Beach Wedding(34)

“Wonder how she closed that deal,” my wife said.

“There were certainly nasty rumors about that, but nothing compared to the rumors concerning her affair with the contractor that was doing work on Noah and Hailey’s house, a contractor with Mob ties from Brooklyn named Mark Disenzo.”

“That just makes no sense,” my wife said. “Hailey bags one of the most eligible bachelors in the world and then cheats on him with a Mob contractor? Was it really even true? About the affair, I mean. Could your dad prove it at the time?”

“Yes,” I said. “Dad didn’t do speculation. The house gardener testified on the stand that he had seen them through the guesthouse window one morning in flagrante delicto.”

“Gotta watch those glass houses, Hailey,” Viv said, shaking her head.



44

“But it sounds like an open-and-shut case,” Viv said. “How the heck did Hailey get off?”

“The evidence went missing,” I said.

“Oh, right. I forgot,” Viv said. “Go on.”

“The case then hinged on the maid,” I continued. “Detective Marvin Heller was nobody’s dummy. He quickly whisked the maid away to the station for questioning the day the body was found. He tried to get Hailey to come as well, but then a carload of Sutton family lawyers showed up moments later, and Hailey was sequestered and never spoke to the police again.”

“They can do that? Just block access?” Viv said.

“They sure can. You have the right to remain silent, right?”

Viv shook her head. “So what did the maid say at first?”

“During questioning, she said she had seen a gun in Hailey’s closet in the bottom drawer two weeks before and that it had scared the hell out of her. She identified it as a blue-steel Smith & Wesson Model 52 semiautomatic pistol with walnut grips.”

“Wow, that was specific.”

“She picked its picture out of a gun book Marvin Heller showed her. What made it so significant and plausible was that Model 52s are mainly target-shooting pistols that shoot—”

“Wadcutter bullets?”

“Bull’s-eye,” I said.

“But then she went back on what she had said.”

I nodded. “Yes, it was the final straw in Dad’s case. On the stand, she said she had made the whole thing up. After talking to a priest, she said she was told she had to tell the truth now.”

“That’s ridiculous. She picks the perfect gun out of the book and then says she made it up?”

“Exactly. And here’s what lying bought her,” I said, showing Viv the photos of Jailene Mercado’s Florida villa I’d shown Marvin earlier.

“Isn’t that enough to reopen the case?”

“No, not yet,” I said.



45

“So what kind of case did the defense present?” Viv asked.

“Somebody else shot Noah,” I said. “Somebody at the party. A lot of weird people in and out of the house that night. Maybe Noah interrupted a burglar. There was nothing missing, but why stop a good BS story? And their ace in the hole was the defendant herself, Hailey Sutton.”

“How so?” Viv said.

“She was twenty-five, beautiful. Just a sweet defenseless grieving widow. How could she be a stone-cold killer?”

“That’s not right,” Viv said. “And the jurors fell for it?”

“Just two of them, which was all it took. When my dad got a chance to question them, they both said the same thing. They thought that Hailey had more to lose than to gain by killing her husband and coupled with the fact that Noah’s family supported Hailey made them think that she was innocent, as well.”

“Why did the Sutton family support Hailey?” my wife asked.

“I don’t know. That’s a great question. They really did support her, too. They paid for her ridiculously expensive lawyers and sat behind her at the defense table every day. No one really knows why.”

“So what now?” Viv said.

I waved at the dossiers strewn about the bedroom.

“I’m going to interview all the people in Kelsey’s files. I’m going to start with the staff and work my way in toward Sutton family members just like the way Kelsey outlined it for his book.”

“What will you say to them? That you’re a cop?”

I shook my head.

“Viv, I know it was a million years ago, but I did major in journalism. I’m going to fib and tell them I’m a journalist and that Kelsey’s publisher hired me to finish his book. Twenty years can loosen a lot of people’s tongues. Give people perspective. Grudges can live a long time, especially for employees. Who knows, maybe I can shake something loose.”

“But, Terry, I don’t know. This sounds like it could be dangerous.”

“You think going undercover in the blue-blood Hamptons is dangerous?” I said. “You should try it in North Philly.”

“You don’t need to remind me,” she said, steamed. “You should try waiting up nights for you to come home. Or wondering if you’re not.”

“Viv, I can handle it,” I said. “You know I can. I know it’s a pain, but can you hold down the fort with Angelina and the wedding stuff while I take a stab at this? It really means a lot to me.”