ON a deceptively peaceful morning last August I set out for work, accompanied by my mother and two of my younger brothers, Greg, 18, and Joe, 6. Joe had a doctor's appointment and since Greg had the day off, he was carrying Joe, who was babbling about a recent Cubs game. I walked ahead, thinking of other things.

About halfway down the block, I stopped. In the driveway of a house across the street lay a woman stretched out on the ground--asleep, I thought--under an umbrella.

Having lived in Cambridge for two years I'd become inured to the ugliness of homelessness. But Mom insisted, "I think you'd better go see what's happened."

I said I thought she was asleep.

My mother indicated that I should try to wake her. After a half-hearted attempt to do so, the woman responded with a soft, almost inaudible groan.

My mom walked over. Other neighbors became curious. The family in whose driveway the woman lay came outside.

My mother recognized the woman. She was Marina Justice, a civil-rights lawyer who lived in the most stately house on out three-block-long street. My mother and I told our neighbors to call 911 and we searched for someone to accompany Marina to the hospital.

Marina had moved into our neighborhood of Austin a few years ago with her husband and two children. As we ran, I learned from my mother that the Justices had divorced the previous spring and Marina now lived alone, except for a tenant on the top floor of the mansion and frequent visits from her children. So we were only able to get her next-door neighbor, George, and her neighbor from across the street, who were about to carpool to work together.

Back at the driveway, two well-meaning citizens had turned Marina over. The police and the ambulance arrived and failed to secure the scene of the crime, but took down a few names and asked some questions.

"I saw someone following her, but saw Mr. Montgomery slow down as he came to her. I thought he was going to pick her up," her second neighbor said.

After taking a few more statements, the police left.

Marina was admitted to a local hospital as Jane Doe, since none of us were related to her. Mom, Greg and Joe went on to the eye doctor and I took the bus to work, knowing there was, at the moment, nothing more we could do.

For days the police went on the theory that Marina had fallen over backwards after having her purse snatched and cracked her skull. Accidental, they said. We wondered.

The Chicago Tribune and Sun-Times ran lengthy articles, one a front-page feature on the uniqueness of Austin Village. TV news hounds moved in and interviewed everyone. The mother of the family in whose driveway she had ended up was on the news the news the next evening, saying she had found Marina.

Marina lapsed into a coma almost immediately after we had spoken to her. Only 38 hours after, she died of blunt trauma. The police continued with the same story and began to canvass the area to find out if anyone had seen the man following her.