it into his mouth.
reg 35
“If you think of anything else, be sure to tell me,” Carter Mills 9858_01_003-152_r5hb.qxd 9/28/00 3:57 PM Page 67
E Q U I V O C A L D E A T H
6 7
said. “Also — and I’m sure that Richard has gone over this with 1
you — don’t speak to anyone about this case. Anyone you talk to 2
could become a witness.”
3
“Got it.”
4
Kate noted that Richard Epstein wasn’t saying much. Relations 5
between Samson and in-house attorneys could get thorny at times, 6
with the corporate guys — they were almost always guys — resent-7
ing what they perceived as Samson’s high-handedness in managing 8
farmed-out cases. Often, the in-house lawyers seemed to see Sam-9
son’s involvement as an implicit rebuke, an implication that they 10
were not capable of handling complex legal matters on their own.
11
But having dealt with Samson for over a decade, Epstein must 12
have made his peace with the arrangement.
13
“Friedman claims that you required her to have sexual relations 14
with Ron Fogarty as a condition to keeping her job,” Carter Mills 15
continued. “I understand that Fogarty’s a friend of yours?”
16
“That’s bullshit,” Thorpe said, spitting out the words. “I could 17
hardly keep Stephanie away from Ron. It got to be embarrassing.
18
She was all over the guy every time he came to my office. I said, 19
‘Stephanie, enough’s enough. He knows you’re interested. We all 20
know you’re interested. Now you gotta be cool. Let events take 21
their course.’ You ask me, that’s probably why Stephanie’s pulling 22
this shit. To get back at Ron.”
23
Kate tried to suppress her growing aversion, to listen without 24
making judgments. She glanced sidewise at Peyton, whose eyes 25
were on Thorpe, a sympathetic smile affixed to his mouth. No sign 26
of inner conflict there. That’s how she wanted to be. That’s how 27
she would be, purely focused and objective.
28
“I assume that Fogarty will back this up?” Carter Mills said.
29
“That he rejected Friedman’s advances?”
30
“Absolutely.”
31
Carter Mills again referred to his notes. “Moving on, Friedman 32
claims that you required her to wear sexually provocative outfits, 33
and that you made sexually explicit comments about her appear-34 sh
ance.”
35 re
9858_01_003-152_r5hb.qxd 9/28/00 3:57 PM Page 68
6 8
A M Y G U T M A N
1
“I didn’t force Stephanie to dress the way she dressed. That’s just 2
how she came to work. Hell, she would’ve had a problem if I’d 3
made her dress like a normal secretary. I might have told her that 4
she looked good or something. I really don’t remember. Except I 5
know that I didn’t say what she says I said. She’s flattering herself.”
6
“Fine,” Mills said. “The next allegations have to do with physi-7
cal contact. She claims that you fondled her, kissed her.”
8
“Hey, Stephie and I were friends, at least I thought that we were.
9
It was just horseplay.”
10
“Did she ever tell you that anything you did bothered her? Ask 11
you to stop?”
12
“No way.”
13
“I don’t suppose the magazine has any formal sexual harassment 14
policy?” Under ordinary circumstances, Kate thought, this would 15
have been among the first questions asked. Here, however, the pos-16
sibility was so farfetched that she could see why Mills had slipped 17
it in obliquely. Starting out with questions about office policy 18
would only have further alienated Thorpe. Again, she was im-19
pressed with Mills’s finely calibrated attunement to the human 20
equation. It was, she realized, the ultimate source of his power.
21
When Thorpe responded with an exasperated shake of his head, 22
Mills moved on without comment.
23
“Who were her friends at the office?”
24
“Well, I don’t know about friends. She had lunch sometimes 25
with Linda Morris and Melissa Lyle.”
26
“And they
reg 35
“If you think of anything else, be sure to tell me,” Carter Mills 9858_01_003-152_r5hb.qxd 9/28/00 3:57 PM Page 67
E Q U I V O C A L D E A T H
6 7
said. “Also — and I’m sure that Richard has gone over this with 1
you — don’t speak to anyone about this case. Anyone you talk to 2
could become a witness.”
3
“Got it.”
4
Kate noted that Richard Epstein wasn’t saying much. Relations 5
between Samson and in-house attorneys could get thorny at times, 6
with the corporate guys — they were almost always guys — resent-7
ing what they perceived as Samson’s high-handedness in managing 8
farmed-out cases. Often, the in-house lawyers seemed to see Sam-9
son’s involvement as an implicit rebuke, an implication that they 10
were not capable of handling complex legal matters on their own.
11
But having dealt with Samson for over a decade, Epstein must 12
have made his peace with the arrangement.
13
“Friedman claims that you required her to have sexual relations 14
with Ron Fogarty as a condition to keeping her job,” Carter Mills 15
continued. “I understand that Fogarty’s a friend of yours?”
16
“That’s bullshit,” Thorpe said, spitting out the words. “I could 17
hardly keep Stephanie away from Ron. It got to be embarrassing.
18
She was all over the guy every time he came to my office. I said, 19
‘Stephanie, enough’s enough. He knows you’re interested. We all 20
know you’re interested. Now you gotta be cool. Let events take 21
their course.’ You ask me, that’s probably why Stephanie’s pulling 22
this shit. To get back at Ron.”
23
Kate tried to suppress her growing aversion, to listen without 24
making judgments. She glanced sidewise at Peyton, whose eyes 25
were on Thorpe, a sympathetic smile affixed to his mouth. No sign 26
of inner conflict there. That’s how she wanted to be. That’s how 27
she would be, purely focused and objective.
28
“I assume that Fogarty will back this up?” Carter Mills said.
29
“That he rejected Friedman’s advances?”
30
“Absolutely.”
31
Carter Mills again referred to his notes. “Moving on, Friedman 32
claims that you required her to wear sexually provocative outfits, 33
and that you made sexually explicit comments about her appear-34 sh
ance.”
35 re
9858_01_003-152_r5hb.qxd 9/28/00 3:57 PM Page 68
6 8
A M Y G U T M A N
1
“I didn’t force Stephanie to dress the way she dressed. That’s just 2
how she came to work. Hell, she would’ve had a problem if I’d 3
made her dress like a normal secretary. I might have told her that 4
she looked good or something. I really don’t remember. Except I 5
know that I didn’t say what she says I said. She’s flattering herself.”
6
“Fine,” Mills said. “The next allegations have to do with physi-7
cal contact. She claims that you fondled her, kissed her.”
8
“Hey, Stephie and I were friends, at least I thought that we were.
9
It was just horseplay.”
10
“Did she ever tell you that anything you did bothered her? Ask 11
you to stop?”
12
“No way.”
13
“I don’t suppose the magazine has any formal sexual harassment 14
policy?” Under ordinary circumstances, Kate thought, this would 15
have been among the first questions asked. Here, however, the pos-16
sibility was so farfetched that she could see why Mills had slipped 17
it in obliquely. Starting out with questions about office policy 18
would only have further alienated Thorpe. Again, she was im-19
pressed with Mills’s finely calibrated attunement to the human 20
equation. It was, she realized, the ultimate source of his power.
21
When Thorpe responded with an exasperated shake of his head, 22
Mills moved on without comment.
23
“Who were her friends at the office?”
24
“Well, I don’t know about friends. She had lunch sometimes 25
with Linda Morris and Melissa Lyle.”
26
“And they
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