In the summer of 1992, a blond woman in tailored business clothes began to appear on the street corners of West Baltimore, joining the lines of junkies waiting to buy heroin.

In the all-black neighborhood of Franklin Square, the newcomer's presence was striking.

"My daughter used to have to walk right past where they distribute the drugs each day on her way home from work," recalled Joyce Smith, the Franklin Square Association president.

"I remember her coming home one day that summer and saying, 'Mama, you wouldn't believe it. There's a white woman with a real nice haircut, nice clothes, too, up there in the line.' "

For at least two years, Susan Mary Fila, a Baltimore lawyer with a promising practice, shuttled between two lives.

In the city's courtrooms and law offices, she impressed colleagues as smart and confident. Her personal life appeared unremarkable; she lived on a tree-lined street in Ellicott City with her parents and sometimes dated other lawyers. She seemed destined for success.

The residents of Franklin Square, though, knew her secret, and were all too familiar with the perils of drugs. Last month, Ms. Fila's life unraveled when she was charged with trying to kill her law partner, Charles Lamasa, 46. She is accused of trying to keep him from discovering her alleged embezzlement from him and their firm to buy drugs.

In the months before, Ms. Fila, 42, apparently misled clients, misspent their money, botched routine legal work and stole funds from her partner and firm bank accounts, according to charging documents, Mr. Lamasa and police. She is accused of writing bad checks, reneging on promises, and lying to co-workers and friends about her deteriorating appearance and erratic behavior.

"All of the money she had access to was used to feed her addiction," said Gregg Bernstein, an attorney representing Ms. Fila. "She has had a very substantial and serious heroin abuse problem for a long time."

Now Ms. Fila faces disbarment and prison, and her arrest and addiction soon will be the talk of Sally Jessy Raphael Wednesday and other television shows. Prosecutors expect a grand jury indictment this week.

Ms. Fila's fall is particularly poignant because, after some early stumbles -- a teen marriage, drug use, a brush with the law -- she had reclaimed her life. It seemed she had left her past so far behind that few suspected she was a woman acquainted with trouble.

A picture of how her life spun out of control has emerged from a review of court records and interviews with Baltimore detectives, lawyers, clients and friends. Ms. Fila and family members declined requests to be interviewed.

"This is just absolutely bizarre," said Gary Strausberg, a lawyer who trained Ms. Fila early in her career. "This is not the Susan I knew and worked with. It's scary to think this could happen to someone as talented and bright as her."

But such tales are not surprising to those familiar with the grip of heroin. "The true addict is very creative about hiding their habit and finding ways to keep it fed," said Jim Meehling, a drug addiction counselor in Baltimore. "They lie. They steal. They'll destroy everything of meaning -- family, work, everything."

Difficult teen years

The daughter of an electrician and a homemaker, Ms. Fila was the youngest of three children growing up in Ellicott City. While attending Howard High School during the late 1960s, she became pregnant at age 16. She married the father, another student, and gave birth to a son. After her junior year, she left school and lost contact with most of her friends.

"It seemed she not only dropped out of high school but dropped out of life," said Debbie Lanham, a longtime friend.

The marriage foundered and by early 1977, Ms. Fila was involved with David L. Bledsoe, a Towson resident who introduced her to heroin, according to federal prosecutors and friends. In February 1977, Ms. Fila, Mr. Bledsoe and seven others were charged with importing heroin from Mexico. Months later, at 24, Ms. Fila married Mr. Bledsoe.

She was convicted on one count of drug conspiracy; her husband was acquitted. The young woman was placed on probation and ordered to attend a drug abuse program, court records show. Three years later, the judge found that she had fulfilled the terms of probation and wiped her criminal record clean.

Ms. Fila clearly put her mind to changing her life.

She enrolled at the University of Baltimore in 1984 at age 32, graduating with honors. She divorced Mr. Bledsoe in 1986, and moved back with her parents. They helped provide stability for her son and freed her from the burdens of running a household when she began law school that year at the University of Baltimore.

She was named to the Law Review, an honor reserved for top students, and graduated magna cum laude.

When she applied to practice law in Maryland, Ms. Fila called old adversaries: Robert Schulman and Joshua Treem, the federal prosecutors who had tried her drug case.

"I was very impressed with how far she had come. She had a wonderful brain. It seemed she had broken away from her old life and really moved on," said Mr. Schulman, who spoke favorably of Ms. Fila to the state bar's character committee.

'Exuded self-confidence'

In 1988, Ms. Fila joined the Baltimore law firm of Melnicove, Kaufman, Weiner & Smouse, where she had clerked while in law school. Mr. Strausberg, a Pikesville lawyer and former associate at the firm, helped train Ms. Fila in medical malpractice law.

"Susan was very bright, very astute, a quick learner and extremely energetic," he said. "She exuded self-confidence."

Friends say Ms. Fila immersed herself in her new job, working 60-hour weeks. Her petite frame and delicate looks gave little hint of her intensity. "Susan was always kind of hyper, a mile-a-minute talker," Mr. Lamasa recalled. She would run, not walk, in the office. She seemed anxious to make up for lost time.

She brought the same zeal to other aspects of her life, friends say. Outgoing and sociable, she liked parties and dinners -- and might stay out late. If she started a new book, she had to finish it right away. "She did things to an extreme," said Ms. Lanham, an Ellicott City businesswoman.

That intense focus helped her as a lawyer. So impressed was Mr. Strausberg with Ms. Fila that he hired her at Janet & Strausberg, the firm he founded in 1989. She left in October 1992, to start a firm with Mr. Lamasa, a former Baltimore prosecutor who had a private practice. The two became acquainted while on opposing sides of a case.

"It looked to me like a great opportunity to move in some new directions," Mr. Lamasa said.

The secret life

When Ms. Fila began using heroin again isn't clear.

But it was in the summer of 1992 that residents of West Baltimore's Franklin Square neighborhood noticed her as a regular visitor.

Homicide detectives say Ms. Fila told them she turned to heroin when a romance ended. One friend sees a deeper sadness. Ms. Fila had a series of failed relationships -- including ones with men who abused drugs and alcohol.

"She's very kind and compassionate," Ms. Lanham said. "She had a lot of unhappiness in love."

Whatever the reason for the addiction, Ms. Fila's habit was severe. Her lawyers said she spent $500 to $600 a day on drugs -- an expenditure far in excess of her estimated $50,000 salary.

Drug addiction experts say it is improbable, though not impossible, that Ms. Fila spent that much money on heroin alone. Many junkies combine heroin -- which is available for as little as $10 on the street -- with cocaine to make a potent drug cocktail called a speedball, said Mr. Meehling, the addiction counselor who works for Man Alive Research Inc.

On July 12, 1993, Baltimore Police Sgt. Timothy Devine watched Ms. Fila leave a house in the 1500 block of W. Fayette St. and drive away in an old Chevy. He followed the car, noticed a faulty brake light and pulled the Chevy over. He found 24 syringes and a package with nine gel caps of heroin valued at about $100, according to court records.

The detective recalls being appalled at Ms. Fila's physical condition, concealed that hot July day by a long-sleeved shirt. "Her arms were all purple and black from the needles," he said. "And her hands, they were all blown up."

The secret unravels

Ms. Fila struck a deal with police and prosecutors to become a police informant if they agreed to not prosecute the case. Her addiction was never reported to the Attorney Grievance Commission by the judge and prosecutor, as required. They declined to comment. Her secret remained.

Mr. Lamasa recalled that initially he was impressed with Ms. Fila's work at the firm. He found her to be organized and adept at writing.

But Mr. Lamasa said he, his girlfriend Laura Belcher, and the firm's secretary, Ann Lurz, began to notice a marked change in Ms. Fila in November. She looked run-down. Her legs sometimes appeared bruised. Mr. Lamasa and Mrs. Lurz advised Ms. Fila to see a doctor.

"She said she had been told she was borderline diabetic," Mr. Lamasa said.

Tammy Crawley, a receptionist for Lamasa & Fila and other lawyers with offices at 1023 Cathedral St., said she also noticed unusual behavior by Ms. Fila.

"She was always going in the bathroom and she'd stay in there for about 20 minutes each time," Ms. Crawley recalled. The lawyer's hands always seemed puffy. She often paced and chain-smoked.

Ms. Crawley, who had known someone with a heroin addiction, began to suspect Ms. Fila was using drugs. "One day I said to her, 'Susan, do you get high? You ever use cocaine or heroin?' " said Ms. Crawley. "She said, 'No way, man, that stuff makes me sick.' "

Soon after Mr. Lamasa noticed Ms. Fila's deteriorating physical appearance, he began to discover lapses in her work. Still, he never suspected she was abusing drugs, he said.

Cases adrift

Ms. Crawley said that several months ago, Ms. Fila began going through the mail every morning, removing letters. Mr. Lamasa now believes his partner was removing bank notices and statements.

After examining bank records, Mr. Lamasa believes about $27,000 was stolen from his personal accounts with forged checks between Dec. 31 and April. Police also are reviewing eight checks totaling $10,106 that they believe were stolen from Mr. Lamasa's personal line of credit.

The law firm is also missing $5,000 to $6,000 from its client escrow account, Mr. Lamasa said. The state Attorney Grievance Commission, which monitors such accounts, inquired about withdrawals in a March 16 letter. Mr. Lamasa said neither he nor his secretary saw the commission's letter.

At least two of Ms. Fila's clients have reported that they gave Ms. Fila money -- $9,000 in one case, $1,500 in the other -- for expenses. Mr. Lamasa discovered they were never paid.

Meanwhile, cases Ms. Fila was handling were left adrift.

For example, she filed a medical malpractice case on behalf of Randy Zarzycki, an Abingdon resident. He claims he developed a persistent ringing in his ears because anesthesia was improperly administered during wrist surgery.

But his case was recently dismissed because Ms. Fila failed to file basic documentation that was essential for his claim to proceed, Health Claims Arbitration Board records show. Ms. Fila never alerted Mr. Zarzycki that she was behind on the case, he said.

A review of Ms. Fila's active cases before the health claims panel -- where all medical malpractice claims are first filed -- shows she had not submitted documentation for months, though several clients said the lawyer assured them their cases were on track.

"It's a minor miracle none of her clients blew the whistle on her," Mr. Lamasa said.

Someone else did, though.

Barrie Lau, the owner of a 7-Eleven in Ellicott City, said Ms. Fila began cashing personal checks for $100 to $150 at his store early last fall. In November and December, several checks bounced, Mr. Lau says.

About six weeks ago, Mr. Lau discovered yet another bounced check, one written for $255. He went to his attorney, who tried unsuccessfully to contact Ms. Fila. Frustrated, Mr. Lau swore out a warrant for Ms. Fila's arrest.

With a lawyer after her for the check and the Attorney Grievance Commission inquiring about the escrow account, pressure was mounting. Then, the morning of April 14, Mr. Lamasa told his partner that he planned to go over records for his taxes.

What happened?

To cover money problems and her heroin addiction, police investigators say they believe Ms. Fila planned to kill Mr. Lamasa that night.

Tamme Lynn Newton of the 1500 block of W. Fayette St. told investigators that Ms. Fila enlisted her to help kill Mr. Lamasa, said Sgt. Gary Childs, a homicide detective. Ms. Newton told police she had been buying heroin for the lawyer for the past nine to 10 months, according to Detective Childs.

According to police, Mr. Lamasa and Ms. Belcher, the events of April 14 transpired this way:

Mr. Lamasa says he had been groggy and dehydrated the day before and the day of the attack. The morning of the 14th, Mr. Lamasa declined an offer from Ms. Fila to take his children to school. When he returned from the school, Ms. Fila was waiting at his Mayfield home with orange juice and coffee. He fell asleep after drinking the beverages.

At the office later that day, Ms. Fila handed Mr. Lamasa two pink pills, which she claimed his doctor had prescribed for him. Mr. Lamasa says he immediately fell asleep. Detectives are awaiting toxicology reports to determine if Mr. Lamasa was being drugged.

About 9 p.m., Mr. Lamasa asked Ms. Fila to drive him home.

"She went to get the car and about 10 minutes later came bursting into the office screaming. She said she'd been attacked, dragged into the alley and somebody tried to rape her," recalls Mr. Lamasa. A police report shows Ms. Fila reported a black male attacked her.

Police homicide investigators believe the assault was feigned as part of a cover story to be used after the attack on Mr. Lamasa.

About 10 p.m., the two lawyers left the office. Mr. Lamasa got into the front passenger seat of the firm's Mazda, parked outside the law office, and was immediately attacked from behind by an assailant with a knife. Ms. Fila raced the car down the street.

What ensued was a wild 40-minute ride through the streets of Baltimore. Mr. Lamasa overwhelmed his attacker and demanded be taken to a hospital.

Ms. Fila drove past Mercy Medical Center and Union Memorial Hospital and onto Interstate 83. Mr. Lamasa ordered the assailant to take the wheel and drive him to Sinai Hospital. He was left outside the emergency room as the car sped off.

Ms. Fila returned to Sinai an hour later, claiming the assailant forced her to have sex, according to a police report. That night, after treatment for stab wounds to his head, neck and back, Mr. Lamasa left the hospital, baffled about the attack.

Two days later, he was stunned, he said, when homicide detectives told him they planned to charge his law partner with plotting his death. On April 21, soon after she checked out of Oakview, an Ellicott City drug treatment center, Ms. Fila was arrested outside Ms. Newton's home. Ms. Newton is charged with attempted murder; Ms. Fila faces theft and attempted murder charges.

'A very bad decision'

"What this comes down to is the drugs and the money," said Cathy Weber, a longtime friend. "Susan is a very good person who made a very bad decision -- to use drugs. That decision has destroyed everything she worked so hard for."