Verdict in Blood - By Gail Bowen Page 0,67

an omen. There had been few occasions in my life when I’d been more aware of the need to see clearly.

Eric Fedoruk was waiting for me when I stepped off the elevator. His black motorcycle boots had been replaced by nutmeg calfskin loafers, his fawn suit looked like Armani, and his buttercup-yellow tie demanded attention. When he offered his hand, I was glad I wasn’t being billed by the hour.

“I was relieved to get your call,” he said, as he steered me smoothly past the firm’s receptionist into his office. It was spacious and airy, filled with natural light from two walls of floor-to-ceiling windows. The other two walls were filled with photographs and hockey memorabilia. Eric Fedoruk led me past his desk and the client chairs which faced it to a trio of easy chairs that had been arranged around a low circular table in the corner of the room. He held out a chair for me.

“Can I get you anything before we begin?” he asked.

“Thanks,” I said, “I’m fine.” I leaned towards the window. “What a spectacular view of the city.”

“It is, isn’t it?” he said. “And it’s beautiful in every season.” He made a face. “I sound like I’m running for President of the Chamber of Commerce.”

“You’ve got my vote,” I said. “I think Regina’s a great place to live.”

He grinned. “It’s nice to be having a civil conversation. You know, we are on the same side in this.”

“Whose side is that?”

He didn’t hesitate. “Justine’s. In your case, Miss McCourt’s, but she was on Justine’s side. Now, since we are allies, can we graduate to first names?”

“That’s fine with me, Eric,” I said.

“Good.” His eyes, the grey of an autumn sky before a storm, met mine. “Now, why don’t you tell me what brought you here this morning.”

“The attack on Hilda,” I said. “I think the police are on the wrong track. Eric, I’m certain Hilda knew her assailant. Before I left the house that night, she told me she was going to spend the evening working on Justine’s financial records. I think she was searching for something that would help her resolve the question of Justine’s mental competence once and for all.”

“And you believe she found it.”

I nodded. “I do. I think that there was something in Justine’s personal papers that tipped the scales, and that whoever came to my house that night knew it was there. That’s why they tried to kill Hilda, and that’s why they ransacked the house until they found what they were looking for.”

Eric Fedoruk looked hard at me. “Where do I fit in?”

“I’m hoping you can help me understand some of the people in Justine’s life. The problem is I don’t know enough about any of them to ask the right questions.” I leaned towards him. “I guess all I can do is ask you to tell me about Justine.”

Pain crossed his face. “I don’t know where to begin.”

I gave him what I hoped was an encouraging smile.

He returned it; then he shrugged and glanced around his handsome office. “Well, for starters, I wouldn’t have any of this if it hadn’t been for her.”

“She opened the right doors for you.”

He shook his head. “She changed the course of my life,” he said softly. “If it hadn’t been for her, I never would have been a lawyer. Which means that, at this point, I would have been an aging jock, trying to get by with a smile, a handshake, and a basement full of game tapes nobody gave a damn about.” He shuddered. “It’s scary to look back and think how close I came. Anyway, thanks to Justine, it didn’t happen.”

“She was your mentor.”

“She was more than that,” he said. “When I was fifteen, all anybody saw when they looked at me was a kid with a great slapshot. My dad died a month after I was born, and I guess my mother was sort of overwhelmed by all the scouts knocking on her door telling her that, as soon as I turned sixteen, I should be in junior A. Of course, that was what I wanted too. My mother was just about to cave in, when – he smiled at the memory – “Justine took me out to dinner.”

“Because she saw you as somebody who had more going for him than a slapshot.”

“Right,” he said. “She took me to the old Assiniboia Club, and she laid out a plan for my life. Get serious about my studies. Go to university.