like a fairy tale. Was it intentional? An affectation?
25
Or did she just like white?
26
Except for a few framed photographs, the room seemed imper-27
sonal. As reluctant as Melanie herself to disclose any informa-28
tion.
29
“May I get you anything? Coffee? Seltzer?”
30
“No,” said Callie. “I’m fine.”
31
Melanie sat down across from Callie in the overstuffed white 32
chair. The chair’s massive size underscored her fragility. For the 33
first time, it occurred to Callie that Melanie might be sick. She 34
wondered about Melanie’s marriage, when it had broken up.
35 S
“Before we start talking,” said Melanie, “I have to clarify some-36 R
thing. I can’t give you legal advice. I can’t act as your lawyer. I’m 1 2 8
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meeting with you now as . . . as a friend, I guess. I want to be clear 1
on that from the start. I need to be sure you understand that.”
2
Melanie seemed suddenly uncomfortable, but Callie wasn’t 3
sure why. “That’s right,” she said. “That’s what I assumed. I mean, 4
I’m not paying you.”
5
Melanie visibly relaxed at the words, which made Callie un-6
easy. She had a sense of missing something and wanted to ask 7
what it was. But before she could frame a question, Melanie was 8
speaking.
9
“Did you bring the watch?”
10
“Yes. The watch and the letter both.”
11
“Could I take a look at them?”
12
“Sure.” Callie reached into her purse.
13
The watch was in a small cardboard box. Melanie took off the 14
lid. “I probably shouldn’t touch it,” she said. “Even though it’s 15
been handled since your daughter found it, there still might be la-16
tent prints.”
17
Fingerprints. Callie started. Why hadn’t she thought of that?
18
But as soon as the question flashed through her mind, she in-19
stantly knew why. Steven had never left fingerprints. Never. Not 20
one time.
21
Melanie examined the watch, then replaced the lid. She care-22
fully set the little box on a table beside her chair. “The letter?”
23
she said, looking up at Callie.
24
Callie held it out.
25
Melanie hesitated. “Wait a minute,” she said. She got up and 26
went to a hallway closet, returning with a pair of black leather 27
gloves.
28
“Not exactly standard issue, but I guess they’re better than 29
nothing.”
30
After pulling on the gloves, she took hold of the envelope and 31
removed the letter. Black pants, black sweater, and now black 32
gloves. All that white around her, and everything she wore was 33
black.
34
Even with the gloves on, Melanie held the paper gingerly, tak-S 35
ing hold of it at the edge between a thumb and forefinger. Her R 36
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head was bowed as she examined it, and Callie couldn’t see her 2
face.
3
When she finally looked up, her expression was troubled. “Do 4
you have any idea who might have written this?”
5
Callie dropped her eyes. “Not really. I mean, I don’t have any 6
evidence.”
7
“But you have some idea?”
8
“It’s probably stupid, but right away I thought of Lester Crain.”
9
“Lester Crain?” Melanie stared.
10
“The day Steven was sentenced, he said that all of us were go-11
ing to pay. He looked around the room at us, and you could just 12
feel the hatred. Everyone just wrote it off as some sort of crazed 13
reaction. But I . . . I knew him very well. He meant what he was 14
saying. And then, well, he couldn’t get revenge himself. He’d 15
have to have arranged it with someone, someone who owed him 16
a favor. Steven helped Crain to get a new trial. Crain said he’d 17
find a way to thank him.”
18
Melanie put a hand to her forehead. “I . . . this is hard to be-19
lieve.”
20
“I’m not saying it’s true,” said Callie. “It’s just what I’ve been 21
thinking.”
22
“I think you should go to the police.”
23
Already, Callie was shaking her head. “No,” she said. “I can’t.”
24
“Why not?” Melanie asked.
25
There was something in her tone, a deference, that put Callie 26
on the defensive. She had an impression that Melanie was trying 27
to manipulate her.
28
“You have to do something,” Melanie continued, when Callie 29
didn’t answer. “You can’t just ignore what’s happened. The police 30
need to investigate, to get to the bottom of this. If there’s a link 31
between Diane’s death and these items, they’ll be able to figure it 32
out. And if not, if it’s something else, they can look into that 33
too.”
34
Callie nodded slowly but didn’t say anything.
35 S
“It might not be Diane’s watch.” Melanie’s voice was soothing.
36 R
“It’s just an ordinary Cartier watch, the same brand that I have.”
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She extended her wrist so Callie could see the gold Tank with 1
its black strap. But all Callie could think was, They’re not at all the 2
same.
3
“They’re totally different watches,” she said, stating the obvi-4
ous point.
5
“But the same brand,” Melanie said. “The same manufacturer.”
6
“So what?” Callie said. She felt a l
ittle dazed. “The watch 7
Anna found is exactly the same. Like the one in Diane’s picture.”
8
Leaning forward in her chair, Melanie clasped her hands.
9
“Look, you asked me if I believed you. I’m not sure why, but I do.
10
But you’ve put me in a difficult position. When you called me, 11
you caught me by surprise. It wasn’t until you’d finished talking 12
that you mentioned the attorney-client privilege. It hadn’t oc-13
curred to me. The thing is, something like this — I can’t just 14
keep it to myself. It would be unethical. There’s an ongoing mur-15
der investigation. What you told me could be relevant. You could 16
be in danger yourself. You have no idea who’s behind this. You 17
don’t know what they’ll do next.”
18
“I know that,” Callie said sharply. “You think I haven’t 19
thought of that?”
20
A long, tense silence.
21
Thoughts swirled through Callie’s mind. She now understood 22
why Melanie had been so careful to establish the context of their 23
conversation. Not lawyer-client. Friends. Of course there’d been 24
a reason. It had to do with the privilege. There must be limits on 25
it. If Melanie wasn’t officially her lawyer, perhaps the privilege 26
didn’t apply. That possibility seemed so obvious now, though it 27
hadn’t occurred to her before. But she’d trusted Melanie to keep 28
this confidential. Didn’t that mean a thing?
29
“I’m sorry,” Callie said. “I didn’t mean to get upset.”
30
“It’s an upsetting situation.”
31
“Yes,” said Callie. “It is.” She fought to keep her voice steady.
32
“But what I do about it — if anything — that should be my deci-33
sion. That’s why I called you instead of someone else. I thought 34
that because you were a lawyer, you’d have to respect my confi-S 35
dences.”
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“I understand that,” Melanie said. “But even where the privi-2
lege applies, it isn’t absolute. For example, if you told me you 3
were going to commit a crime —”
4
Callie jumped to her feet. “But it isn’t like that,” she said. “It’s 5
not the same thing at all.”
6
“No,” said Melanie. “You’re right. Still, it’s not the sort of 7
thing I can ethically keep to myself. At the very least, I need to 8