The Anniversary (24 page)

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head was bowed as she examined it, and Callie couldn’t see her 2

face.

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When she finally looked up, her expression was troubled. “Do 4

you have any idea who might have written this?”

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Callie dropped her eyes. “Not really. I mean, I don’t have any 6

evidence.”

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“But you have some idea?”

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“It’s probably stupid, but right away I thought of Lester Crain.”

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“Lester Crain?” Melanie stared.

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“The day Steven was sentenced, he said that all of us were go-11

ing to pay. He looked around the room at us, and you could just 12

feel the hatred. Everyone just wrote it off as some sort of crazed 13

reaction. But I . . . I knew him very well. He meant what he was 14

saying. And then, well, he couldn’t get revenge himself. He’d 15

have to have arranged it with someone, someone who owed him 16

a favor. Steven helped Crain to get a new trial. Crain said he’d 17

find a way to thank him.”

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Melanie put a hand to her forehead. “I . . . this is hard to be-19

lieve.”

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“I’m not saying it’s true,” said Callie. “It’s just what I’ve been 21

thinking.”

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“I think you should go to the police.”

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Already, Callie was shaking her head. “No,” she said. “I can’t.”

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“Why not?” Melanie asked.

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There was something in her tone, a deference, that put Callie 26

on the defensive. She had an impression that Melanie was trying 27

to manipulate her.

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“You have to do something,” Melanie continued, when Callie 29

didn’t answer. “You can’t just ignore what’s happened. The police 30

need to investigate, to get to the bottom of this. If there’s a link 31

between Diane’s death and these items, they’ll be able to figure it 32

out. And if not, if it’s something else, they can look into that 33

too.”

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Callie nodded slowly but didn’t say anything.

35 S

“It might not be Diane’s watch.” Melanie’s voice was soothing.

36 R

“It’s just an ordinary Cartier watch, the same brand that I have.”

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She extended her wrist so Callie could see the gold Tank with 1

its black strap. But all Callie could think was,
They’re not at all the
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same.

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“They’re totally different watches,” she said, stating the obvi-4

ous point.

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“But the same brand,” Melanie said. “The same manufacturer.”

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“So what?” Callie said. She felt a little dazed. “The watch 7

Anna found is exactly the same. Like the one in Diane’s picture.”

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Leaning forward in her chair, Melanie clasped her hands.

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“Look, you asked me if I believed you. I’m not sure why, but I do.

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But you’ve put me in a difficult position. When you called me, 11

you caught me by surprise. It wasn’t until you’d finished talking 12

that you mentioned the attorney-client privilege. It hadn’t oc-13

curred to me. The thing is, something like this — I can’t just 14

keep it to myself. It would be unethical. There’s an ongoing mur-15

der investigation. What you told me could be relevant. You could 16

be in danger yourself. You have no idea who’s behind this. You 17

don’t know what they’ll do next.”

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“I know that,” Callie said sharply. “You think I haven’t 19

thought of that?”

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A long, tense silence.

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Thoughts swirled through Callie’s mind. She now understood 22

why Melanie had been so careful to establish the context of their 23

conversation. Not lawyer-client.
Friends.
Of course there’d been 24

a reason. It had to do with the privilege. There must be limits on 25

it. If Melanie wasn’t officially her lawyer, perhaps the privilege 26

didn’t apply. That possibility seemed so obvious now, though it 27

hadn’t occurred to her before. But she’d trusted Melanie to keep 28

this confidential. Didn’t that mean a thing?

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“I’m sorry,” Callie said. “I didn’t mean to get upset.”

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“It’s an upsetting situation.”

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“Yes,” said Callie. “It is.” She fought to keep her voice steady.

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“But what I do about it — if anything — that should be my deci-33

sion. That’s why I called you instead of someone else. I thought 34

that because you were a lawyer, you’d have to respect my confi-S 35

dences.”

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“I understand that,” Melanie said. “But even where the privi-2

lege applies, it isn’t absolute. For example, if you told me you 3

were going to commit a crime —”

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Callie jumped to her feet. “But it isn’t like that,” she said. “It’s 5

not the same thing at all.”

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“No,” said Melanie. “You’re right. Still, it’s not the sort of 7

thing I can ethically keep to myself. At the very least, I need to 8

talk to one of my law firm’s partners. I work for them. They need 9

to know about this. The conversation we’ve had today — there 10

isn’t a privilege issue. Before we started talking, we both agreed 11

that I’m not acting as your lawyer. When we talked on the phone 12

before — to be honest, that’s a bit unclear. But even if a conver-13

sation is privileged, I could still talk to lawyers I work with. Any 14

privilege that exists would extend to members of the firm.”

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“Oh,” said Callie. She bit her lip. She hadn’t realized that.

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“Would they tell anyone? The police, I mean?”

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“That would depend,” Melanie said. “I couldn’t say for sure.”

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“You haven’t told anyone yet?”

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A pause.

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“No,” said Melanie. “I haven’t.”

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A brief moment of relief. At least she still had a chance. But 22

the situation was spiraling out of control, and Callie was at a loss.

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All she knew was that she had to do something to stop Melanie 24

from talking.

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“I called you because I trusted you.” Before she thought it 26

through, the words were out. While she wasn’t even sure they 27

were true, they had the desired effect. Melanie seemed to hesi-28

tate, and Callie pressed her advantage.

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“If you don’t want to get involved, fine. I can understand that.

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But I don’t want anyone else to know. This is my problem. I can 31

handle it.”

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“Actually,” Melanie said, “I’m not sure that you can. It’s not 33

just about you, you know. Other people could be in danger.”

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Startled, Callie stared at her. “What do you mean?” she asked.

35 S

“Just that . . . Diane’s killer is still out there.” Melanie didn’t 36 R

meet Callie’s eyes. She seemed suddenly uncomfortable.

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“There’s something else,” Callie said. “Something you’re not 1

telling me.”

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A shadow passed over Melanie’s face, and Callie knew she was 3

right. But just a fraction of a second later, her features settled 4

back in place. When Melanie spoke, she seemed remote, her face 5

a smooth mask.

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“What more would there have to be? Diane was murdered 7

shortly after you received a threatening letter. The letter was sent 8

on the anniversary of Steven Gage’s execution. Diane wrote 9

about Steven. A few days after the murder, someone sent you her 10

watch. It doesn’t take much to connect the dots. This isn’t good, 11

Laur — Callie.”

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“It said ‘Happy Anniversary.’ That’s not exactly a threat.”

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Melanie looked at her, shaking her head. She didn’t argue the 14

point.

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Callie tried again. “And like you said, it might not be her 16

watch. Maybe I’m totally wrong.”

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“You might be,” Melanie said. “Then again, you might be 18

right.”

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Abruptly, Callie stood up. She walked over to the wall of win-20

dows and looked out on the city. She was surprised to find it was 21

still light outside. It seemed like she’d been here days. Her eyes 22

drifted over to the photographs on the bookshelf to her right.

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Melanie in cap and gown, standing with an older man. A pretty 24

African-American girl in front of the Eiffel Tower. Several rows 25

of smiling men and women gathered on a college campus. Look-26

ing at the small collection, Callie thought about what was miss-27

ing. No sign of the former husband. No sign of Steven Gage. This 28

is how you created a past, plucking out bits and pieces. You put 29

on display the parts you chose, banished all the rest. And then if 30

you were very, very lucky, you managed to forget.

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From behind her, Callie heard Melanie’s voice. “I have an 32

idea,” she said.

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“Okay,” Callie said cautiously. She folded her arms and waited.

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“Do you remember Mike Jamison?”

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“The name sounds familiar.”

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“He was with the FBI. The Investigative Support Unit.”

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“The profiler.” She remembered now. “He did all those inter-3

views with Steven. Right before —”

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“Yes.”

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All these years later, they both still avoided the words.
Right
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before the execution.
Right before his death. Right before the state 7

of Tennessee stuck a needle in him.

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“So what about him?” Callie asked.

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“It’s just an idea,” said Melanie. “I haven’t spoken to him for 10

years. The last I heard he’d retired from the Bureau and joined a 11

corporate security firm. He’s a good person. I got to know him 12

pretty well during the appeal, and I . . . I always liked him.”

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Melanie seemed oddly self-conscious, a flush rising in her 14

cheeks. The sudden shot of color threw her pallor into relief.

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Quickly, she went on.

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“I was thinking that I could give him a call. He’s very well con-17

nected in the law-enforcement world. He’d have access to a lot 18

more information than either of us has. He could have the watch 19

and letter checked for fingerprints. He could also probably find 20

out if the watch really belonged to Diane.”

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Callie sensed her heart beating faster. “And if it did belong to 22

her?”

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“If it did . . . I don’t know. But let’s not jump ahead.”

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“And you wouldn’t tell him who I am, where you got the 25

watch?”

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Melanie hesitated. “I wouldn’t have to at first,” she said. “Not 27

unless the watch could be traced to Diane, and then . . . I’d have 28

to talk to someone at that point. I don’t see any way around it.

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Even now, it seems problematic to be keeping this to myself.”

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Putting herself in Melanie’s place, Callie understood. But if 31

Melanie wasn’t barred from talking, why was she cooperating?

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“So why are you?” Callie said, suspicion creeping into her 33

voice.

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Melanie flushed again, this time more deeply. “When we first 35 S

spoke, you believed you were speaking to me in confidence. I’d 36 R

like to respect that if I can.”

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“I see.” Once again, Callie had the sense that Melanie was hid-1

ing something, that she had some secret agenda she hadn’t yet re-2

vealed. She’d have liked to know what this agenda was before 3

reaching a decision. But she could tell from Melanie’s closed ex-4

pression that she wasn’t going to discuss it.

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“And if I don’t agree?” asked Callie. “Then what will you do?”

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Melanie’s response was immediate, her voice clipped and as-7

sured. “Then I’ll speak to some partners at my firm. We have an 8

Ethics Committee.”

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The sun had slowly started to shift, dappling the room with 10

shadows. Callie looked at her own Swatch watch. The time was 11

3:35. She needed to be on the road within the next hour or so.

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Rick was out of town again, visiting his parents. When she’d 13

dropped Anna off at the Creightons’, she’d promised to pick her 14

up before dinner.

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Callie turned and faced Melanie, squarely meeting her eyes.

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“So I don’t really have a choice,” she said.

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“I’m afraid that’s pretty much right.”