twenty

A low-grade headache plagued me the next morning. I dimly remembered tossing and turning, unable to fall into a deep sleep. At one point, I dreamed about stars whirling above me, forming the shape of a dragon. The dragon’s tail flickered back and forth. In my dream state, I was afraid. It came closer and closer to me with every pass. I woke up in the middle of the night, my heart pounding. I’m a big believer that dreams are the key to the unconscious. They are sending us messages we need to heed, if only we can interpret them. But it made no sense. I had no idea what the dragon signified.

At the office, I grabbed two ibuprofen tablets from the first aid kit in the lounge and washed them down with some coffee. I settled in and stashed my purse in Muriel’s desk. Voices filtered from David’s office. I was sure he wouldn’t be seeing clients under the circumstances, so I felt safe knocking on the door and peeking in.

“Hi.” David was seated behind his desk and Adam stood by the window looking down into the street.

“Come on in, Julia. How did you make out yesterday?”

I plopped down in one of the wing chairs and tried my best to marshal my thoughts. “Well, you were right. Sarah Larkin had anything but sisterly love for her brother. And that’s putting it mildly. Seems he turned down her request for money when she wanted to get her son into a private rehab place. Then the boy died from an overdose.”

“Cripes!” David said. “What was wrong with Jack?” Adam was listening silently.

“And Hilary Greene, who is a very attractive, charming woman, claims to have no animosity toward Jack, although she believes he could be very threatening to some people.” I crossed my legs and leaned back. “David, I think it would be a good idea to look through Jack’s apartment, especially if he kept old files there. He lived alone and the police will be done with it by now, won’t they? Was he working on something on his own? There might be something that the police would overlook.”

“That’s a good idea, but I don’t have a key and I certainly have no authority to give you permission.”

“I’m sure we can find a manager for the building,” Adam said.

“It’s up to you two, then. It wouldn’t hurt to check. If Jack did keep anything that belongs to the firm, we’ll need it back. Good luck.”

“I have to make a couple of phone calls to line some people up for tonight.” Adam glanced my way and I did my best not to look guilty. Was it my imagination or had he already talked to the security guards? “Can I meet you back here in a half hour? We can head over to Jack’s condo then.”

I nodded. “Sure, that’ll work.” As soon as Adam closed the door behind him, I filled David in on spotting Nora at Deklon Management the night before.

“I can’t believe that.” David sat staring at me blankly.

I wondered for a moment if David was suffering from shock. Was he able to process what was happening? “I know. It was really a fluke. I just happened to be over on Irving Street and I noticed the sign on the building.” I really didn’t want to get into a long explanation about my visit to Michael’s old neighborhood. “I pulled into the parking lot in back. I was kind of curious about the place.”

“What the hell is she doing? This is completely unethical on her part. She has no business even talking to the other party in a case unless there’s an agreement between the attorneys. And we’re going to trial. There’s not even a hint of settlement. Christ!”

“What if she’s being paid off ?”

“Paid off ? What do you mean?”

“Well, with Jack gone, who’s going to be standing over her shoulder? Let’s say she forgets to call an important witness, or fails to refute the testimony of a witness they bring in. It wouldn’t be that hard. How would you ever know?”

“What a mess,” David groaned. “Look, I didn’t want to tell you about this earlier because I didn’t want to predispose your mind, but Nora is on notice.”

I was stunned. “What? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because my reasons were … I don’t know, just professional courtesy, I guess. I really never thought Nora had anything to do with this business.”

“Getting fired would certainly give her a motive to cause trouble.”

“Maybe, but there was no pressure. She’d have several months to find another spot, and we would give her good references. And she had good references from the DA’s office too. You know she used to do public defense work. She wasn’t terrible, but we just felt she wasn’t working up to her full potential.”

“To say the least. Besides, I’m pretty certain she has a drug problem.”

“Oh.” David was silent for a long moment. “I never even thought of that … well, no wonder, then.”

I explained to David about the medical billings in Nora’s personnel file but neglected to mention my explorations of her desk the night before, at least for now. If Adam already knew, I was fairly certain he hadn’t said anything to David.

“I remember she took some time off a while back,” David said. “I thought it was maybe a weight loss or spa type of thing. I didn’t ask, seemed it was personal stuff, so I didn’t ask any questions. I’ll just have to figure out how much damage she’s done and get her off this case, and find a graceful way to get her out of the firm quickly.” He hesitated, looking up at me. “Oh, and before I forget, there’s another thing that was brought to my attention today.”

Uh oh, I thought. Here it comes. David’s been told I was snooping around the office last night. I steeled myself for a lecture.

“Apparently, Jack never changed the beneficiary on his life insurance policy. His ex-wife stands to receive half a million.”

“That’s a lot of money.”

“I know. But I wouldn’t be surprised if it comes as a complete shock to Hilary. Unless Jack told her, she probably assumes he changed the beneficiary after their divorce.”

“There’s something else, David.” I wasn’t sure what it meant, if anything, but I felt it was important to bring it up. “Looking through the personnel files yesterday, it struck me that Jack, Ira, and Suzanne all came here from the same firm. It’s the one thing they have in common. There has to be some logical reason why only those three people received the death threats.”

“That we know of, as you yourself pointed out,” David responded.

“Was there a particular case the three of them worked on at their previous firm, something that could tie them together?”

“Well … uh … yeah, there was a rather high-profile case that Jack and Ira handled a few years ago. It was related to the Bank of San Francisco fire. You remember that, don’t you? It was all over the news. Maybe Suzanne worked with them on that, I wouldn’t know. You’d have to ask her. That’s the only one I know of, although there could be others.”

“Any cases here that all three were assigned to?”

“No, not at this firm. Suzanne’s work would involve her in any large case, especially if it was going to trial, but nothing I can think of that both Jack and Ira worked on.”

David sighed. He looked depressed. I left him staring into space and decided to prowl through the litigation section while I waited for Adam to return. My excuse was that I was looking for a three-hole punch, just in case anyone asked. My real reason was to check if Suzanne had come to work today.

Karen was standing by a filing cabinet holding a stack of paper. Dani had spread a newspaper across her desk and was reading, her chin resting on her hand. “Can you believe this?”

“What?” I asked. Karen ignored us.

Dani shook her head. “This stupid astrology column. Ask Zodia.”

My ears went up. “Huh? What about it?”

“Will you listen to this one? A woman writes to Zodia to tell her she thinks her husband’s been lying to her about his real identity and this stupid astrologer tells her to seek counseling! That’s the worst advice I ever heard.”

I felt my face growing warm. There was no way Dani could possibly know that I was Zodia. I remembered that letter from a couple of weeks ago. It was signed Bewildered. “What do you think she should have advised the woman?”

“Hire an investigator. Find out for sure and throw the bum out! Sheshh!”

“Hmm,” I replied. That was that sort of outspoken advice that had gotten me in tons of trouble with Reverend Roy and his Army of the Prophet last winter. What Dani couldn’t know was that the woman’s chart had revealed that she was prone to twisting reality and even paranoid fantasies. Bewildered really did need psychological help. But I couldn’t tell Dani that. I hoped Ask Zodia would redeem herself in Dani’s opinion someday. No way was I going to reveal myself.

Shrill voices emanated from a closed door next to Jack’s office. We all turned in that direction. I asked Dani, “Is that Suzanne’s office?”

Dani pulled herself away from the newspaper and nodded.

“We all know what was going on.” The voice was high-pitched. I could identify Nora immediately. An indistinguishable murmur followed.

“He was a sadist!” the female voice screamed. “You were …”

“… my business … how dare you …”

In response, “… you’re crazy.” I could only make out bits and pieces, and then finally, “… none of your goddamn business.” This was followed by another shrill outburst. “Get out!”

I glanced at Karen. Her head was down. She was deliberately ignoring the shouting match. Dani had twisted in her chair and was now staring at Suzanne’s door. She looked at me and grimaced, as if to say Watch out. The quieter voice had to be Suzanne.

Curiosity overruled taste. Dani gawked as I walked to the door and opened it.

“Oh … I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt. I was just looking for a . … I didn’t think anyone was in here.” Lame excuse, but what the hell.

Suzanne was a small dark-haired woman in a trim navy blue suit. She stood by the window with a tissue to her nose. Nora Layton was leaning over the desk facing Suzanne, gripping the edge, her knuckles taut. There was something almost feral in her body language. She turned, and when she saw me, stood upright, glared, and marched out.

“I’m really sorry,” I apologized. “I didn’t think anyone was in here.” Given the state Suzanne was in, my interruption was probably a relief.

“That’s all right.” Suzanne attempted a wan smile.

“I’m Julia. I’m filling in for Muriel while she’s on vacation.”

“Hi.” She took a deep breath. “I’m Suzanne. Suzanne Simms.” Sorry … I’m just kind of upset. I was out the past couple of days and I can’t believe what’s happened. Jack and I worked together …” She trailed off.

“Oh, I didn’t know,” I lied through my teeth. “That is tough. I can understand why you’re upset.” I shut the door behind me and sat down in one of the chairs in front of her desk.

“It wasn’t just that. They … Jack and Ira … they invited me to come here with them and we’ve worked so closely together.”

“You were very close?” I asked softly. Suzanne nodded, tried to speak, and then burst into tears. I pulled another tissue from the box on the desk and handed it to her. I decided to take a chance. “You had a personal relationship with him?”

“Why do you ask that?” Suzanne blurted out. Her face darkened and her jaw tightened.

“I thought maybe that’s why you’re so upset.”

“I know a lot of people thought that, but it’s not true,” she replied curtly.

“I didn’t mean to pry or to upset you. I just thought you might like to talk.”

Suzanne grew still. She collapsed in her chair. Quietly, she asked, “How did you know?” I didn’t answer. “I guess it doesn’t matter anymore. You’re right. We kept it a secret here, or at least we tried. Maybe everybody already knows.” She hung her head and covered her face with her hands. “It’s really pretty awful and embarrassing, what happened, I mean.”

“Can you talk about it?” I asked quietly.

“We’d been seeing each other for the past six months. It got pretty hot and heavy and I don’t really know why I went for it. I think my perspective was skewed. Working so many hours … I’m single and I guess my social life was diminishing as time went on, you know? I was lonely and Jack was very charming and flattering to me.” Suzanne took a deep breath and continued. “It was stupid getting involved with someone I work with, I know, but it happened. I fell really hard even though I knew it was never going to go anywhere. Jack wasn’t married anymore, but he was no candidate for a serious relationship. He wasn’t one to go through life with what he considered ‘encumbrances.’” She smiled grimly and rubbed her eyes. “I guess I pushed too hard. I wanted something from him, even though I knew in his mind it was just an affair. Things came to a head last weekend, last Saturday night in fact, and we had a huge fight. We’d gone to dinner and back to my apartment after, and, well, things just escalated emotionally, if you know what I mean. I shouted at him and threw a dish. He stormed out, of course. Afterward, I felt pretty stupid.”

I stayed silent, unwilling to break the flow of Suzanne’s thoughts.

“The next day, I thought maybe there was still a chance,” she went on. “Believe me, I can’t tell you how awful I felt. I knew Jack would be here working and I thought maybe I could talk to him. I had worried it to death all night and the next day. I drove downtown and came into the office to see him. That’s when I found him …” Suzanne took a deep breath.

“What time did you get here?” I shivered involuntarily, sure of what I was about to hear.

“I came into the building about four o’clock, I guess. I … I didn’t realize at first. The lights were off. I took a step into his office and the lights flickered on, and …” Suzanne hesitated, trying to control her emotions. “Then I saw. I saw him. Oh, I think I’m going to be sick.”

“Take some deep breaths, it’ll be all right.”

“I panicked. I hadn’t touched anything. My purse was still in my hand. I shut the door and ran to the elevators. I just wanted to get as far away as possible. Is that crazy?”

“Not at all. Quite sensible in fact. Did you by any chance touch his body to see—”

“Oh, no,” she gasped. “I didn’t even think of that. I was panicking and in shock. I just knew I had to get out of there. And I knew he was dead. It was too late. I should have called the police right away, I know that. But I just wasn’t thinking straight. I took the elevator down and got out of the building as fast as I could. I drove all over the city the rest of the day and then finally checked in to a hotel, if you can believe that. Don’t ask me why. I just felt I couldn’t go home. I’d have to face my roommate and explain to her. So, that’s where I’ve been until today.” She rubbed a hand across her forehead. “I haven’t been able to get the sight of Jack out of my mind … and the blood. I finally realized I’d have to come back. I know the police will find out eventually, if they haven’t already, that I was in the building that afternoon. I don’t know what to do.”

She’d been through a lot, but that wouldn’t prevent the police from considering her a suspect. “Did it occur to you that whoever killed him could have still been here?”

“Oh my God,” she gasped. “No. It didn’t. I really wasn’t thinking straight.”

“You’ll have to tell the police what you’ve told me. It’ll look better if you contact them and tell them everything.”

“Even about the affair and the fight we had?”

“It’s better if you get everything out. If they dig far enough, they’ll find people who saw you together and they’ll figure it out for themselves. After all, I did, and I was just listening to gossip.”

“I should have called 911 then and there. I should have,” she groaned. “But I just knew he was gone and there was nothing anyone could do. I guess I was feeling awful about the fight we had, and … I know this’ll sound crazy … but my first instinct was they’d blame me for what happened.”

“Do you want to talk to David? He could be a kind of buffer and let the police know you have some information? I’m sure they’ll be talking to you soon anyway.”

Suzanne nodded mutely. Her eyes were large in her face.

“When did you start working here?” I asked.

“Three years ago. I was at the Browning firm before.”

“Did you work on any special case with Jack at the old firm?”

“Well, just one big case with Jack and Ira. That trial was the reason I was hired, and then they asked me to come with them when they moved to this firm. It was the Bank of San Francisco fire.”

“I remember that, although I didn’t follow the court case.”

Suzanne heaved a sigh and tried to collect her thoughts. “The Bank building on Market Street was gutted by an electrical fire and one of the janitors died. He was the only fatality, and the wife brought suit.” She rubbed her temples. “Look, I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be rude, but I really do have to deal with some of this stuff.” She waved her hand vaguely over her desk.

Our intimate chat was over. Maybe it was just a reaction to having just been so open with me. Regretfully, I nodded and left her there, closing the door behind me. I hadn’t had a chance to ask her about the death threat she’d received, but maybe it was better not to bring it up right now. Perhaps that topic would be better coming from David or from the police.

As I stepped out of Suzanne’s office, I heard the deep voice of Sergeant Sullivan in the hallway. He appeared in the doorway with the same detective from Monday morning in tow. Adam stood behind them in the hallway.

Sullivan addressed Dani. “We’re here to see Suzanne Simms.”

Karen spoke first. “What’s going on now?” Her voice had risen, and I hoped it wasn’t a precursor to hysteria. Both she and Dani were staring at me. Sergeant Sullivan and Officer Ray entered the central room and walked directly to Suzanne’s door. I stepped aside as they passed me and entered the office without knocking. I looked at Adam, who was standing in the doorway. His face remained impassive but he gave a slight raise of his eyebrows, as if to let me know he couldn’t speak at that moment.

Suzanne’s door opened again and the men led her, pale-faced and frightened, out of her office. Sullivan turned to us. “We’re bringing Ms. Simms downtown. There’s no need to be alarmed. We’ll contact Mr. Meyers later.” Dani was silent and stunned. Karen, a tissue to her nose and her face red and blotchy, ran to the doorway and watched as the elevator doors closed on Suzanne.