Equivocal Death (30 page)

9858_02_153-356_r6jm.qxd 9/28/00 3:59 PM Page 170

1 7 0

A M Y G U T M A N

1

Kate paused to consider. Under the Supremacy Clause of the 2

U.S. Constitution, federal law always trumped state law. The rule 3

of preemption. Peyton was right in stating that assumption of 4

risk — a doctrine aimed at barring suits by plaintiffs who had 5

knowingly entered high-risk situations — was a principle derived 6

from state common law, principles enunciated in the binding deci-7

sions of state judges. But that hardly ended the debate.

8

“I don’t think so,” said Kate. “It might
also
constitute assump-9

tion of risk — and then you’re right, we’d have preemption prob-10

lems — but what we’re really considering here is whether the 11

conduct was unwelcome. That’s the standard set forth under
federal
12

law. Look at it this way. If you came into my office and started de-13

manding lurid details of my sex life, you should expect me to be 14

outraged. We’re lawyers. That sort of information obviously has no 15

possible bearing on our work together.”

16

Peyton’s face was impassive. Hard to say if she was making any 17

headway. But she was in her element here, confident of where the 18

argument was heading. She plunged ahead.

19

“Now compare that with Friedman’s case. When Thorpe asks 20

her about sexual stuff, there’s arguably a legitimate business pur-21

pose. In other words, there’s a
legitimate nondiscriminatory
reason for 22

the discussion.”

23

“I’ll have to think about it,” Peyton said. “But you still haven’t 24

explained how the First Amendment fits in.”

25

“It’s a supporting argument. The First Amendment protects the 26

media’s right to free speech. My point is that if you prevent Chuck 27

Thorpe — or anyone else, for that matter — from engaging in es-28

sential editorial activities, you inhibit their constitutionally pro-29

tected right to speak.”

30

“The First Amendment doesn’t protect obscenity,” Peyton ob-31

served.

32

Peyton was right. In the so-called marketplace of ideas, obscen-33

ity was the outcast, deprived of the most basic First Amendment ort 34

protections. Never mind that no one seemed quite sure just where reg 35

to draw the line. But she was ready for the objection.

9858_02_153-356_r6jm.qxd 9/28/00 3:59 PM Page 171

E Q U I V O C A L D E A T H

1 7 1

“
Catch
isn’t obscene,” Kate said. “Just because there are some 1

racy pictures doesn’t mean you can write it off as pornography.”

2

“Like feeding Anita Hill through a meat grinder?”

3

Kate held her ground. “You’re just making my point.
Catch
con-4

tains political speech — the sort of speech that’s at the heart of the 5

First Amendment. The sort of speech the founding fathers were 6

most concerned with protecting. The sexual harassment story 7

should be our Exhibit A. It’s a spirited discussion of controversial 8

political issues. Exactly the sort of speech the First Amendment 9

was designed to protect. That story should help us, not hurt us.

10

That’s the beauty of it. We’d be taking their own evidence and us-11

ing it against them.”

12

Kate felt herself warming to the argument, trying to win Peyton 13

over. It was her favorite part of law, figuring out novel ways around 14

seemingly intractable roadblocks. There weren’t so many opportu-15

nities for it as a young associate; too much grunt work to get 16

through. But that would change as the years went by.

17

Peyton seemed intrigued, though undecided.

18

“I’ll have to think about it,” he said again. “We’ll talk when I’ve 19

read the cases.”

20

That was one of the good things about Peyton. It was standard 21

procedure for senior associates to steal ideas from more junior at-22

torneys, presenting them as their own. Peyton didn’t play those 23

games. He was good, and the partners knew it. He could afford to 24

share the credit.

25

Kate looked at Peyton curiously. From the neck up, he looked 26

like a promoter for an alternative band. Below that, the conserv-27

ative dark suit gave him away. Still, you had to admire him for 28

pressing the boundaries, for pushing convention without posing a 29

threat. Flair without subversion. Where had that impulse come 30

from? Funny how you could work with someone every day and still 31

know very little about him.

32

“What did you study in college?” Kate asked.

33

“Pardon?”

34 sh

“I know it’s a non sequitur. I was just . . . wondering.”

35 re

9858_02_153-356_r6jm.qxd 9/28/00 3:59 PM Page 172

1 7 2

A M Y G U T M A N

1

Peyton gave her a pleasant smile. “I studied classics,” he said.

2

“Classics?” Kate could hear the surprise in her voice. “I would 3

have guessed economics or maybe even philosophy. But classics?

4

It’s so . . . literary.”

5

“Well, yes,” Peyton said dryly. “Anything else that you’d like to 6

know?”

7

“Yeah,” Kate grinned. “Have you always had a thing for funky 8

glasses?”

9

The corners of Peyton’s mouth edged slightly upward. Almost as 10

if he was enjoying himself. “Now that’s a fairly recent innovation.

11

My sister has a friend who’s a designer. She gives me the men’s 12

samples. Like them?” So Peyton had a sister. She never would have 13

guessed.

14

“They’re quite . . . striking,” Kate said. “Can you see without 15

them?”

16

“Not a thing. Blind as a bat.”

17

“Your eyes can’t possibly be as bad as mine,” Kate said. “I can’t 18

even see the big
E
on that eye exam chart.”

19

“That’s nothing,” said Peyton. “I can’t even see the
chart.
”

20

“Come on, you’re just trying to one-up me,” Kate said. “Here, 21

trade. Let me put on your glasses.”

22

Peyton rolled his eyes but complied, though he declined Kate’s 23

proffer of her own frames.

24

As Kate raised Peyton’s glasses to her eyes, the room flew into 25

focus.

26

“This is amazing,” Kate said. “It’s like we have exactly the same 27

prescription. Or maybe I need my eyes examined. I think your pre-28

scription’s better than my own.”

29

Peyton reached out his hand. “Well, Kate, this is all quite inter-30

esting, but I’ve got some work to do.” Placing his glasses back on 31

his nose, he pushed back his chair and stood up. “Why don’t you 32

finish the research this evening. I’ll take a look at what you’ve 33

written so far.”

ort 34

After Peyton left, Kate looked out the window, at the Hudson reg 35

9858_02_153-356_r6jm.qxd 9/28/00 3:59 PM Page 173

E Q U I V O C A L D E A T H

1 7 3

River sunk in fog. The meeting had gone pretty well, she decided.

1

Better than she would have thought. She congratulated herself on 2

how she’d handled Peyton, even getting him to loosen up a bit.

3

Then, still staring out the window, she had a disturbing thought.

4

Throughout the duration of the meeting, Madeleine’s name hadn’t 5

come up once.

6

Madeleine had been killed on Tuesday. Less than a week ago.

7

And already it could almost seem as if she’d never existed at all.

8

9

10

By the time Kate finished up work in the firm library, it was after 11

ten. Still, she wanted to get her thoughts on paper before going 12

home for the night. She’d learned from experience that, like 13

dreams, her legal theories often slipped from her mind if she didn’t 14

capture them right away. Hoisting a stack of
Federal Reporters,
she 15

waved good night to Justin, who was still scribbling away in a cu-16

bicle by the window. Seeing him there, his handsome features con-17

sumed in thought, gave her a settled, peaceful feeling. It was as if 18

they were back at Harvard. Just another late night at Langdell.

19

Back on the fifty-first floor, Kate swung by Andrea’s office for a 20

quick chat, but the door was closed and locked. She turned back 21

and headed for her own office. The firm seemed to have shut down 22

early tonight. She didn’t see a single person. Nearing her office, she 23

saw the door was shut. The cleaning crew must have closed up.

24

Kate felt a flash of annoyance. Maybe it was silly, but she wanted 25

colleagues to know that she was working late. The brightly lit of-26

fice was a badge of honor, a sign that you were pulling your weight.

27

Shifting her books to one hip, Kate fumbled in her purse for keys.

28

As she stepped into her dark office, Kate instantly knew some-29

thing was wrong. Before any further thought could form, she spun 30

around, back toward the door.

31

But it was already too late.

32

A powerful arm clamped around her neck, while a hand 33

smashed over her mouth. Her body went rigid, arching out reflex-34 sh

35 re

9858_02_153-356_r6jm.qxd 9/28/00 3:59 PM Page 174

1 7 4

A M Y G U T M A N

1

ively like a fish on the end of a hook. Her load of books dropped to 2

the ground. She tried to scream but no sound came out. She could 3

hear someone breathing behind her.

4

“
Just keep quiet.
” The commanding voice was familiar, but Kate 5

was too disoriented to make a connection. “
I don’t want to hurt
6

you.
”

7

Her attacker exuded a pungent odor, frightening and unfamiliar.

8

Heat radiated from his body in waves. Before Kate knew what was 9

happening, a large hand forced open her mouth, shoving a wad of 10

something soft inside it. Then she felt a band of cloth being 11

wrapped tightly once, twice, three times around her jaw. Having 12

completed this task, her assailant pinned her arms to her sides and 13

pushed her toward the back of the office. His arms pressed against 14

her like a vise. She bucked forward, trying to break free, but the 15

grip only tightened.

16

“
You keep doing this, and these hands are going to be around your
17

neck,
” the voice whispered matter-of-factly.

18

Kate let her limbs go slack.

19

Then he was hurling her into the corner at the rear of her office, 20

his heavy body crushing her back into the place where the two 21

walls met. Kate could feel herself trembling uncontrollably. She 22

could barely breathe. If only she could see, she’d be able to get her 23

bearings. The office was dark, so dark. It was then that she realized 24

what had alerted her to danger in the first place. The lack of light.

25

Always, when she entered her office, the lights flashed on. But that 26

hadn’t happened this time.

27

“
This will all be over before you know it,
” the voice continued.

28

“
Just relax and try to enjoy it.
”

29

Try to enjoy it. The hand resting on her right shoulder began to 30

move slowly downward, stopping when it reached her breast.

31

Then, rhythmically, the hand began to squeeze, softly at first and 32

then harder.

33

“
You like that, don’t you,
” the voice crooned. “
Don’t worry, we’re
ort 34

just getting started.
”

reg 35

Kate’s muscles recoiled from the contact. But trapped against 9858_02_153-356_r6jm.qxd 9/28/00 3:59 PM Page 175

E Q U I V O C A L D E A T H

1 7 5

the wall, there was no place to go. She tried to think, to come up 1

with a plan, but her mind seemed to be short-circuiting. The hand 2

that had been squeezing her breast began to travel farther down 3

her body. She felt a rough tug at her skirt followed by the sound of 4

fabric ripping. The garment dropped to her ankles, and a hand was 5

clawing at her stockings, pulling them down along with her beige 6

bikini panties. She felt fingers against her, fumbling. Then, with a 7

sharp flash of pain, he was inside her, fingers ramming up her body.

8

Back and forth the fingers went, deeper and deeper, tearing at the 9

dry interior tissue.

10

“
Come on, baby, relax.
” She could feel her assailant’s heavy 11

breath against her cheek, its pace increasing as his hand moved 12

more quickly. While tears gathered in her eyes, another part of her 13

remained the objective observer. Thoughts floated through, but 14

they seemed to come from outside her.
He’s going to rape you,
the 15

thoughts said.
And then he’s going to kill you. And there’s nothing you
16

can do about it.

17

As the thrusting inside her grew harder, she saw the outlines of 18