Character Witness

by Rebecca Forster

  You don't want me anymore.

  ''I appreciate that, but I won't be away long.''

  I see it in your eyes.

  ''I just don't want you to be pressured.'' He reached for her arm, as if he might give her an affectionate squeeze. Realizing what he was doing, he stepped back. ''Nice service. Very nice.''

  Kathleen watched him go, keeping her eyes on him even when Michael came and took her hand. He was at his car and she was almost ready to turn away when she realized there was someone inside, waiting for Richard. There was a leg, an arm, part of a shoulder. There was a man in a gray suit whose dark head was shadowed. . Kathleen found the bits and pieces of him enthralling. Then it dawned on her. He was dressed in a sharkskin suit, that kind of fabric that shimmered. Gerry had a sharkskin suit years ago. She'd seen it in a picture. Now it had made a comeback. Vogue had shown it in the fall preview issue. Whoever was in that car was nothing, if not fashion forward. She looked back to the knot of people by the grave, to those who were heading to their own cars and then back to Richard's. Had he been there? Wouldn't she have noticed a man dressed like that?

  But looking back now there was nothing to see. The passenger door was closed. Richard was already in the driver's side. There was a ring on the man's finger. Oval and dark. Onyx more than likely. But more importantly, it was a young hand. Not one of Gerry's peers, too dandy for an associate or partner. She would have remembered a man like that.

  ''You ready?'' Michael asked, his hand lying protectively on the small of her back.

  ''Yes, I think so.'' She wrapped her arm around his waist. ''Look, Michael. Someone was waiting in the car for Richard. Who do you think would sit through an entire service just waiting like that?''

  ''I don't know. Maybe whoever it was didn't feel well.''

  ''Maybe they didn't want anyone to see them, like they were afraid to show their face?'' Kathleen speculated as they turned toward the limousine.

  ''Like who?''

  ''I don't know, who wasn't here that we should have expected? Who wasn't at the service that Richard knew and Gerry knew?'' Michael shrugged and let his arm wind 'round her shoulder. ''I know,'' she said quietly. ''Carl Walsh. Carl wasn't here.''

  ''They had words the day Gerry died.'' Michael said. There was no need to muddy the waters by pointing out they were about her.

  ''I didn't know that. Still, do you think that would be enough to keep him from coming to Gerry's funeral? There was such a history there.''

  ''I don't know, Kathleen. I'm having a hard time trying to figure out what the little we do know means. We've got enough mysteries to deal with. Why don't you call Walsh and ask him where he was. You could do one of those girl things that make men think you're really worried about us.''

  Kathleen laughed gently, ''One of those girl things, huh?''

  ''Yeah. I like it when you do those girl things,'' Michael murmured and kissed the top of her blond head. ''So, we'll put the mystery of who was in Richard's car on the back burner, and you can tell me who that lady was you had your head together with.''

  ''Marlene Wong. Assistant Coroner. She had a little twist to add to our story of Lionel Booker. Dr. Greischmidt actually threw another body off the table to get Lionel's autopsy done fast. A regular van was dispatched, everything was going by the book then he shows up, angry, muttering about favors and lawyers and misery.''

  ''Lionel didn't know anyone in high places,'' Michael reminded her.

  ''That's the point. Curiouser and curiouser, Michael. Maybe it was one of the Tysco attorneys who wanted to keep all this quiet. Do you think you could check that out?''

  ''Are you going to ask me to walk on water next?'' He kissed her lightly on the lips.

  ''I'll get you the names then you can call in an official capacity.''

  He handed her into the back of the limousine. Inside Louise sat with her arm around Sarah who continued to cry quietly into a Kleenex that had seen better days.

  ''Thanks,'' Kathleen said.

  ''You two doing okay?'' Michael folded himself onto the back seat. Kathleen gave Sarah a pat and Louise a sympathetic look. Louise had outdone herself. It was probably better she had taken Sarah back to the car after the church service. Someone may have tried to push her into the grave after Gerry if they'd gotten a good look at her in the sunlight.

  She was pale as a ghost, still shaken by Gerry's passing. Her eyes were red rimmed though no one had seen her cry. Her stiff upper lip was firmly in place only because she'd drawn it on with her lipstick. Her dress was black and, for the first time, her formidable chest was covered. Nonetheless it seemed as if the material was hard pressed to contain the mounds of flesh beneath it. She'd run her dark stocking and her nails were painted pearl with flesh colored praying hands tastefully airbrushed on each tip. Gerry would have appreciated the gesture. So did Kathleen.

  ''Darn right, kiddo.'' Louise's voice was full of pebbles and Kathleen allowed her the little lie. ''We're fine. We got pictures of everybody through the window. We know who was here. There's someone out there who had it in for Gerry. You're not going to convince me otherwise.''

  ''No, Louise, no,'' Kathleen assured her. ''Gerry fell in the tub. That's all.''

  Louise pulled Sarah closer and glared at Michael, ''Do you believe that? After all you know. You believe that? This is all about money and Lionel was killed because of money.''

  ''It's looking that way.'' Michael agreed. ''But I don't think there was any foul play with Gerry.''

  ''Have you found anything else? I mean anything other than what Lionel left at the house?''

  Michael shook his head, ''I haven't been in the office since Gerry.''

  ''I still don't understand it, Michael,'' Sarah said. ''I'm so scared and I still don't know why someone would want to kill Lionel. I wish Mr. O'Doul wasn't dead.''

  Michael knocked on the dividing window of the limo and the car pulled away from the curb. He opened the bar and handed Sarah a canned ice tea. Louise shook her head as did Kathleen.

  ''Okay, we'll go over it again. The papers you gave me were invoices from a division of Tysco that supplies local government agencies, hospitals, schools, institutional kinds of places that need big time offices supplies. Everything from pens to desks. That's big, big bucks for Tysco and big, big expenditures for those businesses and services. Lionel's invoices had the correct client code for shipping, but the billing code was incorrect. Over half the invoices for the city of Los Angeles sent during the last quarter carried a billing code for St. Peter's hospital. So, the city gets the goods, the hospital pays and Tysco still gets all the money it's due. The city only pays a portion of what it owes and the misdirected bills are paid without a second thought by some clerk at the hospital.''

  ''I think it could be an honest clerical error,'' Kathleen suggested.

  ''I don't think so. It showed up on every single invoice in increments that wouldn't be immediately identifiable to an untrained eye. I think this is exactly what upset Lionel,'' Michael said with certainty. ''But I'm willing to give Tysco, or the city, or whoever's behind this, the benefit of the doubt. The only way I'll be able to know for certain if this was a fluke or an ongoing problem - and I use that word 'problem' lightly - is to search back through those division invoices. It's going to take some time.''

  ''Why would anyone want to do that purposefully?'' Louise had folded her hands and was listening intently.

  ''I don't know what benefit it would be to Tysco. I haven't figured that out yet and they're the ones who have to be manipulating the billing. The city's bottom line would look great, though.'' Michael sat back and laced his fingers through Kathleen's. They sat quietly, looking out the window knowing no one could look in. The car turned and turned again. They were getting close to Gerry's house.

  ''It could be a mistake,'' Kathleen reiterated quietly, wanting everything to be easy. No, she was really wanting to give up.

  ''Yeah, it could,'' Michael answered.

  Then they all listened to Sarah's sniff
les. Kathleen wished she had the words to tell them it was over.

  ''Here's the last of the files. I think we've taken care of everything else.''

  Becky put the folders beside Kathleen and sank into a chair beside the desk that used to be Gerry's. She propped her chin on both hands and looked at Kathleen through her coke bottle lenses. A Tootsie Roll hung listlessly from her fingers, only the end nibbled and that, obviously, without much gusto.

  ''Have you finished the billing to date?''

  Becky nodded.

  ''Did you notify all of Gerry's credit cards, the utilities and everything?'' Kathleen flipped through the first three folders, withdrew the second and set it aside.

  ''Yes,'' Becky sighed. ''I just needed a break for a minute, you know. It gets so depressing sending the same letter out over and over again.'' She looked toward the ceiling. ''This is to inform you that Gerry O'Doul is deceased.''

  ''Becky, please.'' Kathleen closed her eyes and started to count. She got as far as three then managed a smile. ''I'm sorry. I guess I'm a little on edge. It's funny, I didn't think there was this much going on when I worked here. I had no idea he was on retainer with so many people.''

  ''Yeah, I always thought that was really neat how he and his buddies stuck together. I mean, all of those old guy never got into any trouble but they paid him like clock work. Guess they all figured he'd be doing their estates and working out the fights between the kids once they kicked off. Now look, he's gone before all of them.''

  Kathleen handed Becky the tissue box. Off and on through the last two days they'd both needed it. But there was business to attend to, so Kathleen was breaking the habit. Gerry wouldn't have wanted her to sit around weeping when there was so much to do. In fact, she could almost hear him whispering in her ear to get on with the important things. There was no doubt in her mind what those important things were.

  ''Becky, look, I'm almost done for the day. Why don't you take off? Get yourself into a hot bath. You'll feel better tomorrow and we'll start on the paperwork again.''

  ''Are you sure? It's only four o'clock.''

  ''Of course I'm sure. We only have two hearings pending and Louise Booker's trial, of course. Luckily we have another week or so on that. I managed to change the court date.''

  ''You didn't need to do that. Mr. Morton's office called. He wants to meet with you at the end of the week if you're not back to work at Shay, Sylvester & Harrington. Are you really going back there, Ms. Cotter?'' Big crocodile tears plopped into Becky's lap faster than she could wipe them away.

  ''Oh, Becky.'' Kathleen put down her pen. She stood up and patted the girl's shoulders, at a loss to know what to do in a situation like this. She'd never ever cried in front of her parents. Actually, she'd never cried in front of anyone but Michael. So, thinking of Michael, she did what she assumed would help. Bending down, Kathleen put her arm around Becky and whispered:

  ''He would have really been proud of you, Becky. Gerry would have been so happy that you wanted to keep the office open.''

  ''He would have been happier to know that you did,'' she sniffled and then patted Kathleen's hand. The two women stayed that way a minute longer and then Becky left, dragging out the door and home to the hot bath.

  Alone, Kathleen sat back down at Gerry's desk and picked up the file she had set aside earlier. Booker, Louise was neatly typed at the top. Bob Morton wanted to talk to her. It was settlement time, but happiness wasn't sitting there right along with that surety. Once this was settled, she'd have to make everyone see that she couldn't help them any longer. She wanted to forget about Lionel Booker. There really wasn't any mystery, and, if there was, she didn't have the heart to deal with it.

  Who were they now that Gerry was gone? She opened the file to reacquaint herself with the issues, the arguments and anything new Gerry had noted in the belief he would be in front of Judge Kelley arguing the matter.

  Quickly she perused the information only to find there wasn't much that was new. He had left her argument intact, making note of every piece of information regarding Lionel that she had managed to collect before leaving for her new position. There were notes and doodles on the manila folder and Kathleen smiled. She had never thought of Gerry as a doodler. She checked out the hearts and knives and books the artistic Gerry had penned, and then she saw something else on the top of the inside cover. She spread it out flat this time and took note. This was more than a doodle. Here were things that were on Gerry's mind: SS & H, Lionel, Tysco, money, money, money???? Bills!!! Billings!!! CW, RJ, Los Angeles, City of! Kathleen. Here was an extension of Gerry's doodling at his home desk.

  It could have been anything. A laundry list of the things that worried Gerry O'Doul: his niece, his client, his competition, his worries. That would be a plausible explanation except for the boldly drawn arrow, the redundant circle etched around a woman's name and phone number. Kathleen had never heard of Mrs. Able and she was sure Louise never had either. Louise, who had an opinion on everything, would certainly have shared any opinion she had on Mrs. Able if she'd known the woman existed.

  She tapped her finger on the number. Kathleen bit her lip. She picked up the phone and, before she lost her nerve or came to her senses, dialed the number.

  ''City Hall.'' Kathleen was silent ''City Hall.''

  ''Mrs. Able, please?'' Kathleen swiveled so she was exactly parallel to the desk. Slowly she picked up the pen she had earlier discarded and let it hover over the file folder where Gerry had made his cryptic notes.

  ''One moment, I'll transfer you.'' No problem.

  ''Thank you.''

  Kathleen's voice was small, no more than a whisper. Moving faster now, Kathleen rummaged through the drawers, finally finding a half used pad of paper. A file folder just wouldn't do. She flipped open to a clean sheet when a cheery voice floated over the line.

  ''Monica Able, how may I help you?''

  ''Well, I don't really know,'' Kathleen began. ''I found your name and number on a file and I wanted to follow up.''

  ''Oh, I see. Not to worry, I get calls like this all the time. One person leaves, another comes. Files are passed around. How about we start with your company name and the billing number on the file in question?''

  ''Actually, that's kind of the problem. I'm with a law firm, O'Doul & Associates. I believe Mr. O'Doul contacted you -''

  ''Oh, yes. I just heard about Gerry. My goodness, I thought my heart would break.'' Kathleen could almost hear the woman putting her hand to her breast as if to prove that her heart had been in peril.

  ''You're not alone, Mrs. Able. And I'm going to do my best to make sure his business is taken care of the way he'd want. I'm his associate and his niece.''

  ''His niece! Oh, I know all about you - well, when you were little anyway. But imagine, old enough to be a lawyer! How wonderful. You know, I used to date your uncle. That was many years ago, of course. He was sixteen years older than I. How wicked it seemed back then. Wish I hadn't let him get away.'' The woman sighed and Kathleen could swear she felt the phone line wilt. ''Oh, but you don't want to reminisce. I'm sorry, what was it you're looking for?''

  ''I think Gerry called you fairly recently. He jotted some notes on a file, and I'm afraid I can't read his writing.''

  There was silence, only this time it wasn't the quiet of good memories. Mrs. Able was being cautious.

  ''What did you say your name was again?''

  ''Kathleen Cotter. My mother was Gerry's only sister. We lived in Banning.'' Kathleen gave her credentials and tried to still her beating heart while she waited for Mrs. Able to decide if she was to be trusted.

  ''Okay. I just wanted to know because, really, what I did for Gerry was something I shouldn't have done, and I sure don't want to lose my job when I'm so close to getting my pension.''

  ''No, I wouldn't want that either,'' Kathleen assured her quickly and oh so sincerely. ''I promise the information will be treated with the same discretion as Gerry would have shown.''

  ''Okay. Okay.'' H
er voice lowered almost to a whisper. Kathleen could hear the rustle of paper. She clutched her pen, ready to take notes. ''Gerry asked me if there were any special things that happened in the city billing department. I gave him the general numbers that we call when there are questions about bills that are sent to us from our major suppliers. Are you ready? Here they are.''

  Mrs. Able read. At the top of the list were Tysco and Shay, Sylvester & Harrington, followed by a transportation firm, a cleaning service and others.

  ''Thank you. That's great.''

  ''Oh, but that's not all.'' Mrs. Able said quickly. Kathleen wondered if she talked fast because she was losing her nerve. Not that it mattered, really, as long as Kathleen got the same information Gerry had. Mrs. Able was chattering, her voice so quiet it was almost hard to hear. ''I did something I shouldn't have done. I accessed the Mayor's personal phone records. It's not hard to do since the telephone bills come through this department. Gerry wanted to know if the mayor had personally called the billing departments. Well, I found out that he had called a few numbers that seemed to show up over and over again. They aren't the numbers for general accounting, but they are numbers for Tysco, the lawyers and other suppliers. They seem to be special numbers. The mayor is the only one who calls those numbers.''

  Quickly, Mrs. Able gave her the numbers. Kathleen wrote them, big and bold, on her paper and then on the cover of the folder. She thanked the woman, reassuring her that no one would ever know that she had done Gerry such a favor.

  Taking a deep breath, she clutched the receiver tight, counted to ten, mouthed 'go for it' and snatched up the phone and dialed quickly. The phone rang once, twice. It was half way through the third ring when it was answered.

  ''Grossman.''

  ''Hello. This is Mrs. Able from the mayor's office? Mr. Walsh asked me to check in with you, Mr. Grossman. He wanted me to check about the special invoices?'' Kathleen took a deep breath and prayed that would be enough. It was.