Think Twice

Esperanza greeted Myron with a kiss on the cheek. He didn’t know Sadie very well, but she did the same. They moved into what had once been Myron’s office. It belonged to Sadie now. She had kept his old desk, but that was about it. The minifridge that held Myron’s Yoo-hoos had been replaced by a printer stand. Gone were all his Broadway musical posters and sports artwork and keepsakes from his own playing career. Instead there was nothing on the walls. Nothing on the desk.

“Feels weird, right?” Sadie said.

“A little.”

“I don’t like having anything personal in here,” she explained. “I’m not trying to make an impression. I don’t want them to think I have a personal life or any life outside of this office. When a client comes in here, I want nothing to distract them. I want them to think I only exist to help and represent them.”

Sadie took Myron’s old seat behind the desk. Myron sat across from her. It was weird, this view. Esperanza stood and paced, metaphorically and nearly literally sitting on the fence. Sadie adjusted her librarian glasses and said, “Our firm is now handling Greg Downing’s defense.”

That surprised Myron. “Oh.” Then: “Who specifically did Greg hire?”

“Me,” Sadie said. “But we are all on the team, including as of right now, you. You’re a bar-appointed New York City attorney, correct?”

“Correct.”

“So everything we say to one another is covered under attorney-client privilege. We clear?”

“Crystal.”

“That’s the reason why Win wasn’t invited to participate. Just to clarify. I would never leave him out otherwise.”

Myron looked at Esperanza then back to Sadie. “I know you guys have done great work protecting your clients from rapists and stalkers, but have you done much criminal defense work?”

“Much? No. Some? Yes.” Sadie took off her glasses and put one earpiece in her mouth. “And to answer your next question, no one at the firm has done a murder trial. I explained this to Greg.”

“So if you don’t mind me asking—”

“Why us?” Sadie finished for him.

Myron nodded. “I don’t mean any disrespect.”

“None taken. That would be my first question too, if I were you. And I asked Greg that. To cut right to it, Greg knows me, he likes me, he trusts me. He knows I’m good and I’ll fight like hell for him, and even though I’ve never done an actual murder trial before, he knows I’ll find the right people to help.”

“Greg knows me, he likes me, he trusts me,” Myron repeated.

“You want to know how,” Sadie said. “Understandable. You are familiar with Greg’s ex, Emily.”

Myron glanced again at Esperanza. Esperanza shrugged.

“I am.”

“Of course you are. I was being facetious. Greg told me the whole sordid tale that is your history. Do you remember Emily’s younger sister?”

“Judy.”

“Judy Becker now. Judy was my college roommate. We’re very close. Like you and Win at Duke, I guess. That’s how I met Greg. I’ve done light legal work for him and Emily for years. In fact, Greg introduced me to Win a few years back. It’s why I thought of him when I needed office space.”

Myron took this in for a moment. He looked once again at Esperanza.

“Why do you keep looking at Esperanza?” Sadie asked.

“We’re close friends.”

“I know. What do you think I’m not telling you?”

“Nothing.”

“Then knock it off. It’s distracting.”

“Sorry. Old habit. I assume you talked to your client.”

“Yes.”

“And?”

“And — shock of shocks — Greg says he didn’t do it.”

“Do you believe him?”

“Is this the part where I say it doesn’t matter or I don’t care or whatever? I’m not getting into that right now, okay?” Sadie checked her watch. “I’m taking too long to spit this out, so let me just get to it. There’s something weird about this case. Right now, the FBI is keeping it very hush-hush but there’s a bizarre rumor going around.”

“The rumor being?”

“They think this isn’t the first time Greg murdered someone.”

Myron almost turned to look at Esperanza, but then, remembering Sadie’s reaction, he thought better of it. “Who else do they think he murdered?”

“Don’t know.”

“Do you know about the murder of Jordan Kravat in Vegas?”

Sadie nodded. “Esperanza filled me in.”

“That’s probably the murder the rumors are about, no?”

“I think,” Sadie said slowly, chewing on the earpiece of her glasses, “it may be more than that.”

“What do you mean?”

“Those FBI agents came to your office.”

“So?”

“So the FBI doesn’t usually handle murders.”

“That’s a little bit of a TV cliché,” Myron said, “that whole ‘crossing state lines’ thing. They help out a lot. Also, Greg was high-profile and supposedly dead. I figured that put it in their jurisdiction.”

“Did you look up Special Agent Monica Hawes?”

“No.”

“Her area of expertise is profiling,” Sadie said. “As in serial killer profiling.”

Myron blinked. “They think Greg is a serial killer?”

“Don’t know. But I’m getting a vibe. Not a good one either.” Sadie put her hands on the table and leaned forward. “That’s why you’re here. I’m hoping you could help us.”

“How?”