“Is there anything else?” Mr. Morrow suddenly asked me.
“There is.” I explained, “I’ve also been appointed as your survival assistance officer. This means I’ll handle estate matters.”
Janet immediately said, “No, you won’t. I’ll handle the estate.”
“That’s not advisable. Lisa has military life insurance, and military survivor packages, and… look, please consider it. You’ll find it beneficial to have a military attorney wade through those things.” I looked at her father and added, “Mr. Morrow, you’re listed in Lisa’s records as her beneficiary. About her funeral, I assume you’d like her to be interred in Arlington National.”
“I’m afraid… I never considered it.”
“Of course. Take your time.”
They all four stared down at the floor, the “funeral” word truly driving home the point that Lisa’s death was for keeps.
I sensed I had outworn my welcome and therefore said, “I’ll leave my phone number and address on the table by the door. If there’s anything… please let me know.”
Nobody suggested otherwise, so I showed myself out. In fact, I was at the bottom of the outdoor stoop when the door flew open and Janet stepped out onto the portico. She held out her business card, and I obediently walked back and took it.
She said, “Call me with questions or issues.”
“Right.”
“I don’t want my father bothered.”
“Of course.”
She turned around to go back inside, paused, then spun around and said, “You told my father there were no clues.”
“It was true last night. I don’t know what progress they’ve made since then.”
“Who’s handling the investigation?”
“The Army Criminal Investigation Division.”
“Who’s in charge?”
“It’s in good hands, Miss Morrow. Army CID is very competent.”
This, of course, was the kind of reassurance the Army expects you to offer in these difficult situations. But it’s also true. Army CID has a much higher case closure rate than most civilian police forces. Of course, the artificialities of military life account for much of that success, as CID deals with small, clannish communities, where nearly everybody eats apple pie for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Committing crimes in military communities is akin to farting in church-don’t expect sympathetic witnesses.
What I failed to mention was the unusual nature of this crime from a military perspective. Having occurred in a massive, open parking lot a few miles from one of the world’s most crime-infested cities suspects were not in short supply. Nor that the manner of Lisa’s murder-the absence of a knife, bullet, and so forth-made it a real mess. Possibly Lisa had left a note back in her apartment that said, “In the event of my murder, please arrest (fill in the blank),” but life, and death particularly, never work that way. Finding the perp was going to be a bitch.
Janet stared at me, then said, a bit curtly, “Don’t treat me like a novice, Drummond. This was my sister. Her murderer is going to be found.”
“Right. CID will catch the killer and bring him to justice.”
I had the impression she did not like this response when I heard the door slam.
I studied her business card. The top line read, “Janet Morrow,” and beneath that, “Assistant District Attorney, City of Boston, Mass.”
Oh shit.
CHAPTER EIGHT
I returned to the Greed Mill shortly after 4:00 P.M.,where a curt note from Sally ordered me to see her the moment I arrived. Beneath it was a second note to call Clapper.
I am ordinarily a stickler for that ladies-before-gentlemen thing. Exceptions are made when the lady is a bitch and the gentleman signs my paycheck.
Clapper inquired how it went, and I replied, bluntly, that it sucked and I wished I hadn’t flown up to Boston but was reluctantly glad I did. He said he understood perfectly. There actually are a few fleeting moments when Clapper and I are friendly and even see eye to eye. It feels really good to both of us, I think.
Anyway, I warned him to expect to hear from one of Lisa’s sisters. He said she had already called, and he had politely attempted to coax her to stay out of it. We agreed that she would probably ignore us both, and he then updated me on what CID had learned, which amounted to nothing-no fibers, no fingerprints, and enough tire tracks in what was, after all, a public parking lot, to make it impossible to pinpoint an escape vehicle. I told him I’d work on arranging the funeral. He said fine, make it a good one, and stay in touch.
Sally next, and I was directed to a carrel in a massive cube farm. There was a fairly gaping gap between junior and senior associates at Culper, Hutch, and Westin I had learned. After also learning that junior associates started at $130, 000 a year, my sympathy meter was stuck on don’t give a shit.
I stuck my head in and coughed. In response, she frowned, pointed at her watch, and said, “Drummond, yesterday was bad enough. This.. . well, it’s absurd. Cy and Barry both asked where you were a dozen times. You’re in big trouble.”
“Lisa Morrow was murdered last night. I flew to Boston to notify her family.”
I wasn’t sure she heard me. She continued to stare at her watch. “Murdered?”
“Yes. Somebody broke her neck.”
“Do they know who?”
“No. Not yet. It appeared to be a robbery.”
She briefly contemplated this, and then concluded, “You still should’ve called.”
It struck me I was arranging the wrong funeral.
I informed her, “I’ve also been appointed her family’s survival assistance representative. I’ll need time over the next few days to arrange Lisa’s funeral and handle her affairs.”
She said, “Explain your problems to Barry and Cy.”
“I will.” Bitch.
She went back to studying whatever she was reading and sort of casually asked, “So did you or didn’t you study for your test?”
Okay, here’s the deal. She had all the proper affectations of the model junior attorney-ambitious, hardworking, buttoned-down, dedicated, and so forth. And yet she didn’t strike me as overly bright-not dumb or brainless, just not bright. More obviously, she lacked a few human ingredients, like sympathy, a sense of humor, and compassion.
Anyway, my choices seemed to be continue this line of conversation and end up putting her in a chokehold or change the subject. “So what’s that you’re working on?” I asked.
“What you should be working on.” She pointed at one stack. “That’s the original proposal sent by Morris Networks for the DARPA bid.” She pointed at another. “That’s the protest filed by AT amp;T, and that’s the one by Sprint.”
“It takes two hundred pages to file a protest?”
“They were probably in a hurry.”
A voice behind me chuckled and said, “It’s an industry standard, thank God. You don’t suspect reputable firms of padding bills?”
I spun around. Cy was smiling, though it was something short of his normal, gregarious smile. He remarked, “Perhaps Sally failed to mention that we like our attorneys to come in before noon.”
“She did mention it. But Lisa Morrow was murdered.”
“Oh…?”
“Apparently a robbery gone wrong.”
He, at least, had the decency not to stare at his watch. In fact, he appeared both stunned and upset. After a moment of hesitation, he said, “I’m, uh… I’m sorry, Sean. Were, uh, were you two close?”
“We were.”
Again he appeared uncertain what to say next, a reaction that struck me as uncharacteristic. Silver-tongued types like Cy were never at a loss for the right sentiment, the right words. He finally said, “She was quite a woman. Truly, she was. She had spunk and smarts.”
He saw the confused expression on my face and pulled me aside so Sally and the others couldn’t overhear. “She made quite an impression on us,” he informed me. “We offered to bring her in as a partner.”