The Sleeping Beauty Killer Part 10

"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 a.s.sured 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, were 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 partic.i.p.ate 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 a.s.sistant, Mary Jane, signed. Casey, of course, is partic.i.p.ating, 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 a.s.sociating 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 princ.i.p.al 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 relations.h.i.+p 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 three 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 a.s.sistant producer, and Ryan here's a kick-b.u.t.t 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 rus.h.i.+ng 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."

As far as Gabrielle Lawson was concerned, Laurie had some inkling of what she'd say if interviewed for their show. "Gabrielle testified at Casey's trial. According to her, Hunter flirted with her at that fundraiser. Her exact words were that he was 'not behaving like a man who was spoken for.' At the gala she had approached their table, put her arms around him, and kissed him. The prosecution used that as further evidence to suggest that Hunter was about to break things off with Casey."

Laurie could tell from Jerry's eager expression that there was more to the story.

"But we know there's more today than Casey's defense lawyer knew fifteen years ago. Gabrielle Lawson has been married and divorced three times, with high-profile romances in between, which she always plays up in the press, whether real or imagined. Many of her advances on wealthy, powerful men have been rebuffed. One of her crushes, the director Hans Lindholm, even obtained a restraining order."

Laurie, Grace, and Ryan all murmured vague recollections of the momentary scandal, but Jerry was prepared with the details. "According to Lindholm's pet.i.tion, he met Gabrielle in pa.s.sing at the Tribeca Film Festival, and then she began showing up unexpectedly at other public events he attended. He claimed that she even called a gossip columnist and swore that the two of them were shopping for an apartment together."

"Who was the gossip columnist?" Laurie asked, her eyebrow arching.

"The one and only Mindy Sampson. Of course, there's no way to confirm that Gabrielle was Mindy's source, but the court did issue the restraining order."

Grace frowned. "She sounds like a literal Fatal Attraction. Maybe she decided that if she couldn't have Hunter, then no one could. She killed Hunter, and framed Casey for the deed."

"Notice that even Grace is starting to see another side to the story," Laurie said. "As you know, I'll be seeing Gabrielle this afternoon. I've also been doing some digging of my own into Jason Gardner."

"That's Casey's ex-boyfriend," Laurie told Ryan. "He was a junior banker and just happened to be sitting at his employer's table at the Raleigh Foundation gala."

"Seems like another possible stalker to me," Grace added.

"Ryan," Jerry explained, "Grace is our in-house conclusion-jumper."

"Put another way," Grace said defiantly, "I'm the one with good instincts about people. And I started out absolutely certain that Casey was guilty as sin."

"Join the team," Ryan snapped.

"Now I've opened my eyes," Grace declared. "And Jason's my number one suspect. Think about it. Your ex is newly engaged to Mr. Muckety-Muck. Your enormous company buys an obligatory table at the gala, where Hunter Raleigh is bound to be the center of attention. Any normal person would want to be anywhere in New York City other than in that room. Instead Jason shows up. I'm telling you: that guy was jealous."

"You may be onto something," Laurie agreed. "Both Casey and Angela claim that Jason tried getting Casey back, even after her engagement was announced. And like Gabrielle, Jason has acc.u.mulated some skeletons in his closet since Casey was first charged with murder. He raised eyebrows by writing a tell-all book immediately after she was convicted. But since then, he's been divorced twice. Both wives complained to the police that he would drive by the house after he moved out. He even confronted his second wife's new boyfriend in a restaurant. She alleged he had a substance abuse problem."

Ryan held up a hand to interrupt. "I don't know how you can possibly get either of these people to talk to me on camera."

Laurie thought she saw Jerry and Grace both cringe at the use of his word me. She was relieved when Jerry spoke up. "Laurie can be very persuasive. The ones who are innocent help because they trust us. And the ones who aren't so innocent pretend to trust us because they're afraid of looking guilty."

Laurie couldn't have put it any better herself. "If we can get Gabrielle and Jason on board, we should have enough to start production. If we get new leads, we can always do a second round of interviews."

"Sounds like a plan," Ryan said.

Our plan, she thought, not yours.

Jerry tucked his pen inside the spiral of his notebook. "It's too bad we don't know more about this financial issue with the foundation."

"Why?" Ryan asked.

"Because Casey told us she was suspicious of Mark Templeton. He left the foundation under a cloud. She said she thought Hunter was planning to order an audit of the foundation's books."

"According to media reports at the time," Laurie explained, "the foundation's a.s.sets had significantly dipped."

"That's very interesting." Ryan's voice was thoughtful, but he did not explain himself. "Very interesting." He didn't share whatever inferences he might have drawn from that information. The man was utterly useless.