by Amy Gutman
11
“Really?”
12
“Maybe. Can we change the subject now?”
13
Tara sighed. “Be my guest.”
14
w
15
He gazed down at the seated figure. She was smaller than he re-16
membered, her hair swept back in a twist. Her dress, a rich shade 17
of midnight blue, had a square-cut neck and fitted sleeves. She 18
held a glass of red wine. Even as his heart raced with anticipation, 19
he took a moment to appreciate the play of color and form. How 20
the somber hue of the fabric set off the whiteness of her skin. How 21
the garment’s tailored lines only emphasized her body’s curves. An 22
aesthetic of contrasts.
23
“How’ve you been?” he persisted.
24
Slowly, she lowered her glass. The faintest of flushes suffused her 25
face. “I’m sorry, but you’ll have to excuse me.” Her voice was quiet 26
but firm. “I’m meeting a client here.”
27
Standing beside her in this public space, he felt a rush of power.
28
His entire body — blood, muscle, heart, sinew — seemed to be 29
humming at her nearness. He pulled out a chair and sat down.
30
“Yes. Well. There’s been a — how shall I put this? — change of 31
plans.”
32
She looked at him warily, a latent uneasiness emerging. She had 33
no idea. Still, her instincts were good. She knew that something ort 34
was wrong.
reg 35
9858_01_003-152_r5hb.qxd 9/28/00 3:57 PM Page 45
E Q U I V O C A L D E A T H
4 5
“I’m going to have to ask you to leave,” she said, sitting up 1
straight in her chair.
2
“But I don’t want to leave, Madeleine.” As he spoke, he slipped off 3
his coat and placed it across his lap. He waited a moment, relishing 4
her stunned confusion. Then, reaching under his coat, he went on.
5
“Beneath this table, I am holding a loaded gun. A gun with a rather 6
remarkable history. But I digress. The point is this: If you make the 7
slightest move to suggest that everything is not, shall we say, as it 8
should be, I won’t hesitate to shoot. Given our respective posi-9
tions, I’d guess that the bullet would probably strike you some-10
where between the abdomen and lungs. Of course, you might 11
survive. But there’s sure to be a fair bit of damage. All and all, I’d 12
say that it’s quite a gamble.”
13
Her pale skin seemed to grow even paler. But she didn’t say any-14
thing at first. Her brilliant mind, so adept at sorting out logical in-15
consistencies, the weakness in an opponent’s argument, must be 16
rapidly reviewing the alternatives, reviewing and dismissing them 17
at lightning speed. Then, strangely, she smiled. When she spoke 18
her voice was playful.
19
“Look,” she said lightly. “This is some sort of joke, right? Okay, 20
you got me. You really did. Now, why don’t you let me buy you a 21
drink at the bar?”
22
He met her smile with his own. “This isn’t a joke, Madeleine,”
23
he said. “You couldn’t be further from the truth.”
24
Slowly, her smile faded. “Let’s look at this rationally,” she said.
25
“If you —”
26
He was suddenly impatient, impatient and not a little anxious 27
about the steady passage of time. No point in pressing his luck.
28
“It’s time for us to go,” he said abruptly.
29
“For us —?”
30
“You’re coming with me, Madeleine,” he said.
31
She looked at him, incredulous. “You’re crazy. I don’t know 32
what it is you’re after, but you’ll never get away with this.”
33
He laughed out loud. “You may be right,” he said. “Maybe I am 34 sh
35 re
9858_01_003-152_r5hb.qxd 9/28/00 3:57 PM Page 46
4 6
A M Y G U T M A N
1
crazy. But, frankly, Madeleine, if I were in your shoes, I don’t think 2
that would reassure me.”
3
“Why are you doing this?” Madeleine whispered. Her green eyes 4
shone. “Why are you doing this to me?”
5
He was pleased to hear the beginnings of fear in her voice, un-6
easiness evolving into something more. “You don’t need to know 7
that, Madeleine,” he said. “Really, there’d be no point. And it 8
would take too long. It’s not really about you, anyway.”
9
Signaling the waitress with his free hand, he kept his gaze 10
pinned firmly on Madeleine’s face. “I’m afraid my companion is 11
feeling sick. If you could bring us the check right away. . . .” With 12
sympathetic sounds, the waitress hurried to comply.
13
He looked at Madeleine intently. “Now listen carefully. There’s 14
not much time. You kept your coat with you. Good. When I get up, 15
you’ll stand up slowly and put it on. You’ll notice that, as I stand, 16
my coat will remain over my arm, concealing my right hand. In 17
that hand, as I think I previously mentioned, I am holding a loaded 18
gun. Keeping that in mind, you will walk, slightly ahead of me, out 19
the door. I’ll leave cash on the table to pay the bill. There’s no rea-20
son to stop up front. Understood?”
21
As they stepped out into the cold, black night, he reached his 22
left arm around Madeleine’s waist; in his right hand, he held the 23
pistol, firmly lodged against her side. Stars glimmered above them 24
in a frosty sky. Their footsteps crunched through a shell of ice.
25
Through the weight of her cashmere coat, he felt Madeleine stiffen 26
at his touch. Streetlights sent off a dusty glow. The area shops were 27
dark. Rounding the corner, he saw the rental car parked at the end 28
of the block. A few more yards, and he was unlocking the door, 29
roughly shoving Madeleine inside.
30
And then, just as he’d planned, there were no witnesses when 31
he firmly pressed a chloroform-soaked cloth over the beautiful, 32
startled face.
33
w
ort 34
It was with a sense of relief that Kate quickly hugged Tara good-reg 35
bye before hailing a cab and heading uptown. She was glad to have 9858_01_003-152_r5hb.qxd 9/28/00 3:57 PM Page 47
E Q U I V O C A L D E A T H
4 7
the excuse of her Harvard Club date with Justin to short-circuit 1
the discussion of her personal life. After giving the driver direc-2
tions — 27 West 44th between Fifth and Sixth — Kate leaned her 3
head back against the seat and closed her eyes as the cab rocketed 4
through the night, zipping in and out of traffic lanes like a ball in a 5
pinball game.
6
As the cab careened uptown, Kate let her mind
wander back to 7
her meal with Tara. Now that she was free from her friend’s prob-8
ing questions, she felt a little guilty. She’d call Tara first thing to-9
morrow, apologize for being a jerk.
10
“Miss?”
11
The cab had come to a stop next to the club’s crimson canopy.
12
Kate fumbled in her purse for the fare and then scrambled onto the 13
sidewalk. It had started to rain, an icy drizzle. Kate hurried through 14
the door.
15
Once inside, Kate could feel herself relax. She smiled at the 16
doorman before heading straight for the crackling fire, where she 17
held out her hands to warm them.
18
Kate knew that her fondness for the Harvard Club was slightly 19
perverse. With its fusty Old World demeanor, the club was almost 20
a parody of itself. But that was part of what she liked about it: the 21
pervasive if unconscious self-irony. Trophy animals gazed down 22
from the walls, remnants of big-game hunts. Kate had a particular 23
fondness for the green-tinged elephant, with its enormous ex-24
tended trunk. (“Looks just like the elephant king Cornelius did af-25
ter he ate the poisoned mushrooms,” Kate had once observed, 26
referring to a picture in the Babar book she’d loved as a child.) 27
Some months back, one of the ancient specimens had crashed to 28
the floor — the head of a wild boar or something equally prepos-29
terous. Kate had almost wished that someone had been hit if only 30
to see what the tabloids did with the story. She’d come up with a 31
few headlines herself: Dead Head Strikes Talking Head. Head of the 32
Beast Kills Head of the Class. Taxidermy Kills Tax Attorney. The pos-33
sibilities were endless.
34 sh
Kate glanced at her watch. Almost nine-thirty. She was right on 35 re
9858_01_003-152_r5hb.qxd 9/28/00 3:57 PM Page 48
4 8
A M Y G U T M A N
1
time. Pulling off her coat, Kate sank into a chair to wait for Justin’s 2
arrival. Her eyes wandered around the room. The club was a sea of 3
crimson — crimson carpets and crimson walls — punctuated by 4
portraits of old white men. Lately, there’d been some progress on 5
the gender front, with money raised to bring in more pictures of 6
women. Until the recent push, there’d been only two, the black 7
contralto Marian Anderson — might as well get two minorities for 8
the price of one — and Helen Keller — a role model, to be sure, 9
but was it mere coincidence that the club had selected a female 10
icon who was blind, deaf, and mute?
11
Kate was skimming the headlines of the Wall Street Journal when 12
Justin bounded into sight.
13
“Am I late?” he said, sounding slightly out of breath. “I got tied 14
up with some last-minute document work.”
15
“Just on time,” Kate assured him. “I was on the early side.” She 16
felt a glow of pleasure in his company. Justin wasn’t just a close 17
friend; he was also a touchstone, a reminder of how far she’d come.
18
Again, she thought about that last year of school. It had been Justin 19
who pulled her through. Not only had he given her a shoulder to 20
cry on; he’d also offered advice. “Don’t let a guy — any guy —
21
screw up your life,” he’d said. “Make this work for you. After you 22
spend a couple of years at Samson & Mills, you’ll be able to write 23
your own ticket. You may not think that matters now, but you will 24
later. Besides, what have you got to lose?” And he’d been right.
25
As Justin leaned down to kiss her on the cheek, Kate felt her 26
face grow warm. Sounds like he’d make a great husband. Andrea’s 27
lunchtime pronouncement. Luckily, Justin didn’t notice.
28
“Shall we dump our coats?” He was already heading toward the 29
cloakroom.
30
“Sure.” Following Justin down a narrow corridor, Kate saw that 31
his hair was damp. He must have stopped by the gym. Crazy as 32
things got at Samson, Justin never seemed to miss a day. Some-33
thing she couldn’t say for herself. Kate tried to remember the last ort 34
time she’d taken advantage of her firm-subsidized membership in reg 35
9858_01_003-152_r5hb.qxd 9/28/00 3:57 PM Page 49
E Q U I V O C A L D E A T H
4 9
the Mercury Athletic Club. Mercury was one of the city’s pricier 1
and more exclusive gyms. It was ridiculous not to avail herself of 2
this perk. She’d definitely make it over this week. Really.
3
The Grill Room was a sea of overstuffed leather sofas, chairs, 4
and tables populated by the usual mix of old and young Harvard 5
types. A table of four elderly men in suits, white-haired and distin-6
guished, huddled over a vigorous game of backgammon with the 7
same high seriousness that they must have once accorded their 8
business deals. Several professional couples dined à deux. A cluster 9
of twenty-something guys with slicked-back hair were trading 10
jokes over drinks. They reminded Kate of puppies, high-spirited 11
and not quite housebroken. The mood was quiet and restrained, 12
with the club’s strictly enforced “Gentlemen’s Rules” barring any 13
display of cash or business papers. Payment was discreetly effected 14
by way of a member’s signature.
15
“How about over there?” Kate gestured to a corner table to the 16
right of the entrance. She wanted to be assured of privacy.
17
After settling in at their table and ordering drinks — white 18
wine for Kate, vodka and tonic for Justin — Justin turned to Kate.
19
“So how was the cruise?” he asked.
20
“Terrific,” said Kate. “Great.” It wasn’t quite the truth. While 21
the weather had been beautiful, balmy and hot, she’d counted the 22
hours till her return. What was so great about having time on your 23
hands? Better to be busy and productive.
24
“You were by yourself?”
25
“I wouldn’t put it that way.” Kate could tell she sounded defen-26
sive, the residue from her dinner with Tara. “There were ten of us 27
on the boat. I shared a cabin with another woman. A French trans-28
lator. I had plenty of company.”
29
She quickly changed the subject. “So how about you? How were 30
the holidays?”
31
Justin rolled his eyes. “The usual pandemonium at home. But 32
good. Delia’s already planning for college, can you believe it? Only 33
thirteen and she’s got her heart set on Brown.”
34 sh
35 re
9858_01_003-152_r5hb.qxd 9/28/00 3:57 PM Page 50
5 0
A M Y G U T M A N
1
“I love your family.” Kate had met Justin’s parents and younger 2
sister the week of their law school graduation. Justin
’s father was a 3
history professor; his mother, a child psychologist. Kate, who had 4
toyed with the idea of majoring in psych before settling on English 5
lit, was fascinated by Sarah Daniels’s stories about the children she 6
counseled in southeast Washington D.C. “What’s your mom up to 7
these days?”
8
“Busy as usual. She just finished this book about adoption she’s 9
been writing for about a hundred years. So she’s a little burned out.
10
But happy.”
11
“That’s so cool. When will it be out?”
12
“Hmm, let’s see. We’re talking about an academic press here.
13
Probably in about 2010.”
14
Kate laughed. “You know, I really admire your mother. But I’d 15
never have the patience for that sort of thing. What I like about 16
law is, you write a brief and then, boom, you either win or lose. I 17
mean it’s not immediate, but you don’t have to wait forever.”
18
“Ah yes,” Justin mused. “Yet another reason to love the law.”
19
“Speaking of the law, what happened at S&M while I was 20
gone?”
21
“It’s been pretty slow. I’ve been more or less full time on the 22
Haber-Tech antitrust case. The document production has been a 23
nightmare. Last week I came in on Monday morning and didn’t 24
leave until eight o’clock Wednesday night. It got to be sort of sur-25
real. The sun goes up. The sun goes down. The sun goes up. The 26
sun goes down. The only sleep I got was a half hour Tuesday night, 27
hidden under my desk. It’s the only way to get those goddamn 28
lights to go out. The least little flutter of detectible movement, and 29
on they go.”
30
Kate laughed. “You want to hear something funny?” she said.
31
“When I first started work at Samson, I assumed that the lights 32
went on when you entered your office because the lighting mecha-33
nism somehow sensed the weight of your body on the floor.”
ort 34
Justin hooted. “Now let me get this straight. The floors were pre-reg 35
9858_01_003-152_r5hb.qxd 9/28/00 3:57 PM Page 51
E Q U I V O C A L D E A T H
5 1
cisely calibrated to reflect the weight of all the furniture, books, and 1
other stuff in the office and could somehow figure out just when a 2
certain hundred-and-ten-pound associate crossed the threshold?”
3
“I didn’t exactly think it through, ” Kate said. “Anyway, sorry 4