All Dressed in White (Under Suspicion #2)(48)

“And what was said after that?”

This time it was Austin who answered. “Jeff said that Amanda wanted him to change jobs. That he was too good of a lawyer to waste his time working for peanuts at the Public Defender’s office. Jeff told her that he liked being a public defender and helping people, and he was really good at it.”

“What was your response to that?” Alex asked.

“We laughed it off,” Nick said. “I told him getting married always means she’s going to start managing your life. Get used to it.”


“And what was Jeff’s response?”

“He laughed with us,” Nick said. “But we got the impression he was sorry he had started this conversation. It was right after that that we said good night and headed to our rooms.”

“So you went to your respective rooms at eleven o’clock and you contend that you stayed in your rooms all night. Is that right?”

“Yes,” they both answered.

“And as far as you know, Jeff was not planning to leave his room after eleven?”

“That’s right.”

“And is it fair to say no one can confirm that you were in your rooms for the night beginning at eleven o’clock, which is approximately the last time anyone ever saw Amanda?”

A flash of anger came over Austin’s face. “I guess not.” Nick nodded in agreement.

“Were you aware at the time that in her will Amanda had left Jeff her two-million-dollar trust fund?”

“We found out about that after she disappeared,” Nick said.

“Do you think Amanda would have told Jeff about his potential inheritance?”

They looked at each other. “It’s entirely possible,” Austin said quietly.

Laurie could tell that they both desperately wanted to vouch for their friend, but they couldn’t. There was no getting around one basic fact: Jeff had the most to gain by Amanda’s disappearance.





45





“Mom, those ladies over there are drinking blue martinis.” Timmy was pointing to a group of four women. Their drinks were the color of dishwashing liquid. “You wouldn’t want one of those. You like martinis dry.”

Alex’s eyes sparkled with amusement behind his glasses. “Timmy certainly does know his mother.”

Laurie and Alex had postponed their plans for a dinner alone at a Michelin three-star restaurant after Timmy pleaded to go to the hotel’s sushi restaurant. Leo could not stand the thought of eating raw fish. He called it sea slime.

Timmy, on the other hand, was even more adventurous with a sushi menu than Laurie. But she suspected that her son’s excitement about this particular restaurant was less about food than about the two L-shaped aquarium bar counters where live fish swam beneath the glass.

Alex was about to check in with the hostess when Timmy asked if they could sit at the bar. “You’re always saying we should try new experiences,” he argued. “We don’t have this back home.”

Alex broke the bad news. “You’re a little young for the bar, buddy. Try again in about twelve years.”

“I can’t wait to be old enough to sit at the bar.”

“Just what a mother wants to hear,” Laurie said dryly. “I don’t want him to end up like those two barflies Austin and Nick.”

Once they were at the table, Alex said, “Speaking of the two Romeos, what did you make of their interview today?”

She shrugged. “They’re exactly as Sandra described them. I don’t get the appeal, personally, but I know Brett will be happy. At least they’re entertaining for television.”

“Enough about those two,” Alex sighed. “So Leo’s already convinced the photography intern was involved.”

Without new facts, Laurie wasn’t eager to revisit this topic. “I know you think he’s jumping to conclusions,” she said. “Maybe we should leave it on the back burner for now.”

Later, as they walked through the lobby, Timmy asked if he could sleep in Grandpa’s room tonight. Laurie found herself happy to have even more time to spend with Alex.





46





Laurie was shocked the next morning when Charlotte Pierce arrived on set at the courtyard behind the hotel. She wore an impeccably tailored white suit with a black silk shell. Her hair and makeup were camera-perfect. This did not look like the same woman she’d met in the office at Ladyform.

“Don’t look so surprised,” Charlotte said, perching herself comfortably on the love seat they had staged for the occasion. “You didn’t think I’d go on national television looking like the ugly duckling, did you?”

Alex took his place, nodded, and the cameras began to roll.

Five minutes later, Laurie checked her watch. Charlotte had already recited the same information she’d given Laurie when they met in New York. She was a businesswoman who was used to communicating efficiently.

But part of Alex’s talent was to introduce questions that his subjects hadn’t anticipated. “What was it like being Amanda Pierce’s sister?” he asked casually.

“I have no idea what you mean by that. It’s like asking me what it’s like to breathe. She was the only sister I ever had.”