All Dressed in White

9

In Brett Young’s office at Fisher Blake Studios, Laurie was making her strongest pitch to feature the Runaway Bride case in their next special.

She began by laying the button that Sandra had given her on Brett’s desk. Normally, she would have brought eight-by-ten glossies, but today, she was working on the fly. “You might recognize her photograph. Her name is Amanda Pierce. Five years after her disappearance, her mother, Sandra, still wears these buttons.”

Raising his eyebrows, Brett inched the button toward him for closer inspection, but said nothing.

“New Yorkers Amanda Pierce and Jeff Hunter had plans for a luxurious destination wedding. The ceremony was planned for Saturday afternoon, to be followed by a lavish reception. The wedding would be fairly intimate-sixty of their closest friends and family. But the wedding never happened,” she continued. “On Friday morning before the Saturday afternoon wedding, the bride, Amanda Pierce, did not show up for breakfast. Her fiancé and maid of honor knocked on the door of her room. There was no answer. A security guard let them in. The bed had not been slept in. Her wedding dress was spread across it. The night before, the bridal party had had dinner together. That was the last time they saw Amanda.”

Laurie could tell she had Brett’s attention now. “They started to worry. They checked the hotel gym, the beach, the restaurant, the lobby-everywhere they could think of to look for her. Jeff went to the front desk to ask if housekeeping had already made up Amanda’s room. The clerk checked, and just as he said, ‘no,’ Amanda’s parents arrived in the lobby. They had to hear from Jeff that their daughter was missing. She’s never been heard from again.” Brett snapped his fingers. “I knew her face looked familiar. This is that Runaway Bride thing, right? Didn’t she turn up in Vegas with some other guy?”

Laurie vaguely recalled a similar story a few years back along those lines, but assured him that it wasn’t the Amanda Pierce case. “Amanda vanished without a trace. People don’t run away for over five years.”

“Without a trace? As in, no body? No new clues at all? Doesn’t sound promising.”

“It’s a cold case. That’s what we do, Brett.”

“But this one is ice cold. We’re talking igloo at the North Pole. Let me guess: the person you were talking to before the meeting was the button-wearing mother? I ran into her in the elevator.” Before she could answer, he said, “You’re a sucker for a sad story, Laurie. I can’t green-light a special just so you can give a platform to the sobbing family. We need clues. We need suspects. I’m sure you want to help this mother, but as I recall, the parents weren’t even there yet when the girl disappeared, right? And who are the people who have been living under suspicion since then?”

Laurie explained Amanda’s decision to leave her trust fund to Jeff, even though they weren’t married yet.

Jerry chimed in. “If you go online, there are thousands of people obsessed with this case. Almost everyone thinks the groom did it and it had something to do with the money. And the facts about the will aren’t even public. Not long after Amanda disappeared he had the nerve to hook up with her best friend. They’re married now, and I bet it won’t be long before they spend all the money together.”

“Not that we’re biased or anything,” Laurie added jokingly.

“Of course not,” Jerry said.

The mention of money gave Laurie another idea. “The setting would be perfect, Brett. The Grand Victoria Hotel in Palm Beach. It was supposed to be a dream wedding. All travel, lodging, and entertainment paid for by the bride’s wealthy family.”

Laurie was pleased when she finally saw Brett scribble some notes. She made out the word “resort,” followed by dollar signs. Just as she had predicted, Brett relished the idea of a glamorous setting and financially comfortable participants. Sometimes Laurie wondered if Brett would have preferred for her to have created Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous: Unsolved Murders.

“But her body was never found,” Brett observed. “Up until now, for all we know, Amanda Pierce is happily enjoying a new life under a new name. I would have thought, Laurie, that your journalist ethics would leave you concerned about violating the woman’s privacy.”

Laurie had lost track of the number of times that her values as a reporter had clashed with Brett’s unmitigated quest for ratings. Now that she was pitching a case that was perfect for television, he was finding far too much enjoyment in giving her a hard time.

“Actually, I’ve given that some thought. Even if Amanda left of her own accord, we do have victims. She walked out on her distraught family, and left behind at least one innocent person suffering under the gaze of public suspicion. I’m perfectly happy if we find out the truth, no matter where that leads us.”

“Well, for once, you and I might be on the same page. This is a good mystery, and the story of a disappearing bride is perfect for television-a young, beautiful woman vanished into thin air from a five-star hotel on the most important weekend of her life. I think I’ve been an excellent influence on you.”

“Undoubtedly,” Laurie said dryly. She was already running through the other perks of the case. Of course Grace and Jerry would be thrilled with the setting. Laurie’s father, Leo, and son, Timmy, could be with them while they were on location, hopefully in August. Depending on the timing she might be able to finish the shoot before Timmy started school again in September. Her mind had wandered to the thought of brainstorming interview sessions with Alex on the beach when Brett asked another question. “Who’s on board?”

The biggest challenge for their show was convincing the victim’s friends and family members to participate. “So far just her mother, and supposedly the siblings and one of the bridesmaids,” Laurie said. She quickly added, “I didn’t want to reach out to anyone else until I got your approval.” That sounded much better than This case just fell in my lap this morning.

“Full speed ahead. The Runaway Bride sounds like a Runaway Hit.”