Chapter 24
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Sitka, AK
Anya stood outside the storefront office of J. Chilton, Esq. The door was locked, and a By Appointment Only sign hung in the window. The lawyer was twenty minutes late.
Not a good start, sir. I hope you don’t charge your hourly rate for the time I wait in front of your office.
A man in a tired brown suit sauntered down the sidewalk and paused in front of her. “Are you Miss Baron?”
Anya stepped back. “Yes, I am. You forget our appointment?”
Chilton unlocked the door, holding it open for her.
Anya walked into the small office as Chilton flicked the light switch.
Long fluorescent fixtures blinked to life, bathing the drab space in a soul-sucking hospital hue.
In the center of the room, a dark mahogany veneer desk piled with papers faced the door, backed up by a black vinyl office chair with holes worn to the stuffing in the armrests.
A gray metal folding chair with Sitka High School Cafeteria stenciled on the back waited at an angle on the client side.
Two mismatched steel filing cabinets sat along the far wall, several drawers not quite closed.
An old transistor radio sat atop one of the cabinets, the top half of the broken antenna resting against the edge of a framed certificate hanging on the wall.
James Brown singing “It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World” crackled quietly, barely audible through the static.
In a corner, the orange Keep Warm light flickered from a yellowed Mr. Coffee machine that held half a pot of what was probably yesterday’s coffee.
A taxidermy moose head was mounted on one side wall, forever staring across the room at a similarly mounted Chinook salmon.
Anya pulled out the metal cafeteria chair and sat down without waiting to be invited. She put the manila folder she was carrying on an uncluttered section of the desk and opened it.
“Coffee?” Chilton offered as he poured himself some into a styrofoam cup.
“No thanks. I need to be quick.”
Chilton raised an eyebrow, eased into the office chair, and made a show of tidying some of the paper piles. “What can I help you with today, miss?”
“My husband passed away recently in a fishing accident. I have all of his important papers I could find, and I want to get the legal stuff taken care of. We had some money in cash and a joint account, so I think that’s okay.
We rent our house, but the lease is expired, so I’d like to get it updated and put into my name.
I’d also like to get the fishing boat and the island cabin we own off Chichagof put in my name.
And it appears he got a number of offers to buy our fishing cabin island from some real-estate company in St. Louis.
I think I want to keep it, but it’d be nice to know what they’re offering. ”
Chilton rubbed his chin. “Dangerous business, fishing. I can’t tell you how many…Well, you don’t need to hear this from me right now. I’m sorry for your loss. Let’s see what you’ve got there.”
Anya offered Chilton the stack of papers from the folder. As he reached across the table to take them, she caught a heavy noseful of too much cologne and mouthwash mixed with alcohol.
“Mr. Chilton. I’m not paying your regular hourly rate when you’ve been drinking, particularly before noon.”
“I—Mrs. Baron, I most definitely haven’t had—”
“If we’re gonna start out with you lying to me, this isn’t gonna work. I’ll find another lawyer.” She knew there were no other lawyers in Sitka.
“No, I, ma’am, I didn’t—I may have had a…”
Anya rose from the chair and reached across the desk to take her papers.
Chilton pulled them away and rolled his chair back from the desk.
“I’m sorry, Mrs. Baron. I—”
“Anya.”
“Wh—oh, I apologize Mrs. Anya…Anya. I do want to be of service. I will not charge you for today’s consultation. And my lapse in judgment will not happen again.”
Anya eased back down into her chair, looked him in the eye, and spoke deliberately.
“I’ve heard that kind of promise before, sir, many times.
It’s never once been true. Don’t lie to me and don’t make promises you won’t keep.
Look over my papers and let me know what it will cost to get everything straight. ”
Chilton’s face flushed, and she could see him fight the urge to say something else. He rolled his chair back to the desk, looked down and began reading through the documents.
“M—An—Anya, I assume you don’t yet have a death certificate.”
Of course she didn’t. Pelican had no law enforcement, no courthouse, no coroner or medical examiner. And, she had no body.
Nobody.
“No, that’s the sort of thing I’m paying you for.”
She’d stay here in Sitka until this loser of a lawyer started to get it sorted out.