The Sleeping Beauty Killer Page 11

  The fact that Jerry had said he had bad news indicated that Templeton wouldn’t be participating. “Of course not, Jerry. I trust your judgment. I take it he’s a no?”

  “Unfortunately.”

  “That’s a little fishy,” Laurie said. “He was one of Hunter’s closest friends.” Maybe Casey was right about Hunter’s death being connected to his audit of the foundation.

  “I didn’t want to raise the issue of the foundation’s finances without running it past you. I said we wanted to talk to him about that night at the gala. His rationale for declining had a certain logic. He says he loved his dear friend and eventually concluded from the evidence that Casey was guilty. As the head of a reputable nonprofit, he feels a responsibility not to get involved in whatever it is Casey has—quote—up her sleeve.”

  “Okay, you made the right call by not pushing too hard.” She’d made the same decision by not asking Hunter’s brother about the foundation’s finances. Ryan could ask about it once they were in production. She was hopeful that by then, they’d know more about the reasons Templeton resigned his position.

  In the meantime, they had other suspects to research. “I was just talking to Casey’s cousin Angela. She confirmed Casey’s claim that Jason Gardner tried getting Casey back after they broke up, even after she was engaged to Hunter.”

  “Really? If even half of those nasty things he wrote about her in his book were true, you’d think he’d have run as quickly as he could in the opposite direction.”

  “I was thinking the same thing.” The prosecution had tried to offer Jason as a witness at Casey’s trial, to testify that she was a jealous and volatile person. The judge ruled that the testimony was inadmissible “character evidence.” That didn’t stop Jason from writing a tell-all book that made Casey look like Lizzie Borden. “Let’s see what else we can find out about him.”

  “Got it,” Jerry said. “Are you out for the rest of the day?”

  “Yes. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  She needed to speak to Alex.

  26

  Alex greeted Laurie in his reception area with a lingering kiss. She realized how good it felt to have her body close to his. “Funny. I’m used to going to your office, not the other way around.”

  “Sorry to pop in on short notice.” She let Alex lead the way down the hall.

  Although technically Alex was a sole practitioner, he shared space with five other attorneys. They had separate assistants, but jointly funded a pool of eight paralegals and six investigators. The result felt like a small firm, though the decor wasn’t what Laurie typically pictured for a law firm. Instead of dark wood, overstuffed leather chairs, and rows of dusty books, Alex had opted for a modern, open, airy feel, filled with sunlight, glass, and colorful art. When they entered his office, he stepped to the floor-to-ceiling windows with views of the Hudson River. “This is the perfect time of day, watching the sun move to the horizon. The sky’s beautiful tonight, filled with pink and gold.”

  Laurie always admired the way Alex took the time to appreciate the joys that others took for granted. She was wondering now if she had made a mistake coming here. Maybe she was overreacting. She found herself thinking about Grace’s breezy attitude toward dating. It was a world she did not understand. She had always thought Greg was a once-in-a-lifetime soul mate because nothing between them had ever been complicated. But maybe I have a way of making things harder than they need to be, she thought.

  “So to what do I owe this pleasure?” Alex asked.

  Now that she was here, she couldn’t lie to him. She just needed to come out with it. “The other night, it seemed like you were trying to avoid talking to me about Casey Carter’s wrongful conviction claim.”

  “Did it?” Alex looked astonished. “As I said, I just wasn’t sure how much I should stick my nose in now that I’m no longer working on the show. Once you told me you wanted my opinion, I did my best to give you my assessment based on the coverage I remembered from the trial.”

  Something about his explanation sounded defensive, almost lawyerly. “And then you told me not to let Brett pressure me into a rushed decision. And you pointed out that Casey didn’t really have anything to lose, unlike our previous specials.”

  “What are you getting at, Laurie?”

  “It seemed as though you were giving me reasons to stay away from the case. Why is that?”

  Alex was looking out the window again. “I don’t know where all this is coming from, Laurie. I thought the other night at my apartment went really well. It felt good to be with you and your family without work overshadowing everything. You seemed happy when you left. Was I wrong about that?”

  “No. But that was before I found out you dated Casey’s cousin.”

  “I what?”

  “Well, maybe dated is too strong a word. But you went out with Casey’s cousin, Angela Hart, when you were in law school. Is that why you didn’t want me to take the case?”

  Alex seemed to be searching his memory.

  “Are there really so many women that you can’t remember this one? She was a model, for goodness’ sakes. I think most men would remember that.”

  It was a low blow and she knew it. Early on, Alex had assured her that he was no “man about town,” even though he was in his late thirties and had never been married and always seemed to have a beautiful woman on his arm in the social pages. Now she was holding those facts over him.

  “A model? Do you mean Angie? Sure, I vaguely remember her. You mean to tell me she’s Casey Carter’s cousin?”

  “Yes. She’s the friend of Charlotte I mentioned. And she told me that you met at some law partner’s party in the Hamptons. She was with the Raleigh family.”

  She could see the memory coming back to Alex. It really did seem as if he had not made the connection before.

  “That’s right. General Raleigh was at that picnic. All of the law students were starstruck. It was a big deal when he took the time to shake our hands.”

  “And the sons, Hunter and Andrew?”

  “If I met them, I honestly don’t remember. Laurie, I don’t understand what any of this is about.”

  “Were you trying to hide the fact that you knew Angela Hart from me?”

  “No.” He held up his right hand in a pledge.

  “Were you trying to hide the fact that you knew Hunter Raleigh?”

  No again, with the pledge. “I don’t even recall meeting him,” he reminded her.

  “Is there some other reason you don’t want me working on this case?”

  “Laurie, I’m starting to think your cross-examination skills are better than mine. Look, I know how much you care about Under Suspicion. It is your baby, from top to bottom, beginning to end. You and you alone should decide what case you think merits your show’s attention. Okay? I have total faith that you’ll have yet another hit on your hands, no matter what you decide, because your instincts are always spot-on.”

  He wrapped her in his arms and kissed the top of her head. “Any more questions?”

  She shook her head.

  “You know you’re prettier than any model out there, right?”

  “It’s a good thing you’re not under oath, Counselor. I’m heading home to make dinner for Timmy. Care to join us?”

  “I’d love to, but I’m speaking at NYU tonight. A friend of mine is being inducted as a chaired professor at the law school.”

  He kissed her once more before walking her to the elevator. By the time she stepped out in the lobby, a sinking feeling had returned to Laurie’s stomach. She pictured Alex with his right hand up in a pledge to tell the truth. No, he hadn’t meant to conceal a connection to Angela. No, he didn’t remember meeting Hunter. But was there some reason he didn’t want Laurie looking into Casey’s conviction? He never responded to the question, but Laurie’s instincts, the ones that were always spot-on, we
re yelling the answer: there was something he wasn’t telling her.

  27

  Three days later, Laurie, Grace, and Jerry were gathered in her office to discuss where they stood in securing agreements from every­one they wanted to participate in the next special.

  Grace flipped through a file of signed releases. “Of the people who were at the gala that night, we’ve got Hunter’s brother and father, both of whom have made it very clear they believe Casey is guilty. The assistant, Mary Jane, signed. Casey, of course, is participating, as is her cousin Angela. We have the housekeeper who will back up Casey’s claim that Hunter’s photograph with the President was on his nightstand. And we have Casey’s mother.”

  Jerry let out a groan. “I’m not even sure we should go there. Paula seems like a nice woman, but she has called at least three times a day, asking questions about every last thing. Are we sure Casey can’t be sent back to prison? Does Casey need a lawyer? Can you blur our faces? She doesn’t have much to offer about the actual evidence, and I’m afraid if we put her on camera, she’ll be a deer in the headlights.”

  “I’ll think about that,” Laurie said. “You may be right.”

  Viewers would tune in just to hear Casey, because she never testified at trial. But they needed something new other than the missing picture frame.

  “I’m torn about whether to push harder to get Mark Templeton on board,” Laurie said.

  Grace flipped through her notes, trying to remember all the names. “That’s the money guy, right?”

  Laurie nodded. “Chief financial officer of the Raleigh Foundation, to be exact. He told Jerry he wanted to avoid associating his name with Casey because of his current role as director of a nonprofit, but he could have ulterior motives for lying low. The fact that the Raleigh Foundation had financial problems when he departed does raise questions—especially combined with Hunter’s concerns about the books and the fact that it took Mark nearly a year to start a new job after he left the foundation.”

  Jerry tapped his pen against his notebook. “Do we have any evidence other than Casey’s word that Hunter was worried about the foundation?”

  Laurie raised her hand in the shape of a zero. “If we did, we’d have leverage to press Mark on the issue. Without it, we look like we’re grasping at straws.” Laurie was already missing the conversations she used to have with Alex. They would pore over the evidence together, looking at each piece from all sides.

  “More like Casey’s grasping at straws,” Grace emphasized. “If Hunter had really been sniffing around about the finances and was suddenly murdered, wouldn’t someone have come forward to tell the police? One of those forensic accountants he was hiring?”

  “Unless he never got around to calling,” Laurie said. “According to Casey, he said he noticed something unusual and that he was going to hire someone to inspect the books. But, again, that’s according to Casey. I’m tempted to press Mark Templeton about the issue, but I’m worried he’ll call the Raleighs and scare them off. I’m sure they don’t want a whiff of scandal about the foundation. Until I have concrete evidence to connect Mark, I think it’s a dead end.”

  “The good news,” Jerry reported cheerily, “is that we have our two principal locations locked down. Hunter’s Connecticut house was left to his brother, Andrew. My impression is that the man nearly forgot he owns it. His exact words when I called him to confirm were mi casa es su casa. And even though the Cipriani ballroom is booked for months, the Raleigh Foundation will let us piggyback onto their upcoming donor event, but it’s next Sunday. That’s in ten days, which I think we can pull off. We’d film before their event—in exchange for a nice donation, of course. I already did a walk-through, and it will be a beautiful setting.”

  “I have an idea about a location also,” Grace said. “Tiro A Segno in Greenwich Village. It’s both a private gun club and a restaurant. Where else can you get veal parmigiana and a target range? It was Hunter’s favorite place to shoot. You might be able to find people who remember him and Casey.”

  “Congratulations, Grace. Good idea,” Laurie said. “If only location scouting was always this easy.” The trial had simplified matters, too. Her past specials had all involved cases that never led to an arrest, let alone court proceedings. She had to piece together the evidence from public records, newspaper articles, and the biased recollections of myriad witnesses. Not this time. She had spent the last few days poring over the transcripts from Casey’s trial and had created a detailed overview of every aspect of the evidence. “Is it possible we might actually be able to meet Brett’s absurd time line?”

  She heard a knock at the door and yelled for the person to come in. It was Ryan Nichols. “Sorry I’m late.”

  He didn’t sound as though he meant it.

  28

  What had been a fast-moving, natural conversation became clunky and awkward with Ryan in the room. “I didn’t realize you were joining us,” Laurie said.

  “You sent me an email with the time. Why would you think I wouldn’t come?”

  Laurie hadn’t thought of her message as an invitation to attend, let alone a directive. In the spirit of playing nice with the new kid in the sandbox, she had notified him that she’d be meeting with Jerry and Grace this afternoon with an eye toward setting a production schedule. “Alex usually didn’t get involved until we had a full list of witnesses lined up and ready to go on camera,” she told him. “Then of course we’d all work together to plan the lines of questioning.”

  Ryan said abruptly, “Laurie, I think I’d be more comfortable plugged in from the get-go. That’s what I’ve talked about with Brett.”

  Jerry and Grace were sharing an apprehensive glance, like siblings who were watching their parents fight. They knew that Ryan had Brett wrapped around his finger, and Laurie was in no position to complain about Ryan’s involvement. They also were certainly aware that she had gotten into the habit of treating Alex like a trusted sounding board.

  Seeing no way out, Laurie gestured to Ryan to have a seat. “We were just going over the releases we’ve received from the people we’d like you to interview.” She filled him in on the list they’d compiled so far.

  “That’s not much to work with,” he said dismissively. “It would be nice to get some of their friends, just to give a sense of what Casey and Hunter were like together.”

  “We already thought of that,” Laurie said, “but Casey’s friends all dropped her when she was arrested, and Hunter’s friends are obviously going to have a biased opinion of her.”

  “Who’s to say it’s biased?” he questioned. “Maybe she’s just as awful as they say.”

  Jerry cleared his throat to cut the tension. “What about that guy Angela was dating?”

  “Sean Murray,” Laurie reminded him. “He called yesterday and doesn’t want to get involved. He’s married now with three kids. He said no wife wants to be reminded her husband was with someone else, especially not someone who looks like Angela. He asked me if she was still beautiful.”

  “Painfully so,” Grace observed. “It’s sort of hard not to hate her.”

  “Sean said he had nothing to offer in any event. He was out of town the night of the foundation gala and hadn’t seen Hunter and Casey for at least a couple of weeks before that. All he could say was that they seemed very much in love. He wrote off their arguments as debates they both enjoyed. But after she was arrested, he would read the news coverage and wonder if there was a darker side to their relationship that he hadn’t seen.”

  Ryan raised an eyebrow. “He sounds like a smart man. Where are we on alternative suspects?”

  Jerry was ready with an answer.

  “I’ve been looking into the names you gave me, Laurie,” he said. He emphasized her name in an attempt to return control of the meeting to her. “I got renowned socialite Gabrielle Lawson on the phone, and I made an appointment for you to see her at thr
ee o’clock today.”

  Grace interrupted. “I’m sorry, but what the heck is a socialite? I mean, I’m a secretary, Laurie’s a producer, Jerry’s an assistant producer, and Ryan here’s a kick-butt lawyer. What makes someone a socialite?”

  Laurie smiled. “In Gabrielle Lawson’s case I would say it’s generally someone from a prominent family who likes to walk on the red carpets and see her name in gossip columns.”

  Once Grace was satisfied with that response, Jerry continued. “The day before Hunter was killed, a gossip column called ‘The Chatter’ ran a photograph of Gabrielle looking cozy with Hunter at a fundraiser for the Boys and Girls Clubs.” He handed Laurie a printout of the picture in question. Gabrielle was staring at Hunter adoringly. “Perhaps not coincidentally, the reporter was Mindy Sampson, the blogger who has been posting constantly about Casey since her release. When Mindy was a newspaper columnist, she was practically tailing Hunter, claiming that he was back to his playboy ways and was on the verge of breaking off his engagement to Casey because of an infatuation with Gabrielle, who made no secret of her interest in Hunter.”

  Fifteen years later, Mindy Sampson’s constant blog posts about Casey were the reason Brett was rushing them into production.

  “I also found this ‘Whispers’ piece that ran the previous week,” Jerry added.

  “I used to love that column,” Grace exclaimed. “It ran so-called blind items: whispers about hot gossip, without naming names.”

  Laurie read aloud the item Jerry had highlighted: “ ‘Which of the city’s most sought after men might be heading back to the bachelor scene instead of heading down the aisle?’ And we think this was Hunter?” she asked.

  “The press certainly did after Casey was arrested,” Jerry said. “That, plus the picture of Hunter with Gabrielle, suggested that all wasn’t right in paradise.”