name?”
“Eleanor Charpentier Rivers.”
It was easy to locate Reed’s mother online this morning. Eleanor Rivers of Scarsdale, New York, whose address matches up with a high-end mental facility in the heart of the posh community. But, other than Eleanor’s full name and address, and a passing reference to her name in a few of the articles written about Reed’s father, I wasn’t able to learn any details about the woman.
“Spelling on Charpentier?” Charles says.
I spell the name for him, and he clacks on his keyboard.
“It looks like there’s only one lawsuit naming Eleanor Rivers or Eleanor Charpentier Rivers as a defendant or respondent. A ‘Dissolution of Marriage and Custody of Minor Child’ case, filed by one Terrence Rivers.”
My heart lurches into my mouth. “Would you add that to my copy order, please? I’d like everything in that case file.”
“Sorry, no can do,” Charles says. “Family law cases are a different animal, stored separately. But since this one was from over ten years ago, I doubt they’d even have it on-site anymore. Plus, since the case involved the custody of a minor child, I’m sure the records would be sealed, anyway.”
“Shoot. I really want to read that one.”
Charles shrugs. “Sorry.”
I twist my mouth, thinking back to what I learned in school. Specifically, a class called Journalism and the Justice System. “Do you think maybe there’s some roundabout way I could get my hands on it? Like, some motion or deposition that might at least refer to it or summarize it?”
Charles considers my question for a long beat before his face lights up. “Hold on. I’ve got an idea.” He clacks on his computer keyboard, and then smiles like a Cheshire cat. “Bingo. I searched for any case involving Eleanor Rivers, even if she was the plaintiff, and hit pay dirt. A year after the dissolution and custody dispute, Eleanor sued her divorce attorney for malpractice.”
I look at Charles blankly, not understanding how this information helps my cause.
Charles smirks. “It means you’re in luck. Apparently, Eleanor didn’t like the result of her divorce and custody battle, and thought her attorney in that case botched the job. So she sued her for malpractice. It’s not guaranteed you’ll get all the details of the underlying divorce and custody dispute by reading the malpractice lawsuit that came a year later, but I’m guessing you’ll at least get the gist.”
“Oh,” I say, a lightbulb going off. “Because, in order to explain how her attorney messed up in the divorce case, Eleanor would have had to summarize that underlying case?”
“Exactly.” He clacks on his keyboard for a moment. “Okay, the malpractice lawsuit is something I can get for you. It’s general civil litigation, not family law. But it was filed twenty-two years ago, so you’ll have to fill out a form for that one, so it can be retrieved from the archives or microfiche, or whatever. You’ll probably have the documents in about a week or so.”
I’m giddy. “Thank you so much, Charles. Oh my gosh. You’re a rock star.”
I fill out the form he gives me, listing the address for delivery of the documents as the offices of Rock ‘n’ Roll—not River Records—even though Owen has kindly set me up with a cubicle down the hallway from him. I don’t know what, of interest, I’m going to find in Eleanor Rivers’ twenty-two-year-old malpractice lawsuit, if anything. But, whatever is in that file, I sure as hell don’t want Reed walking in on me in my cubicle and discovering that I’m reading it.
“Thank you again for all your help, Charles. You’re the best.”
“No problem. I’ll be back in a jiffy.”
When Charles leaves, I take a rickety chair in a corner, pull out my laptop, and make furious notes. But a few minutes into my note-taking, I get a phone call from Reed.
“Why, hello there, Mr. Rivers,” I say.
“Hello there, Miss Ricci. My meeting just ended. Where are you?”
My stomach tightens. “At a coffee place.”
“Which one? I’ll pick you up.”
I glance at the empty spot at the counter, where there’s still no sign of Charles. “Actually, um, the writer assigned as my mentor at Rock ‘n’ Roll—this woman named Zasu—happens to be downtown, so I’m going to hook up with her for a bit. I’ll grab an Uber after that and meet you at your house.”
“I can hang around and do some work in a conference room at Leonard’s, if you won’t be too long. I know you’re excited to sit in on my weekly team meeting.”
“Oh, I am.