Part 23 (1/2)

Laurie pushed away thoughts about her own wall, the one between her and Alex. The one she couldn't seem to drop.

”So why did you break up?”

”Because being a little closer isn't the same as true love. I think Angela really did try to love me, but I wasn't him.”

”Hunter, you mean.”

He nodded. ”I felt horrible when he was killed. To be honest, I used to wish something bad would happen to him, knowing Angela was still carrying a torch for him. I hoped she'd finally be over Hunter and let me into her heart after he was killed. But then one night I was going through her hallway closet, searching for a replacement bulb for her dining room light. I found a box she had kept from her time with Hunter-like a 'memory box' or something. I gave her an ultimatum. I told her she needed to get rid of it if we were going to stay together. She became enraged. I'd never seen her like that before. It scared me, frankly. She taunted me and said that I'd never be as good a man as Hunter.”

Laurie could tell that the words still stung all these years later.

”That was the end of our relations.h.i.+p. You just can't get past that.”

No, Laurie thought. There are some things you can't get past. She hoped that wasn't the case with Alex.

”It worked out fine, though,” Sean said, his voice becoming cheerful. ”Met the real thing two years later. I can't imagine life without Jenna and the kids.”

Sean's description of Angela was at complete odds with the impression she'd given Laurie. What she described as a few casual dates with Hunter had obviously meant much more than she'd let on. If the relations.h.i.+p had ever been serious, certainly Hunter would have mentioned it to Casey. And neither Hunter's father nor his brother mentioned Hunter ever dating Casey's cousin. Instead, it had been a running joke that Hunter and Angela would have made a terrible couple.

But maybe Angela hadn't agreed. Maybe she was faking the laughter, while she kept a memory box devoted to Hunter in her closet. Laurie pictured Angela, short on modeling work and with no other career plans-removing the contents when she was alone, sitting on her bed and dreaming about a reality where Hunter Raleigh III had chosen her instead of her younger cousin.

”Sean, that box you found. Did it happen to contain a picture of Hunter with the President?”

He smiled. ”You guys are good. How did you find out about that picture?”

60.

Charlotte and Angela had decided to take a ”divide and conquer” approach. Charlotte left her friend to continue working on the ”home” set upstairs, while Charlotte circled back downstairs to decide the exact layout of the exercise-themed set on the ground floor.

She unpacked the yoga mats and hand weights from the bins Angela had used to transport them from the office. She was always impressed by Angela's ability to find savings in a budget. They were renting the larger equipment like treadmills and Pilates machines for the show, but Angela was the one who'd raided Ladyform's on-site gym for these smaller items.

Charlotte was trying to decide between two different layouts she'd sketched, but found her mind wandering as she looked at her sketch pad. She paused to read all of the notes that Angela had taped around the first floor for the set builders. She found yet another use of the term and also.”

She reached into her briefcase for her iPad, opened her email, and searched for archived messages from Angela. As she read through them, certain sentences jumped out at her in a new way. I confirmed with the light company. And also we need to discuss music. Let's go to Lupa tonight. Best pasta! And also there's a shop two blocks away I want to scope out.

And also. That was the phrase Laurie had highlighted from many of the negative comments posted about Casey online. Charlotte had never noticed, but Angela seemed to use the phrase, too. Maybe it was common, she thought. On the other hand, she couldn't help but replay Laurie's comments that afternoon. Angela may have already had suspicions. She was worried it would come to this. Neither one of us would be in this situation if she'd told us from the beginning she had her doubts.

Maybe Angela had known all along that Casey was guilty but didn't want to tell the police. Casey and her parents had been Angela's only family after her mother died. She could imagine Angela feeling torn about whether to turn on Casey if it meant losing not only her, but her aunt and uncle as well. But to post negative comments anonymously online while pretending to be her most loyal defender? To let Charlotte plead Casey's innocence to Laurie, even as she carried her own doubts?

Charlotte could not believe that Angela would be so deceitful. She was tempted to ask her directly, but in the likely event she was wrong, she didn't want to pile any more stress onto her friend's plate.

Then she realized there might be another way to put her concerns to rest.

61.

Laurie called Paula Carter from the sidewalk outside Sean Murray's house. Paula picked up after one ring. ”Oh, Laurie. Please say you've changed your mind. Is there any way you'll cancel the show?”

”No, but it may be better than that, Paula. I may have found a lead on the missing picture. But I have to ask you a question. Two nights ago, Casey called me at home, asking me not to mention the details of the photograph missing from Hunter's house. She said that withholding that detail from the show was something she, you, and Angela discussed.”

”That's right. Of course, I tried once again to get her to call the whole thing off, but she ignored me as usual.”

”But the idea of not mentioning the picture of Hunter and the President: Exactly whose idea was that? Can you remember?”

”Oh, sure. That was Angela's. She said that's how they do it on all the detective shows. Do you want to talk to her about it? She's down in Brooklyn getting ready for Ladyform's fas.h.i.+on show, but I'm sure you can call her cell.”

Laurie a.s.sured Paula that wasn't necessary and asked her not to mention her call to anyone else for now.

As Laurie hung up the phone, she knew exactly why Angela hadn't wanted Sean Murray to speak to Laurie. She didn't want anyone to know that she was the one who removed that picture from the nightstand after she murdered Hunter and framed the woman he'd chosen over her.

Charlotte had described Angela as panicked about stopping the television show today-desperate was the precise word she'd used. But contrary to Charlotte's belief, Angela wasn't desperate to protect her cousin from humiliation. She was desperate to protect herself.

Laurie called Charlotte's cell phone, but the call went directly to voice mail. She tried twice more, with no luck.

She didn't want Charlotte to be caught in the crossfire when Angela realized that she was going to be arrested. She had to warn her. She pulled up her Uber app and requested the nearest driver.

62.

At the warehouse, Charlotte was pulling up the most recent printout from Ladyform's Information Technology Department summarizing Internet usage on the company computers. The monthly list notified her of every single website accessed at Ladyform, ranked with the most commonly used sites first. As usual, Ladyform's own website and social media platforms dominated the top of the list. She hit ”Command-F” on her keyboard to access the find function. She typed in the word Chatter and hit enter.

She remembered Laurie complaining about the speed with which the Chatter blog had broken the news of Casey's release-and in such a negative light.

Seventeen hits in the last month-all from one computer. The users were listed by computer numbers, rather than name.

She pulled out her cell phone to call the IT Department, but couldn't get a signal. She finally found two signal-bars at the front of the warehouse, just inside the rolling steel door. It did not take long for Jamie in IT to confirm that the computer in question belonged to Angela. He also confirmed that she hadn't merely read the blog. She had used her computer to submit comments on the page for ”anonymous chatter.” Charlotte had a feeling that the time stamps for those entries would line up with the comments Laurie had been tracking.

She sent a quick text to Laurie: I think I know who's behind those ”And also” notes you were curious about. It's complicated. Let's talk tonight.

Laurie understandably wasn't going to pull her show, but Charlotte might be able to convince her to leave Angela's name out of it. Charlotte could only imagine what a difficult decision it had been for Angela. She loved her cousin, aunt, and uncle, but Casey was a murderer. Those Internet comments about Casey's guilt must have been her way of trying to see that justice was served, without completely losing her only remaining family.

When Charlotte returned to the workout set, Angela was standing, hands on hips, next to the pile of exercise equipment she'd brought from the office. She picked up a pair of hot pink, three-pound hand weights and did a few curls, feigning fatigue. ”What do you think? Set all this up in one station, or scatter it around the larger machines?”