The Sleeping Beauty Killer Part 21

Laurie had looked in Casey's eyes and believed she was innocent. How could she have been so wrong?

Ryan had predicted that Casey would storm out of the studio the second he confronted her with the evidence log, but she didn't budge from her seat, even when Ryan continued to tear into her. "Isn't it true that that bag contained the remnants of the picture frame you broke during a violent fight with Hunter? The picture that meant so very much to him? Or did it break when you chased him into the bedroom, firing shots at him?"

"No. It wasn't the picture frame!"

"In fact, didn't you even call our producer at her home two nights ago, asking her not to mention that picture frame?"

"That was for a totally different reason. It was strategy. You're twisting everything around!"

Casey was nearly screaming by the end of her response, pounding a fist against the table for emphasis.

Laurie felt herself flinch, but Ryan remained completely calm. "Then make it simple, Casey. This was your last day with Hunter. You must have replayed it in your head a million times. Just tell us what was broken that day. What were those shards the police found in the trash can behind the house?"

"It was a vase."

"And how did it get broken?"

"Things break. It happens."

"Let me be honest, Casey. If you were my client and gave an answer like that, I wouldn't put you on the stand, because any jury would see that you're not being honest. You remember more than you're saying."

"Fine, I broke it. I saw that picture of him with Gabrielle Lawson in the Chatter column. I got so angry that I threw the paper on the counter, knocking over a vase. I was immediately ashamed. I cleaned it up and took the garbage outside, hoping Hunter wouldn't notice."

"Why were you ashamed?"

"Because as hard as I tried, I couldn't get my jealousy in check. I can't believe I ever doubted his devotion to me, even for a fleeting moment."

"That wasn't the only time you felt jealous, was it? We've heard from others that you often spoke up publicly if you thought Hunter was being too cozy with other women."

"It wasn't always easy to be with a man who was so beloved. He was a hero. His family was practically royalty. By comparison, I was the tacky little commoner who had wheedled my way into the fold. It didn't help matters that the one serious girlfriend he had before me was a demure socialite-my exact opposite. When I would see him posing next to those kind of women, it wasn't just jealousy. It really hurt my feelings. But Hunter saw all of it as an expected part of the social scene."

"And how did you see it?"

"As a matter of respect."

Laurie felt Jerry and Grace staring at her, urgently wanting to talk about what was happening in front of them. Until today, Casey had presented her relations.h.i.+p with Hunter as a perfect fairy tale. Now they were seeing a different side of the story.

Laurie shook her head subtly, signaling for them to keep their poker faces.

"Hunter didn't respect you?" Ryan asked sympathetically. His c.o.c.ky, smart-alec demeanor was completely in check. His tone was perfect.

"He did, but-he didn't understand. He was born the most important person in the room. No one ever judged him. He didn't know what it was like to be me. To have all those women a.s.sessing me, wondering how I was so lucky to be chosen by him."

"It sounds like this is a topic that came up repeatedly. Is it fair to say that you argued about it?"

"Of course. But not in the way my trial depicted. These were arguments like any normal couple would have. He was learning to be less flirtatious. I was getting less jealous as I became more confident in our relations.h.i.+p. And that's why I was so disappointed in myself for overreacting to that photograph of Gabrielle and him."

"So why didn't you tell us this?" Ryan asked. "Why did you remove this page of the police inventory from the doc.u.ments you gave us? And why did you make it sound like your defense lawyer had done nothing on your behalf?"

"I didn't want you to think I was guilty."

The silence that followed spoke volumes. Casey's eyes desperately searched Ryan's for a reaction, and then looked past the camera to Laurie. "You still believe me, don't you?"

Laurie's face must have answered her question, because Casey immediately broke down in tears. "I'm sorry," she sobbed. "I'm so sorry."

The elevator doors had barely closed when they all let out a collective sigh of relief. They couldn't have asked for much more.

"I knew she did it," Grace said, holding up a fist in triumph.

"That is going to be the best scene we have ever aired," Jerry declared. "It's just too bad she already served her sentence. It felt like police should swarm in and haul her away."

Ryan waited until Jerry and Grace headed back to their offices to deliver his verdict. He leaned in close and said dryly, "If I were a lesser man, I'd be tempted to say 'I told you so.' "

"Good thing you're modest," Laurie said. "And it's a good thing I'm a confident enough woman to admit a mistake. You were right: Casey's guilty."

Once she was alone, Laurie called Alex. Listening to his outgoing message, she realized how much she missed hearing his voice.

"Alex, it's Laurie. Can we please talk? You can tell Mark Templeton we won't be bothering him anymore. I'm sorry things got so out of control yesterday." She tried to find the right words. "Let's talk. Please call when you have a chance."

For the rest of the afternoon, she watched her screen, waiting for the phone to ring.

55.

Paula Carter was on her hotel bed, flipping channels on the remote control to pa.s.s the time. At the desk next to her, her niece, Angela, typed furiously on her laptop.

"It was unnecessary of you to get us a hotel room, Angela. But very thoughtful."

"It's nothing. I couldn't imagine Casey wanting to get right back on the train after filming. Besides, Ladyform has a corporate rate here."

"I was so relieved when Laurie called last night to say she didn't need the two of us after all. And I understand why Casey decided to go alone, but why hasn't she called us? She should be done by now. How can you even concentrate?"

"I don't have a choice," Angela said, continuing to type. "We have our fall show this weekend. I'm doing what I can remotely, but Charlotte and I need to go to the warehouse to check on the design work on the sets."

Paula turned off the television. "Angela, I don't think I've ever told you how proud I am of you. How proud Robin would have been-to see how much you've accomplished as a professional woman. To go from being just a model to having such a successful career."

"Just a model?" Angela said, glancing from her computer screen. "I worked harder as a model than I've ever worked at Ladyform."

"That's not what I meant, Angela. You were always so beautiful-and, of course, are still stunning. But that was never your only value. Looks fade. Talent doesn't. I'll be honest. When you girls were little, I'd find myself comparing the two of you. Robin was always talking about how pretty you were. And, I'm sorry to say this, I would think, My Casey will come out ahead in the long run. I know how horrible that sounds now, but sisters are compet.i.tive, even about the next generation. I never would have thought that you'd be the corporate executive, and Casey would be the one who was-"

She couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence.

Angela closed her laptop, sat next to Paula on the bed, and pulled her into a hug. "Thank you, Aunt Paula. It means a lot to know you're proud of me. I'm sure somehow Casey will find a future for herself." Angela's eyes began to water. She wiped away a tear and laughed to lighten the mood. "Okay, now I'm the one fretting. We should have heard from Casey by now."

Paula was reaching for her cell phone when they heard the beep of a hotel key card in the door. Casey's eyes were red, and her face was smeared with makeup.

"Oh no, what's wrong?" Angela asked.

"Everything," Casey yelled. "Everything is wrong! They ambushed me. Charlotte's friend Laurie pretended to believe me, but then she sicced her attack-dog lawyer on me. He skewed all the facts. If they had at least given me notice, I would have had better answers. I could have explained everything."

Paula immediately regretted not fighting Casey harder about her decision to pursue this show. "Maybe it's not that bad," she offered meekly.

"Mom, it was awful. I'll end up looking awful. The whole point was to clear my name, and instead I look even guiltier than I did before. I could tell they weren't going to believe me. Yes, Hunter and I argued, but that's normal for a couple. We always worked it out. I shouldn't have tried to cover anything up, but I wanted to make sure she took my case."

Paula looked to Angela for guidance, but she seemed just as confused as Paula. "Honey, I'm not sure we're following you."

"When I gave my file to Laurie, I left something out. I left a lot of things out. So stupid. I should have known they'd find out."

"What exactly did you omit?" Angela asked nervously.

"I made the defense lawyer look worse than she really was. But the main problem was a page from the police inventory, showing shards of broken gla.s.s in the garbage."

"How could that possibly matter?" Paula scoffed.

"Because they think it's the crystal picture frame that was missing from the nightstand. They think I was the one who broke it during an argument with Hunter, and that's why I left the page out of the files I gave them."

"Well, are they right?" The words left Paula's mouth before she could stop them.

Her daughter's eyes were filled with pain. "Of course not. It was just a broken vase. I took that sheet out because I didn't want Laurie to a.s.sume it was the picture frame."

"So they're just speculating," Angela said. "I honestly don't see the problem."

Paula couldn't help but notice that Angela sounded less patient than usual. She chalked it up to Angela needing to leave for work soon.

"The problem is that I'm the one who broke the vase. A few days before the gala when I saw that photograph of Hunter and Gabrielle I was so mad that I slammed the newspaper down. It knocked the vase off the table and it shattered to smithereens."

Paula felt a pit growing in her stomach. "And you told them this today, on camera? That was the prosecution's theory of your motive." She put her hands to her face. "Oh Casey-"

"I know, Mom. Please don't start. That missing frame was the one thing I had on my side to prove that someone else was in the house that night. And now my attempt to hide that broken gla.s.s from them backfired. Not to mention, they made it sound like I was trying to manipulate them by suggesting we hold back the one detail about the picture frame. I didn't even make that connection. And now I'm going to look horrible."

Paula wondered whether her daughter was ever going to be honest with her-or herself-about what she'd done on that horrible night. Regardless, Paula was going to do what she always did-love her daughter and do what she could to protect her. Casey always said Hunter loved her unconditionally, but she never seemed to notice that her parents always had as well.

And because Paula always did what she could to protect her daughter, she told Casey to go into the bathroom to wash the makeup from her face. Once Casey was gone, she began pulling on her jacket.

"Where are you going?" Angela asked.

"To talk to Laurie Moran, mother to mother. There has to be some way to stop this show and let Casey live her life in peace."

56.

Laurie must have looked pleased when she emerged from Brett Young's office. "The boss is happy?" his secretary, Dana, asked as she pa.s.sed.

"Is he ever? But, yes, compared to his usual state, he's downright sunny."

Their highest hope during production was to rattle loose new facts they might piece together to shed light on an unsolved case. The idea that someone would actually confess on camera was beyond their wildest dreams. Casey didn't directly admit to killing Hunter, but she did concede that she'd been jealous of Gabrielle Lawson and that she'd lied to the show so they'd believe her claims of innocence. Her final sobs of "I'm sorry" were filled with regret. Just a short video snippet of that single moment would convince viewers she was guilty. No wonder her defense lawyer had advised her not to take the stand.

Brett predictably was pus.h.i.+ng Laurie for an airdate already. She told Brett that she wanted to track down one or two people who knew Casey from the past, but thought they'd be done with production soon.

She was thinking of potential subjects to interview when she heard the sound of a raised voice coming from the direction of her office. She turned the corner to see Grace standing in four-inch heels, trying to calm down a very strident Paula Carter. She heard Paula say, "If I need to spend every penny I have, I'll hire a team of lawyers to tie this studio up in court for years. You're destroying our lives!"

"Mrs. Carter, why don't we talk inside my office?" Laurie asked.

Laurie let Mrs. Carter vent uninterrupted for several minutes. When she finally paused for air, Laurie handed her a copy of the release her daughter had signed. "That's a photocopy in case you're thinking of ripping it up. The language is clear. Casey agreed to a no-holds-barred interview and gave us the absolute right to air it. She has no editing power or any other authority to stop us. And please remember that your daughter was the one who approached me to help her. I did not insert myself into your family."

Paula was looking at the release. Laurie could tell that all the fight was falling out of her.

"Are you a mother?" she asked quietly.

"I am," Laurie said more brightly. "I have a nine-year-old son."

"Pray G.o.d that he never breaks your heart. I can't think of anything more painful other than losing her entirely."

Finally, confirmation that even Casey's mother believed she was guilty. That's what she meant when she said Casey had broken her heart. She'd broken it by committing an unspeakable crime.

"How long have you known?" Laurie asked.

Paula shook her head, lips pursed.

"You're not on camera, Paula. I'm not going to repeat whatever you say to me here."

"We tried to believe. Frank and I even prayed not to lose faith in our daughter. But the evidence was impossible to ignore. Gunshot residue on her hands. The drugs in her bag. And we of all people knew how fiery she could be. When Hunter started teaching her to shoot, Frank even joked that Casey might not be the best person to trust with a weapon. She wanted nothing more than to be Mrs. Hunter Raleigh III. If she thought she was going to lose that . . ." She let the thought trail off. "That's why Frank wanted her to plead guilty. He thought prison might even help her. But fifteen years? He never got to see her outside the prison walls again. Laurie, my daughter is seriously troubled. Is there any way I can convince you-mother to mother-to move on to another story?"

Laurie shook her head. The least she could do was level with the woman.

"I knew it was a mistake to do this show," Paula said softly. "After you first came to the house, even Angela asked me if there was any way I could talk Casey out of it. She had a feeling that Casey would slip up and come out looking even worse than at trial."