The next morning, Grace and Jerry joined Laurie in her office to hear about her trip to Boston.
Grace had photocopied and filed the signed agreements Laurie had gotten from Simon, Michelle, and Frankie. Laurie had also emailed copies to Betsy and Walter Ward. According to Frankie, they were happy to go on camera if it was important to her and Michelle.
“What if Ethan doesn’t agree to it?” Jerry asked.
Grace shot him a sideways glance with her heavily made-up eyes. “Way to be a Debbie Downer. Laurie’s got this.”
“No, Jerry’s got a good point,” Laurie conceded. “Of course I want both brothers on camera. It’s the only way to ensure it’s not a one-sided hatchet job.” But in her heart, Laurie knew that Brett would never let her pull the plug now that she had two of the three Harrington children on board, along with Sarah’s best friend and Richard’s law partner. Her stomach hurt at the thought of being forced to do the show without Ethan and Annabeth.
“For now,” Jerry said brightly, “let’s assume we get them too. Who else do we need?”
“The cops,” Grace said immediately.
“You always say that,” Jerry said, “and they never go on camera.”
“It’s a tiny department,” Laurie said. “The Chief was the lead investigator, but he passed away. The other lead was his deputy, Roberta Hanson, who left the department a few years after the Harrington murder. That could work to our advantage. She might agree to at least speak off the record since she’s no longer part of the department.”
“Plus she’s a she,” Grace said. “Women are more likely to do the right thing.”
“Sexist,” Jerry muttered. “Need I remind you how many female killers we’ve covered on this show?”
“You two are on fire today,” Laurie said.
“You know our fights are shtick,” Grace said.
She did. “My father’s pulling some strings to see if he can locate Deputy Hanson for us. Fingers crossed. The Harringtons also had a caretaker named Peter Bennett. He’ll be key, because he’s the one who knew that the camera at the front gate was still operational. But I also got the impression he was around the house on a regular basis, so he may have picked up on the Harringtons’ interfamily dynamics. Same with the dog walker who found Sarah and Richard’s bodies.”
In Laurie’s experience, many people had no idea how much their housekeepers, handymen, nannies, and other household helpers noticed about their personal lives. Ramon had worked for Alex for more than a decade and arguably knew him better than Laurie did.
“And her name is…” Grace was keeping a running list.
“Jenna Merrick,” Jerry said. “I already looked her up online. She still lives in Harbor Bay. She has a website for dog walking, dog sitting, dog grooming, all the dog things.”
“What about the caretaker, Peter Bennett?” Laurie asked.
“No website,” Jerry said, “but I did find an address and phone number for a Peter Bennett in Harbor Bay. I assume it’s the same guy.”
Laurie was beginning to see the sketched edges of a production schedule. “The person I really want to talk to is Howard Carver.”
“That’s the other law partner?” Jerry asked.
“Yes, the one who told police he saw one of the twins near the Range Rover in the overflow parking lot at the yacht club. Ethan and Simon have been convinced all these years that the other brother was the killer, and Howard’s statement to the police is a major reason why.”
Jerry raised a tentative hand. “If I can offer a correction: They’ve claimed to believe that. The police have suggested it’s all part of the act. If they planned the killings together, pointing fingers at each other could be just a way to keep prosecutors from ever having proof beyond a reasonable doubt against either one of them.”
“That’s correct,” Laurie said. “My point is there’s too much evidence suggesting that it was at least one of them, and that’s what has put them at odds—at least publicly.”
She, Jerry, and Grace had already made a list of the evidence implicating the twins. The killer drove their Range Rover, knew the gate code, apparently knew the family dog, and had access to the family gun that had been locked in a safe. They both had a motive—resentment toward their overbearing father, combined with the promise of an inheritance.
“But without Howard’s statement about seeing one of them near the Range Rover,” Laurie noted, “it could be someone else close to the family, someone who used the car the twins had driven to the party so their own wouldn’t be spotted at the gate.”
“Now I get it,” Jerry said. “So, yes, let’s add Howard Carver to the list.”
“Sooner rather than later,” Grace said, adding a star next to his name on the list she was keeping.
Laurie realized she had not told them yet about the iciness in Michelle’s voice when Howard’s name came up at the law firm. “When I was in Boston, Simon’s wife mentioned him during a tour of the offices. She did not sound like a fan. She said he was long retired, but I sensed there was more to the story.”
“The man threw her husband and his brother under the bus to the cops,” Grace said. “Of course she’s mad.”
“But she could have simply said that. Instead, she seemed to be putting up a false front. I want to make sure we’re not missing something. If there’s a reason to doubt his version of events that night, it would change everything.”
She felt herself hoping once again that she might be able to offer Frankie an alternative explanation for her parents’ deaths—one that didn’t involve sending one or both of her brothers to prison.
“Anyone else?” Grace asked.
“I think that’s it—for now,” Laurie said.
“The fun begins when these people start pointing us to witnesses we may never have heard of,” Jerry said. “I can’t wait to start.”
“Start what?” a male voice asked.
Laurie turned to find Brett Young nearly filling the threshold to her office, Ryan Nichols looming behind him. They hadn’t even bothered to knock on what had been her closed door.