Limits of Justice, The Read Free Page A

time.
    “Mother had some personal problems.”
    “Specificity, Charlotte, if you don’t mind.”
    She turned to stare out the window, her face becoming softer, almost lovely, in the overcast light.
    “I suppose I can tell you, since Randall Capri has already told the entire world in that damned book of his. Mother was an actress when she married father. Just beyond the starlet stage, starting to get better roles. Her name was Vivian Grant then; at least, that was the screen name the studio chose for her.”
    “This was back in the days before actors and directors started exerting their independence, before the studio system fell apart.”
    She nodded, looking my way again.
    “Mother and Father were under contract to the same studio. They met on the lot, when father was making Last Battalion. The marriage continued for several years but apparently never went that well. Mother wasn’t a very stable person. When it ended, she had what they call a nervous breakdown—quite a serious one.”
    “She was institutionalized?”
    Charlotte nodded, tight little motions up and down.
    “They kept her for nearly a year. She recovered, but she never worked in the business again. She didn’t really have to—my father was quite generous in the settlement.”
    “You said earlier that the divorce was bitter.”
    “I guess there were other issues involved besides money. I suppose she loved him and didn’t want to let go.”
    “There was another woman?”
    “Not that I’m aware of. Father had women friends, always quite attractive. But neither Father nor Mother remarried. He plunged back into his career, and she disappeared from public view. She’s led a very private life the past thirty years.”
    “Without much room in it for you?”
    “She tried, but I don’t think she was ever the maternal type. I saw less and less of her as I got older, and finally broke it off last year.”
    “What caused that?”
    “That’s really between Mother and me.” Charlotte smiled tightly. “It was just one of those mother-daughter spats that get out of hand, when pride gets in the way of reconciliation.”
    “It sounds like you still have feelings for her.”
    “Of course. That bond is always there.”
    “When your father died, did your mother attend the service?”
    “She stayed away, which made me quite angry.”
    “And now you’re angry with Randall Capri.”
    She tilted her head to one side, pleading with her eyes.
    “Will you please help me? It would mean so much.”
    “Why me, Charlotte? There are plenty of writers in this town who’d be happy to take on an assignment like this for fifty big ones.”
    “Those I checked out had either inflated or lied outright about their credits. One or two even tried to put the make on me, as if my body came with the deal.”
    “Flakes and cads.”
    “This town seems to have its share, doesn’t it?”
    “In spades.”
    “Then I thought of you, Mr. Justice.”
    “Because I fit the same category?”
    She laughed a little, shaking her head.
    “Because of your background as a reporter.”
    “Before my little Pulitzer problem, you mean.”
    “You made a mistake. I imagine you’ve paid for it.”
    “I won a Pulitzer for writing a front-page newspaper series that was fabricated, Charlotte. I disgraced myself and my trade. You never stop paying for that.”
    “I suppose not.”
    “I’m a pariah in the publishing business, with zero credibility.”
    “Your name won’t be on the book.”
    “To be printed, any dirt on Randall Capri will have to be fully documented, every charge nailed down tight. Capri’s not deceased, like your father. He can sue. To win a libel judgment, the plaintiff has to prove two things: inaccuracy and malicious intent. Considering your feelings toward Capri, malice would be a given.”
    “I trust you to get the facts right, Mr. Justice, or I wouldn’t be here.”
    “How did you get here, anyway?”
    “I remembered Alexandra Templeton’s profile on you