me of a sheepdog waiting for a Milk-Bone.
“I’m in confusion.”
“Tell me what’s going on or I’ll make the German Honey Bars.”
I retrieve two mugs from the cabinet and pour us both some coffee. I take mine with extra cream and extra sugar; she takes hers black. “I don’t know where to start.”
“Start with his German Honey Bar.” She pats the floor beside her.
“You want to sit on the floor?” I hand her the coffee.
“You had sex on the floor, didn’t you?”
I sit down with a sigh. The kitchen is so cramped our shoes touch in the middle-Ferragamo meets New Balance. I wrap my hands around my own toasty mug.
“Your Honor,” she says, “please instruct the witness to answer the question.” She looks happy again, bugging me to say the unsayable.
“What question?”
“Did you do it on the floor?”
I wince.
“It’s okay to talk about sex, Mary. You’re a grown-up now, and there are no commandments within a five-mile radius. So. On the couch?”
“Judith.”
“That counts as a yes on the couch.”
“You’re relentless.”
“All right. Forget it. You’re in confusion. Are you in danger?” She stops smiling.
“From Ned? No.”
“You sure?”
I tell Judy all about Ned, his therapy and his father. She listens carefully, sipping her coffee. When I’m done, she sets her mug down on the floor and leans forward intently. Uneven bangs shade her eyes from the Chinese paper lamp overhead.
“You want to know what I think?”
I bite my lip. Judy’s a certifiably smart person; she was number one at Boalt. If she says it, it carries weight.
“I think Brent was murdered, and I think thereis some connection between Brent and Mike. It’s too coincidental.”
“So I’m not crazy.”
“No. But listen to this. I think you’ve been analyzing this all wrong. Forget for a minute that you think the car was aiming at you, that’s just an assumption. The only facts we have are that Mike’s been killed and Brent’s been killed. So reason backward from that. Assume that the killer did what he intended to do-kill the two men closest to you. He wasn’t after you, he was after them.”
“You think?”
She yanks a hand through lemony hair.“We’ve been reading the notes as threats to you, but what if it’s someone who’s just trying to get close to you? To communicate with you the only way he can? Not someone who hates you, someone who loves you. Someone who wants you all to himself.”
My gut tightens as she speaks. She’s close to what Lombardo was saying after the memorial service, and I forgot to mention it to her. But it doesn’t square, not entirely. “A note that says ‘watch your step’? It sounds like a threat to me.”
“Or a warning. Particularly since almost the next night, the man you’re with gets hit by a car.”
“But that assumes the killer knew I’d be out with Brent, and he couldn’t have. We didn’t plan to go out to dinner, I offered to take him out after I finished a brief for Jameson.”
“Jameson? Yuck.”
I’m reminded of the weird toys in Jameson’s desk, and how Brent had laughed and laughed. I tell her what Stella said. It doesn’t seem funny now.
“I don’t think it’s Jameson,” she says, shaking her head. “He’s too much of a wuss. I don’t think it’s Ned’s father either, even though he wanted to meet you that day. He could have found out that you were in Ned’s class from Martindale-Hubbell.”
“But Ned said he keeps tabs on him.”
“That doesn’t mean he has him-or you-followed. Maybe he asked around. People know you. You’ve been in practice for eight years in this city. You went to Penn Law, you even went to Penn undergrad.”
“Maybe.”
“You know, you’re resisting the most obvious conclusion, Mary, and the most logical. It’s Ned.”
“It can’t be.” I shake my head.
“Look at the facts-there’s a pattern here. You date Ned in law school, then you pick up with Mike. You marry Mike, and he’s killed by a hit-and-run. You begin dating Ned again, and a couple of nights later Brent’s killed by a hit-and-run. Don’t you think that’s strange?”
“It’s strange, but it doesn’t mean anything.”
“Why doesn’t it? Ned even sends you a warning after you have dinner with him-watch your step. Read it as a threat to keep you away from other men, even Brent. Look, Ned didn’t know Brent was gay. You remember the rumors that you and Brent were having an affair?”
“That was ridiculous.”
“I know that, but Ned doesn’t. Plus he admits he’s been interested in you since law school. That’s weird, Mare.”
“Not necessarily. He said he’d been depressed. He’s had a lot of problems.”
“Which way does that cut? So he’s hardly the picture of mental stability.”
“I’m surprised at you, to hold that against him. He was depressed. He got help. I give him credit for that, don’t you?”
“That’s not the point. The man has a history of serious mental illness. I’m glad he dealt with it, but that’s the fact. I mean, depressed or not, he hasn’t dated anyone since law school. Pining away for you? Doesn’t that strike you as obsessional? Almost sick?”
“He never said that, Judy. We didn’t discuss other women. You know, if you knew him, you wouldn’t say these things. He’s beautiful, really.”
But she doesn’t seem to be listening. “Look, I don’t blame you for not wanting to believe me, but think like a lawyer. Imagine that you’re the client. What advice would you give?” Her azure gaze is forceful, and it angers me.
“You don’t like him, Judy. You never have. He cares for me, he makes me happy. I would think you’d want that for me, for Christ’s sake.” My tone sounds bitter; my chest is a knot. I can’t remember ever fighting with her this way. “What’s happening to us, Jude?”
“I don’t know.” She leans back against the wall, wounded and hurt. She’s my best friend; she’s trying to help me.
“I’m sorry,” I say. “It’s hard.”
She flicks her hair back, dry-eyed. “I know. I’m sorry too.”
We fall silent a minute.
“You know, Mary, you asked me once if I ever worry. Well, I do. About you. I used to worry about your emotional health, after Mike died, but now we’re at the point where I’m worried about your life. It scares me that something could happen to you. It makes me very…bitchy. Bossy. I’m sorry for that.”
“Jude-”
“But that doesn’t mean I’m letting you off the hook. I can’t watch you walk into the lion’s mouth. So I’m asking you, for me. For my sake. Follow your head and not your heart. Err on the side of caution. Cut him loose.”
I feel an ache in my chest. “He said he didn’t do it.”
“No shit, Sherlock.”
I shoot her a look.
“I’m sorry, that was unkind.” She thinks a minute. “Here’s an idea. Don’t see him for a week. We’ll know a lot more in just a week. Maybe Lombardo will find out something; maybe you’ll get another note. Seven days, that’s
