I turned to Dani. “If you’re busy and need help, just call me. You know where I am.”
“Thanks, but I try to stay out of the way of the big guy.”
“David?” I smiled. “He’s not that bad. In fact, he’s a very nice guy. And I love the skull.” I said, referring to her office decoration.
“Dani, I really could use your help now.” Nora retreated to her office.
“Yes, ma’am.” Dani grimaced at me and made an obscene gesture at Nora’s back with her tongue. I beat a retreat rather than be caught laughing.
On the way back, I made a stop at the staff lounge to grab a cup of coffee. An overhead cabinet held mugs decorated with the firm logo, but the little coffee maker took me a moment to figure out. I sighed. Computerized coffee. I lifted its hood and popped a small plastic pod in the slot. The machine began to spit out a dark brew. When it gave its last burp, I slid the cup out. My hand jerked involuntarily as a high-pitched keening sound reached my ears. The mug slipped from my hand, spewing coffee into the sink. Someone was screaming.
three
The cry had come from the litigation section. Coffee forgotten, I ran back down the hall and sensed rather than heard David’s footsteps behind me. Inside the central room, the door to Jack Harding’s office stood open. Dani was standing next to her desk, staring at the open door. A man I recognized as Roger Wilkinson came to his doorway, a puzzled look on his face. I maneuvered around them and stepped through the door to Jack’s office. A girl, not much more than high school age, her blonde hair in a ponytail, stood frozen in the center of the room. A sickly odor filled the air. Jack’s body was slumped over the desk, a letter opener jutting from his neck. Scattered papers were pinned beneath him. Blood spatter marked the framed diplomas on the wall. Jack Harding was very dead.
The only sound now was the quiet moaning of the young woman. The files she’d been delivering had fallen to the floor. I fought against the feeling welling up from my insides and grasped her shoulders, turning her around to lead her out of the room. David stepped back from the doorway as I led her out. Nora and Roger and the two secretaries, now pressing in to see, made way for us.
“Yvonne,” David said, “are you all right?” The copy clerk raised her eyes to him and opened her mouth but couldn’t speak. David’s face was pale. He took one step inside the corner office, then backed out. “I’ll call the police.” He turned to face the others. “We should all get out of here and wait in the lounge.”
“What?” Roger said. “I can’t possibly …”
“I’m sorry. I want everyone out.”
“Is he dead?”
“Yes.”
Yvonne’s weight pressed against me. She was threatening to sink to the floor. Dani rushed forward and together we half-walked the girl down the hall to the small couch in the staff lounge. We helped her into a sitting position and covered her with a blanket from the emergency supply cabinet.
“She’s in shock.” Dani placed a hand on Yvonne’s forehead. “We might need paramedics too.”
“Good idea.” I hurried after David. He’d picked up Muriel’s phone and was describing our plight to the 911 operator. I whispered, “Paramedics too.” He nodded in response. He relayed the request and replaced the phone in its cradle. He turned to me. “What the hell, Julia …”
We heard a shout from the corridor. “What’s going on? Where is everybody?”
David groaned. “That’s Ira. Let’s get back.” Roger was explaining the discovery of Jack’s body to the new arrival as we entered the lounge.
Ira’s gray hair straggled over his collar and a smudge of blue ink marred the pocket of his shirt. He turned and stared at Yvonne. “What’s wrong with her?” No one answered.
“We need to lock the litigation section.” David slipped a single key on a small metal ring out of his pocket. He handed it to me. “Julia, go lock the main door. Then call down to the reception desk and tell them to advise everyone in the firm that this floor is off limits.” He turned to the others. “Anyone expecting a client to arrive?” He was greeted with silence. “Okay, good. Then we’ll all stay here while we wait for the police.”
“I need my purse and things,” Nora whined. “Dani, can you gather up my things? I can’t possibly go in there now.”
Dani stared at her boss. “You can’t go back to your office, but it’s okay for me?” She shook her head and sighed.
“What’s the matter, Nora? Since when are you so sensitive?” Ira snickered. Nora narrowed her eyes, skewering him with a look that could have shriveled a wild boar.
David ignored the exchange. “Your personal belongings are safe in there. You can get them later. I don’t want anyone touching a thing until the police arrive.”
I took the key from David’s hand and walked the length of the corridor. My knees were wobbling and my hands were shaking so badly I could hardly fit the key into the lock. When Jack Harding was alive, I’d made sure to avoid him. Now I had absolutely no intention of opening that other door and going near his body. I managed to get the department door locked on the third try and returned to the lounge.
Yvonne’s complexion had taken on a gray sheen. I sat next to her and took her hand. “You’re safe. You won’t be left alone. I promise.” Yvonne turned to face me and nodded silently. Dani perched on the edge of the couch next to the young girl and put an arm around her shoulder.
Nora was pacing back and forth in front of one of the windows. “Somebody give me a cigarette,” she demanded. “I feel sick.” She sat down at the opposite end of the sofa from Yvonne, holding her head between her hands.
“No smoking here, Nora,” Roger remarked in a judgmental tone. He pursed his lips. “Although you do have the distinction of being the last of the dinosaurs, someone who still smokes at the office.”
“Oh, give me a break. Who would care? Dani …?”
“What?”
“Do you have a smoke?”
“Yeah.” Dani reached into her pants pocket and passed a cigarette and lighter to Nora. She smiled at Roger. “I guess Nora’s not the last.”
“David, this is ridiculous,” Ira grumbled. “You’re treating us like criminals.”
“No, I’m not,” David replied. “All of you need to settle down. It’s very important we stay together and don’t touch anything in Jack’s office or the central room. You can stay here or you’re welcome to use my office. But we wait.”
Roger had slumped into a plastic chair, his legs stretched in front of him. He was immaculately dressed in a gray suit, coordinated shirt, and a striped tie. His dark hair was touched with silver. He looked less upset than annoyed. Karen, the other secretary, sat at a table near the coffee machine fidgeting with her hair. Her complexion was pasty, the color of uncooked dough.
I caught Ira staring at me. “Who do we have here?” he asked with a suggestive smile.
“This is Julia,” David answered. “You remember her, don’t you?”
“Obviously not well enough,” he leered, exposing a mouthful of stained teeth. I ignored him.
“Why don’t you just shut it, Ira,” Nora huffed. She began to pace again, then stopped and turned to Dani. “Where’s Suzanne? Why isn’t she here?”
“She isn’t in,” Dani responded. “Look, I don’t know about anybody else, but I need coffee. I’ll make a few cups. I’m sure we can all use some.”
The young copy girl started to rock back and forth and cry in spite of Dani’s moral support. Ira glanced at her. “Can someone get her to be quiet?”
Dani frowned. “Can someone grow you a heart? She just found Jack dead, for chrissakes.” Ira’s head jerked back as if Dani had slapped his face. Nora observed the exchange between the two and smiled coldly.
The elevator doors dinged and we heard a commotion in the hallway. David left the lounge and walked toward the elevator bank. We heard him greeting
the new arrivals. He reappeared in the doorway followed by two men. The older detective was short and stout with fair hair. The younger man wore a brown tweed jacket and dark rimmed eyeglasses. He looked like he’d been abducted from a high school chemistry class.
The shorter man spoke. “Good morning. I’m Sergeant Ralph Sullivan. This is Officer Nick Ray. We’re with the Homicide Division of the San Francisco Police Department.” They held up their badges with the seven-pointed star of the SFPD. “We’ll talk to each of you individually and take a more formal statement within the next few days. Please be sure you are available to us if need be.” The sergeant turned to David. “I understand everyone here works on the 41st floor?”
“Yes,” David replied. “It’s only the litigation section on this floor. The rest of our offices are on the 40th. I’ve asked the reception desk to keep anyone from coming up on the elevator. The man who …” David took a deep breath and tried to calm himself. “My partner, Jack Harding … he’s been murdered.” David’s complexion paled. He turned to me. “Julia, you have the key?” I passed it back to him. He turned away and led the detectives down the hallway to Jack’s office, returning a few minutes later. “The detectives will take each of you into my office to take your statements. I’m closing the firm early and I want everyone to leave here as soon as we’re done. You’ll be allowed to collect your personal belongings under supervision and if you’d like help getting home, I’d be happy to call a taxi service.” He looked around the room. “Could someone notify the answering service? Julia, if you don’t mind, I could use your help for a short while until all this is done.”
Karen looked up quickly. “I can stay and help too.”
“Thanks, I appreciate that, Karen, but I think we’ll be fine,” David replied.
“Okay then.” She smiled, patting her forehead with a napkin. I wondered if she was actually taking everything in.
Sergeant Sullivan reappeared in the doorway. “I’ll speak with whoever discovered the body first and then each of you one by one. After that, you’re free to go. My officers will assist you in removing any personal items.”
Yvonne attempted to stand. “That would be me. I found him.” Dani helped her to her feet and watched silently as Yvonne was escorted down the hall to David’s office.
When they’d cleared the doorway, Nora said, “Christ, what a mess. I’d say Jack got exactly what was coming to him.” Roger laughed mirthlessly in response.
I caught David’s eye. He returned my look with something that said, Later.
four
Two hours passed before we were free to go. David and I headed for the elevators but were brought to a halt as men from the Coroner’s Office struggled to maneuver a gurney into the corridor. The shape of a human arm bulged from the side of a zippered black body bag. My breath caught in my throat. David reached out to halt my steps as the men continued toward the service elevator at the end of the elevator bank. David was tense and silent. We rode down to the street level and, pushing through the crowd, reached the sidewalk.
“Julia, I’m so sorry,” he said. “I never should have asked you to come here.”
I shook my head. “It’s not your fault, David. How could you have known something like this would happen? I’m just glad I was here today, if only for your sake.”
“Let’s find a place to sit. Maybe get something to eat.”
I groaned. “I’m not sure I can.” My stomach was churning from the coffee I’d managed to swallow an hour before.
“Well, have something with me. A cup of tea at least.” We crossed the street and turned up the hill on Sutter.
I did my best to walk next to him on the crowded sidewalk, but I was jostled continuously as people hurried past us. “Where are we going?”
“I’m thinking the Rose and Thistle. It’s quiet and we can talk there.” David sighed again. “Best of all, they serve liquor and I could use a stiff drink right about now.”
Being at the firm again, walking these streets, was stirring old memories, memories from a few years earlier. Michael and I had become engaged as soon as I finished work on my masters in anthropology. He was heading out of the country for a month on a dig. I anxiously awaited his return. He did return, only to be killed by a hit-and-run driver on his way to meet me that very day. When I was finally able to get my bearings, I took the job at David’s firm. When I wasn’t at my job, I was a lost soul, wandering through the city at all hours. One day, in North Beach, I discovered an occult shop called the Mystic Eye. I became fascinated by the astrology books the shop offered, and the owner, Gale Hymson, encouraged my interest. We eventually became close friends. That period of my life was a painful time, but one I can now look back on if not with fondness, at least with gratitude. It was a time of healing and recovery.
David and I entered a restaurant under a red awning. A black-clad hostess stepped forward to greet us. “Hello, Mr. Meyers, how are you today?”
David struggled to smile. “Fine, thank you. Could we have a booth at the back, a quiet spot?”
“Of course.” The woman turned, and, weaving around linen-covered tables, led us through the elegant dining area to the rear. The walls were covered in a pale taupe fabric. Small sconces lit each booth. I slid into my seat and sank into the upholstered depths of the banquette. Leaning back, I tried to ease the tension in my neck. A waiter arrived immediately with two menus. David ordered a Scotch and soda and looked questioningly at me.
“Just water please,” I said. I wasn’t sure I could eat and tried to push the image of Jack’s body out of my mind. I turned back to David. “Did Jack have any family?”
David shook his head. “Not really. His parents died years ago and he’s divorced. Never had children. He does have a sister in the city, but for some reason I don’t think they were on good terms.”
“Where did he live?”
“He has … had a condo somewhere in North Beach. Filbert, I think.”
I know North Beach well. I grew up there, and my grandmother, Gloria, who raised me after my parents’ death, still lives in Castle Alley. North Beach is a stone’s throw away from Montgomery Street and the financial district.
David sighed. “I guess we’ll have to get access somehow and make sure he wasn’t keeping any office files at home.”
“Look, I have to ask. What was all that vitriol in the lounge upstairs?”
“Huh?” David replied, just as the waiter returned with his Scotch. He took a sip. “You mean Nora?”
“Yes, and Roger had a strange response to the situation.”
David frowned. “They were just being nasty. Frankly … well …” He hesitated. “Jack wasn’t well liked, as you can imagine. Not by the staff and not by his colleagues. There’s that and then there was a rumor floating around … don’t know if it’s true or not, that Jack was having an affair with Ira’s wife. Frankly, I don’t know and I don’t want to know, but if it did happen, I think it was a while back.”
I watched as David took another sip of his drink. “Meaning Ira was someone with a motive to kill Jack?”
“That’s ridiculous of course.”
“It’s not ridiculous, David. Somebody killed him.” I looked up to see our waiter standing next to the table with a basket of warm rolls in his hands. He’d overheard my comment and attempted to cover his reaction. “Would you like to hear our specials today?” I nodded and smiled in response as he recited the menu. The restaurant was beginning to fill with a lunch crowd and had become noisier. I was grateful we were at the quiet end of the room.
“I’ll have the salmon and baked potato.” David turned to me. “What would you like, Julia?”
I ordered a spinach salad with mushrooms and feta cheese. My appetite had returned. I took one of the warm rolls and broke it open, buttering it generously. Our waiter nodded and moved away, casting a last dubious glance at me.
“Where
were we?” David asked. “Oh, yes, Ira’s wife.” He shrugged. “I doubt Ira particularly cared if his wife was carrying on with Jack or anybody else. She … uh … it’s been rumored she has a drinking problem and their marriage is pretty much … nonexistent.”
“You should mention this to Sullivan.”
David grimaced. “I don’t know. It feels like I’m just gossiping. Maybe someone else will tell him about all that.”
“You can always give him a call. I have his cell number. He wrote it on the back of the card he gave me.” I took a large bite of my buttery roll. “What about Jack’s ex-wife? You said he was divorced? Is she around?”
“Yes. Hilary. Hilary Greene. She uses her maiden name now. Hilary got the house in the Marina after the divorce. I believe Jack made alimony payments for several years. And I heard she opened an art gallery, of all things.”
“A gallery, huh?” I thought of my friend Gale, who besides her venture with the Mystic Eye had become involved in the art world over the past year. Perhaps she knew of Hilary Greene. “Where’s her gallery?”
“Someone told me. Can’t think who it was now. Oh, it’s where Fillmore starts to climb. In fact, it’s on Fillmore. I remember now. I was taking to Suzanne—Suzanne Simms, our paralegal—about it. She and Hilary know each other. They went to school together.”
“And Jack’s sister?”
“She’s here in the city, out in the Sunset. The police were going to get her address from Human Resources. I really should try to contact her myself, tonight or tomorrow.” David swirled his glass around on the table. “There’s something else …”
I waited. He seemed nervous. “What is it?”
“I … uh …” David rubbed his forehead. “I had a bit of an ulterior motive in asking you to be here this week.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, it’s as I said. Muriel wanted to take this week off. I could have called an agency or asked for someone from the 40th floor to fill in. I don’t really go to court very much anymore. I can always assign one of the other attorneys … but I thought, given your talents … you’re very perceptive, and your intuition about people … well, I thought you’d be a good person to do some snooping, maybe pick up gossip or offer some insights.”
Tail of the Dragon Page 2
