All Dressed in White

5

Laurie tucked a loose strand of hair beneath her ear, always a sign that she was nervous. “Mrs. Pierce-”

“Please, call me Sandra.”

“Sandra. I can’t imagine how difficult it must be to not know what happened to Amanda. But our program is limited in what we can do. We’re not the police or the FBI. We go back to the scene of a crime and try to re-create the events through the eyes of the people who were involved.”

Sandra Pierce was leaning forward, ready to defend her position. “That’s why Amanda’s case would be perfect. The Grand Victoria is one of the most famous hotels in the world. It’s a glamorous setting, and people love stories about weddings, and most of them can’t resist a mystery. I know I can persuade my family, including my ex-husband Walter, to participate. And I already called one of the bridesmaids, Kate Fulton, and she said she’d do whatever she could. I believe the two groomsmen will also agree. As for Jeff, I don’t think he would have the nerve to refuse.”

“That’s not the issue, Sandra. First, our show is about cold cases. Cold crimes. You said yourself that the police have no actual proof that your daughter was a crime victim. Maybe you’re right, and she was taken away by force. But there’s no hard proof I am hearing that a crime was actually committed.”

Now there were tears flowing from Sandra’s eyes.

“It’s been over five years,” Sandra said passionately. “My daughter was a successful businesswoman. She adored New York City. There were no unusual cash withdrawals or credit card transactions before her disappearance and absolutely nothing since then. She loved her friends and her family. She would not put us through this kind of misery. If she didn’t want to get married, she would have broken the news to Jeff gently, and they would have gone their separate ways. Please, you must believe me on that-Amanda did not run away.”

“Okay, but there’s still a second problem. Our show is called Under Suspicion for a reason. We focus specifically on crimes where the people close to the victim continue to live under the shadow of suspicion, even though they were never formally charged. Because Amanda is technically just missing at this point, no one has really been considered a suspect in any crime committed against her.”

“Oh, I think Jeff Hunter would beg to differ.”

“The groom? I thought you said he was right there with you and your husband, leading the search.”

“He was, at first, and it never dawned on us to think Jeff was in any way involved in whatever happened to Amanda. But within a week of her disappearance, Jeff hired a lawyer and refused to talk to the police without the lawyer being there. Why would he need a lawyer if he hadn’t done anything wrong? Not to mention, he’s a lawyer himself!”

“That does seem strange.” Laurie knew that innocent people hired lawyers for protection, but it had never crossed her mind to do so, even when she saw a few police officers eyeing her warily after Greg was killed.

“And when Jeff went back to New York, some of the prosecutors tried to get him fired from his office because they were certain he was involved in Amanda’s disappearance. Even now, if you go online to those amateur cybersleuth websites, you’ll find many, many people who think Jeff fits your bill for Under Suspicion. They will definitely tune in to watch if you cover Amanda’s case.”

Turning Sandra down was proving more difficult than Laurie had anticipated. She was now growing apprehensive, feeling her entire morning go to waste when she was supposed to talk to her boss this afternoon about potential new cases. Laurie had a list of three top contenders for the show’s next investigation but hadn’t committed to a top choice. She needed to pull her thoughts together.

“Realistically, Sandra, boyfriends and husbands are always under the microscope to some degree when women go missing. But you said yourself that you don’t actually believe he was involved,” she protested.

“No, I said at first we didn’t believe it. We actually felt terrible for him. But then the facts came rolling in. First, he hired that defense lawyer. Then we found out Jeff had money at stake. You see, Amanda and Jeff had a prenuptial agreement. Thanks to Walter’s business, our family-and Amanda, who worked for the company-had substantial means; Jeff, very little.”

“I thought you just said your daughter’s fiancé was an attorney.”

“Yes, and a very bright one at that. He graduated at the top of his class from Fordham Law School. But he didn’t have any family money, nor was he the moneymaking type on his own. Working as a public defender in Brooklyn, he made a third of Amanda’s salary, not to mention her wealthy family’s business. There was no question she would be the one to take the reins if her father ever retired. I hated the idea of a contract preparing for a divorce before you’re even married, but Walter insisted.”

“What was Jeff’s reaction?”

“As a lawyer, he said he completely understood. I was relieved when he happily complied. But then we found out that, in addition to the prenup, Amanda had also drawn up a will a month before the wedding. Walter was so worried about Jeff robbing the family dry if the marriage didn’t work out, but of course Amanda was free to write her will as she wanted. I think she was so upset at her father over the prenup that she wrote a will as a way to comfort Jeff. She left her trust fund entirely to him.”

“And how much was that?”

“Two million dollars.”

Laurie felt her eyes widen. Sandra wasn’t kidding when she said the family had money. “So has Jeff collected on that? Or is it seven years until someone’s presumed dead?”

“Yes, I understand that is the law. I suppose if her body is found, that jerk of a cop in Florida will win his ten-dollar bet, and Jeff will get two million dollars, plus considerable investment earnings. Or I’m told that he could try to declare Amanda dead at any time and collect that way. If Amanda had canceled the wedding, he would have been left high and dry. No divorce settlement, and no inheritance, because Amanda would have changed her will immediately once she went back to New York.”

“If he was engaged to your daughter, you must have known him well. Did Jeff seem like a dangerous person to you?”

“No. We thought he was a wonderful choice for a husband. He seemed very dedicated to Amanda, loyal to a fault, in fact. But in retrospect, maybe we should have seen the signs. His two best friends, Nick and Austin, as far as I know, are still happy bachelors, always with different women. Birds of a feather flock together, as they say.”

“You think Jeff was unfaithful?”

“It certainly seems possible, given the timing with Meghan.”

Laurie glanced at the notepad on the coffee table. “Meghan is the-”

“Meghan White, the maid of honor. She was Amanda’s best friend at Colby. And they stayed very close afterward when they both moved to New York City. She’s a lawyer, too. Immigration law, in her case. Amanda and Jeff knew each other in college but never dated. Meghan is the one who actually reintroduced Amanda to Jeff in New York. I can certainly tell you she must have been very sorry that she did.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Well, it turns out that Meghan dated Jeff before Amanda ever did. And once Amanda disappeared, she swooped back in. They waited barely a year before marrying. Meghan White is now Mrs. Jeff Hunter. And I think one or both of them murdered my daughter.”

Laurie reached again for her notepad. “Let’s start all over again.”