The Cinderella Murder

57

“Alex, that was delicious.” Laurie could still smell the aroma of cooked red wine and mushrooms as she filled the cast-iron pot with sudsy water to soak overnight.

“I’ll pass the compliment on to Ramon. He’s the one who taught me everything I know about coq au vin.” It had been Alex’s idea to send craft services away early so they could have one home-cooked meal in this gourmet kitchen.

“A five-star dinner,” Laurie said, “and then in the morning, little elves will appear to carry away the dirty dishes. I could get used to this.”

She had just stacked the final plate in the sink when she heard the sound of her father’s voice from the living room. “Laurie!” Was it her imagination, or did he sound excited? “You need to see this!”

She turned off the faucet and ran to the living room. Her father and son were next to each other on the sofa.

“We’ve got something, Laurie. It was actually Timmy who made the connection.”

“Dad, I told you I didn’t want him exposed to all this.”

Now Timmy was on his feet, extending a printout of a driver’s license. “I recognized this man right away, Mommy. His name is Steve Roman. His car was photographed right outside Mrs. Dempsey’s neighborhood the day Lydia Levitt got killed in her yard.” Laurie could not believe she was hearing her nine-year-old son talk this way about a homicide. “And I also saw him right next to us at the restaurant in San Francisco, at Mama…”

He looked to his grandfather for help with the name. “At Mama Torini’s,” Leo said. “Timmy got a good enough look at him to recognize this picture. The man’s name is Steve Roman. He lives in San Francisco, but until two years ago, he was in Los Angeles. And get this.”

Her father handed her the iPad. Part of her didn’t want to look. She didn’t want to believe that Timmy had been sitting right next to someone involved in Lydia Levitt’s murder. She didn’t want to believe that the woman’s death had anything to do with her decision to reinvestigate the Cinderella Murder.

She saw the name “Steve Roman” multiple times on the screen. The website was for Advocates for God. Someone named Steve Roman was a frequent poster to the community forum.

She shuffled a pile of documents off a chair so she could sit and process the information.

A member of Keith Ratner’s church had been watching them in San Francisco and had been spotted near the murder of Rosemary Dempsey’s neighbor? This couldn’t be a coincidence.

She thought back to that moment at the end of filming today. When Alex had pressed Nicole about her fight with Susan, Keith Ratner appeared to know more than he was saying. Did the fight have something to do with AG?

Laurie stood from the sofa and steered her son into the kitchen. “Grace? Do you mind keeping an eye on Timmy? I have a few more questions for Nicole.”