Sidney Sheldon - Rage of Angels

Jennifer’s thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of the doorbell. It was an alien sound. She had not had a single visitor since she had moved in two months earlier. It could only be the surly landlady about the overdue rent. Jennifer lay still, hoping she would go away, too weary to move.

The doorbell rang again. Reluctantly, Jennifer dragged herself from the warm tub. She slipped on a terry-cloth robe and went to the door.

‘Who is it?’

A masculine voice on the other side of the door said, ‘Miss Jennifer Parker?’

‘Yes.’

‘My name is Adam Warner. I’m an attorney.’

Puzzled, Jennifer put the chain on the door and opened it a crack. The man standing in the hall was in his middle thirties, tall and blond and broad-shouldered, with gray-blue inquisitive eyes behind horn-rimmed glasses. He was dressed in a tailored suit that must have cost a fortune.

‘May I come in?’ he asked.

Muggers did not wear tailored suits, Gucci shoes and silk ties. Nor did they have long, sensitive hands with carefully manicured nails.

‘Just a moment.’

Jennifer unfastened the chain and opened the door. As Adam Warner walked in, Jennifer glanced around the one-room apartment, seeing it through his eyes, and winced. He looked like a man who was used to better things.

‘What can I do for you, Mr Warner?’

Even as she spoke, Jennifer suddenly knew why he was there, and she was filled with a quick sense of excitement. It was about one of the jobs she had applied for! She wished that she had on a nice, dark blue tailored robe, that her hair was combed, that –

Adam Warner said, ‘I’m a member of the Disciplinary Committee of the New York Bar Association, Miss Parker. District Attorney Robert Di Silva and Judge Lawrence Waldman have requested the Appellate Division to begin disbarment proceedings against you.’

The law offices of Needham, Finch, Pierce and Warner were located at 30 Wall Street, occupying the entire top floor of the building. There were a hundred and twenty-five lawyers in the firm. The offices smelled of old money and were done in the quiet elegance befitting an organization that represented some of the biggest names in industry.

Adam Warner and Stewart Needham were having their ritual morning tea. Stewart Needham was a dapper, trim man in his late sixties. He had a neat Vandyke beard and wore a tweed suit and vest. He looked as though he belonged to an older era, but as hundreds of opponents had learned to their sorrow through the years, Stewart Needham’s mind belonged very much to the twentieth century. He was a titan, but his name was known only in the circles where it mattered. He preferred to remain in the background and use his considerable influence to affect the outcome of legislation, high government appointments and national politics. He was a New Englander, born and reared taciturn.

Adam Warner was married to Needham’s niece Mary Beth, and was Needham’s protégé. Adam’s father had been a respected senator. Adam himself was a brilliant lawyer. When he had been graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School, he had had offers from prestigious law firms all over the country. He chose Needham, Finch and Pierce, and seven years later became a partner. Adam was physically attractive and charming, and his intelligence seemed to add an extra dimension to him. He had an easy sureness about himself that women found challenging. Adam had long since developed a system for dissuading overamorous female clients. He had been married to Mary Beth for fourteen years and did not approve of extramarital affairs.

‘More tea, Adam?’ Stewart Needham asked.

‘No, thanks.’ Adam Warner hated tea, and he had been drinking it every morning for the last eight years only because he did not want to hurt his partner’s feelings. It was a brew that Needham concocted himself and it was dreadful.

Stewart Needham had two things on his mind and, typically, he began with the pleasant news. ‘I had a meeting with a few friends last night,’ Needham said. A few friends would be a group of the top power brokers in the country. ‘They’re considering asking you to run for United States senator, Adam.’

Adam felt a sense of elation. Knowing Stewart Needham’s cautious nature, Adam was certain that the conversation had been more than casual or Needham would not have brought it up now.

‘The big question, of course, is whether you’re interested. It would mean a lot of changes in your life.’

Adam Warner was aware of that. If he won the election, it would mean moving to Washington, D.C., giving up his law practice, starting a whole new life. He was sure that Mary Beth would enjoy it; Adam was not so sure about himself. And yet, he had been reared to assume responsibility. Also, he had to admit to himself that there was a pleasure in power.

‘I’d be very interested, Stewart.’

Stewart Needham nodded with satisfaction. ‘Good. They’ll be pleased.’ He poured himself another cup of the dreadful brew and casually broached the other subject that was on his mind. ‘There’s a little job the Disciplinary Committee of the Bar Association would like you to handle, Adam. Shouldn’t take you more than an hour or two.’

‘What is it?’

‘It’s the Michael Moretti trial. Apparently, someone got to one of Bobby Di Silva’s young assistants and paid her off.’

‘I read about it. The canary.’

‘Right. Judge Waldman and Bobby would like her name removed from the roster of our honorable profession. So would I. It reeks.’

‘What do they want me to do?’

‘Just make a quick check, verify that this Parker girl behaved illegally or unethically, and then recommend disbarment proceedings. She’ll be served with a notice to show cause and they’ll handle the rest of it. It’s just routine.’

Adam was puzzled by something. ‘Why me, Stewart? We have a couple of dozen young lawyers around here who could handle this.’

‘Our revered District Attorney specifically asked for you. He wants to make sure nothing goes wrong. As we’re both aware,’ he added dryly, ‘Bobby’s not the most forgiving man in the world. He wants the Parker woman’s hide nailed up on his wall.’

Adam Warner sat there, thinking about his busy schedule.

‘You never know when we might need a favor from the D.A.’s office, Adam. Quid pro quo. It’s all cut and dried.’

‘All right, Stewart.’ Adam rose to his feet.

‘Sure you won’t have some more tea?’

‘No, thanks. It was as good as always.’

When Adam Warner returned to his office he rang for one of his paralegal assistants, Lucinda, a bright, young black woman.

‘Cindy, get me all the information you can on an attorney named Jennifer Parker.’

She grinned and said, ‘The yellow canary.’

Everybody knew about her.

Late that afternoon Adam Warner was studying the transcript of the court proceedings in the case of The People of New York v. Michael Moretti . Robert Di Silva had had it delivered by special messenger. It was long past midnight when Adam finished. He had asked Mary Beth to attend a dinner party without him, and had sent out for sandwiches. When Adam was through reading the transcript, there was no doubt in his mind that Michael Moretti would have been found guilty by the jury if fate had not intervened in the form of Jennifer Parker. Di Silva had prosecuted the case flawlessly.

Adam turned to the transcript of the deposition that had been taken in Judge Waldman’s chambers afterward.

DI SILVA: You are a college graduate?

PARKER: Yes, sir.

DI SILVA: And a law school graduate?

PARKER: Yes, sir.

DI SILVA: And a stranger hands you a package, tells you to deliver it to a key witness in a murder trial and you just do it? Wouldn’t you say that went beyond the bounds of stupidity?