The Perfect Stranger (Social Media #2)(81)

“All right,” the detective says, in a shifting gears tone, “let’s take a look at something.”

Relieved to be moving on to a new topic, Landry watches her type something on her keyboard, wait and then peer at the screen.

After a moment Detective Burns turns the laptop around so it’s facing Landry. “Do you recognize this woman?”

Landry leans in to look. There’s a glare, and she can’t see anything until she reaches out and tilts the screen at a different angle.

Now the image on the screen is plainly visible—and instantly recognizable. Landry immediately says, “That’s Jenna Coeur. I actually just read an article about her in the newspaper this morning, on the plane.”

“How much do you know about her?”

“Quite a bit,” she admits. “I’ve seen all her movies—I mean who hasn’t? But I also read a lot of celebrity magazines and books, and I read that true crime best seller a few years ago. Coldhearted, I think was the title, and it was . . .”

She trails off as a terrible, preposterous thought occurs to her.

“You don’t think Jenna Coeur had something to do with Meredith’s death?”

“Do you?” the detective returns.

“No! Why would she? It’s not like she and Meredith knew each other . . .”

“You’re sure about that?”

“I’m positive.”

“Because Jenna Coeur was at the funeral today. So obviously, there was a connection.”

Speechless, Landry can only shake her head, her mind reeling.

Surely Meredith would have mentioned a personal connection with a woman who went overnight from being one of the most beloved movie stars of the twenty-first century to one of the most notorious murderesses of all time. That’s not the kind of thing you keep to yourself. Not if you’re Meredith, who not only appreciated, but seemed to share, her own interest in all things Hollywood.

One of Meredith’s many off-topic-of-breast-cancer blogs was about her random brushes with celebrity, like spotting Nicolas Cage in a New Orleans restaurant and seeing one of the Real Housewives at an airport. That was a popular post: most of the other bloggers shared their own celebrity run-ins in the comments section. Kay mentioned Timothy McVeigh’s execution at the prison where she worked. You’d think that alone would have inspired Meredith to mention her own connection to another notorious criminal.

When Jenna Coeur’s televised high-profile trial was unfolding, it seemed like the entire world was tuned into Court TV—including Rob, who was far more interested in the legal posturing than the movie star aspect of the case.

Jenna wasn’t convicted, but only because she had the best defense team her millions could buy. She reportedly wanted to take the stand, but her lawyers refused to allow her to testify. Later, she never issued a statement other than to say—through her attorneys—that she was relieved the ordeal was over, was grateful to her legal team, and would appreciate privacy as she tried to rebuild her life.

That didn’t seem likely. Every journalist in the country sought the big interview with her. But she never stepped back into the spotlight to proclaim her own innocence. She simply faded into obscurity . . .

Only to pop up today at Meredith Heywood’s funeral in Ohio?

It made no sense. None whatsoever.

“If Meredith knew Jenna Coeur, she probably would have mentioned it at some point. So I honestly don’t think she did,” Landry tells the detective again. It’s either that, or I didn’t know Meredith.

“Unless,” Detective Burns says, “Meredith wasn’t aware that she knew Jenna Coeur.”

Momentarily confused, Landry digests the comment and her eyes widen. “You think they were connected online?”

“It’s feasible, isn’t it?”

Landry nods slowly as her mind hurtles through various scenarios. Plucking the most logical one, she asks, “So you think she was lurking on Meredith’s blog?”

“Maybe lurking. Or maybe interacting, but disguised.”

“I didn’t even know she had cancer.” You’d think something like that would get out.

“Maybe she doesn’t. Maybe she’s just pretending she does.”

Landry’s jaw drops. “Why would anyone in their right mind—” She cuts herself off. No one in her right mind would fake cancer. Just as no one in her right mind would slaughter her own daughter in cold blood.

Cold-blooded . . . coldhearted . . .

That’s Jenna Coeur.

Detective Burns rests her elbow on her table and her chin in her hand. “Tell me again,” she says with quiet deliberation, “what you know about your blogger friend Jaycee.”

Wondering why she’s abruptly shifting gears, Landry tries to tear her thoughts away from Jenna Coeur and focus on the question at hand. Belatedly, she realizes that the detective is pronouncing Jaycee’s name oddly, without the emphasis on the first syllable and with a distinct pause before the second.

Then it hits her: Detective Burns hasn’t shifted gears at all.

“You think . . .” Landry shakes her head in disbelief, even as a forgotten thought tries to barge back into her head. “You think Jaycee is really Jenna Coeur?”

She pauses for the inevitable response—“Do you?”—but receives only a shrug.