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Chapter One
“He looks terrible,” I whispered.
“Well, I mean…he’s dead,” Eric whispered back. “So, all things considered, I’d say he looks pretty good.”
I nudged his elbow as he knelt beside me. I said a quick Hail Mary and made the Sign of the Cross. There were people waiting behind us. A whole line of them. The crowd spilled into the funeral home lobby and snaked around the hallway.
A good showing. That’s what everyone would call it. The caravan to the cemetery would probably take close to an hour even though my GPS said it was only a few miles away.
I knew I should get up. We’d been at the kneeler for at least a minute. Certainly long enough to pay my respects and politely move along for the next well wisher. Something held me in place though. I tilted my head to the side and stared into the stern, now lifeless face that largely contributed to who I was today.
If I closed my eyes, I could hear his gravelly baritone calling my name.
“Leee-ary,” he would say, drawing out the first syllable of my last name. I don’t know if he’d ever called me by my first name as long as I knew him. I don’t know if he’d called any of us by our first names in my First Year Torts Law class all those years ago.
Twenty, I thought to myself. It had been twenty years since I saw the name on my class schedule.
Anderson Rix.
Of course, I’d known who he was back then. If you lived in Michigan and paid attention to the news, you knew. If you were a lawyer anywhere, you knew.
“Cass?” Eric whispered. “You ready?”
“Oh,” I said. I turned back and gave a weak smile to the mourners waiting behind me. Eric’s knee cracked as we stood up and moved off to the side.
A large arrangement of red roses adorned an easel right next to the casket. The pink ribbon around it read “Professor.” The card attached had a gold block M on it. The U of M Law School faculty had probably spent at least five hundred bucks on that one. It was nice. All the flowers were nice. I recognized a few of the names of the larger law firms in Michigan on some of the cards. I found my own contribution, a tasteful vase filled with spring flowers. I hadn’t known what to write. I hadn’t even been sure whether I should come here at all.
“Ms. Leary?” A female voice drew my attention away from the flowers. The woman looked exactly the same as the last time I saw her. She’d been the one to hand me my Law School diploma.
“Doctor Wallace?” I said.
Rhoda Wallace had been an Assistant Dean by the time I graduated. She’d also taught Family Law and I’d been lucky enough to learn from her. Rhoda stood five feet in heels and wore the same professional uniform all these years later. A black wrap dress, triple strand of pearls, and her gray hair tied back in a purple silk scarf.
“Oh, it’s so good to see you!” she said. Rhoda stepped forward and took my hands. She beamed at me. “Look at you!”
“Look at you!” I said. “You haven’t changed one bit, Professor Wallace.”
Tears sprang to her eyes. She let go of me and reached into the pocket of her dress, pulling out a matching purple hanky. She dabbed her eyes.
“I feel just awful,” she said. “Anderson and I had lost touch over the years. He retired from teaching. Did you know that?”
“I didn’t,” I said. Rhoda and Professor Rix had shared an office together. She decorated hers with bright, cheerful paintings of the ocean and pictures of her children and grandchildren. Rix’s half of the room had always seemed dark and foreboding by comparison. He preferred the low light of Banker’s lamps and kept a bust of Justice John Marshall that stared disapprovingly at anyone seated across from his desk.
“I worried this would happen,” Rhoda said. “I warned him. Anderson needed to keep busy. He said you’ll have to wheel me off that campus on a stretcher some day.”
Rhoda’s face fell. “Oh dear,” she said. “I didn’t mean…”
“It’s all right,” I smiled. “It’s just us. And I know what you mean.” Eric came up next to me.
“Is this your husband?” Rhoda’s eyes brightened as she looked up. Eric stood more than a foot taller than her. A blush rose into Rhoda’s cheeks.
“My partner,” I said. “Eric Wray, Rhoda Wallace. She was one of the good ones.”
Eric extended a hand. “Pleasure to meet you.”
“I’d say Cassiopeia was one of the good ones. Oh, Anderson would be so pleased to know you were here.”
I wasn’t so sure. But it didn’t seem appropriate to say it. Not to her. Maybe not to anyone. What could it matter now?
“It was good to see you,” Rhoda said. “I’m sure it means the world to Glenda. So many of Anderson’s former students have been here today. Three State Supreme Court justices too. Oh and Congressman Beatty.”
“He deserves every honor he gets,” I said. “They don’t make them like Anderson Rix anymore.”
“They sure don’t,” Rhoda said.
“I actually haven’t seen Glenda yet,” I said. “She wasn’t up front when we walked in.”
“Oh. She’s been a wreck off and on. Judy took her to the back room to try to get her to eat something. You remember Judy? Anderson’s old secretary?”
I found it hard to believe Judy Nusbaum was still alive. She’d been ancient two decades ago.
“I do,” I said.
“Well, you just mingle. I will go and fetch Glenda for you.”
“You don’t have to…”
“Nonsense,” Rhoda cut me off. “I know she’ll want to see you.”
With that, Professor Rhoda Wallace disappeared into the crowd with a purpose.
“Come on,” I said to Eric. “Let’s go find a quiet corner. There’s a good chance Rhoda’s gonna get distracted on the way to the back room. We’ll probably never see her again.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen this many lawyers in one place,” Eric said.
“I know. Creepy, right?”
“I was gonna say it’s nice. The old man touched a lot of lives. Do you recognize anybody else? From your class maybe?”
“Not really. It’s been so long and I didn’t stick around after graduation. I started at Thorne the following week.”
Eric bristled when I said it. Then he shot me a smile when he caught me noticing.
“He believed in me,” I whispered. “Professor Rix was the first person who made me feel like I could really do this, you know? That I was just as good as anyone else in my class. Better, even. He was the first person who didn’t look at me like I was…Delphi east lake trash. When I graduated, he said I’d made a deal with the devil. Rix was so angry with me when I took that job. He told me I was ruining my life.”
To his credit, Eric didn’t jump to agree with a dead man. He could have, though. As an associate with the Thorne Law Group, I’d spent the first fifteen years of my legal career defending mobsters. I’d told myself…and Professor Rix, that it didn’t make me one. That everyone deserved due process and we aren’t our clients. But then, one horrible night, I nearly lost my life when I tried to walk away.
“You’re here now,” Eric said. “I bet if he’s up there somewhere, he’s proud of you. A guy that lived as long as he did would know everyone’s gotta forge their own path.”
From where we stood, I still had a clear view of Anderson Rix’s open coffin. Until we got here, I hadn’t realized how much I still craved his approval. The things he’d said to me the last time I saw him still stung a little.
You’ll lose your soul for a quick buck, Leary.
I told him he couldn’t understand. Liam Thorne had offered me more money than I could fathom at the time. Enough to help my family. Enough to get out from under so many things. I hated Rix that day. I believed he knew it.
And yet…
“We should go,” I said. “I did what I came here to do.” All of a sudden, the air felt stifling. Eric gave me a puzzled expression, but knew me well enough not to question me.
“Whatever you say, boss.”
“Cass?”
The crowd parted. An impeccably dressed older woman walked through. Glenda Rix looked exactly like I remembered her, too. Bleach blonde hair sprayed so it wouldn’t move. She wore a black dress with a ruffled collar. Black hose and sensible shoes. She had a kind face. Round and heavily jowled. Her blue eyes were still red from crying but her mascara hadn’t run. A miracle, that. She rushed toward me and pulled me into a crushing hug that drew attention.
It took me a moment to get my arms up. I hugged her back. Glenda felt so slight and frail in my arms. For a moment, I knew I was the thing holding her up. Then, she recovered. She let me go and settled a hand against my cheek.
“Look at you,” she said. “My goodness. I’d almost forgotten how pretty you are. “
“Thank you,” I said, resisting the urge to deflect. To tell her she needed her eyes checked. I quickly introduced her to Eric. I barely got the words out before she pulled him into a hug as well.
“Come on,” Glenda said, taking my hand. “Do you have some time? I was so hoping I’d see you today. Anderson would be so happy. Oh honey, he missed you. He talked about you all the time. You were one of his best. That’s what he’d always say.”
“That’s so sweet,” I said. Whatever I expected out of coming here, it wasn’t this. Glenda Rix held my hand in a vise grip. She led us through the crowd and into a back room where all the food was spread out.
“How are you?” I asked. “I was so shocked when I saw Professor Rix’s obituary.”
“I found him,” she said. “He was sitting at his desk like always. Staring out the window at his garden. Peaceful. He had a law book open in front of him. Can you believe that? Right up until the end, he was working on something. The doctor said he probably didn’t feel a thing. I believe that. Because he just looked so peaceful. Just kind of slumped backward in that brown leather chair. Same one he used in his office at the University. I had it reupholstered for him. Wanted to buy him a new one but he wouldn’t hear of it. Said they’d bury him in that chair.”
Glenda’s expression froze. A hand flew to her mouth.
“Oh my,” she said. “I’d forgotten all about that until just now. That’s what he said. He…”
Glenda hiccuped past a sob. She reached for me. I put an arm around her.
“Here,” Eric said. He pulled a chair away from the table and helped Glenda Rix into it. She pulled herself together.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I’ve been falling apart all day.”
“It’s a shock,” I said.
“A heart attack,” she said. “Anderson’s ticker finally gave out. He had a heart attack a few years ago. He promised me he would slow down after that. And he did. He just had a few clients left.”
“Can I get you anything?” I asked. “A glass of water?”
Eric was already at the fridge. He opened it and spied a fifth of vodka. He shot me an arched brow. I waved him off.
“No. Oh no,” Glenda said. “I’ll be all right. I guess I’ll have to be.”
“Well, it was good to see you,” I said. “You know if you need anything, you can call me. Let me write my number down.”
Glenda took my wrist. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m doing a bad job of this.”
“I think you’re doing just fine. There’s no manual for days like this…”
“Cass, I need you to come to the house. I have something for you.”
I squatted in front of Glenda Rix’s chair. She held me tight and locked eyes with me.
“For me?” I said.
Glenda nodded. “Anderson was very specific. He wanted you to be the one. He made me promise.”
“The one for what?”
Eric came to my side. I stood slowly.
“Just come to the house next week. Anderson left something for you. And I’m afraid it’s the kind of thing that can’t wait.”
Chapter Two
One week later, I found myself sitting in Anderson and Glenda Rix’s circular driveway on a coveted corner lot in Burns Park. A quiet, stately old neighborhood in the heart of Ann Arbor with century-plus older and estate-style homes. Many University of Michigan faculty and employees lived here. The Rix home was notable for its three-story turret.
Professor Rix had hosted dinners here and study retreats for his best students. I remembered the first time I came thinking I’d never truly felt poor until I walked in his front door into a different world.
With the first blush of spring, Glenda’s cherry blossoms weren’t yet in full bloom. But two months from now, they would be something to see. I always felt like they were beckoning me when I came up this walkway in late spring.
I felt a pang in my chest. Though I hadn’t been here in seventeen years, I recalled with vivid clarity the way Anderson Rix would fling open his arched front door and bellow my name in greeting.
“Leary!” he would say. “Come on in before the cats do.”
The Burns Park neighborhood had its share of feral cats. The bane of Professor Rix’s existence as he fought with his Homeowner’s Association about what to do with them.
As I stepped out of my car, I saw a blue-eyed tabby dart out from under one of the professor’s meticulously shaped bushes. His garden was a frequent stop on the annual Ann Arbor Garden Walk.
I made my way up the walk, still half expecting Professor Rix to swing that front door open for me. He used the front room as his office so he could see everyone approaching from the big bay, leaded glass window.
But the house seemed so quiet now. I rang the doorbell. A minute went by, then Glenda opened the door.
She looked tired. A paisley bandana covered her hair. She wore blue jeans and a U of M sweatshirt. More casual than I’d ever seen her, it made her look ten…no…twenty years younger than her seventy plus years.
“I’m so glad you came,” she gushed. “I wasn’t sure if you would. I was afraid I might have scared you off the other day.”
“Of course not,” I said as she invited me in. A sense memory hit me. The house, as all houses do, had a particular smell. One I couldn’t describe but knew where I was the instant I took a breath. A mixture of old hardwood, books and paper, the faint underlying scent of the pine cleaner Mrs. Rix’s cleaning person used.
Professor Rix’s house. A safe place. Or so it had been until that last awful day when I told him I’d made up my mind and was heading for Chicago.
“The place is a mess, I know,” Glenda said. “Deanna usually comes on Wednesdays but I just couldn’t stand to have anyone in the house this week. I’m tired of people, you know? Oh. Does that sound awful of me to say?”
“It doesn’t,” I said. “Funerals are hard. And you’ve earned the right to take whatever time you want to whatever it is you need.”
She smiled. “That sounds like something Anderson would have said.”
Glenda looped her arm through mine and pulled me down the hall. She made a sharp right. We stopped at the threshold of Professor Rix’s office.
He had a full set of Michigan Compiled Laws and Michigan Reports filling his floor to ceiling bookshelves. I couldn’t see a speck of dust anywhere. Another wall was lined with wooden file cabinets. His giant mahogany desk was the centerpiece of the room. It was scattered with papers. Some had fallen to the floor. His brown leather chair was turned to the side, not flush.
I remembered what Rhoda Wallace had said. Rix had died here. In that chair. It looked like Glenda hadn’t touched a thing.
I quickly turned to her. “Are you sure you’re okay? This isn’t something you have to do right now. I can come back later.”
“No,” she shook her head. “This is what I want. I’m glad you’re here. I know Anderson would want it this way, too.”
She slid her arm away from mine and went to one of the couches at the opposite end of the room. She took a seat and patted the cushion next to her. There were bankers’ boxes stacked to the side of the couch. I crossed the room and sank down beside her.
“I thought he was fine,” she said. “He had that health scare three years ago. His first heart attack. That’s what finally got him to slow down. He retired from teaching. He took his practice down to the bare minimum. No new clients. Just finishing up the existing ones. We were going to travel more. Go to all the places on our wish list. I marked them on the globe.”
She pointed. Professor Rix had a large globe in a wooden frame sitting in the corner. From here, I could see small yellow stickers covering it. Australia. Parts of Europe. An island or two.
“We took one trip,” she said. “We went to Belize last year. Anderson hated it. He said it was too touristy.”
“I’m sorry,” I said, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder.
“I really don’t know what I’m going to do. This house? The gardens? Those were Anderson’s projects. I’ve got a black thumb. It’s only been two weeks and already, things don’t look up to his standards out there.”
“Give yourself some time,” I said. “Then decide what you want to keep and what you can let fall away.”
She gave me a weak smile. “Oh, he loved you, Cass. He talked about you often. I think he knew he didn’t have much time. And that’s one thing I’m so angry about now. I know it’s silly. I know it’s…unseemly, maybe. But I just can’t help myself from running all these things he said back in my mind. Looking for clues. Signs. I should have known. He should have told me!”
“Glenda, you just can’t beat yourself up over it. He wouldn’t want you to do that. I know you know that.”
“It was just us,” she said. “He had you. I mean…he had his students. They were like children to him in a way. A legacy, at least. I don’t have any of that. I never cared that I wasn’t a mother. That it just wasn’t in the cards. I had Anderson. I had our life. Now that he’s gone…it’s so awful of me to say but I’m finding myself jealous of him. Isn’t that terrible? All those people who showed up for him at the funeral. He built that. Not me. When I go, who will come? Oh, I shouldn’t say that. I can’t imagine what you must think.”
“I think you’re allowed to feel however you need to feel. There’s no wrong answer.”
She patted my knee. “I’ve missed you too. I know we weren’t close. But I liked it when you would come around. When you were a student. You challenged Anderson. Made him think. Kept him on his toes. Though he never would have admitted that to you. But I think he learned as much from you as you did from him.”
A pang of guilt stabbed through me. “I didn’t know that,” I said. “Thank you for telling me.”
“It hurt him when you left.”
My mouth felt dry. She must have seen something in my face.
“Oh!” she said. “I’m sorry. Oh. No. I didn’t mean to blame you for anything. That’s not what I meant. I just meant…”
“He was angry with me,” I said. “I understand why. He was trying to protect me. He worried I’d lose something of myself if I went to work for the people I worked for. And I did. He was right about that.”
“Well, he shouldn’t have been so hard on you. It wasn’t his place to judge. I told him that. You weren’t really his daughter. You have your own father.”
“He was a good man,” I said. “And Professor Rix was more proud of me than my actual father was. At least at one time. I’m going to miss him.”
She grew quiet for a moment, staring at Anderson Rix’s empty desk. I wondered if she’d leave things like this. He was still so present in this room.
“Cass,” she said. “He wanted you here. He wanted it to be you. I have paperwork. His estate plan. It’s all official. I could have just let the lawyers call you. But I wanted to see you myself. I wanted to tell you here. In this room. Where it almost feels like he’s going to walk in any second, you know?”
“Tell me what? Glenda, I’m sorry. I’m at a loss here. You said Professor Rix wanted me to have something?”
“These,” she said, placing her hand on the top banker box beside her. Then she made a sweeping gesture with her hand toward the file cabinets along the wall. “His client files. He told me. He was adamant. He said it six months ago. He said a lot of things. Ever since that first heart attack. He was trying to prepare me, the bastard.”
“His client files?” I said.
“Yes. He wanted you to take over what’s left of his practice. He said it had to be you.”
“I’m confused. Professor Rix handled asbestos litigation. That’s a specialized field. That’s not what I do. Surely it would make more sense to hand these over to another practice that handles those types of cases.”
Glenda rose. She had a mysterious smile on her face. “Please say you’ll do it. I know you’re not legally required or anything. But it’s what Anderson wanted. Everything is in these boxes. He made sure I knew. These boxes have all the files on his last active case.”
I didn’t know what to say. I felt a mixture of pride, sorrow, and gratitude. Me. After all these years, the great Anderson Rix wanted to entrust me with his client list.
“I’ll give you some time,” she said. “I was just going to put a pot of tea on. You can look through the boxes.”
“But I…”
She turned and walked out of the room, shutting the door behind her.
I took a moment before lifting the lid on the top box. “What were you up to, old man?” I whispered to a ghost. Then I pulled out the first manilla folder. A single case name was typed on the flap. Glenda said it was Rix’s last active case.
“People vs. Farrah Sibley.”
“A criminal case?” I said. What the hell was Anderson Rix doing handling a criminal case?
I thumbed through the rest of the file in the box. One by one, the same name popped up.
Farrah Sibley. I slid the top box to the floor and opened the second. It was one massive discovery file. Crime scene photos. Witness statements. Cell phone logs.
Professor Anderson Rix had left me his client list. But there was only one active case on it.
Farrah Sibley. And she was charged with murder.
###
Coming March 2024