Cut and Thrust

59

On Sunday evening, Stone and Ann settled in to watch 60 Minutes. “I didn’t see any promos for this,” Stone said.

“That’s because it’s a secret,” Ann replied. “They didn’t want Barbara Grosvenor to know about it, because she would probably have tried for a court injunction to block it.”

The front-end teaser on the show was simple. Morley Safer looked into the camera and said, “Tonight, we have something different for you. Everybody knows someone who went through the divorce from hell, but this one adds something extra — repeated attempted murder. Stay tuned for the fireworks.”

“That’s the first time I’ve seen this show open without excerpts from the interviews.”

“Great hook, wasn’t it?”

In Los Angeles, Billy and Betsy Burnett watched the show. “Uh-oh,” Billy said, “I think I know who this is.”

“This is what you were talking about, isn’t it?” Betsy asked. “Barbara’s PR campaign to destroy Ed Eagle?”

“I’m afraid so.”

In San Francisco, Charles Grosvenor was watching the evening news at his desk at the dealership. He was there to receive the Bentley he had loaned Hugh Gordon, and Gordon had just driven up. He came into the office just as 60 Minutes began, and he heard Morley Safer’s opening remark.

“What the hell?” he said.

“This isn’t about Barbara, is it?” Charles asked.

“It can’t be. The station manager told me he wasn’t...” He stopped and thought.

“He wasn’t what?”

“That he wasn’t going to run the interview. He didn’t tell me that 60 Minutes was going to run it.”

“Oh, shit,” Charles said. He grabbed the phone and called home; the number was busy. He tried Barbara’s cell phone, but it went directly to voice mail. “Sweetheart,” he said, “call me immediately!” He hung up just as Safer returned.

“Some years ago,” Safer was saying, “a prominent trial attorney from Santa Fe married a woman called Barbara. He says now that it turned out to be the worst mistake he ever made. Our correspondent Pamela Hale interviewed Barbara Eagle, now Mrs. Charles Grosvenor, and got her side of the story.”

Charles tried the number again; still busy. “I’ve got to get home,” he said. “There’s no telling what she’ll do if she sees this.” He let himself and Hugh Gordon out of the building and locked it behind them.

“I’m awfully sorry about this, Charles,” Gordon said. “I did everything I could to prevent it.”

“My advice to you, Hugh, is get out of town — take a vacation,” Charles said. “Maybe in a couple of weeks she’ll have cooled off.” He got into his car and drove away. Traffic was bad: people coming back from their weekends.

Stone and Ann watched the first part of the interview. “That was awful,” Ann said. “If she’d gotten away with that, Ed would be ruined.”

“We haven’t seen the next part,” Stone replied. “Ed may be ruined yet.”

Part two came on, and they watched, transfixed, as Pamela Hale backed Barbara into a corner, allegation by allegation, until Barbara fled the set, tripping over her microphone wire.

“I’ve never seen anything like that on television,” Stone said. “Hale just burned her down.”

Then Safer came back on and introduced Ed Eagle. “Ed,” he said, “you’ve just watched Barbara’s interview. What did you think of it?”

“I was absolutely stunned, Morley. It was like reading a false biography, written by your worst enemy.”

“Let’s go back to the beginning of this relationship,” Safer said. “How did you first meet Barbara?”

“I visited a women’s prison in upstate New York, where I had arranged to interview Barbara for some background on an upcoming trial. She made a very big impression on me.”

“A favorable impression?”

“Oh, yes. As you saw in the first part of her interview, Barbara can be a charming and fascinating person to talk with. I asked her to come and see me in Santa Fe when she got out and told her that I’d help her restart her life. She had another four or five years to serve.”

“But she got out sooner, didn’t she?”

“Yes. The State of New York, under a court order, was required to alleviate overcrowding in their prisons, and they adopted an early-release program. Barbara managed to qualify for it, and she turned up in Santa Fe a few weeks after our first meeting.”

With Safer leading the way, Eagle went on to recount the high and low points of their marriage.

When they were done, Stone switched off the TV. “He did it!” he said. “He made up the lost ground and then some!”

“With a lot of help from Barbara,” Ann pointed out.

Charles Grosvenor kept trying his home number as he drove, and finally Barbara answered.