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  For Lee and Philip Reap With love

  —Mary

  For Danielle Holley-Walker With appreciation and admiration

  —Alafair

  Acknowledgments

  Once again it has been my joy to cowrite with my fellow novelist, Alafair Burke. Two minds with but a single crime to solve.

  Marysue Rucci, editor-in-chief of Simon & Schuster, is again our mentor on this journey. A thousand thanks for your encouragement and sage advice.

  My home team is still solidly in place. They are my spouse extraordinaire, John Conheeney, my children, and my right-hand assistant, Nadine Petry. They brighten this business of putting pen to paper.

  And you, my dear readers. Again you are in my thoughts as I write. When you choose to read this book, I want you to feel as though you have spent your time well.

  Cheers and Blessings,

  Mary

  Prologue

  Three Years Ago

  On an unusually cold and wintery Monday evening, sixty-eight-year-old Virginia Wakeling was making her way slowly through the costume gallery of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. As she wandered through the exhibitions, she had no premonition that the glamorous evening would end in tragedy.

  Or that she had only four hours to live.

  The museum had been closed to the public because the most lucrative fundraiser of the year was about to begin, but for this hour the trustees were invited to privately study the gowns former first ladies had worn at inaugural balls.

  Virginia’s own gown was a copy of one Barbara Bush had worn in 1989. An Oscar de la Renta creation, it had a long-sleeved black velvet bodice and a peacock-blue long satin skirt. She knew it looked both dignified and regal, exactly the impression she wanted to give.

  But she still was not sure of the makeup Dina had applied because she thought it might be too vivid. Dina had protested, “Mrs. Wakeling, trust me. It’s perfect with your dark hair and beautiful skin, and it absolutely calls for a bright lip rouge.”

  Maybe, Virginia thought, and maybe not. But she did know the carefully applied makeup took ten years off her age. She moved from one inaugural gown to the next, fascinated by the differences in them: Nancy Reagan’s one-shouldered sheath; Mamie Eisenhower’s with two thousand rhinestones on pink silk; Lady Bird Johnson in a corn-yellow gown with fur trim; Laura Bush in long-sleeved silver; Michelle Obama in ruby red. All of these women—so different, but each so determined to look her very best next to her husband, the President.

  Life has gone by so quickly, Virginia thought. She and Bob had begun their lives together in a small, three-room, two-family home on the then-unfashionable Lower East Side of Manhattan, but their lives had begun changing immediately. Bob had been born with a knack for real estate, and by the end of their first year of marriage he had put a borrowed down payment on the house they were living in. That was the first of many brilliant choices he was to make in the real estate world. Now, forty-five years later, her homes included a Greenwich, Connecticut, mansion, a Park Avenue duplex, an oceanfront showplace in Palm Beach, and a condominium in Aspen for skiing vacations.

  A sudden heart attack had taken Bob five years ago. Virginia knew how pleased he would have been to see how carefully Anna was running the business he had built for them.

  I loved him so, she thought wistfully, even though he had a hot temper and was so domineering. That never really bothered me.

  Then two years ago Ivan had come into her life. Twenty years younger, he had approached her during a cocktail party at an art exhibit in a small studio in the Village. An article about the artist had caught her eye, and she had decided to attend the show. Cheap wine was being served. She was sipping from a plastic glass and taking in the assorted mixture of people who were studying the paintings. That was when Ivan joined her.

  “What do you think of them?” he asked, his voice even and pleasant.

  “The people or the paintings?” she replied, and they both laughed.

  The exhibition ended at seven. Ivan had suggested that if she wasn’t busy, she might want to come with him to a small Italian restaurant nearby where he guaranteed the food was delicious. That was the beginning of what had become a constant in her life.

  Of course, it was inevitable that, after a month or so, her family wanted to know where she was going and with whom. Predictably, their response to her answers had been one of horror. After he graduated college, Ivan had followed his passion in the sports fitness field. He was a personal trainer for now, but he had a natural talent, big dreams, and a strong work ethic, perhaps the only traits he shared with Bob.

  “Mom, get some widower your own age,” Anna had snapped.

  “I’m not looking for anyone to marry,” she told them. “But I certainly enjoy having a fun and interesting evening.” Now a glance at her watch made her realize that she had been standing still for minutes, and she knew why. Was it because despite the twenty-year age difference, she was seriously considering the possibility of marrying Ivan? The answer was yes.

  Shaking the thought away, she resumed her study of the dress forms of the former first ladies. I wonder if any of them realized or even suspected that they would have a day like this in their lives, she asked herself. I certainly never dreamed of how my life would change. Maybe if Bob had lived longer and gone into politics, he might have been a mayor or a senator, even a president. But he did create a company, and a neighborhood, and a way for me to support causes I believe in, like the museum.

  This gala drew A-list celebrities and the city’s most generous donors. As a member of the board of trustees, Virginia would be front and center that evening, and she had Bob’s money to thank for the honor.

  She heard footsteps behind her. It was her thirty-six-year-old daughter, Anna, whose dress was as beautiful as the one Virginia had commissioned for herself. Anna had scoured the Internet for a gown similar to the gold lace Oscar de la Renta that Hillary Clinton had worn to the inauguration in 1997.

  “Mom, the media are arriving on the red carpet and Ivan was looking for you. He seemed to think you’d want to be there.”

  Virginia tried not to read into her daughter’s words. On the one hand, “he seemed to think you’d want” was passive-aggressive, as if Anna knew better what her mother would want. On the bright side, apparently Anna had had a cordial conversation with Ivan and had come searching for her at his request.

  Oh, how I wish my family would accept whatever decision I finally make for myself, she thought, slightly annoyed. They have their own lives and everything they will ever need. Give me a break and let me live my life the way I choose.

  She tried to brush away the thought as she said, “Anna, you look gorgeous. I’m so proud of you.”

  They walked out of the gallery together, Virginia’s blue taffeta rustling next to Anna’s gold lace.

  Later that evening Virginia’s black hair and colorful gown were spotted by a jogger as he ran through Central Park. He stopped when he realized his foot had grazed an object protruding from the snow. He was shocked to see that the woman he was looking at was not only dead, but her eyes were still open and her expression frozen in fear and horror.

  Virginia Wakeling had fallen—or
been thrown—from the roof of the museum.

  1

  Laurie Moran could not ignore the satisfied expression on her nine-year-old son’s face as he watched the waiter place her breakfast on their table.

  “What’s the secret?” she asked with a smile.

  “No secret,” Timmy replied. “I was just thinking how really cool you look in that suit.”

  “Well thank you so much,” Laurie said, pleased, even as she reflected on the fact that Timmy’s use of the word cool was another sign that he was growing up. School was closed while teachers were at an education convention. Because of that Laurie had decided to go in late so she could take Timmy and her father to breakfast. Timmy had been to Sarabeth’s restaurant for breakfast at least twenty times, but never approved of Laurie’s choice of the eggs benedict with salmon.

  “No one should eat fish for breakfast,” Timmy pronounced with confidence. “Right, Grandpa?”

  If Laurie had to handpick a rival for her son’s affections, she couldn’t have chosen a better role model than her father, Leo Farley. While other kids Timmy’s age were starting to admire athletes, comedians, and musicians, Timmy still looked at his grandfather, retired NYPD First Deputy Police Commissioner Leo Farley, as if he were Superman.

  “Hate to tell you this, kiddo,” Leo said crisply, “but you can’t keep eating pancakes with chocolate and powdered sugar on them for the rest of your life. Thirty years from now, you’ll understand why your mom’s eating fish, and I’m pretending to enjoy this turkey bacon that tastes like paper.”

  “So what do the two of you have planned for the rest of the day?” Laurie asked, smiling.

  “We’re going to watch the Knicks-Pacers game,” Timmy said. “We recorded it last night. I’m going to look for Alex in his courtside seats.”

  Laurie suddenly put down her fork. It had been two months since she and Alex Buckley last spoke—and two months before that Alex had taken a break as the host of her television series to focus on his own law practice. Before Laurie even realized how important Alex was to her daily life, he was gone.

  There was a reason she often joked that she needed a clone. She was always busy, both at work and as a mother, but now that Alex was gone, there was an unmistakable void in her life. She kept herself going, one day at a time, focusing on her home and her work, but that was no help.

  Given Timmy’s mention of Alex, she expected her father to jump in and ask, How is Alex, by the way? Or, Does Alex want to join us for dinner this week? But instead, Leo took another bite of his dry turkey bacon. Laurie suspected that Timmy also wondered why they hadn’t seen more of Alex recently. If she had to guess, she’d say he was picking up on his grandfather’s cues not to ask about it directly. So instead, he had mentioned Alex’s courtside seats.

  Laurie tried to sound matter-of-fact. “You know Alex donates them to charities most of the time. His seats will be there, but there might be other people in them.”

  Her son’s face fell. Timmy had managed to survive witnessing the murder of his own father. Heartsick, she realized that he was trying to replace him with Alex.

  She took a final sip of coffee. “Okay, time to earn my keep.”

  Laurie was the producer of Under Suspicion, a series of true crime–based television “news specials” focusing on cold cases. The show’s title reflected its format of working directly with the people who were unofficial suspects in the investigations. They had never been formally charged, but still were living under a constant cloud of suspicion. It was always so hard for Laurie to commit to one case for each special, but she had narrowed the newest possibilities down to two.

  She dropped a kiss on Timmy’s head. “I’ll be home for dinner on time,” she promised. “We’ll have roast chicken?” She constantly felt guilty for not preparing more healthy meals for her son.

  “Don’t worry, Mom,” Timmy said. “If you’re late, we can have pizza.”

  Leo pushed back his chair. “I need to pop over to task force headquarters tonight. I’ll go after you get home and be back for dinner by eight.” A few months ago, her father had stepped back into law enforcement waters by joining the NYPD’s anti-terrorism task force.

  “Sounds perfect,” Laurie said. She could not believe how blessed she was to have these two gentlemen—her sixty-five-year-old father and her nine-year-old son—always trying to make her life easier.

  • • •

  Fifteen minutes later she arrived at work and another man in her life immediately gave her a headache. “I was starting to wonder if you were coming in.” It was Ryan Nichols, calling out to her from his office as she passed his door. He had been hired as the host of her television show a mere three months earlier, and she still had no idea what he was doing at the studio full-time. “I have the perfect case for us,” he shouted as she pretended not to hear him.

  2

  Laurie deliberately ignored Ryan’s call and made it to her own office before having to deal with him. Her secretary, Grace Garcia, immediately sensed that she was not happy. “So, what’s wrong? I thought you were taking your handsome son out to breakfast.” Sometimes Laurie thought that Grace valued the idea of Laurie taking a much-needed break more than she worried about her own time off.

  “How can you tell something’s wrong?” Laurie asked.

  Grace looked at her as if to say, Did you really just ask me that? Grace had always been able to read her like a book.

  Laurie dropped her bag on the desk inside her office, and a minute later Grace followed her carrying a cup of hot tea. Grace was wearing a bright yellow blouse, an impossibly narrow pencil skirt, and black sling-back pumps with five-inch heels. How she managed to carry anything without tipping over was a mystery to Laurie.

  “Ryan saw me get off the elevator and made some crack about my coming in late,” she said, spitting out the words.

  “He’s one to talk,” Grace exclaimed. “Ever notice how he’s never here on the mornings after he attends some high-society event covered on Page Six?”

  Honestly, Laurie never noticed Ryan’s absence. As far as she was concerned, he didn’t need to be here at all until it was time to turn on the cameras.

  “Oh, are we talking about Ryan’s double standards for office hours?” The voice belonged to Laurie’s assistant producer, Jerry Klein, who had stepped from the office adjacent to hers to linger near her door. As much as Laurie pretended to disapprove of the constant flow of gossip between Jerry and Grace, the truth was that the two of them provided some of her most enjoyable moments at work. “Did Grace tell you that he kept dropping by here, looking for you?”

  Grace shook her head. “I was trying not to ruin her morning. She’ll see that guy soon enough. Tell me, Laurie, has anyone told him you’re the boss? He’s like a clone of Brett running all over this place.”

  Technically, Grace was right. Brett Young was the head of Fisher Blake Studios. He’d had an enduring, successful television career. He was as tough as a boss could be, but he had earned the right to run his own ship, as tightly as he wanted.

  Ryan Nichols, on the other hand, was an entirely different story. To be sure, before he turned up at Fisher Blake less than four months ago, he was an up-and-coming star in the legal world. Magna cum laude from Harvard Law School, followed by a Supreme Court clerkship. In just a few years as a federal prosecutor, he had already won the kinds of cases that were covered by the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. But instead of continuing to develop his skills as a practicing lawyer, he left the U.S. Attorney’s Office so he could become a part-time talking head on cable news stations, offering instantaneous analysis about legal issues and trial coverage. These days, everyone wanted to be a celebrity, Laurie thought.

  The next thing she knew, Brett Young had hired Ryan as the new host of the series without consulting her. Laurie had found a perfect host in Alex and working with him had been a pleasure. He was a brilliant lawyer, but he recognized that Laurie’s programming instincts were what made the series su
ccessful. The fact that he was a skilled cross-examiner made him the ideal questioner for show participants who thought they could get through production repeating the same lies they’d told during the original investigation.

  Ryan had only appeared in one special so far. He had neither Alex’s experience nor his natural skills, but he had not been nearly as disastrous as Laurie had feared. What bothered Laurie most about Ryan was the fact that he clearly saw his role at the studio differently than Alex had ever seen his. He was constantly finding ways to undermine Laurie’s ideas. He also served as a legal consultant to other shows at the studio. There was even talk about his developing his own programming. And it was certainly no coincidence that Ryan’s uncle was one of Brett’s closest friends.

  So to get back to what Grace had intended as a rhetorical question: Did Ryan know Laurie was his boss? Laurie was starting to wonder.

  She took her time getting settled at her desk, and then asked Grace to call Ryan and let him know she was ready to see him.

  Maybe it was petty, but if he wanted to see her, he could be the one to walk down the hall.

  3

  Ryan stood in her office, with his hands on his hips. Looking at him objectively, she understood why one of the raging debates among fans of her show was “Who’s cuter? Alex or Ryan?” She had an obvious preference for one, of course, but Ryan was undoubtedly handsome, with sandy blond hair, bright green eyes, and a perfect smile.

  “This view is amazing, Laurie. And your taste in furniture is impeccable.” Laurie was on the sixteenth floor, overlooking the Rockefeller Center ice skating rink. She had decorated the office herself with modern, but welcoming, furnishings. “If this were my office, I might never leave.”

  She took a small amount of pleasure in the hint of jealousy she detected in his voice, but she didn’t need his small talk.