The Sleeping Beauty Killer

5

“I’ve had a long time to think about who might have killed Hunter,” Casey said as she handed Laurie a sheet of paper with five names on it. “I don’t think it was a random break-in or failed robbery while I was knocked out on the couch.”

“I wouldn’t have thought so either,” Laurie agreed.

“But when I found out there was a sedative in my system, I realized that whoever killed Hunter must have been at Cipriani for the Raleigh Foundation gala that night. I felt fine earlier in the day. It wasn’t until an hour or so into the event that I began to feel sick. Someone must have slipped the drug into my drink when I wasn’t looking, which means they had to have access. I can’t imagine anyone wanting to hurt Hunter, but I know it wasn’t me. These people all arguably had motive and opportunity.”

Laurie recognized three of the five names, but they were all a surprise to her as possible suspects. “Jason Gardner and Gabrielle Lawson were at the gala?”

Jason Gardner was Casey’s ex-boyfriend and the author of a tell-all memoir that ingrained the nickname Crazy Casey into the cultural lexicon. Laurie couldn’t recall all the details about Gabrielle Lawson’s connection, but the woman was one of the city’s famed socialites. As Laurie recalled, there was tabloid chatter that Hunter was purportedly still interested in her, despite his engagement to Casey. Laurie hadn’t realized that either Jason or Gabrielle had been at Cipriani the night of the murder.

“Yes. Gabrielle always seemed to turn up wherever Hunter went. I remember her coming over to our table and throwing her arms around him in typical fashion. She could easily have slipped something into my drink. And Jason-well, supposedly he was there to fill one of the seats at his employer’s corporate table, but it seemed far too coincidental for me. Sure enough, he pulled me aside at one point and told me he still loved me. I of course told him that he needed to move on. I was marrying Hunter. So both of them were clearly jealous of what Hunter and I had together,” Casey argued.

“Jealous enough to kill?”

“If a jury believed it about me, I don’t see why it couldn’t be true about one of them.”

The third familiar name on the list was especially shocking. “Andrew Raleigh?” Laurie said, arching an eyebrow. Andrew was Hunter’s younger brother. “You can’t be serious.”

“Look, I don’t enjoy accusing anyone. But like you said, if I didn’t do it-and I know I didn’t-someone else did. And Andrew was drinking a lot that night.”

“As were you,” Laurie added, “according to many witnesses.”

“No, that’s not true. I had a glass of wine, two at most, but stopped when I began feeling ill. When Andrew drinks, it’s… well, he becomes a different person. Hunter’s father never made it a secret that he loved Hunter more than Andrew. I know the man has an outstanding reputation, but he could be cruel as a parent. Andrew was incredibly jealous of Hunter.”

It sounded like a stretch to Laurie. “What about these other two names: Mark Templeton and Mary Jane Finder?” Neither rang a bell.

“Those take a little more explanation. Mark, in addition to being one of Hunter’s closest friends, was also the chief financial officer of the Raleigh Foundation. And, if you ask me, he’s the most likely suspect.”

“Even though he and Hunter were friends?”

“Hear me out. Hunter hadn’t said anything publicly, but he was preparing to run for elected office, either as the New York City mayor or potentially for a seat in the U.S. Senate. Either way, he was determined to shift from the private sector to public service.”

He may not have declared his political intentions, but the public certainly had speculated. Hunter was a regular on the lists of the country’s most eligible bachelors. When he suddenly announced his engagement to a woman he’d been dating less than a year, many wondered if it was the first step toward becoming a candidate. Others viewed Casey as a risky choice for a political wife. The Raleigh family was well known for its conservative views, while Casey was an outspoken liberal. They were a political odd couple.

“In advance of any political race,” Casey explained, “Hunter had been inspecting the foundation’s books to be absolutely certain that there were no donations or fundraising practices that could prove embarrassing or controversial under public scrutiny. The night of the gala his chauffeur drove him down from Connecticut, and they picked me up at my apartment. In the car he mentioned that he was going to hire a forensic accountant to conduct a more thorough investigation because of what he called some ‘irregularities.’ Hunter quickly assured me that he was being abundantly cautious and was certain there was nothing to worry about. I never thought about it again until four years after I was convicted, when Mark suddenly resigned without notice.”

This was the first Laurie had ever heard of the subject. “Is that unusual?” Laurie asked. She was not well-versed in the workings of private foundations.

“The finance reporters apparently thought so,” Casey said. “The prison law library allowed us to search online media outlets. Apparently, the foundation’s assets were low enough to trigger speculation. You have to understand, when Hunter poured himself into that foundation, he tripled fundraising results. It’s one thing for revenue to fall off without Hunter at the helm. But the media reports said that total assets were actually down, raising questions about whether they were mismanaging the funds or perhaps worse.”

“How did the foundation deal with the speculation?”

She shrugged. “All I know is what I could glean from my media searches, and the assets of a nonprofit foundation aren’t quite as newsworthy as, say, a high-profile murder trial. But from what I can tell, once reporters started talking about Mark’s sudden resignation, Hunter’s dad appointed a new CFO while praising Mark at length. The story went away. But the fact remains, the foundation’s assets were mysteriously low. I think Hunter detected the problem years earlier. Plus, I can tell you this: Mark Templeton was seated right next to me at the gala. He could easily have slipped a drug into my drink.”

Laurie had only agreed to see Casey out of curiosity and to tell Brett she had a lead on a possible story, but she could already picture putting each of these alternative suspects in front of the camera. She realized that when she envisioned the show, she still pictured Alex as the show’s host. Once their last case was finished, he had announced that he needed to focus full-time on his criminal defense practice. His departure from the show left the status of what had been a deepening personal relationship between them unclear. She shook the thought from her mind and pressed on.

“And Mary Jane Finder? Who is she?”

“General Raleigh’s personal assistant.”

Laurie felt her eyes widen. “What’s the connection there?”

“She began working for him a few years before I met Hunter. Hunter did not like Mary Jane from the very beginning, but was especially concerned about the authority she seemed to wield after Hunter’s mother passed away. He thought she was trying to take advantage of his father, or perhaps even marry him now that he was a widower.”

“The boss’s son didn’t like her? That doesn’t seem like a strong motive for murder.”

“It’s not just that he didn’t like her. He thought she was scheming and manipulative. He was certain she was hiding something and was determined to get her fired. And here’s the thing: when we were on our way to the gala, I heard him call a lawyer friend for a referral for a private investigator, saying he needed a background check on someone. Then I heard him say, ‘It’s a sensitive matter.’ When he hung up, I asked him if it was related to the audit he was planning of the foundation.”

A knock at the conference room door interrupted them. Jerry popped his head in. “I’m very sorry, but Brett’s off his conference call. He’s with Grace now, demanding to know where you are.”

Laurie didn’t dare give Brett an exact location or he’d barge in here and take over the discussion. But she also didn’t want to put Grace in a position where she was directly lying to her boss’s boss.

“Can you please tell him you spoke to me and that I will be in his office in no more than five minutes?” Brett would assume that the conversation was a phone call. It would get him off Grace’s back, but Laurie needed to hurry.

“Okay, so the private investigator was for the foundation,” Laurie said, getting back on track.

“No, it wasn’t. Or at least, I don’t think it was. I asked Hunter if it was related to the audit. He looked sort of warily toward his driver, Raphael, as if to say, Not now. It made me think that he didn’t want Raphael to hear the name of the person he was checking on.”

“Maybe it was Raphael,” Laurie speculated.

“Absolutely not,” she said. “Raphael was one of the kindest, most gentle men I have ever met, and he and Hunter adored each other. He was almost an honorary uncle. But he was also extremely trusting and wanted to believe the best about everyone, including Mary Jane. Hunter had stopped complaining about her in Raphael’s presence to avoid putting him in an awkward position with a woman who was exercising more and more influence on the family staff. If Hunter was right about Mary Jane hiding something, she may have found a way to stop him from finding out the truth.”

“But was she at the gala?” Laurie asked.

“Oh, she certainly was, in the seat right next to General Raleigh. There was a reason Hunter was worried about her agenda.”

Laurie could almost picture Brett starting to look at his watch, counting the minutes until her arrival. “Casey, this list is a great start. Let me do some preliminary research and get back-”

“No please, I have so much more to say. You’re my only hope.”

“I’m not saying no. In fact, I’m very intrigued.”

Casey’s lower lip started to shake. “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry.” She fanned her eyes. “I swore I was not going to cry. But you have no idea how many letters I’ve written to lawyers and law clinics and reporters. So many of them wrote back saying the same kind of thing-I’m intrigued, or let me look into it. And then I’d never hear from them again.”

“That’s not what’s happening here, Casey. If anything, I should be the one worried that I’ll pour a lot of resources into investigating these claims, only to find out that you’ve taken your story to the nearest website that will hit the publish button.”

She shook her head adamantly. “No, absolutely not. I’ve seen the hatchet jobs these so-called journalists come up with. But I know your show, and I know that Alex Buckley is one of the best defense attorneys in the city. I won’t talk to any other media until you make up your mind.”

The mention of Alex’s name grabbed Laurie in the heart.

Casey implored her. “When can we meet again?”

Laurie remembered Jerry’s text message from earlier. She said we wouldn’t be able to get rid of her until she saw you. Right now, she needed to get rid of her.

“Friday,” Laurie blurted. That was two days from now. She was about to backtrack when she realized it would be a good idea to meet Casey and her family outside the office before making any final decisions about whether to proceed. “In fact, I can come to you. Maybe meet your parents?”

“My father passed,” Casey said sadly, “but I’m staying with my mother. We’re in Connecticut, though.”

I guess I’m going to Connecticut, Laurie thought.

They were at the conference room door when Laurie realized she’d forgotten to follow up on one part of the earlier string of text messages. “My assistant producer mentioned that you know Charlotte Pierce?”

Three months ago, Laurie had had no sense of Charlotte Pierce as a person. She thought of Charlotte as “the sister”-as in “the sister” of Amanda Pierce, the missing bride whose disappearance was the subject of Laurie’s most recent special. But, to Laurie’s surprise, once the production was over, Charlotte had invited her to lunch. Several meals later, Laurie now thought of Charlotte as a friend, the first one she’d made in a very long time.

Casey grinned sheepishly. “I may have overstated our connection,” she confessed. “My cousin, Angela Hart, works with her. They’re super-good friends, but I’ve never actually met her.”

Laurie watched as Casey put on large dark sunglasses, twisted her hair up, and pulled a Yankees cap low over her forehead. “It was bad enough being recognized at the mall,” she said bitterly.

As Laurie rushed to Brett’s office, she dictated a reminder to herself to call Charlotte to see if she had any insider information. She also made a mental note: Casey Carter was willing to stretch the truth if it served her purposes.