The Sleeping Beauty Killer Read online

  “And you? You’re also a witness to the events of that night.”

  “I’ll be busy helping General Raleigh with his book.”

  “Speaking of the General’s book, that’s for Holly Bloom at Arden Publishing, correct? We’ll be reporting Holly’s role in publishing Jason Gardner’s tell-all book about Casey, not to mention her assistance in securing a job for the Raleigh Foundation’s former chief financial officer, Mark Templeton. Does the General know that we’ll be reporting these connections, Ms. Finder?”

  “Have a good afternoon.”

  Mary Jane didn’t need to acknowledge Laurie’s question. The answer was already clear. Of course General Raleigh knew the information they were reporting. That’s exactly why Laurie was looking at an empty chair in the living room.

  50

  Forty-five miles from New Canaan, in his Manhattan townhouse, General James Raleigh watched his assistant hang up the phone on his desk. He had only heard Mary Jane’s side of the conversation.

  “She thinks you’re pulling my strings, does she?” he said with a wry smile.

  “Pity the person who would try such a thing.”

  “How did she handle the news that I would not be coming up to Connecticut?”

  “Not well. As you predicted, she tried fear tactics. And I’m afraid I need to apologize. I realize that when I first called her assistant, Grace, I mentioned the name of your publisher. She’s connected it to Jason Gardner’s book.”

  The General waved off the apology as unnecessary. “I’m actually surprised no one realized earlier that Jason’s agent and editor were both friends of mine. I see nothing wrong with the fact that I encouraged a man who knew that woman’s dark side to tell the truth about her.”

  “She also mentioned Mark Templeton.”

  The General steepled his fingers. “I knew when she first mentioned his name to Andrew in the library that she’d be going down that road.”

  The General and Mary Jane had been on their way to Connecticut when Andrew sent Mary Jane a text message, warning them that Ryan Nichols had been asking extensive questions about the foundation and Mark Templeton. The General had immediately ordered the driver to turn around.

  “Do you think she knows the truth about the foundation?” Mary Jane asked.

  He shook his head. He had spoken to Mark Templeton personally. He could not imagine that Mark would be stupid enough to cross him.

  “She still wanted to interview me, too,” Mary Jane said. “Apparently Casey told her that Hunter despised me and was determined to have me fired. Is that true? Did Hunter dislike me?”

  The General smiled. One of the reasons he trusted Mary Jane was because, like him, she never let emotions get in her way. She, too, came across to others as cold as steel. But, also like him, she did have feelings. He had never told her how much Hunter distrusted her, because he knew she would be hurt.

  “Of course not,” he said briskly. “Hunter liked you.”

  He could tell she wasn’t completely satisfied with his answer. “Did he know about my last job?” she asked.

  “No,” he assured her. “Regardless, I would never fire you, Mary Jane. What would I do without you?”

  51

  At six o’clock that evening, Laurie’s office was so covered in boxes, notebooks, and loose paper that she longed for the relative cleanliness of her own apartment, Timmy’s clutter and all. She had just balled up a page of scrap paper and scored another two points in her recycling bucket when she heard a knock on her office door.

  “Come in.”

  She was surprised to see Jerry and Ryan. They had stayed in Connecticut with the camera crew to finish up footage outside the police station and courthouse, and were supposed to go home directly from there. “What are you guys doing here?”

  “We could ask the same of you. Seemed like a team effort might be needed,” Ryan said.

  “Grace offered to come, too,” Jerry said. “But tonight was her monthly dinner with her godmother. I told her you wouldn’t want her to cancel.”

  “You read my mind, Jerry.”

  Ryan began picking up balls of paper from around her recycling bucket. “Not sure you’re ready for the Knicks based on these.” Once the floor was clean, he plopped down in one of the chairs across from her desk. Jerry did the same. “I’m sorry today didn’t go better.”

  “Not your fault,” she said.

  “Not yours, either,” Ryan said.

  “For what it’s worth,” Jerry added, “I was watching Andrew like a hawk after his interview with Ryan, but he did go to the bathroom at one point. I suppose he could have contacted his father then.”

  Laurie held up a palm. “Trust me, Jerry, short of going into the bathroom with him, there’s no way you could have stopped him from contacting the General. Andrew wasn’t our problem. If I had to guess, the General was Jason Gardner’s first phone call from Cipriani, and Gabrielle Lawson ran straight to Mindy Sampson, who also tipped him off. And I blew it by losing my patience with his keeper, Mary Jane, yesterday.” She also found herself wondering what role Alex may have played in the General’s decision to stand them up.

  “So I’m not sure how this works,” Ryan said, “but should we talk about where we go from here?”

  She opened the top drawer of her desk and pulled out Ryan’s baseball. “Think fast,” she said. He caught it with one hand. He had done good work the last two days. He was never going to be Alex, but at least he had gone more than twenty-four hours without being a jerk. As she had said to Jerry, they were taking baby steps.

  Laurie looked around at all the documents she’d been scouring for hours and felt less alone. “Let’s make two lists: what we know, and what we suspect.”

  • • •

  The “suspect” list was much longer than the “know.” Laurie accepted the fact that her show might not always reach a definitive conclusion, but she had hoped they’d at least be able to show that Casey was deprived of a fair trial. Between her bad defense lawyer, the anonymous online trolling, Mindy Sampson’s column, and General Raleigh’s involvement in Jason Gardner’s book, the deck had been stacked against her.

  But now they were almost done with production, and Laurie felt as if they’d accomplished nothing.

  “Let’s take another tack,” Ryan suggested. “If you had to bet your entire life savings, what’s your gut?”

  Jerry volunteered to go first. “My life savings is about two hundred and seventeen dollars, but I’d go with Mark Templeton. I think the General—or Mary Jane at his behest—drugged Casey so she’d make a fool of herself that night. And then Mark, knowing that Hunter was about to expose him for embezzlement, saw an opportunity. He left the gala, went straight to Connecticut, killed Hunter, and framed Casey.”

  “So why won’t General Raleigh help our show at this point?” Ryan asked.

  “You already made me bet my life savings. Now you’re hauling out the Socratic method? Okay, my guess is that General Raleigh is still convinced that Casey’s guilty. That’s the only reason he would’ve tried to manipulate this entire process. In his mind, whatever happened at the foundation with Mark is separate, and in some way he is protecting Hunter’s legacy by keeping it quiet.”

  It was a good theory, Laurie thought, the one she’d been working on herself. “How about you, Ryan? What’s your bet?”

  “You sure you want to hear it?” he asked. “We’re finally getting along. I don’t want to find myself back in your doghouse.”

  “Stop it. Consider yourself initiated. What’s your theory?”

  “Honestly? I think Casey’s guilty. I thought it from the beginning, and I think it still. And before you say I’m just sticking to my guns, I’ve kept an open mind. But the simplest explanation is that Casey did it.”

  “Occam’s Razor,” she said.

  “Exactly. The simplest ex
planation is that Casey is guilty. Okay, Laurie, your turn.”

  “I honestly don’t know.”

  Jerry and Ryan both groaned. “No fair,” Ryan said. “We both went out on a limb. Tell us what you think.”

  Jerry jumped to the rescue. “That’s not how Laurie works. She jumps from theory to theory, pulling her hair out, vowing to remain neutral. And then—BAM!—she’s like an oracle: out comes the truth!”

  “Bam?! An oracle? This is what you think of my work process, Jerry?”

  They were still laughing, and Ryan was opening the scotch, when there was a knock at the door.

  “I wonder who else is working late,” she said. “Come in!”

  It was Alex. She recognized the man next to him as Mark Templeton. “Can we talk?”

  As they sat astonished at the presence of the two visitors, Alex explained, “Laurie, I called your home and Leo said you were working late. I took a chance that you’d still be here.”

  Jerry hurried to pull two chairs up.

  “The extra chairs won’t be necessary, Jerry,” Alex said. “The conversation we are about to have is for Laurie’s ears only.”

  Ryan and Jerry looked at Laurie, who nodded toward the door. “We’ll be in my office,” Ryan said.

  As the door closed behind them, Laurie studied Mark Templeton. She had never seen him in person, but she recognized an older version of the man she’d viewed in numerous photographs, almost always next to his close friend Hunter Raleigh. Tonight, he was attired in a suit nearly identical to Alex’s: dark gray with a white shirt and conservative tie. She knew that it was the exact wardrobe that Alex recommended for both trial lawyers and their clients for court appearances. It was a uniform. Just like Coco Chanel believed it was about the woman, not the clothes, Alex believed that it was about the evidence, not the man.

  “Mr. Templeton, you’ve made it clear a number of times that you have no interest in speaking with me,” she said.

  “No, I made it clear that I wouldn’t be participating in your show. And I won’t be changing my mind about that, for reasons I hope you’ll understand. But Alex told me that you’re likely to present me as an alternative suspect in the murder of my friend Hunter Raleigh, and I can’t let that stand.”

  “Then I can arrange for you to be interviewed on camera tomorrow morning,” Laurie said.

  Mark shook his head vigorously. “No, no, no. All I want is for you to hear me out.”

  Alex spoke for the first time since they sat down. “Please, Laurie. I understand you’re determined not to do me any special favors, but I know how you work. You care about the truth. You should at least listen to what Mark has to say.”

  “No promises, but please, go ahead.”

  Mark looked to Alex for reassurance. Alex nodded.

  “A little more than three years after Hunter was killed,” Mark explained, “the board of directors suddenly realized that the foundation’s assets were nowhere near the targets Hunter had set in his five-year plan for fundraising. Because he wasn’t there to raise our profile and market the foundation, I didn’t think it was a surprise to anyone. But there was enough of a shortfall that the board decided to hire a consultant to do a full-scale study of the foundation from top to bottom—strategic mission, publications, investments, the works.”

  It sounded sensible so far. She nodded for him to continue.

  “When they looked at the books, they saw not only that our fund­raising was down, but that I had approved a significant number of bad investments and questionable expenditures, including large withdrawals in cash. I walked into what I thought was a routine board meeting, and James Raleigh cornered me, demanding explanations for each individual expense.”

  “Wouldn’t that be something the CFO would be expected to have?” she asked.

  “Ordinarily, but nothing with the Raleighs is ordinary. I refused to answer.”

  Laurie felt her eyes widen involuntarily. “I’m surprised they didn’t fire you on the spot.”

  “They basically did. My—quote—resignation was announced by the end of business.”

  “And then it took you nearly a year to find another job. And in the meantime, you felt the need to hire Alex.”

  “I didn’t hire him,” Mark said.

  Alex reached over and placed a hand on Mark’s forearm. “Mark, I want to remind you again—”

  “You don’t need to remind me. I need to say this, to hell with the consequences. James Raleigh was the one who brought in Alex. After the board let me go, General Raleigh called all of his powerful friends to persuade the U.S. Attorney’s Office to investigate me for embezzlement. He was certain I had swindled the foundation for nearly two million dollars. When the FBI first came to my door, I took the Fifth, refusing to answer questions. Then they went to my wife, asking her how we paid for a trip to Grand Cayman and her new Audi station wagon. At that point, I was tired of covering for him. I was determined to tell the truth. But I decided to play General Raleigh’s game and give him a choice in the matter.”

  “You’re losing me, Mr. Templeton.”

  “The reason I didn’t answer his questions at the board meeting is because the questionable transactions were all Andrew Raleigh’s. His father began pressuring him to become more involved in the foundation when Hunter started exploring the possibility of running for office. Andrew ran up his foundation credit card very quickly. When I asked him about the charges, he said he was traveling to network with his prep school friends to raise money for the foundation. Andrew wasn’t part of the same New York social circles as his brother. He was out of his element and thought he’d be a more effective fundraiser in other parts of the country. I believed him at the time, but Alex tells me you think Hunter had concerns even when he was alive. The problem got worse over the years.”

  “Are you saying Andrew was embezzling?” Laurie asked.

  Mark shrugged. “That may be too strong of a word. I think his heart was in the right place, but Andrew’s a gambler by nature. He spent far too much money entertaining potential contributors at places like casinos. He chose risky investments. And the more he lost, the more desperate he became to make up the losses, leading to even worse choices.”

  “You were willing to be fired to protect Andrew?”

  “I resigned,” he emphasized with a sad smile. “Even if I’d told the truth, they probably still would have wanted my head. I was innocent of any criminal wrongdoing, but, in truth, I didn’t keep as close of an eye on Andrew as I should have. And I felt protective of him. Hunter was my best friend, so Andrew was like my own kid brother in some ways. I made a decision under pressure to leave the board meeting in silence, unsure what to do. Then the General’s assistant, Mary Jane, called to say they’d be announcing my resignation. I thought I’d simply move on, but I couldn’t get a new position without the General’s recommendation.”

  “I don’t understand. Why did General Raleigh hire Alex to represent you before the U.S. Attorney’s Office?” she asked.

  “Kicking me out wasn’t good enough for him. He brought in the FBI to conduct a criminal investigation. Once they began asking me questions, I had a choice to make. If I’d told the FBI the entire truth, Andrew’s crimes would have been exposed and the foundation would have had no future. I didn’t want that to happen to Hunter’s legacy. So instead, I told the FBI that someone else close to the foundation, with the instincts of a gambler, was responsible. Of course I knew that whatever I said would work its way back to the General, who immediately realized that Andrew was the guilty party. Everything with James Raleigh is a game of chess. He’s always thinking eight steps ahead. At that point, I had him at ‘check.’ ”

  “If he didn’t help you out, you’d expose Andrew,” she said.

  “Exactly. The next thing I know, Alex here is calling me, offering to represent me. I worked out a deal where the foundation agreed not
to press charges. Technically, I was guilty of failing to supervise Andrew’s actions at the firm. It would not have looked good for me, and my future employment prospects, if that had come out. I paid back to the foundation a token amount for the losses I was supposedly responsible for, and it was agreed that I would get a glowing recommendation from General Raleigh once I signed on the dotted line.”

  “That’s a conflict of interest.” Laurie was looking at Alex now, not Mark. “You led the government to believe you committed a crime someone else committed so they wouldn’t scratch beneath the surface.”

  Alex’s eyes were flat as he explained the mechanics of the deal. “It’s not a defendant’s job to correct the government’s mistakes. Mark was satisfied with the outcome of the transaction. He also signed a nondisclosure agreement that he just violated by bringing this information to you. Our hope is that you will refrain from dragging Mark’s name into the show now that you know the truth.”

  “How can you possibly expect that? You may have cleared your own name, but now Andrew is a suspect.”

  Mark looked at Alex, his face suddenly pale. “Andrew? No. You can’t possibly think—”

  “You just told me that he stole from his own family’s charity. His brother knew there was money missing, and I can’t imagine the shame Andrew feared if his father discovered the truth.” Andrew also didn’t have an alibi for the time of the murder, she reminded herself.

  “But that’s insane. Andrew loved his brother. And when his father did find out about Andrew’s wrongdoing, he didn’t shame him. Instead, he threatened me with disaster if I didn’t cover for him. Look, I no longer have a reason to protect Andrew Raleigh. The guy’s an overindulged loser. He ruined my life, or at least that’s what I thought before I landed on my feet. But there’s no way he would have hurt Hunter. To be honest, he’d probably have murdered his father before he’d have touched a hair on the head of his older brother.”