VC04 - Jury Double by Edward Stewart

remember the number of times Leon had redrawn his will. The drafts all had a common denominator: a fortune to this foundation or that, pittances to the daughters just large enough to ward off disinheritance suits. She suspected he’d already offered the executor position to Kyra and she’d turned it down.
    “It’s sweet of you to think of me, Leon.”
    “You’d get expenses and you could bill the estate for your time—on a reasonable basis. Does a hundred an hour seem equitable? Up to thirty hours work a year? Above that pro bono?”
    “I really don’t have a legal mind. You’d better get someone who does.”
    Tim Alvarez intercepted her at the front door. He was wearing an apron and his face was shaken. “Aren’t you staying for dinner? I just put in a third lobster. Your dad so rarely has company.”
    “No, I’m not staying to dinner—if that selfish old fraud wants company he can advertise for it.”
    “Please don’t leave angry. Leon’s old, he doesn’t always know what he’s saying.”
    “He knows exactly what he’s saying and he’s been saying it all his life. Legal Genius at Work. Do Not Disturb. Well, I have no intention of disturbing him.”

EIGHT
    9:10 P.M.
    A NNE PUSHED THE BUZZER. Juliana opened the door in bare feet, a spatula in one hand.
    “Hi. Want some fish fingers?”
    “No, thanks. I want to speak to Kyra.”
    Juliana turned and shouted. “Kyra—your sister’s here!”
    Anne followed her into the kitchen. Juliana flipped a spatulaful of battered fish fillets into a hissing skillet.
    “Hey, Aunt Anne, do you think Max is sick?” Toby sauntered into the kitchen with the cat draped over one forearm. The animal’s nonjudgmental eyes observed Anne with a watery shimmer.
    “He doesn’t look any too happy.”
    Toby reached into a box of breakfast cereal and pulled out a fistful of flakes. He let the cat nibble from his hand.
    “What are you feeding him?” Juliana said.
    “Organic almond-date breakfast oats.”
    “That stuff’s no good for a cat.”
    “Why not? It’s good for me.”
    “Says who?”
    “Says the back of the box.”
    A piece of fish was belching black emission. Juliana pried it quickly away from the skillet. “You’re the ideal capitalist consumer, Einstein—a complete dupe.”
    Anne handed Toby his grandfather’s package. “Leon sent you this.”
    Toby set the cat down and pulled off the tissue paper. He had a look of caution unmistakably edged with suspicion. “It’s A Boy’s Life of Justice Louis Brandeis .”
    Kyra floated into the kitchen wearing a bathrobe and eye shadow. She trailed a scent of lilac bath oil. “Hi, Sis. How was jury?”
    “Tim Alvarez said you were too busy to see Leon today.”
    Kyra shrugged. “What was the problem?”
    Anne glanced at Toby. It wasn’t the sort of thing she felt comfortable discussing in front of a child. “Apparently Leon’s been making annoying phone calls.”
    Kyra crossed to the refrigerator and poured herself a tumbler of white wine. “Who to, besides you and me?”
    “Daughters of lawyers he’s pleaded with in Supreme Court. Young women. These were—you know, dirty phone calls.”
    Kyra brought her glass to the table. “And are Leon’s little victims going to prosecute?”
    “Not if he signs a consent order and promises to stop.”
    “Will he?”
    “You’ve always had more influence with him than I have.”
    “You expect me to persuade him?”
    “I just thought you’d want to know.”
    “Oh, sure, I want every dreary detail.”
    Anne stared at her sister. “They say that extreme changes in behavior can be a sign of Alzheimer’s.”
    “He’s been goofy ever since Mom went.” Kyra sighed. “I was hoping his work would pull him out of it.”
    “He hasn’t got any work. All he has is you and me.”
    “He has that case,” Toby said. “The amicus brief.”
    Anne glanced at her nephew. “What brief is that, Toby?”
    “The case he won. Mathis v. Doe .”
    “He never mentioned