Equivocal Death Read online

  28

  As she jumped to her feet, Kate felt a subtle change in the atmo-29

  sphere, a sort of electric charge. Up close, Mills was even more im-30

  posing than she remembered. He was tall, well over six feet, with 31

  penetrating slate-blue eyes. Despite gray streaks in his thick dark 32

  hair, he gave an impression of youthful vigor. Everything about 33

  him — his voice, his bearing, the aristocratic cut of his features —

  ort 34

  seemed to exude authority. Mills’s grandfather, Silas Mills, was one reg 35

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  of the firm’s two founding partners. Yet family connections were 1

  the least of Carter Mills’s credentials. He was widely regarded as 2

  one of the nation’s leading trial lawyers, the subject of countless 3

  feature stories and news reports and a perennial fixture on top-ten 4

  lists. Mills was, Kate thought, a rare blend — a scholar who could 5

  still woo a jury, a $600-an-hour mega-lawyer who could roll up the 6

  sleeves of his $300 shirts and speak directly to the people.

  7

  Mills gestured them into his office. Peyton slipped into a chair.

  8

  Kate sat down beside him. As Mills returned to his desk, Kate took 9

  a quick look around. Several large abstract paintings. A black 10

  leather sofa. The decor took Kate by surprise. There were, to be 11

  sure, some traditional touches. Family photographs. Harvard diplo-12

  mas. An impressive grandfather clock. But it was not what she 13

  would have expected. She was intrigued by the room’s appearance, 14

  intrigued and also pleased. It seemed to affirm Mills’s uniqueness.

  15

  “Madeleine Waters will be joining us shortly,” Mills said, after 16

  buzzing Clara for water. “If you’ll excuse me for a moment.” He was 17

  already back at work.

  18

  The words pulled Kate back to the present. Another intriguing 19

  surprise. Madeleine Waters, the acknowledged beauty of the Sam-20

  son fold. Madeleine wasn’t the first female partner at Samson & 21

  Mills — there was Karen Henderson in the tax department and 22

  Michelle Turner in trusts and estates — but she still stood in a 23

  class by herself. The first female partner in the litigation depart-24

  ment, a club within a club at Samson, she was a role model for 25

  younger women. She seemed to embody a bright new world, a 26

  place where power and femininity could coexist.

  27

  Kate briefly wondered if Madeleine could be working on this 28

  case and then rejected the thought out of hand. Madeleine Waters 29

  working with Carter Mills? No way. While Mills had once been 30

  Madeleine’s mentor, they were now said to be barely on speaking 31

  terms. Something to do with a failed love affair, if firm gossip was 32

  to be believed.

  33

  A rustle at the door. Clara Hurley appeared with a crystal water 34 sh

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  pitcher and glasses. The perfect secretary of the old school. Care-2

  fully setting down the tray, Clara poured water for Mills, her stolid 3

  features suffused with a maternal glow.

  4

  Without looking up, Mills accepted the glass.

  5

  “Clara, could you see what’s keeping Madeleine. Tell her we’re 6

  ready to meet.” Beneath the sonorous calm of his voice, Kate 7

  sensed an edge of irritation.

  8

  “Yes, Mr. Mills.”

  9

  And then Madeleine was standing in the doorway, a slim figure 10

  in a jade silk dress.

  11

  “I’m sorry I’m late,” she said. Her voice, slightly breathless, was 12

  lower than Kate had expected. Madeleine sat down on the black 13

  leather couch, a little apart from the group.

  14

  Peyton jumped up and motioned toward his empty chair.

  15

  “Would you —”

  16

  “No. I’m just fine here. This is perfect.” Catching Carter Mills’s 17

  eye, Madeleine gave him a faint smile. “Perfect. ”

  18

  The smile seemed familiar. Then Kate realized where she’d seen 19

  it before. On a sphinx at the Metropolitan Museum. The so-called 20

  archaic smile, mysterious and ever watchful. Again, Kate studied 21

  Madeleine’s face. She really is lovely, Kate thought. Up close, she’d 22

  expected to discern flaws, a harshness of expression or tone. What 23

  she saw instead was an utterly harmonious play of feature: a tumble 24

  of dark hair tamed by a velvet band, high cheekbones, clear skin, 25

  wide-set eyes that seemed to match the vivid green of her dress.

  26

  Madeleine must be in her late thirties by now. However, hers was 27

  the sort of beauty that lasts, defiant of the passage of time.

  28

  Carter Mills drew a pair of reading glasses from the pocket of his 29

  starched white shirt. After placing the glasses on his nose, he 30

  clasped his hands on his desk. “I assume you’ve all read the draft 31

  complaint. Based on the facts alleged, I don’t see much chance of 32

  dismissal or summary judgment, though we’ll certainly want to ex-33

  amine those options. Assuming the complaint’s actually filed on ort 34

  the thirteenth, when is our answer due?”

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  “Under Rule 12, we have twenty days,” Peyton said. It was the 1

  sort of critically important yet mundane fact that associates were 2

  charged with tracking. Failure to meet a deadline could result in 3

  dismissal of a case. “So if the complaint is actually served next 4

  Wednesday, the answer would be due on February second.”

  5

  “Fine,” Mills said, making a notation in a leather-bound ap-6

  pointment book. “In the meantime, we need to get straight on the 7

  facts and law. I’ve scheduled a meeting on Wednesday at one with 8

  Chuck Thorpe and Jed Holden. Please plan to be there. After that 9

  we’ll be in a better position to devise a game plan.”

  10

  Again, Kate felt a thrill of excitement. Jed Holden. Wide-11

  World’s CEO. One of the nation’s most powerful businessmen.

  12

  The closest most Samson associates would ever get to someone of 13

  Holden’s stature was preparing an affidavit for his signature. For an 14

  associate, and a junior associate at that, to attend a meeting with 15

  Holden present — it was almost unthinkable.

  16

  “Are there any questions?” Mills said.

  17

  “I have a question, Carter.” Madeleine’s low voice seemed to 18

  linger in the office air. “Would you agree that we can’t represent 19

  both WideWorld and Thorpe without a conflicts waiver from 20

  WideWorld’s board?”

  21

  Mills looked at her, his face impassive. “No,” he said. “
I would 22

  not.”

  23

  The two partners locked eyes. Sensing the tension, Kate found 24

  herself staring at her lap. There was something unsettling about 25

  the scene. She was curious, of course — who wouldn’t be — but 26

  also strangely disturbed. It was almost like she was very young 27

  again, listening to her parents argue.

  28

  Seemingly oblivious to the younger lawyers, Madeleine pressed 29

  ahead, her tone deceptively light. “You can’t ignore the fact that 30

  WideWorld has potential claims against Thorpe. When Wide-31

  World agreed to buy Catch, Chuck Thorpe was fully aware of Ms.

  32

  Friedman’s sexual harassment claims. He’d already been informed 33

  that the EEOC would investigate. Yet he failed to disclose the po-34 sh

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  tential liability — something the stock purchase agreement clearly 2

  obligated him to do. If there’s an adverse judgment in this case, 3

  WideWorld may have to consider asserting claims against Thorpe.

  4

  WideWorld’s stockholders can’t be expected to foot the bill for 5

  Thorpe’s —”

  6

  “We’ll talk about this later, Madeleine.” There was a warning 7

  note to Mills’s voice.

  8

  Madeleine shrugged, and settled back in her seat. The same 9

  faint smile Kate had noticed earlier again played on her lips.

  10

  Kate tried to make sense of the exchange. What Madeleine had 11

  said seemed logical, obvious even. Samson’s duty was to its client, 12

  WideWorld. You didn’t need to be a specialist in legal ethics to 13

  know the dangers of dual representation in a situation like this.

  14

  But simply thinking this through felt somehow disloyal. After all, 15

  Kate chided herself, without actually reading the purchase agree-16

  ment, it was impossible to know anything for sure. And even if 17

  Madeleine did have a point, why raise the issue like this — why 18

  pick a fight with Mills in front of two associates? Only one thing 19

  seemed clear: if Carter and Madeleine had ever been lovers, the af-20

  fair had not ended well.

  21

  For a time, Mills seemed lost in thought. Then, he suddenly re-22

  sumed command, as if the previous exchange simply hadn’t oc-23

  curred. “That’s about it for today.” He was speaking directly to the 24

  junior lawyers, as if Madeleine wasn’t there. “Madeleine will be 25

  overseeing your work on this case. Of course, you’re free to come to 26

  me with any questions.”

  27

  Surprised, Kate glanced across the room. Her eyes met 28

  Madeleine’s. There was an appraising glint in the other woman’s 29

  eyes. For a confused moment, Kate wondered if Madeleine had 30

  been watching her. But before she could be sure, it was over.

  31

  Madeleine was studying her folded hands, and Carter Mills was 32

  winding up the meeting. “I want a legal memo by the end of next 33

  week. I’d like Kate to start in on that. If there aren’t any other ort 34

  questions, I’ll see you all Wednesday afternoon.”

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  After the two associates left the room, Madeleine Waters re-1

  mained seated on the leather couch. Still smiling, she studied 2

  Mills. But when she spoke her voice was cold.

  3

  “I can see that the magic hasn’t faded.”

  4

  He returned the gaze but said nothing.

  5

  “In any case, that was quite a demonstration. Make them feel 6

  like they’re part of your world. The quickest path to loyalty and de-7

  votion. Not to mention endless billable hours. That’s what you 8

  taught me, isn’t it? Well, congratulate yourself. It worked like a 9

  charm. You could see it in their faces.”

  10

  Mills had assumed an air of calm detachment. “You see what you 11

  want to see,” he said. “You always have.”

  12

  Madeleine paused, as if contemplating the next maneuver in 13

  some delicate game of chance. “How comforting to find that noth-14

  ing has changed,” she finally said. “It’s been quite a while since 15

  we’ve worked together. Closely, that is. And you always wonder” —

  16

  and here she pronounced the words with odd emphasis — “if —

  17

  something — might — change. And then you realize that nothing 18

  ever does.”

  19

  A smile flickered across Mills’s face.

  20

  “It sounds like you’ve got it all figured out, Madeleine. Let’s be 21

  clear about this. Neither of us is happy with this arrangement. Un-22

  fortunately, Thorpe has demanded that you work on this case. Ob-23

  viously, we have no choice. You have no choice. I’m sure you 24

  understand that.”

  25

  But Madeleine was barely listening. Her mind seemed to be 26

  somewhere else. “That associate. Kate Paine. You hired her, didn’t 27

  you? It’s because of you that she came to work here.”

  28

  Mills’s expression didn’t change. “I have no idea what you’re 29

  talking about.”

  30

  And now it was Madeleine who was silent as her eyes roamed 31

  Carter Mills’s face. Then, abruptly, she laughed. When she spoke 32

  her voice was heavy with scorn.

  33

  “You’re so obvious, Carter. It would be fascinating if it weren’t so 34 sh

  pathetic. Are you wondering how I knew? Just look at her. ”

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  Tuesday, January 5

  2

  3

  9:22 a.m. The morning was not going well. Just out of the shower, 4

  Kate had spent a good five minutes rubbing hair conditioner into 5

  her sunburned legs before realizing her mistake. Swearing under 6

  her breath, she stuck her legs under the bathtub faucet and turned 7

  on the water full force. What was it with chic cosmetic lines? Why 8

  did all the little bottles have to look alike?

  9

  Toweling off her legs, Kate smeared moisturizer into her tanned 10

  skin — carefully checking the label first — and grabbed a new 11

  pack of stockings from her dresser drawer. She’d already snagged 12

  one pair. She skipped breakfast, planning to grab a bagel at the firm 13

  cafeteria. But by the time she got to her desk, the red light on her 14

  phone was already flashing. A message from Madeleine Waters, 15

  who wanted to see Kate right away.

  16

  Now, twenty minutes into the meeting, Kate was still unsure ort 17

  why she’d been summoned, and the rumbling in her stomach reg 18

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  small talk, Madeleine had embarked on a series of questions about 1

  the memo Kate would be writing. But as Kate wracked her brain to 2

  respond, she had a strong feeling that Madeleine’s thoughts were 3

  elsewhere. Madeleine’s gaze seemed to wander from Kate to some 4

  point far in the distance. The older woman’s face was pale against 5

  the neckline of her black raw silk suit and there were faint violet 6

  circles beneath her eyes.

  7

  “So I think that the key issue will be whether Stephanie Fried-8

  man welcomed — or at least consented to — Chuck Thorpe’s ad-9

  vances,” Kate concluded, trying to convey a confident enthusiasm 10

  that she was far from feeling. After all, she’d just gotten the assign-11

  ment yesterday morning. What did Madeleine expect? But when 12

  Kate looked up, she saw that Madeleine was drawing on a small 13

  notepad. Kate sneaked a look at her watch. She’d scheduled dinner 14

  tonight with Tara, but every minute away from her desk was put-15

  ting those plans in jeopardy. Then, feeling slightly guilty, Kate 16

  forced her mind back to the case. Concentrate, she told herself.

  17

  The phone rang. From the two short rings, Kate could tell it was 18

  a call from inside the firm. Madeleine glanced down at the LCD

  19

  display and, with an audible sigh, picked up the receiver.

  20

  “Hello, Bill.” Madeleine’s voice was cool. Kate could hear muf-21

  fled words from the other end. Bill. It must be Bill McCarty on the 22

  line.

  23

  As Madeleine shifted the telephone receiver beneath her chin, 24

  Kate noticed a thin gold band on the ring finger of her right hand.

  25

  Not a wedding ring; that would be on her left hand. And besides, 26

  it was common knowledge that Madeleine was single. Had she ever 27

  regretted not marrying? But then, she must have had many chances.

  28

  “We went through this yesterday,” Madeleine said, irritation 29

  suffusing her voice. “I’m sorry, but I just can’t help you.”

  30

  Another pause while Madeleine gazed stonily ahead. Once 31

  again, Kate could hear what sounded like impassioned pleading 32

  from the other end. What could have Bill McCarty so upset? Re-33

  calling his inflamed demeanor outside Carter Mills’s office, Kate 34 sh

  wondered if there was some connection.

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  “I really have nothing more to say about it,” Madeleine said 2