Barbara Levenson - Mary Magruder Katz 03 - Outrageous October

by Barbara Levenson

  “Were you married long?” I couldn’t believe I was turning into a nosy questioner. Chalk it up to my love of cross examination.

  “Almost three years. We were both practicing in Burlington at the time. She was a prosecutor and I was working for a land use firm. I wanted to come back to High Pines to practice and Melanie wanted to move on to a bigger city. We were on different wave lengths.”

  “Are you happy back here with your own practice?”

  “Yeah, I am. The Mellmans have lived in the Upper Valley for several generations. My grandfather owned a small department store in Lebanon. That’s on the New Hampshire side of the river. My dad was the editor of a bi-weekly paper. I like being my own boss and getting out to fish and hunt and ski in the winter. It’s all at our doorstep without driving miles through traffic.”

  A pleasant waitress took our orders. She asked Dash if he wanted his usual.

  “The crab cakes are very good this evening,” she said. She stared at me, I guess wondering why she had never seen me before, or maybe she had a thing for Dash.

  I ordered the scallops. The waitress was young and athletic looking. She tried to hang around longer, but finally left when someone at the next table beckoned her.

  “You said you had to see a client this afternoon. Is it a new case?” I asked.

  “No, it’s an old one that I thought was settled. It was in the paper all last year. My client is a widow trying to hang on to her sheep farm. The farm next door to her is a dairy farm. My client and her neighbor have been feuding over her sheep coming on to the dairy farm and grazing all the grass. The dairy farmer sued my client and after numerous court hearings, my client decided to put her farm up for sale and move into the village.”

  “So why did you have to go there today?”

  “The farm hasn’t sold and the dairy guy is jerking her around, threatening to shoot her animals, so I had to go out there and defuse the situation.”

  “Well, I’ve never had a case like that. Mine are more about drugs and domestic violence and bribes.”

  “Things aren’t so different here. There are a lot of drug and alcohol related cases and domestic violence occurs a lot in the long winters here. People get cabin fever and they go after each other.” Dash paused while two servers brought our dinner orders.

  We ate in silence for a few minutes. The food was as good as any fine restaurant in Miami or New York. Everything tasted fresh. The vegetables were crisp and steamed perfectly; probably right out of the many farms in the area.

  “Mary, are you interested in doing any legal work while you’re here?” Dash asked.

  “You mean like a busman’s holiday? I really never considered doing that. I’m not sure how long I’m going to be here. I have an office that I need to get back to, or I may not have an income.”

  “I was just thinking that maybe you would like to get admitted to the bar here as an added credential. You can be admitted by applying as an active litigator and all you have to do is serve a four month apprenticeship with a lawyer in good standing.”

  “Hey, slow down. I’m not spending four months here. I’m a sun-belt girl, for one thing. For another, I have a house and a practice and parents and brothers in Miami.”

  “You don’t have to do all four months right now. You’re here anyway and I need some help. I have more than I can handle by myself. The courts are spread out here, so if I’m covering a case in White River Junction, I can’t be at the courthouse in Barre at the same time.”

  “Why don’t you hire another attorney, maybe someone just out of law school?”

  “That’s just it. I have a lot of work right now, but when there’s a slow down, I can’t keep paying a full time person. Just think about it. You could appear pro hoc vice out of my office, and if you ever decided to come back here, the time could be applied to the four month apprenticeship.” Dash put his fork down and took a long swallow of wine. He looked at me like Sam does when he wants some of his liver treats.

  “I’ll think about it,” I said. What would you want me to do?”

  “Take over a case that’s sort of this year’s neighborhood feud.”

  “What’s it about?” I asked.

  “It’d be a piece of cake for you. You’re probably in court all the time. I actually like transactional work. You know, drawing wills, estate planning, and contracts. Anyway, my client, Ken Upham, owns a two acre lot with a nice new house. He moved in a year ago from New Haven. It’s his retirement house. The property behind him is owned by Roland Behr.

  “Roland has lived up here for at least forty years. Roland claims that Ken cut down trees and brush that ran between the two properties and he’s pissed because he alleges that his privacy has been invaded. He also is some kind of a tree nut. There are a lot of Vermonters like that. They think no tree should ever be cut down. So he says Ken has decimated living trees against some state law.”

  “I don’t know, Dash. This really isn’t my kind of case. Where do court hearings come into this?”

  “Roland has filed suit against Ken for damages of ten thousand dollars, claiming that’s the amount he will have to spend to restore privacy landscape to his property. He also wants a judge to make a finding that Ken has violated public policy by removing two trees.”

  I looked at Dash for a minute thinking this was some kind of joke, but he didn’t even crack a smile.

  “Are you serious?” I asked. “If everything Ken removed was on his own property, there is no case. Surely a busy judge will grant a motion to dismiss in about ten seconds time.”

  “It might be decided by a side judge.” Dash said.

  “What in God’s name is a side judge?”

  “It’s unique to Vermont. They are elected office holders who assist the trial judges,” Dash said.

  “You mean like a magistrate? We have those in Florida. They hold preliminary hearings in certain family law cases.”

  “No I don’t think magistrates are like side judges. Are magistrates lawyers?”

  ‘Of course they are.”

  “Well, side judges aren’t lawyers. They can be anything; plumbers, farmers, whatever. And they also plan county and court budgets.”

  How can they assist judges if they have no familiarity with the law?”

  “Well, they do assist them and they can push judges to make some decisions. That’s why I’m telling you Ken’s case is not a onetime hearing kind of case. Ken is a new resident and Roland has been here for years. Maybe I shouldn’t have asked you to help. It just seemed like a great idea. I thought it might be fun for you and a good help.”

  Dash looked so disappointed. He really was a good looking guy and had a laidback relaxed kind of personality. Everything about him was different from Carlos, not that I was in the market for another boyfriend. Still, the thought of going back to Miami right now left me with an aching feeling somewhere between my heart and my stomach. Maybe getting back into some legal work here would make the transition back to Miami easier. Or was I just using this as an excuse to stay away longer? I realized Dash was staring at me. I could always make up my mind later about whether accepting Dash’s offer was an excuse to sidestep facing the changes in my life.

  “Well, say something, Mary, or I’ll begin to think I’m boring you,” Dash said.

  “Well, how about this? Ken might not want some strange out-of –state attorney handling his case. Why don’t you talk to him on Monday and if he wants to meet with me, I’ll come over to your office and interview him.”

  Dash smiled broadly. “Oh, he’ll want you for his lawyer once he meets you. I’m sure he’d much rather spend time with a great looking lawyer instead of one of his golf partners.”

  “Oh you play golf?”

  “Yes, do you? The Upper Valley is loaded with golf courses.”

  “No, I don’t play, but my dad adores the game.” I thought how much Dad would like Dash Mellman.

  CHAPTER

  TWENTY-SIX

  Sunday morning arriv
ed all too soon. The sun streamed through the windows, but I had no urge to get out of bed. The bedroom was freezing. I pulled the down comforter up to my chin and was about to lapse back into a dreamless sleep when a strange sound re-awakened me. It was a ringing telephone.

  I ran downstairs, remembering that I had seen a landline phone in the kitchen. Thank goodness there was caller ID. I saw Lucy’s name print out.

  “Lucy, hi. What time is it? Is everything okay there?”

  “It’s nine o’clock. Were you still sleeping? My God, you’re turning into Ms. Lazy. I’m jealous. I’ve been up for hours with the baby. How is it going up there? Catherine said something about a house mix-up. Are you okay?”

  This was typical Lucy, asking a slew of questions before I could answer the first one.

  “Yes, I was sleeping. Everything is fine now. Your house is wonderful. You won’t believe what a jerky thing I did. I got a little lost and thought Carolyn Brousseau’s house was yours and I ended up staying there for two days before I found out where I should have been.”

  “I guess Carolyn was out of town.”

  “Not exactly. Carolyn was murdered a year ago, right in her house. Maybe even in the bed I was sleeping in”.

  “Murdered? How awful. I didn’t know anything about that. Who did it?”

  “No one’s ever been caught. Some people think it was her son, Tom. Did you know him?”

  “I knew Carolyn and her husband. They were friends of my grandmother. Tom must be ten years younger than I am. I just remember him as a very little boy.”

  “Anyway, I love your house and this gorgeous place and I am relaxing. Do you know Dash Mellman?”

  “Yes, I do. Is he part of your relaxation?”

  “Not exactly, but he did help me find your house and he took me to dinner last night. He wants me to help him with a case in his office while I’m here. So what do you think of him?”

  “He’s older than I am, but he was always friendly and cute. Wasn’t he engaged or something?”

  “He was married briefly but got divorced.”

  “Mary, don’t start a relationship on the rebound, which reminds me why I was calling you. Carlos has called me three times asking if I know where you are or if I’ve been in touch with you. I acted surprised that you had broken up and I said I didn’t know you weren’t around. He sounded just awful. Maybe you should give him a chance to explain. You know, clear the air. If you don’t like what he says, you can still end things.”

  “I don’t care what he has to say. It’ll just be more lies. That night at dinner with Margarita wasn’t the first time Carlos was hanging out with Margarita. I never told you that she was at his house once when I arrived unannounced. He said she was collecting an alimony check. He was probably lying then too. Please, don’t tell him I’m up here.”

  “I won’t. I’m sorry I brought up the subject. Keep in touch so I won’t worry about you.”

  After a quiet morning with a quick trip to the village store, I settled in with the Sunday papers and more of Hal’s delicious cinnamon rolls.

  At noon I drove back to the village to meet Riley at the mini-mart. She looked dazzling in a warm-up outfit and her hair loose from its long braid.

  “Riley, you look like a high fashion model. Did you ever consider modeling?” I asked.

  “When I was at the university, I was interviewed on campus by an agency. I don’t know why I even went to the interview, but the agent invited me to come to New York for a further interview and some pictures. I spent three days down there going through the process. They wanted to sign me.”

  “So what happened?”

  “For one thing, I met some of the models. They all smoked and looked emaciated. I had a hunch some of them were taking uppers or downers or something. I also would have had to quit school and I was having a great time. I played basketball. I also didn’t want to move to New York, so here I am tending to my dad’s stores and dabbling in politics which I’m finding I really like.”

  “Vermont seems to have a magic hold on people who grow up here. Dash told me how he couldn’t wait to get back here and start his law practice,” I said.

  “How did your evening go? Come on, let’s get in my car, and we can go to a Farmers’ Market and to the Flea Market. It’s a gorgeous day to take in the sights.” Riley started toward a white Subaru.

  “Do you mind if we go in my car? I have Sam waiting in the back seat.”

  “No, he‘s waiting in the driver’s seat.” Riley laughed. “You didn’t answer. How was your dinner date?”

  We climbed into the Explorer after coaxing Sam back to his passenger area. Riley gave me directions to the Farmers Market, and we drove through two tiny villages and ended up in a field dotted with booths and awnings, each displaying a wealth of vegetables, meats, cheeses, and crafts. In the center of the field, three musicians were playing a lively song and singing in French.

  “They’re from Quebec. It isn’t all that far from here. Everything sold here is from this area or made in this area. So stock up and you can have a great lunch or dinner when you get home,” Riley explained.

  While I loaded a canvas bag furnished by Riley, I purchased a croissant, goat cheese, apples, tomatoes, jam, and a small pumpkin pie. My mouth watered thinking about my evening feast.

  “If I keep this up, no one will know me when I get back to Miami. I’ll be the fat lawyer whose clothes don’t fit.”

  We sat under a tree and listened to the music. Sam stretched out between us and lapped up some sun. He must have missed his Miami naps in the back yard.

  I told Riley about my wrong house adventure.

  Riley laughed so hard that other shoppers turned to stare. “But you still haven’t told me about your evening with Dash.”

  “It was fun. He’s relaxing to be around, but honestly, I’m not looking for a boyfriend. I just broke up with someone who I thought was my soul mate. What is interesting is that Dash invited me to do some legal work for him while I’m here. He wants me to take over a case of his. It doesn’t sound like my kind of criminal case, just two neighbors fighting.”

  “Oh, that must be Roland’s case.” Riley grimaced.

  “Wow, Riley you know everyone and everything going on around here. How did you know that was the case?”

  “This neighborhood argument is taking on a life of its own. Roland claims that Ken Upham has violated an ordinance from 1830 stating that no tree could be removed without permission of the village council. It was all because Vermont was shorn of most of its trees during the farming surge of the late 1700’s when the land was cleared for cultivation. Roland even came before our select board to complain.”

  “It’s kind of funny. My religious background is mixed. One parent is Jewish and the other is Baptist, so I always tell people that I’m of the Druid faith; they worship trees. I think I’ve just discovered the lost tribe of Druids.”

  “Mary, this case could become criminal. I think these two guys are going to become violent if someone doesn’t intercede soon. Maybe you can do everyone a favor and make this whole thing disappear. If nothing else, you’ll get famous in the Upper Valley. The newspaper has been covering this fight every week.”

  “I’m a lawyer, not a magician, but I can try to negotiate a peaceful solution. Not to change the subject but I’ll bet you can answer a question for me, Riley. How did Dash get that nickname? No one calls him Daniel, his real name.”

  “Dash loved to run. He was a track star in junior high and in high school he broke some track records in the state. I don’t know if it was his parents or his friends, but everyone has called him Dash forever. We better get moving if we’re going to see some more of the valley today.”

  We loaded Sam and our goodies back in the car and headed for the flea market back in High Pines.

  As we drove, Riley asked me what else I had seen. I told her about my trip to Dartmouth.

  “Riley, you know everyone around here. Do you know a young dairy farmer whose firs
t name is Conrad?”

  “Not off hand. What does that have to do with your visit to Dartmouth?”

  “My client’s daughter, Sherry, who I went to see, seems to be having a secret love affair with some farmer. She wouldn’t tell me anything other than his first name. I’m worried about her. She doesn’t want her friends to know anything about this guy. She met him in a bar and now she’s gone off to his farm for the weekend.”

  “Well, won’t she be back at school tomorrow? You can phone her then and hear all the hot details. I wouldn’t worry too much. This isn’t a big city, like Miami. Everyone’s pretty mellow here.”

  “I met my former serious boyfriend at a car wash and that didn’t turn out too well. I guess that’s why I’m worried.”

  Riley told me to turn in to an area of shops with a large field surrounding it.

  The flea market wasn’t what I expected. I was thinking of the ones in South Florida, where convicted felons sell stuff they’ve hijacked off of trucks, or where they’re selling knockoffs of Gucci handbags for ten dollars.

  The High Pines flea market consisted of tables filled with beautiful china, glassware, linens, and old kitchen ware. All of it looked like things my Grandmother Katz gave away when she moved to California. But that’s another story.

  I found a hooked rug like the one in my living room made by my Magruder grandmother. Riley explained that I had to bargain over the price or the seller would have his feelings hurt. I did as told and carried my bargain to the back of the SUV where Sam snuggled down in it as if we’d always owned it.

  I dropped Riley back at her car and promised to call her when I had an evening to fill, so I could see her boyfriend’s hockey team in action.

  The day had been fun and carefree. This Vermont life wasn’t at all boring. In fact, I never felt so energized.. Maybe representing Dash’s client wasn’t such a bad idea. Maybe I was missing out on what the wide world had to offer while I sat around having a pity party about the loss of Carlos.