The Sleeping Beauty Killer Part 9

"Sorry," Angela said, "I didn't want to mention it while Casey was at the office with me. She's so upset." It didn't take long for Angela to fill Charlotte in on the comments from RIP_Hunter.

"It could be one person who's obsessed with Casey," Charlotte observed. "Or it could be a bunch of different people all using the same online name."

"I don't understand," Laurie said. "Why would a group come together to post negative comments about Casey as if they're one person?"

"No, not anything like a conspiracy. I remember back in college, when I'd go on message boards to talk about the latest celebrity breakup-don't judge me-people would sign their comments along the lines of Team Jennifer or Team Angie. It's a way of taking sides in an Internet feud. Same thing with political candidates. These days, it would be on Twitter. A million people typing hashtag-whoever are signaling who they're supporting, but it's not written by one person. For all we know, RIP_Hunter could have been a label that caught on among people who were all on Hunter's 'side' so to speak, meaning they thought Casey was guilty."

"How could we find out what it really was?" Laurie asked.

"You'd have to check to see whether it was the kind of site where users had to create a verified account with a unique username, or whether anyone could just type RIP_Hunter as a signature."

Laurie made a mental note to follow up on the technological aspect of these posts. She had her fingers crossed that the defense lawyer had done the same back then, which would save her from wading into a mora.s.s of computer information she sometimes struggled to understand.

"I don't know about all that," Angela said, "but I've been wracking my brain trying to think of people who might have wanted to hurt Hunter. I realize that Casey may not have mentioned a couple of possibilities. One was her ex-boyfriend, Jason Gardner. He was terribly jealous. It always seemed like he was still in love with Casey and trying to get her back, even though she was engaged to Hunter. But after she was convicted, he really threw her under the bus. He even published a trashy tell-all book. And you should also look into Gabrielle Lawson. She's this pathetic aging socialite who was determined to snag a man like Hunter. Both of them were at the gala that night. Both of them stopped by our table. My worry is that if Casey goes through with this, it will kill her mother just the way her going to trial killed her father."

Angela was speaking with such an intensity that she didn't seem to notice that Charlotte and Laurie were sharing an anxious look. "Angela," Charlotte said gently, "maybe we should let Laurie enjoy her happy hour. How would you feel if she grilled us about the fall fashion show that has us so exhausted?"

Laurie hadn't known Charlotte long, but it wasn't the first time she'd seemed to know what Laurie was thinking. The truth was, Laurie loved talking about work, no matter what the hour, but it felt inappropriate to discuss the current investigation with Casey's family member in such an off-the-record way. Always the consummate professional, Charlotte had found a polite way to shift the subject matter.

"Oh my gosh, of course," Angela said sheepishly. "We're all officially off the clock. No work talk."

Laurie was grateful for Charlotte's save. "No problem at all," she said. "If it makes you feel any better, we already have both Jason and Gabrielle on our list of people to contact based on our review of the case."

"So," Angela said, searching for a new topic, "are you married, Laurie, or are you part of the single ladies club with us? I don't see a ring."

Charlotte wrapped a friendly arm around her friend's shoulder. "I should have warned you that my buddy Angela can be very blunt."

Laurie could tell that Charlotte was embarra.s.sed, but, if anything, Laurie found comfort in the fact that Charlotte hadn't told Angela her background already. Sometimes Laurie thought that Greg's murder was the first fact anyone learned about her. "I'm not married either," she said. That seemed a sufficient explanation for the moment.

"Charlotte says I shouldn't care so much about finding a man. Be happy on my own, et cetera. But I admit, it gets lonely not to have found the right guy yet."

Charlotte rolled her eyes. "You make forty sound like ninety. Besides, you're more gorgeous now than most women could hope to be at any age."

"Oh sure, I go out a lot, but it doesn't amount to a hill of beans." She laughed. "I was engaged twice, but as we got near the wedding date, I asked myself if I'd want to see this guy's face every morning."

"Isn't this uplifting?" Charlotte said. "Besides, Laurie has more going on in that arena than she can handle."

Angela took the bait. "What's this? Sounds juicy."

"He's someone I worked with. It's complicated."

"You really don't think he'll change his mind about coming back to the show?" Charlotte asked. "It won't be the same without that perfect voice." She did her best, deep-voiced Alex impersonation. "Good evening. This is Alex Buckley."

"No," Angela said, her mouth agape. "Alex Buckley? Really? The lawyer?"

Now Laurie wished they were talking about the case instead. She nodded. "The host of our show. Or at least, he was."

"Okay, now I have to admit I haven't seen the show yet."

Charlotte pretended to give her friend a little smack. "Laurie's taking your cousin's case and you didn't even watch her show?"

"I was planning on streaming it this weekend. Of course I was dying to watch it last month when your sister's case was featured, but you told me you didn't want everyone at work to watch, because it was so personal about your family."

"Well, obviously I didn't mean that about you," Charlotte said. "You're one of my best friends."

"Really," Laurie said, "you don't need to explain."

When the table fell into a silence, Angela shook her head. "Man, Alex Buckley. Now, that is a small world."

"You know him?" Laurie asked.

"Not anymore. But I went out with him once a million years ago."

Charlotte shook her head. "Why in the world would you tell her that?"

"Because it's a funny coincidence. And it was more than fifteen years ago. Ancient history." She waved off the thought.

Charlotte was still giving her friend a disapproving look.

"What? Laurie's not upset, are you? Trust me, this is a non-issue, just like with Hunter."

"Wait: You dated him, too?" Charlotte mused. "Who haven't you gone out with?"

"It's not like that, Charlotte," Angela said. "You didn't know me then. I went out every night of the week. I met baseball players, actors, a New York Times reporter. And don't go thinking what you're thinking. It was all very innocent. We were so young, thrown into these high-profile social situations where you're expected to have a plus-one. It's like Casey said earlier, Laurie: she felt like she knew everyone in New York City. I was the same way in my twenties. One moment, you'd be on a red carpet. Then when it was just a group of us alone, we'd giggle and act like kids. It was as if there were an unofficial club of a hundred popular New Yorkers, all keeping each other company. Nothing heavy."

She smiled at the memory. "But, my goodness, what a small world indeed. Come to think of it, I met Alex when I tagged along to a picnic in Westchester with Casey and the Raleighs. I was unattached at the time. Alex was smart and so nice looking. Someone told me he was a lawyer at the host's law firm. We talked through most of the party so I took a chance and called him at the office to invite him out to lunch. When we met, I realized he wasn't even a lawyer yet. He was a summer a.s.sociate, still in law school. I was several years older-not a big deal these days, but at the time, I felt like Mrs. Robinson. Of course, what a mistake in retrospect. Look how he turned out!"

Something about Laurie's expression caused Angela to pause. "Maybe I should keep my younger days to myself, but I promise, it was just one lunch. I'm very sorry if I've upset you, Laurie."

"Not at all. As you said, it's a small world. So if you met Alex at a picnic the Raleighs took you to, does that mean Alex met the Raleighs, too?"

She shrugged. "I can't say for sure."

Charlotte was signaling to the waiter for another round, but Laurie said, "That's all for me. I might actually have time to cook dinner for my son tonight."

"You sure? You're going to miss out on my grilling Angela about that long list of boyfriends from the nineties."

Laurie was indeed intrigued about something Angela had said, but there was only one person's past she was curious about.

She texted Alex. Do you have a second?

24.

The tip of General James Raleigh's Montblanc pen hovered above his legal pad, but he hadn't been able to write a word this afternoon. He was working on his memoirs, already sold to a major publisher. His handwriting was as neat and orderly as the other attributes of his life, so Mary Jane had no difficulty reading his pages and typing them into ma.n.u.script format. Usually, the sentences flowed easily. He had been blessed with an exciting, challenging, and rewarding life. He had watched the world change and was filled with stories. He knew that others regarded him as an old man now, but he didn't feel like one.

He knew why he was having an uncharacteristic bout of writer's block. He was trying to write the chapter about losing his firstborn son, Hunter. He had experienced so much loss in his lifetime. His older brother, also his hero and best friend, had been killed in combat at such a young age. He watched the love of his life and the mother of his children waste away to cancer. And then three years later, Hunter-his brother's namesake-was stolen from him. That death had been the worst of all. Wars and disease are horrific, but expected parts of life. To lose a child, to have a child murdered-sometimes James was surprised he had not dropped dead himself from grief.

He placed his pen on his desk, knowing there was no point in trying to work in this state.

His thoughts suddenly shifted to the memory of Andrew sulking in the library today. James knew he'd been hard on his son, but the boy was such a disappointment. Fifty years old, he thought, and I still think of him as a boy. That speaks volumes.

James could only imagine what the Senator, as he and his brother had called their father, would have done to them if they'd ever behaved in such an ent.i.tled manner. Andrew had no sense of civic responsibility. He saw money in the basest, most hedonistic terms, something to be thrown about on a whim, solely for enjoyment. The partying. The practical jokes. The jumps from boarding school to boarding school. The gambling. I am hard on you, Andrew, because I care about you. I won't always be here to guide you. Before long, you will be the only Raleigh left.

So far James's efforts to drag Andrew into maturity had failed, along with every job he'd helped him land. He'd worked at the foundation but almost never showed up. James finally told him not to bother. He had pushed Hunter to become involved in the foundation when Hunter began talking about a shift into politics. That did not end well, so now the foundation was run primarily by paid staff instead of his own family.

It wasn't supposed to be like this. Hunter, if he had lived, eventually would have chosen a suitable spouse and would have carried on the family name. He might have proposed to Casey and put a ring on her finger, but he was never going to make it down the aisle with her. Of that much, James was certain.

As careless as Andrew was about his choices of companions, at least he had never brought them around in ways that embarra.s.sed the family. He could not say the same for Hunter. Casey had been Hunter's Achilles' heel. James felt his blood pressure rise as he remembered the night that she began offering her strident political views at the dinner table, in front of a deputy attorney general and a newly elected congresswoman-as if she had done anything in her young, carefree life to have an informed opinion. He finally had to suggest that Hunter escort her home. The woman did not know how to behave, plain and simple.

He realized that his pen was back in hand. He looked at his notepad. He had written, I am responsible.

It wasn't the first time those words had come out when he least expected them. I was the one who told him that he could not let that woman into our family, he thought. I even went so far as to tell him that if he had children with her, he was forbidden to name them Hunter.

I saw forty-four years of military service. I have seen evil and confronted danger in many forms. But I never saw it sitting at my own dining table. I never thought I was putting my son in danger by expecting him to break things off with a woman who didn't deserve him.

I am responsible.

Now that murderous girl was planning to cry in front of the cameras to gain sympathy. He would not let that happen. If he had to fight until his last breath, the world would come to see her for what she was-a cold-blooded killer.

He had told Andrew that his role would be limited to putting on a stern face for the show, but he had learned the five p's in the military: prior planning prevents poor performance. Andrew would do his job of exposing Casey for the volatile sociopath that she was, but James's efforts would remain behind the scenes.

At the very least, Mark Templeton would not be saying a word to anyone about Hunter or the foundation. James had made sure of that earlier today when he'd spoken to Templeton for the first time in nearly a decade.

25.

Laurie was stepping out of a taxi in front of Alex's office when her cell phone rang. According to the screen, it was Jerry. She wasn't surprised that he was still working. She picked up immediately.

"I've got bad news," he said. "Mark Templeton, the former CFO of the Raleigh Foundation, finally called you back. He wanted to know what this was about, so Grace connected him to me. I told him about the show. I hope you don't mind."

The fact that Jerry had said he had bad news indicated that Templeton wouldn't be partic.i.p.ating. "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 pract.i.tioner, he shared s.p.a.ce with five other attorneys. They had separate a.s.sistants, 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, gla.s.s, 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 att.i.tude 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 a.s.sessment 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?"