Well, this was fun.
Riker counted eight men and women, the partners of this venerable law firm, and they were almost gasping for breath. The air was not so rarified on the lower floor of their holdings. In this nether region, accountants and clerks were caged alongside a storage area for files that dated back a hundred and twenty years. Riker doubted that the attorneys had ever visited this land of the underpaid, though it was only three flights below their penthouse offices.
The firm was obviously a family business, for he could see traces of Sheldon Smyth among the assembled faces, a replicated nose or chin, a pair of snake eyes here and there. Their ages ranged from the twenties to the sixties, and yet they had lined up like children in a fire drill, all eyes on the drill instructor.
His partner had quickly adjusted all of their attitudes, and Mallory had done this without the necessity of shooting one of them as an example to the rest. They listened to her very attentively as she recited the parameters of the warrant. Two of the lawyers seemed on the verge of projectile vomit. Paul Smyth, son of Sheldon, went pale when Mallory said, „The seizure of documents covers every file even remotely connected to the Winter family trust. That includes the firm’s Financials.“ She tossed this last phrase off as an afterthought, leaving them all with the impression that it was true, and she was not expecting any arguments.
Riker held his breath for a moment, then realized that she was going to get away with this. Amazing. These people all held their own copies of exactly the same warrant.
The two detectives watched in silence while the storage room was gutted by uniformed officers carrying cartons, stacking them in the waiting freight elevator and returning for more. Not satisfied with this staggering plunder of hard copy, Mallory slipped her own disc into the firm’s computer, startling the partners anew, saying, „This is federal software. It’s coded to pick up only transactions for the Winter family. Everything else is disregarded as inviolate material.“
Riker knew she was lying, but the eldest lawyer, no doubt left behind by the age of computers, was actually nodding, as if he had heard of this magical, mythical software of hers. The others, perhaps a little more savvy, were hemorrhaging as she copied their entire database. This was a major gamble. Riker knew one elderly judge who would have a heart attack if Mallory’s fairy tale on the financials ever got back to him.
And now Sheldon Smyth had arrived. His white head poked out of an elevator, uncertain of his bearings in this strange new world of badly dressed underlings. The knot of his tie was crooked, and he weaved a bit as he sauntered out, puffing up his chest in a prelude to voicing something lawyerly.
Riker put up one hand to ward off Mallory, then picked up the warrant and flashed it. Faster than he could fire off a bullet, this had the effect of deflating the old man, who bent at the waist and plopped down in the nearest chair.
„It’s all going to come out.“ Mallory’s eyes were cast down to the computer keyboard as she spoke to the old man. „If you want to cut a deal, now’s the time.“ She raised her face and graced Sheldon Smyth with a smile designed to make him wet his pants. „I know what you did.“
It was not the petulant housekeeper, but Bitty’s mother who fetched the tray of food upstairs. „Here, eat something. We’ll discuss your aunt later on.“
Bitty had lost all interest in food, but her mother prodded her and stood over her until the plate was cleaned and the teacup emptied.
„I’m going to call your father. Sheldon will know what to do.“
Before the food could march back up Bitty’s throat, her mother lifted the tray and opened the door. „Lionel? Coming?“
Of course he was. Brother and sister went everywhere together. They were like twins joined by a shared brain. Uncle Lionel walked toward the door, then paused a moment to turn and stare at his niece. It was that look he usually gave to her mother while they were silently communing. He shook his head, unable to read Bitty’s thoughts. No, his niece was from some other planet.
Bitty called it Earth.
Outside the raised window sash, a siren was growing in volume. Rags rushed out of his cage, running across the floor and screaming in concert with the fire engine, believing it to be a giant bird coming to mate with him and bear him away, to change his life and set him free.
Her bird was in love with a big red truck.
The siren faded off down the street. Rags fell silent. He walked back into his cage, tail dragging behind him. He tucked his head under one wing and squatted in a huddle of fluffed feathers. This was a sign of deep depression in Birdworld and Bitty’s world as well. She curled into a ball.
Chapter 8
CHARLES BUTLER CRACKED THE DOOR TO HIS APARTMENT AND watched the heavy foot traffic of policemen marching down the hall, their arms laden with boxes. Last in line, Riker set down his own carton to say „Hello,“ and, „Sorry about the commotion. We got the trust documents.“ So I see.
„But we couldn’t cart them back to Special Crimes,“ said Riker. „The boss would’ve freaked.“
Mallory walked by with a carton. She never turned her head in their direction, and Charles gave no indication that he had even seen her. He nodded his good-bye to Riker, then closed the door – and locked it. Riker heard the sound of a second deadbolt, and then a chain guard falling into place. And Mallory heard this, too. She turned back to the door, as if the sound of three locks might be a message just for her.
Trouble? Oh, absolutely.
Riker would never have believed that Charles Butler had the willpower to hold a grudge for six minutes, and that would be a feud with a total stranger. With Mallory, the poor bastard had no shot at all.
Until today.
The uniformed officers were making their escape to the elevator when Riker carried the last of the haul into Mallory’s private office at the back of Butler and Company. He set it down at her feet, saying, „What are the odds Charles is gonna give us a hand with this? You got another speed reader in your pocket?“
„Better than that,“ she said. „I’ve got a lawyer on the way.“
„Oh, well that’s just great. Lawyers read at two hundred dollars an hour – real slow.“ He turned to the cork wall. It had been cleared in preparation for their autopsy on a trust fund.
„We don’t need Charles.“ Mallory opened a folder and held up a sheet with columns of words and numbers. „The documents are indexed, and all the boxes are clearly marked.“ She pinned up the first page of her document list in perfect alignment with the walls. Two pushpins.
Riker could see their first problem in the making. Was his little neatness freak even capable of doing this without her usual time-consuming perfection? He decided to experiment. Taking a handful of sheets from her index folder, he plopped them on the cork wall in haphazard fashion, one pin a piece and every sheet dangling at a different angle. One glance over his shoulder told him that it actually hurt her to look at his mess.
„Mallory, we don’t have years for this.“ He walked off to the reception room to answer a knock. When he reached the end of the hall, the door was flung open, and he was assaulted by a little man with the jowls of a bulldog. Riker was forced to endure a bear hug from the only lawyer he could abide. Robin Duffy had lived across the street from Lou and Helen Markowitz since forever. And now, in his retirement years with both his old friends in the ground, Robin looked upon every connection to them as his extended family. He released his hold on the detective and stepped back. His eyes were lit up and manic. He was just so happy to be here. „Where’s my Kathy?“
The old lawyer was in that small circle of friends allowed to address his partner by her given name and get away with it unscarred.