Equivocal Death
Page 38
peated the calculation. Over and over, until she’d been through 23
the entire stack. In each case, the result was the same. The amount 24
charged to Special Services was twenty-five percent of the base 25
amount.
26
When the phone rang, Kate picked it up without thinking, still 27
staring at the papers on her desk.
28
“Hello. Kate?” The male voice was hesitant.
29
“Speaking.” Kate glanced at caller ID, but the number was unfa-30
miliar.
31
“It’s Douglas. Douglas Macauley.”
32
“Oh. Hi.” It seemed like a lifetime since she’d seen him.
33
Vaguely, Kate remembered that she’d promised to call. But the ort 34
thought barely registered now.
reg 35
“I feel terrible about what’s happened at your firm. About what 9858_02_153-356_r6jm.qxd 9/28/00 3:59 PM Page 269
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you must be going through. I know you probably don’t want to 1
talk. But if you need anything, please let me know.”
2
“Actually, I’m okay.”
3
A long silence from the other end.
4
“Look,” Douglas finally said. “This may not be the best time, but 5
I was hoping we could have dinner this weekend. It might be good 6
for you to get away.”
7
“Sorry, I really can’t.” She stared at the bills spread out on her 8
desk. Numbers danced in her head.
9
“Maybe another night?”
10
Why? Why had he done it? Why would a man with every advan-11
tage — wealth, brilliance, professional regard — risk it all for some 12
two-bit financial scam?
13
“Yeah. Okay. I’m just really tied up right now.”
14
“Well, what about coffee? We could meet near your office. I 15
could —”
16
“Listen, I’ve got another call I need to take. I’ll be in touch, 17
okay?”
18
Before he could answer, she’d hung up.
19
Special Services. A twenty-five percent add-on. She was surprised 20
at how clear-headed she felt. Almost matter-of-fact. Carter Mills 21
had been a crook. And Madeleine Waters had known. I think she 22
knew something about him, something that would hurt his career.
23
That’s what Sam Howell had said. And now it was clear what that 24
was. At the time, she’d thought Howell was crazy. But she’d been 25
the one with delusions.
26
A knock on the door. As Kate shoved the photocopies into a 27
drawer, Dave Bosch entered the room. Kate stared at the young 28
partner dizzily, still reeling from what she’d uncovered. Was Bosch 29
here to give her an assignment? That would be just like Samson & 30
Mills. Feel free to take some time off, but hey, as long as you’re sticking 31
around, might as well bill some hours.
32
But that wasn’t it after all. “I just spoke with Martin Drescher.
33
He thinks you should take some time off. I agree. We have enough 34 sh
other bodies on the team for now.”
35 re
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Enough other bodies. An unfortunate choice of words. But Bosch 2
didn’t seem to notice. He was looking at her expectantly, waiting 3
for a response. Why was he so eager to get rid of her? Was it some-4
thing Drescher had said? Or something that she had done? Perhaps 5
her impolitic response to the Danbury case. Or was it just the gen-6
eral tendency to confuse proximity with cause, as if her discovery 7
of Mills’s body made Kate somehow responsible for his death.
8
Whatever the reason, Bosch clearly wanted her gone.
9
Kate stood up from her desk. “Actually,” she said, “I was just go-10
ing home.”
11
Bosch seemed relieved. “If there’s anything we can do . . .” The 12
words trailed off. “Take as much time as you need. Within reason, 13
of course.”
14
Of course.
15
After Bosch left the room, Kate quickly collected her coat. On 16
her way out the door, she stopped to check her office mailbox.
17
There was one piece of paper inside, a memorandum from the part-18
ners of Samson & Mills.
19
A private service for J. Carter Mills was scheduled for tomorrow 20
at 10 a.m.
21
All firm employees were invited.
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
ort 34
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Tuesday, January 19
1
2
The alarm went off at eight. Kate swung her feet out of bed and 3
went to the door for the Times. Quickly, she flipped through the 4
pages. LEADING LAWYER’S DEATH CALLED SUICIDE. Bit-5
ing her lip, she read the short piece straight through. Martin 6
Drescher was quoted, along with Detective Mike Glaser. Accord-7
ing to both, Mills had ended his life with a .38-caliber revolver.
8
There had been a note with the body, but its contents were not dis-9
closed. Drescher’s only comment was a vehement assertion that 10
Mills’s suicide had nothing to do with Samson & Mills. “The note 11
made clear that Mr. Mills’s regrettable decision to end his life was 12
due to personal concerns. All of us at Samson & Mills are devas-13
tated by this tragic event.”
14
w
15
Sun glinted through the windows of the Upper East Side church.
16
The altar was laden with flowers. But the propriety of the setting 17 sh
only underscored the strangeness of the scene. Eulogists rushed 18 re
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through their speeches. Mills’s family was conspicuously absent. A 2
weird giddiness infused the proceedings, a certain sense of collu-3
sion. People knew what their neighbors were thinking, but they 4
weren’t discussing it. Yet.
5
Kate was sitting toward the middle of the church, to the left of 6
the center aisle. She was flanked by Justin on one side, Peyton on 7
the other. Without thinking, she’d taken a seat in approximately 8
the same location she’d selected for Madeleine’s service. There was 9
a difference, though. At Madeleine’s memorial she’d been with 10
Andrea. Today, Andrea was nowhere in sight. Scanning the room 11
again, Kate could feel her uneasiness building. This was Andrea’s 12
second unexplained absence in just
a few days. First the firm cock-13
tail party. Now, Mills’s memorial service. This wasn’t like Andrea 14
at all. Was it possible something was wrong? The thought fluttered 15
briefly in her mind before reason again took hold. After all, An-16
drea was married. Even when Brent was away on business, he and 17
Andrea talked each night.
18
A new speaker was taking the pulpit. Kate returned her focus to 19
the front of the church. Charles Harrison was Mills’s prep school 20
and college roommate. With his narrow shoulders and spidery 21
form, Harrison looked nothing like his late friend. But Kate could 22
imagine how he must have admired Mills back when they were in 23
school. In the days when beauty and form were the things that 24
mattered most. Of course, the playing field had leveled out since 25
then. Now retired, Harrison had been a partner at Ironson, Baggs, 26
one of the world’s premier investment banks. He must have been 27
taking home at least several times what Mills did.
28
Even taking into account Mills’s sideline income . . .
29
For the first time, it occurred to Kate that the WideWorld bills 30
could be just the tip of the iceberg. What if Mills had been han-31
dling every bill this way, and had been doing it for decades? Over 32
time, he could have raked in millions of dollars. Kate thought 33
about the time Martin Drescher had interrupted a meeting to take ort 34
a broker’s cold call. He’d kept several lawyers waiting for close to reg 35
forty minutes, barking questions into the phone. “So what’s the re-9858_02_153-356_r6jm.qxd 9/28/00 3:59 PM Page 273
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turn? What’s the return? ” Kate still recalled Andrea’s incredulous 1
face. “These guys, ” she’d said later, as they’d headed downstairs.
2
“Their avarice is unbounded. ” Could that be the explanation here as 3
well? Could Carter Mills’s downfall have stemmed from common 4
greed?
5
Harrison was talking about Mills’s college years. His career as a 6
champion rower. His academic success. “But it wasn’t just these ac-7
complishments that marked Carter Mills for greatness. What 8
really distinguished him was force of character. He had a remark-9
able ability to draw out the best in all of us privileged to know 10
him. His own high standards raised the bar for what we expected of 11
ourselves.”
12
Which is just how it was with me, Kate thought. But had everyone 13
felt that way? Was it simply a matter of technique? Even now, she 14
didn’t want to believe that.
15
Soon the service was over. After quick good-byes, Peyton 16
disappeared into the crowd. Another mega–networking opportu-17
nity.
18
“Are you going back to work?” Justin asked, as Kate gathered up 19
her wrap and purse. She was wearing a black coat purchased sev-20
eral years back. Her red cape was hanging at home.
21
“I don’t know,” Kate said. “I hadn’t really decided.”
22
“I could drop you off by your apartment, if you want,” Justin 23
said. He’d given her a lift that morning in the aging junker he kept 24
in a lot off Ninth Avenue. It had been a disconcerting trip, Justin 25
still stunned by news of Mills’s suicide, Kate pretending she’d had 26
no idea.
27
“Yeah, okay,” Kate said.
28
Heading toward the door with Justin, Kate caught sight of 29
Charles Harrison, deep in conversation with Clara Hurley. Kate 30
had almost forgotten about Clara. After twenty years as Mills’s sec-31
retary, what must she be feeling now? Harrison had his arm around 32
her shoulder. Kate could read the raw pain in Clara’s face. She’d 33
been in love with Carter, of course. Kate could see how it must 34 sh
have happened. The handsome, brilliant young lawyer. The uned-35 re
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ucated but determined young woman, just starting work in the city.
2
She must have been dazzled, Kate thought.
3
Her eyes still resting on the pair, Kate had a sudden thought.
4
She turned to Justin. “Listen, why don’t you go on ahead. I want to 5
talk to a few people.”
6
“Are you sure? I don’t mind waiting.”
7
“No, really. It’s okay. I know you have a lot to do.”
8
Justin watched her for another moment. Kate could tell he was 9
reluctant to leave her. At the same time, he did have work to do.
10
Especially since he was taking time off next week. A long weekend 11
with Laura Lacy. He’d mentioned it this morning. Kate had felt a 12
twist in her heart. She wasn’t jealous, at least not exactly. She just 13
didn’t want to think about it now.
14
“You’re sure you can get a ride back?”
15
“Justin, there are hundreds of people here. I’m pretty sure I can 16
manage.”
17
A quick hug and Justin was gone. Kate moved closer to Harri-18
son, waiting for a chance to approach. When Clara turned to walk 19
away, Kate quickly stepped into her place.
20
“Mr. Harrison, I’m Kate Paine. I was one of Carter’s associates.”
21
Harrison clasped her extended hand. “I’m very pleased to meet 22
you. Though I certainly regret the circumstances.” His grip was 23
stronger than Kate had expected.
24
“I was so moved by what you said,” Kate said. “All of this has 25
been such a shock. I admired Carter so much. He hired me right 26
out of Harvard Law. I was thinking, well, wondering, if you’d be 27
willing to talk with me sometime. He was such a wonderful man.
28
A legend, really. I’d like to know more about him. From someone 29
who knew him well.”
30
She could see that she’d hit her target. “Yes, it’s a tragedy,” Har-31
rison said. “All these ridiculous rumors. It’s insane. Worse than in-32
sane, it’s evil. Carter never would have done . . . what they’re 33
saying. It’s impossible. It just wasn’t in him. I’d be happy to talk ort 34
with you, dear.”
reg 35
Dear. Kate gritted her teeth and smiled.
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“Perhaps you could come by the house.” Harrison said. “Say, 1
around ten tomorrow morning? Or is that a problem, what with 2
work and all? I’ve been retired now for so many years, I sometimes 3
forget what it was like.”
4
The early early retirement. Another difference between law and 5
investment banking.
6
“No, no,” Kate said hurriedly. “I’ll fin
d the time. Tomorrow 7
morning would be fine.”
8
Harrison reached into a pocket for his card and held it out to 9
Kate. “Here’s my address. So I’ll see you tomorrow, dear.”
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34 sh
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Wednesday, January 20
2
3
Kate took the Seventy-ninth Street bus across Central Park and 4
reached the East Side around nine. After locating Harrison’s Fifth 5
Avenue co-op, an impressive Beaux Arts structure near the Met, 6
she cut over to Madison Avenue in search of coffee and a place to 7
think.
8
Soon she was seated at Eli Zabar’s E.A.T, a sort of wildly upscale 9
diner. The coats slung over the backs of chairs were Burberry plaid 10
and fur. The diamonds on female patrons’ hands made Angela Tay-11
lor’s look minuscule. Surveying the menu, Kate could almost think 12
that prices were listed in some foreign currency. Coffee for five dol-13
lars. Bread and jam for six.
14
Welcome to the Upper East Side.
15
After ordering cappuccino and a sticky bun, Kate pulled out a 16
notepad and pen. She still hadn’t decided what to say. What she ort 17
wanted was to understand. But did Harrison really hold the an-reg 18
swers? Could he really explain Carter Mills? Yesterday, she’d felt 9858_02_153-356_r6jm.qxd 9/28/00 3:59 PM Page 277
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2 7 7
sure she was on to something, but today she was having doubts.
1
The fact that Harrison had known Mills for decades didn’t mean 2
that he understood him. Years of friendship might confer great in-3
sight. Or they could simply feed denial. That’s what appeared to be 4
happening here. Knowing Mills for as long as he had, Harrison 5
couldn’t accept the truth.
6
Kate took a sip of cappuccino. Should she just forget the whole 7
thing? Tara hadn’t minced words when they talked on the phone 8
last night. “I don’t know what you expect to get out of this. You’re 9
fixated on Samson & Mills.” Kate had taken the words with a grain 10
of salt. She’d attributed them to Tara’s annoyance that she’d 11
dropped the ball with Douglas. “But you liked him,” Tara had said, 12