William Bernhardt - Capitol Murder

“Wait a minute,” Ben said. All at once, he felt a cold chill race down his spine. “Wait just a minute.”

Loving turned to stare at him. “What’s the problem, Skipper?”

“The knife, that’s the problem. It does matter.” He pounded himself on the forehead. “I thought at the time-but then I got so busy with the rest of the trial-my God. Why didn’t I see it before?”

“See what?”

“Loving, I think I’ve made an incredibly stupid mistake. Incredibly stupid-and incredibly dangerous.”

“Would you slow down a minute and explain what you’re talkin’ about?”

Ben didn’t answer. “Can I borrow your cell phone?”

Loving fished it out of his pocket. “Yeah. But why? Who’re you calling?”

Ben punched in the number from memory. “Marie Glancy.”

“Would you wonderful people mind if I had a few minutes alone with my husband?” Marie said. They were gathered in the lobby of Glancy’s office-Todd, Marie, Christina, Marshall, and Hazel. Marshall had popped the cork on a bottle of champagne and was pouring it into Dixie cups. Amanda had left to procure more bubbly and some snacks.

“Of course not,” Marshall said. “How long have you two been apart now? Five months?” He winked. “Take five minutes. Ten, even.”

Marie took her husband by the hand and led him into his private office, then closed the door behind them.

“Think they’ll be able to patch things up?” Christina asked.

“Of course they will,” Marshall opined. “They’re both professionals. A divorce at this juncture wouldn’t be helpful to the career of either of them.”

“She heard some pretty ugly stuff in that courtroom.”

“Trust me,” Hazel said, “she’s heard it all before. Maybe not in such a public forum. But she knew what her husband was. She knew when she married him.” She shook her head. “This won’t make a damn bit of difference.”

“I hope you’re right,” Marshall said, wheeling himself up and handing them each a cup of bubbly. “I hate to start drinking without them. But there’s no telling how long they may be. And I for one could use a drink. Christina?”

She hesitated. “Well, maybe one. But then I need to start packing up our stuff. No reason to have all this legal garbage cluttering your office.”

“You can take a minute,” Marshall insisted. They hoisted the cups above their heads. “Here’s to Todd Glancy.” They all clinked their cups together.

“What do you think he’ll do now?” Christina asked. “Politics is out.”

“I don’t know. But he’ll think of something. Maybe he’ll teach, maybe he’ll practice law. Maybe he’ll write a book. Who can say?” Marshall glanced over at the closed office door. “He has so many possibilities. There’s no telling what might happen next.”

“Damn!” Ben swore. “Still no answer.”

“She’s probably callin’ all her friends,” Loving said. “Tellin’ ’em the good news.”

“As if there’s anyone in this town who doesn’t already know. It isn’t busy, it just isn’t ringing.” He closed the cell phone with a firm snap. “She probably turned off her phone when she went into the courtroom and hasn’t thought to turn it back on yet. Either that or she’s ignoring me. Either way-” He turned back to Loving. “-you can stay here, but I have to go.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

“Where you headin’?”

“Back to the Russell Building. As quickly as humanly possible.”

Why do I always get stuck with the packing? Christina wondered as she loaded the voluminous documents that had been produced into catalog cases and banker’s boxes. It was one thing when she was a legal assistant. Legal assistants expected to get stuck with menial assignments, even when they were three times as bright as their bosses. But she was a lawyer now, and a partner, and-

What was the use? She’d never be able to train Ben to clean up after himself, just as she couldn’t train him to take cases that might actually turn a profit. Just as she couldn’t get him to-oh, what was the use?

She slung a few more piles of documents into the nearest open box. They were tumbling out of order, but what did it matter? In all likelihood, they would never be looked at again and would eventually be tossed out, unless Ben used them to write another book. It would be smarter to concentrate on the supplies and equipment.

She thought she had everything-Post-it notes, perpetual calendar, the stapler shaped like the Eiffel Tower, the legal pads, the laptop-

Wait a minute. The laptop. Where was that, anyway? She’d loaned it to Marshall yesterday so he could review the previous day’s transcript, and she hadn’t seen it since. Where was he now?

The door to Marshall’s office was open, and she was sure he wouldn’t mind if she went inside. After all, Marie had been using it as if it were her own ever since the case began. It wasn’t as if Christina could leave without the laptop-the gizmo cost more than she made in a month. It wasn’t on top of his desk, so she checked the wide middle drawer. No luck. She started with the side drawers, the first, then the second, then…

At the bottom of the third drawer, under a hodgepodge of papers, she saw something gray and metallic. At first, she thought it was the laptop, so she pulled it out. Wrong. Even from the back, she recognized it was a picture frame.

Well, she was never one for denying her unquenchable curiosity.

The woman in the picture was not immediately familiar to Christina, but she was almost certain she’d seen the face before. Not in person, but in another photograph. Perhaps a more formal one. Here, she was laughing, her hair whipped behind her, looking out at the photographer with what could only be called eyes of love.

But who was it? Christina racked her brain, searching for the answer.

And then it came to her. And when she remembered, it suddenly became all too clear what had really happened.

In the corridor behind her, Christina heard someone approach.

“Didn’t your mother ever tell you it isn’t nice to rummage through other people’s belongings? Curiosity killed the cat, you know.”

Christina slowly turned to confront the person behind her, even though she already knew who it was.

Marshall Bressler sat in his wheelchair, looking just as he always had. Except this time, there was a very large gun in his right hand. Pointed directly at her.

“W hat the hell is going on here?” Todd Glancy said as he emerged from his private office, his wife close behind him. Marshall Bressler was in the main lobby holding a gun on Christina. “Marshall, have you lost your mind?”

“Maybe I have,” he said. There was something eerie about his voice, something Christina had never heard in it before. “Maybe it’s been coming for a long time.”

“How did you get that gun in here?”

He smiled. “Same way I got in the knife.”

“What are you talking about?”

At that moment, Hazel entered through the front door. “What on-?”

“Get away from the door!” Marshall ordered. “Now!” The older woman slithered inside, her eyes wide and fixed not so much on Marshall as on the weapon in his hand.

“All of you-get together. Huddle up in the center against the wall-by the Blue Beetle. Get friendly.”

Marshall pushed his chair backward to the center of the lobby, waving the gun back and forth to make sure everyone was covered. “I’m sorry it’s had to come to this, people. The only one I wanted was you, Todd. All I ever wanted was you.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Of course you don’t. Because it’s about me, not you. And in your world, it’s always about you. You don’t give a damn about anyone else.”