P. Parrish - Thicker Than Water

“I’m sorry, do you mind?” she asked softly. “Lyle doesn’t let me smoke in the office. Mr. Duvall never cared. He always let me come in here when I needed my fix.”

“Go right ahead.”

She drew on the cigarette, her eyes wandering over the office. Louis went to the window and pushed back the curtain. The view was of a dilapidated building next door. At least you could see the river from the lobby window. There was nothing to look at from here. But maybe that’s the way Duvall wanted it; some driven people worked better with nothing pretty to distract them.

“Miss Silvestri, can we talk about the night Spencer Duvall was killed?” Louis asked, letting the curtain fall.

She looked at him beseechingly. “I already told the police. .”

“I know. But sometimes things can be missed.” Or at least he hoped so, in this case.

“You were here when Jack Cade came in for his appointment that morning?” Louis asked.

She nodded, her eyes darkening. “It was just before lunch. It was so strange seeing him. I mean, I hadn’t seen that man in twenty years. He looked so different. His hair was longer. And his face had changed so much.”

“Did you hear anything that was said?”

“Spencer’s door was ajar so-” She paused. Louis was amazed to see her blush. Then he realized it was the first time she had called Duvall by his first name.

She pulled in a deep breath. “Jack Cade was furious. I heard him say he was going to sue Spencer for legal malpractice.”

“How did Mr. Duvall react?”

“I couldn’t really hear what Spencer told him because Spencer didn’t raise his voice at all. Which was unusual because he could bellow back on occasion. But Spencer was quiet.”

“Then what happened?”

“Cade got louder, so I went in and asked Spencer if he wanted me to call security.”

“Did you?”

“I didn’t have to. Jack Cade started to leave.” She paused, tears springing to her eyes. “But he stopped and looked back at Spencer and said, ‘I’ll get you, Duvall, one way or the other.’ Then he was gone.”

She snuffed her cigarette out in the ashtray on the small round table.

“What happened after Cade left?”

“Nothing really. We all went back to work.”

“No one else came to see him?”

“He had one appointment after Jack Cade left, but he told me to cancel it. Spencer was in here with his door closed the rest of the day. We were preparing for the Osborne case and I figured that’s why Spencer didn’t come out. I stayed late to finish typing the brief.”

“What time did you leave?”

“Just before nine. I remember because I was thinking that I was going to miss Matlock.”

“Was there anyone else in the office?”

“No, everyone was gone.”

“Did Mr. Duvall say anything to you before you left?”

“He said he was staying over and asked me to order him a sandwich from Moe’s across the street.”

“Staying over?”

“Spencer kept an apartment here in town. He often stayed there when he worked late because he hated driving home to Sanibel.”

“So you got him a sandwich?”

She nodded slowly. “Corned beef on rye with thousand island dressing and a cream soda, same as always. Then I left.”

She paused. “No, wait. That isn’t right. After I brought the sandwich back, Spencer asked me to go down and get the Cade file.”

Louis had been looking around the room and he turned. “He asked to see Jack Cade’s old file?”

Ellie nodded. “We store the old files downstairs. I went down and got it.” She nodded to the desk. “Last time I saw the Redweld, it was right there.”

“Redweld?”

“Redweld. That’s what we call them. It’s a brand name for the file folder.”

“You told the police this?”

She nodded. “I guess they took it, with all the other files and stuff that was in here.”

Louis had a million other questions, but he knew Ellie Silvestri couldn’t answer them. He had to get his hands on the police file, and he knew the only way he was going to do that was to go through Mobley.

Ellie was staring at the desk, arms wrapped around herself. Louis knew she was seeing Duvall’s shattered head lying on top of the file.

“Miss Silvestri,” he said gently, “did Mr. Duvall tell you why he needed the old file?”

She shook her head slowly. “That was the last time I saw Spencer. I mean, besides the funeral. But the casket was closed.”

Suddenly, she looked tired, every bit her sixty-some years. He had one more question. He touched her arm and she looked back at him.

“Why do you think Mr. Duvall asked you to get him that old file?” Louis asked.

“I told you, he didn’t say.”

“I know. I was asking your opinion.”

She drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I’ve been asking myself that same question. Spencer knew Cade would get nowhere with a suit because of the statute of limitations. He had nothing to worry about from that old case.” She paused, shaking her head.

“What is it?” Louis said.

“But he was worried,” she said. “Maybe worried isn’t the right word. I mean, he was fine that morning, then after Jack Cade left he stayed in here all day and I didn’t even see him until I brought him the sandwich. He was upset about something.”

“What do you think it was?” Louis asked.

“I thought it was because Cade threatened him. But I don’t know. When he asked me to go get that old file, it was more like he was just. .”

“What?” Louis prodded gently.

She looked at him. “Sad,” she said.

Her eyes drifted to the closed door. “I’d better get back out front,” she said.

He followed her back past Lyle Bernhardt’s door and out into the outer office. Ellie paused behind her desk. Louis realized she was looking at him oddly.

“You’re working for Jack Cade, aren’t you,” she said.

Louis hesitated.

“Everybody thinks he did it,” she said.

There was something in her voice and Louis had to ask, “Do you?”

“I think Jack Cade killed that girl twenty years ago. But Spencer kept Jack Cade out of the electric chair.” Her brows knitted. “Why would you kill the man who saved your life?”

Louis was silent for a moment. “Miss Silvestri, you probably knew Spencer Duvall better than anyone on earth. If you were me, who would you talk to?”

“What do you mean?”

“Who else would want Spencer Duvall dead?”

Ellie trained her green eyes on Louis. “Candace?”

Louis tried not to let his disappointment show. The old thing had seen too many episodes of Matlock. “What makes you suspect Mr. Duvall’s wife?”

“She wasn’t very good to him,” Ellie said, her mouth pulling into a thin line. “Personally, I think she’s crazy.”

Oh great . Overly protective secretary secretly in love with powerful boss and hates his wife. Episode 502.

“Spencer was going to divorce her,” Ellie said.

Louis couldn’t hide his surprise. “He told you this?”

“Well, no, but I knew something was wrong between them,” Ellie said. “He had been staying at the apartment more and more.” She paused. “She was here that morning.”

“The day Spencer was shot?”

Ellie nodded. “I was shocked to see her. She never came down here unless she had to. She never even called. Not like she used to when they were first married. He married her right after college, you know. I thought it was strange to get divorced after all that time.”

Louis shook his head. “But you have no proof your boss was getting a divorce.”

Ellie was staring at the desk. “Wait,” she said. “I made an appointment for him. It was with another lawyer here in town, a man named Brian Brenner. He handles a lot of divorces.”