Brooke Astor's duplex at 778 Park Avenue, a perfectly trimmed, scarlet-lacquered, canonical Upper East Side abode, officially has a broker, eight months after Astor's death at age 105.

Her 83-year-old son Anthony D. Marshall, who has pled not guilty to charges that he stole from his ailing mother, sat down with his wife, Charlene, in the inherited duplex just a few weeks ago to interview brokers from five of the city's top brokerages. They picked Leighton Candler, the Georgia-accented Corcoran senior vice president.

If it weren't for the famous court papers filed by Astor's grandson, Philip, which claimed she was wallowing in the cold duplex in torn nightgowns, the apartment would have a gleaming, glinting provenance. Still, thanks to Astor's decades as a Park Avenue deity, not to mention Albert Hadley's legendary scarlet library, the apartment could very well sell near its $46 million price once it hits the market around late next week.

[observer]