“I’m sorry,” Marc heard Carolyn say, “He’s in a meeting. May I take a message?” Carolyn covered the mouthpiece and quietly said the word “reporter” to him.
“Thank you,” Carolyn told the caller, “I’ll be sure he gets the message,” even though she had not written it down.
Connie Mickelson came through the exterior door, looked around at the staff, Marc and the TV and asked, “What’s going on?”
“We need to talk,” Marc said.
“Okay, come in,” Connie told him.
Sandy answered the phone and told Marc Maddy was calling.
“Tell her I’ll call her back. I need to talk to Connie.”
Fifteen minutes later, Marc was back at his desk after bringing Connie up to date. The first call he made was to Mackenzie.
“How did they get this?” she asked referring to the media report.
“Heather Anderson leaked it to them. Or, more likely, had someone else leak it. Probably a cop. Standard operating procedure. They like to get their side out to the public to try to taint any potential jurors.”
“Jurors! What jurors? For what?” Mackenzie asked a bit startled.
“Mackenzie,” Marc calmly said, “they’re not digging up your former husband for their amusement. They’re looking to find something. And the media will be reporting the death of Wendell Cartwright today, too.”
“Oh, sure, okay,” Mackenzie said obviously more relaxed. “Well, I don’t know what they think they’re going to find.”
“One step at a time,” Marc said. “They don’t have permission to dig him up yet.”
“I’ve been thinking,” Mackenzie said. “Maybe I should agree to it. Show them I have nothing to hide. What do you think?”
After a long pause Marc said, “As a defense lawyer my inclination is to never agree to help them with anything.” Marc was sitting at his desk holding the phone with his left hand, his elbow on the desktop. He drummed the fingers of his right hand on the desk while he silently thought for a moment then said, “But you may have a point.”
“You think so?”
“Yeah. Plus, this judge has a bit of a reputation as a prosecutor’s judge. She will likely think this isn’t a big deal and let them do it anyway. We may as well get out ahead of it.”
Sandy quietly opened his door, looked in and whispered “Maddy” to him while she held up two fingers to indicate line two. Marc nodded his head in acknowledgement and Sandy quietly closed the door.
“Call her up, tell her I’ll agree to it,” Mackenzie said.
“Then I’ll tell the media that you did it because you have nothing to hide.”
“Exactly,” Mackenzie said.
“Maddy’s on hold,” Marc told her. “I need to talk to her. I’ll call Anderson and tell her your decision. I’ll call you back afterwards.”
Marc took Maddy’s call and quickly told her what was going on. While he was doing this, Connie came into his office and sat in one of his client chairs. When he finished talking to Madeline, he turned to Connie.
“How’s the beauty queen?” Connie asked.
“She’s good,” Marc said. “You know this judge in St. Paul, Miriam Nagel?”
“Yeah, I know her,” Connie said. “She’s okay except she likes prosecutors a lot more than defense lawyers.”
“How did she get on the bench in Ramsey County? Don’t you have to be a card carrying member of the Bleeding Hearts Club?”
“Not if you’re a female,” Connie said. “You’ll likely lose your motion to dig up Sutherland.”
“That’s why we’re going to agree to it,” Marc said.
“Probably a good idea,” Connie agreed. “Will make it look like your gal has nothing to hide. You banging her yet?”
“Why, Ms. Mickelson,” Marc said feigning indignation. “That would be unethical.”
“Don’t get caught like this horny idiot Simon Kane.”
“What’s going on there, with the civil suit?” Marc asked.
“We swapped discovery requests. Once those are done we’ll schedule depositions. I’m thinking by the end of July. After that I’ll set it for a summary judgment motion and see if I can’t make it go away. We got a pretty clear self-defense case. I don’t see it going anywhere.”
“When are you going to drop the hammer on Simon for his extra special servicing of his client?” Marc asked.
“You remember my husband number three?” Connie asked. Connie had been involved in a half-dozen successful marriages. Or, as she liked to point out, successful divorces.
“No,” Marc said. “I can’t keep track of all of your ex-husbands. I’m surprised you can.”
“Very funny, asshole. You remember, Isaac Bergman,” she said.
“Yeah, okay. I remember Isaac. He’s a professor at the U law school. Teaches…”
“Ethics,” Connie said, “and he’s on the board of the Office of Professional responsibility. I’ve already set something up with him. It’s a little shady but I’ll get our Mr. Kane when the time is right.”
“So, you and your ex-husband, the ethics professor…”
“He teaches constitutional law, too.”
“…are doing something that is likely unethical to win a civil suit because the other lawyer is doing something unethical.”
“Sounds about right,” Connie agreed.
“Do you see a problem here?” Marc asked.
Connie put on her best, innocent face, batted her eyelids several times and said, “Nope, I don’t.”
“Do I want to know what you promised Isaac to get him to go along with this?”
Still wearing the same expression Connie said, “Nope, you don’t.”
Marc shook his head then said, “I have to call Heather Anderson. You’ll have to excuse me so you don’t drag me into whatever it is you’re up to.”
“See you later,” Connie said as she stood to leave while Marc opened Mackenzie’s file to find Anderson’s phone number.
Marc picked up the phone and a second before he punched a button for a line to call Heather Anderson, his intercom buzzed.
“Yeah,” he said into the phone.
“You should come out here. We just heard another radio news report…” Carolyn started to say.
“About Mackenzie,” Marc finished.
“Yep, and it’s not good.”
Marc leaned against the back of Carolyn’s desk, his arms folded across his chest. Carolyn was in her chair next to him while the other office members gathered around. They were all intently listening to a different radio station reporting the story that Channel 10 was promoting for its noon news.
The radio blabber mouth had very few facts to report. Something about Mackenzie Sutherland and the death of her husband William, the founder of Sutherland’s grocery store chain. They also reported a rumor that she was involved in the same thing in Chicago with a previous husband who died, as they put it, suddenly and mysteriously. The reporter mentioned that Mackenzie was using the name Frances at the time. Supposedly she inherited a fortune from his death just as she did from the death of William Sutherland.
Of course, not having all of the factual information had never been a deterrent before. The announcers, three of them doing a talk show, spent the next fifteen minutes pompously speculating about the news leaks that Ramsey County was going to exhume old man Sutherland. This allowed them to walk right up to the line of accusing Mackenzie of murder. Why else would the county attorney do this?
Marc, having been through this before with prosecutors, was not even angry about it. He went back to his office and called Heather Anderson. Not surprisingly, she didn’t answer so he left a message in her voice mailbox.
When noon came, everyone in the office was gathered in front of the TV. Marc had called Mackenzie and Maddy to let them know about it also.
It was the lead story and was worse than Marc feared. They had all of it: the news about the exhumation hearing and the death of Wendell Cartwright. While the anchor, a m
an whom Marc did not know, interviewed their reporter Cindy Amundson about Cartwright and Chicago, the two photos of Mackenzie appeared on the screen. The story took almost seven minutes and at the end of it, the anchor looked at the camera and made the comment that Mackenzie appeared to be a Black Widow.
“There it is,” Marc said. “I knew someone would get around to calling her that.”
“What are you going to do?” Barry Cline asked him.
While everyone silently watched him waiting for an answer, Marc thought about what to do.
“Call Gabriella Shriqui and see if she’ll let me on her show today,” he finally replied.
“Let you? She’ll send a limo for you,” Connie said.
“I better call Mackenzie,” Marc said to no one in particular. He then looked at Sandy and Carolyn and said, “If Heather Anderson calls back, I’m not in.”
“Okay,” they replied in unison.
The office phone rang and Jeff Modell, the paralegal answered it.
“Just a minute,” he told the caller. “Speak of the devil,” he said to Marc.
“Heather?”
“No, Gabriella,” Jeff replied.
TWENTY-ONE
Marc arrived at the Channel 8 building shortly before 1:00 P.M. Gabriella herself came out to the reception area to get him. Being good friends, they greeted each other with an affectionate hug. Gabriella looped her arm through his and began leading him back to her studio.
“I thought you were a big shot TV star who had servants to come out front for me,” Marc teased.
“I do but every once in a while I like to come out and mingle with the peasants, smartass,” she said as she slapped him on the shoulder. “Let’s go back to my office and talk about this first.”
“We’re taping it, right?”
“Yes, but I want to hear what’s going on first to prepare,” she said.
Gabriella closed the door behind them and joined Marc on her sofa. “So, tell me what’s going on.”
“We’re still off the record?”
“Yes.”
“Are there any listening devices in here?”
“Marc!”
“Okay,” he said.
Having discussed this with Mackenzie, Marc knew exactly what he wanted to say. He very carefully gave Gabriella just enough information to bring her up to date without making any admissions.
“Is Mackenzie this woman, Frances, from Chicago?”
Marc admitted she was, explained why she used the name Frances and how she met Wendell Cartwright. He also told her there had been an autopsy, an investigation of Wendell’s death and no wrongdoing was found. Another twenty minutes and Gabriella was satisfied she had enough for the interview.
“What about this hearing to exhume Sutherland?” she asked.
“Ask me about it during the interview,” Marc coyly replied.
“What does that mean?”
“It means ask me about it during the interview,” Marc repeated.
Gabriella arched her eyebrows and gave him an inquisitive look. Marc silently responded with a mischievous smile. There was a knock on the door and Gabriella said, “Come in.”
Cordelia Davis, Gabriella’s producer looked in and said, “We’re all set. We need to get Marc to makeup.”
Gabriella stood up and Marc said, “I need to make a quick phone call. Give me two minutes.”
When the two women were gone, Marc called Mackenzie.
“I’m going in for the interview now,” Marc said. “Last chance, are you sure you want to agree to exhume Bill’s body?”
“Yes,” Mackenzie said. “We both agreed we need to counteract the bad publicity. I have nothing to hide.”
“Okay,” Marc said.
“I still think I should be there to tell my side. I feel like I’m hiding behind my lawyer,” Mackenzie told him.
“They’re already referring to you as a Black Widow. It’s best for you to keep a low profile for now. You’ll get plenty of opportunities to tell your side if need be,” Marc reminded her.
“Okay,” Mackenzie sighed.
“I’ll call you when it’s done.”
“We’re delighted to have the well-known local defense attorney, Marc Kadella with us today,” Gabriella began the taping by speaking directly into the camera and announcing. “Mr. Kadella is the lawyer for Mackenzie Sutherland the widow of William Sutherland, the late founder of Sutherland’s grocery store chain.
“Hello, Marc and welcome back,” she said turning to him.
“My pleasure, Gabriella,” Marc replied.
Gabriella turned back to the camera and continued. “For those of you who may not have heard, it was reported by our colleagues at Channel 10 that the Ramsey County attorney is going to ask for a court order to exhume William Sutherland’s remains for a second autopsy. They also reported that Mackenzie Sutherland was previously married to another wealthy man, Wendell Cartwright under the name Frances while she lived in Chicago several years ago. Wendell Cartwright, again this is what was reported, died of a mysterious heart attack and Frances inherited a large estate.”
“Gabriella,” Marc interrupted, “there was no mystery about Wendell Cartwright’s death. The man had a heart attack after almost fifty years of fast living and inattention to his health.”
“Marc, I’m simply stating what Channel 10 reported earlier. They said it was a mysterious heart attack, not me.”
And you couldn’t resist taking a shot at a competitor’s loose reporting, Marc thought.
“That’s why I’m here, Gabriella. They got their information leaked to them behind my client’s back by the Ramsey County attorney’s office. It’s standard procedure for prosecutors to leak news to try to make someone look guilty of something. There’s also a lot of politics involved.”
“Is Mackenzie Sutherland the same person as Frances Cartwright?”
“Yes, she is,” Marc admitted. “She was living in Chicago and using her middle name, Frances. It is also her mother’s name. She was very close to her mom who died of breast cancer. She was using the name Frances to honor her mother. She was lonely and met Wendell Cartwright. He was charming and rich and Mackenzie married him. He was quite a bit older than her and after a couple of years he had a heart attack and died. It happens. I’ve seen the autopsy report of Wendell’s death and the medical examiner ruled it a natural death. It was also thoroughly investigated by the Chicago police. They found no evidence of foul play: case closed.”
“What do you think the Ramsey County attorney expects to find?”
“Ask them,” Marc said. “There was an autopsy done of William Sutherland and he also had a heart attack. We lose hundreds of thousands of people to heart attacks every year. It’s hardly unusual and certainly not rare. In my opinion, this entire matter is being driven by Paige Sutherland, Robert Sutherland’s widow.”
“The man Mackenzie shot and killed who attacked her in her home.”
“Yes. Mackenzie acted in self-defense and the grand jury exonerated her. Paige is still after the Sutherland money. That’s what this is all about.”
“Will the county attorney get an order to exhume William Sutherland for another autopsy?” Gabriella asked.
“They won’t have to. Mrs. Sutherland told me she will not oppose their request. She will agree to exhume the remains and let them conduct their autopsy.”
A slightly startled Gabriella asked the perfect question. “Why would she do that?”
Having Gabriella toss him a softball, Marc did not miss it. “Obviously because she has nothing to hide.”
Marc trudged up the creaky back stairs of the Reardon Building to the second-floor suite of offices. At the top, he again vowed to find more time to exercise and get in better shape. It was almost 5:00 and Gabriella’s show had aired but Marc had not seen it.
“Hey, everybody,” Sandy yelled when Marc came through the door. “Our TV star is back.”
Marc looked at the twenty-something girl and scratched his nose with
the middle finger of his right hand. Both Sandy and Carolyn laughed at the gesture as the other lawyers came out to join them.
“How was it?” Marc asked.
“Good,” Carolyn said while handing him a dozen messages.
“I think you did your client some good. That line about her having nothing to hide came across well,” Barry added.
“Let’s hope she doesn’t,” Connie chimed in.
“That’s not a thought I want to have,” Marc said to her. “Besides, why would you say that? Do you know something…?”
“No, not all. Just being a cynical, old lawyer.”
The phone messages waiting for Marc after Gabriella’s show were from various TV and print reporters. He dialed Mackenzie’s phone while reading through them.
Mackenzie answered and they chatted for a few minutes about the TV appearance. Marc told her that he had other requests for interviews. He then suggested that the two of them do one or two more TV interviews together to get her story out. While they talked there was a knock on Marc’s door and Connie came in without waiting for a response from Marc.
“You talking to our girl Mackenzie?”
“Yeah, why?” Marc asked.
“Can I talk to her?” Connie asked and sat in one of the client chairs.
Marc told Mackenzie and handed the phone to Connie.
“Hey,” Connie said. “I scheduled your deposition for the civil suit for three weeks from now, July thirtieth. Is that okay?”
“Sure,” Mackenzie replied. “What time?”
“9:00 A.M. here in our office. I’m not going downtown. They can come here. We’ll do Paige Sutherland at the same time.”
“Kind of quick isn’t it? You trying to push this thing along?” Marc asked.
Connie covered the mouthpiece of the phone with her hand and said, “Yeah, I’ll tell you why in a minute.” She went back to Mackenzie and asked, “So, you’re good with that?”
“Sure, let me talk to Marc again, please.”
Connie handed the phone back to Marc and listened while they agreed to do two TV interviews. Marc would set those up and call the reporters for both the St. Paul and Minneapolis papers to do a phone interview by himself. When they finished, Marc hung up the phone and looked at Connie.
Marc Kadella Legal Mysteries Vol 1-6 (Marc Kadella Series) Page 196
