The Cinderella Murder

59

Dwight stepped carefully from the dock onto the stern of his boat, a forty-two-foot cruiser perfect for short trips. He immediately felt a calmness enter his body as he rocked with the sway of the boat on the water. The waves slapping gently against the fiberglass were like a lullaby. Once his scuba partner arrived, he’d be out in Shaw’s Cove, diving into the darkness. He loved nothing more than the solitude of night diving.

He would not truly be able to enjoy the scuba dive until he first completed one task. He climbed down into the cabin, retrieved his laptop from his messenger bag, flipped it open, and clicked on the surveillance video of the Bel Air house. It had been two days since Dwight had decided not to go to the police with the video of the horrible attack on Jerry. He had to hope that his continued monitoring might lead him to some answers about Susan’s death, and possibly Jerry’s attacker.

He sped through the video, slowing down only when something interested him. When he reached the end of the tape, he rewound to the scene that fascinated him most, the joint interview with Madison Meyer, Nicole Hunter, and Keith Ratner.

Alex Buckley had caught Madison in a couple of inconsistencies, but they were small ones. She was still vouching for Frank Parker. The bigger revelation was that Susan had a fight with Nicole and had stormed out of the dorm that evening.

Dwight knew how excited Susan had been about that audition. She wouldn’t have missed it voluntarily.

He rewound the video once again, replaying Alex Buckley’s final question over and over again: Where would she have gone?

He closed his eyes and pictured Susan on the night when he decided that he truly loved her. They had worked so late at the lab that they realized that dawn was only an hour away. They decided to drive to Griffith Observatory, reportedly the best place to watch the sun rise. As they sat in the grass, in the dark, she had filled the silence, talking about how petty girls could be to each other. How the theater department was filled with actresses who had the same amount of talent as she did but twice the ambition. How too many of her friends prioritized their boyfriends over their girlfriends. The way, even with Keith, she always felt she had to boost his confidence. She said there was only one place where she could let another side of her personality take over.

Where would she have gone?

Dwight was pretty sure he knew.

He used his computer to pull up an online calendar from 1994 to refresh his memory. By May 7, it had been weeks since Hathaway had caught Dwight hacking into the university computer system. Dwight remembered the timing because he was counting down the days until the end of the semester. He wanted to go to La Jolla for another scuba trip.

All this time, he had suppressed the connection between the date of Susan’s death and another event that had changed his life.

He closed his eyes again and recalled Susan’s excitement about her audition with Frank Parker. She always said she liked to feel calm and focused before a performance, trying to channel her character. If a fight with Nicole had forced her from her dorm room at six, that gave her at least forty-five minutes to calm herself down. If she had needed another place to feel calm and safe, Dwight knew exactly where Susan would have gone. And he knew exactly what she would have heard when she got there.

His skin felt hot. He stood up and started pacing in the boat’s cabin. He was having a hard time controlling his own breathing. He needed his own safe place now. He needed to be in the water.

But he also wanted to get his thoughts out. His plan had worked: he finally believed he knew who had killed Susan.

He pulled up Laurie’s number on his cell and hit ENTER. “You’ve reached Laurie Moran…”

“Call me ASAP,” he said at the tone. “I need to talk to you.”

He was so focused on leaving a message that he did not hear the footsteps on the deck.