Brad Meltzer - Dead Even

“Who did this to you?” Sara asked.

“Please, leave…” Harrison begged as the tears filled her eyes.

“Tell us who did this,” Sara said. “Was it Kozlow?”

“We can protect you,” Conrad added as Harrison sat on the sofa in her living room.

“She said she could protect me, and look where that got me,” Harrison said, pointing at Sara.

“But this time-”

“He broke my wrist with his hands!” Harrison shouted, the tears streaming down her cheeks. “With his bare hands!”

“Tell us who he is,” Sara said, putting her arm around Harrison.

“Get off me,” Harrison said, pulling away. “Get out of my house. Just by coming here, you’ve put me at risk. If you want to bother someone, go bother the Donigers. They’re the ones who started this.”

“Please, Ms. Harrison, let us help you.”

“I don’t want your help! I want you out of my house!” Harrison screamed, her face flushed. “Now get out! Get out of my house! ”

Searching for words, Sara headed for the door.

“I was just trying to be a good citizen!” Harrison shouted after her. “That’s it – a good citizen!”

“We know that,” Conrad said as he followed Sara. “That’s why we-” The door slammed shut.

Guff looked over at Sara. “Oh, my God,” he said. “Can you believe that?”

“He used his bare hands,” Sara said. “He snapped her wrist with his bare hands. What kind of animals are we dealing with?”

“I’m not sure,” Conrad said. “But I have a few questions for Claire Doniger.” Conrad walked across the street and banged on Doniger’s door. Putting his finger over her peephole, he waited for an answer.

There was none. Conrad rang the doorbell and banged one more time.

“She probably heard you shouting,” Sara said.

“Or maybe she’s just not home,” Guff added.

“That’s bullshit,” Conrad said. “I know she’s in there.” Banging his fist against the door, he shouted, “Open up, Ms. Doniger! We know you’re in there!”

“Forget it,” Guff said, heading for the front steps. “We’ll find her later.”

When there was still no response, Conrad followed Guff down to the sidewalk. “Are you coming?” Conrad asked. Sara was still standing in front of Doniger’s door. Moments later, she walked down the steps and joined Conrad and Guff. “What was that about?” Conrad asked.

“Ms. Harrison said that we should talk to the Donigers, as if there were more than one. I checked the mailbox, and it said ‘Mr. and Mrs. Arnold Doniger.’ Apparently, Claire Doniger is married.”

“Then how come we’ve never heard of this Mr. Doniger?” Guff asked.

“You got me,” Sara said. “But it shouldn’t be too hard to find out.”

In her office, Sara called Claire Doniger. “Hello, this is Claire,” Doniger said when she answered the phone.

“Hi, Mrs. Doniger. This is Sara Tate calling. I was wondering if I could ask you a quick favor.”

“Please, we went through this yesterday,” Doniger said. “I-”

“Actually, I’d just like to speak to your husband.”

There was a short pause on the other line. Then Doniger said, “My husband is dead.”

Startled, Sara said, “I’m sorry to hear that. When did he die?”

Again, there was a short pause. “This past Friday.”

“Really?” Sara asked, trying not to sound suspicious. She mentally counted the days. “I hope your testifying didn’t interfere with the funeral. When was it?”

“Saturday.” Before Sara could ask another question, Doniger added, “To be honest, this last week has been terribly hard. He was sick for a bit – the diabetes got the best of him in the end. That’s why I really didn’t want to get involved with this whole burglary thing. It seemed so pointless compared to everything else I’ve been going through.”

“No, I understand perfectly. I’m sorry I’ve been pressing so hard.”

“It’s okay,” Doniger said. “And I’m sorry I’ve been so short with you. It’s still a new adjustment.”

“Of course,” Sara said. “You have my deepest sympathies. I’m sorry to have bothered you.” The moment Sara hung up the phone, she looked up at Conrad and Guff.

“He’s dead?” Guff asked.

“She says he died this past Friday,” Sara explained. “Apparently he was a diabetic. Says he was sick for a while.”

“You don’t believe that for a second, do you?” Conrad asked.

“Are you kidding? We’ve spent the past two weeks in close contact with this woman and she fails to mention that her husband died? We saw her on Monday, and she never said a word. At that point, she’d barely been a widow for seventy-two hours.”

“What are you going to do?” Guff asked.

“You tell me,” Sara said. “What does it take to get a body exhumed?”

At eight-thirty, Jared was alone in his office. Kozlow had left almost two hours earlier, and Kathleen had just gone home to be with her husband. Relishing the quiet, but unable to relax, Jared sat on the edge of his chair and planned his upcoming conversation with Sara. First, he’d tell her that he’d spoken with Pop at lunchtime. That would get her guard down. Then he’d ask her how work was going. Although that would probably get her guard up, he knew he had to hit the issues quickly. Over the past few nights, no matter the subject, he’d seen Sara’s patience shrinking, and a prolonged discussion about work wasn’t going to make talking to her any easier.

Jared looked at his watch. He couldn’t wait any longer. He’d been tempted to make the call since lunch, but it was smart to hold off until late in the day. By this time, Sara would be tired and frustrated, the long workday taking its usual toll. As his corporations professor in law school used to say, “The wearier the prey, the quicker the kill.” It was the professor’s corniest line, but at this moment, as Jared picked up the phone, he couldn’t have agreed more with its accuracy.

Dialing Sara’s number, he eventually heard her answer, “ADA Tate.”

“Sara, it’s me.”

“What do you want?”

Jared kept his voice warm and sincere. “I just wanted to see how you were doing. Is that okay?”

“That’s fine. What else is going on?”

“I spoke to Pop today. He sounds like he’s doing well.”

“I know. I went by to see him during lunch,” Sara said. “Thanks for checking in on him.”

“Not at all.” They paused.

“Okay, Jared, what’s the real point of this call?”

Jared shook his head. His wife knew him too well. “I wanted to make you one last offer.”

“Jared!”

“Just listen a second. I’m not going to badger you about what’s good for my job or your job. We’re talking about something bigger than careers. You said it yourself – we’re talking about our marriage and our lives. As long as this case goes on, all of that’s at risk. You’ve seen what’s happened in the last week and a half. Every day’s spent grating against each other; every night’s spent ignoring what’s really important. Sara, if we use the dismiss and seal, we can end that right now. Then we can get back to our lives, and our marriage, and Pop, and everything else we’ve been trying so hard to juggle.”

“And that’s your final offer? The famous dismiss and seal?”

“That’s it. After today, I’m starting to prepare the evidentiary motions. And once that starts, even though I’m trying to protect you, we’re going to find ourselves at trial. Now c’mon, honey, what do you say?”

“No matter how you couch it, Jared, it’s pure manipulation. You don’t think I see that?” Sara laughed. “Besides, I’m not making a move until I hear from the medical examiner.”