“We haven’t committed ourselves to any one theory,” Laurie said. “But working with families on their legal matters, you must understand why we’d at least want to consider Jeff as a possible suspect, and why the terms of Amanda’s will might be relevant.”
Lands smiled knowingly. “Oh, I certainly do understand, but I also knew my client. I think you’re overlooking another possibility.”
He kept looking at them, waiting for them to follow his train of thought. He seemed amused at their befuddlement. “When Amanda first disappeared, many of the news outlets called her the Runaway Bride. Cold feet, etcetera. My guess is that your show will assume that five years with no word makes a voluntary disappearance less likely.”
Laurie nodded. “That’s a good assumption.”
The knowing smile returned. “Unless it’s not.” He added another hint. “Maybe the will is relevant in a way you haven’t considered.”
As she often did when it came to legal issues, Laurie found herself looking to Alex for guidance. But on this one, she had more knowledge than he did of the personalities involved. It wasn’t a legal puzzle. It was a puzzle about human motivations.
“Both Jeff and Sandra say that Amanda would have never just walked away without a trace. But if she wanted to start over again, and felt like she owed something to Jeff-”
Alex finished her thought. “Naming Jeff in her will and then disappearing was a way to eventually give some of her family’s wealth to him, despite her father’s insistence that he sign a prenup.”
Lands was nodding in agreement, pleased that he was being given the opportunity to share his thoughts. “I’ve said as much as I probably can about my own dealings with Amanda, but I can say that in general, sometimes when people have been very sick and could have died, they become keenly aware of their mortality. They want to make the most of every day. Maybe breaking your family’s hearts is worth it if you can spend the rest of your days living on the other side of the world, doing exactly what you want.”
27
That night at seven-thirty, Alex was thrilled to hear the sound of keys in the front door. His brother, Andrew, had made it to New York with time to spare before dinner.
He was about to pull the door open when he felt it being pushed.
“Glad to have the better-looking Buckley on the premises,” Alex said with a laugh.
“Younger and better-looking!” Andrew said as he embraced his brother.
Ramon was hustling away his suitcase.
As much as Alex enjoyed his life, so busy with work, he felt most at home when Andrew was here. One of the reasons Alex had bought this large apartment on Beekman Place-six rooms, plus housekeeper’s quarters-was so his younger brother could always have his own room and there would be plenty of space when he brought his family up for a weekend. Andrew was a corporate lawyer in D.C. who came up to New York frequently on business.
There was a reason it felt natural for Alex to have his brother under the same roof with him. For a long time, it had been only the two of them. Their parents had died within two years of each other. At only twenty-one years of age, Alex became Andrew’s legal guardian. He sold their parents’ home in Oyster Bay, and the two of them moved to an apartment on the Upper East Side, where they lived together until Andrew graduated from Columbia Law School. At commencement, Alex thought he probably cheered louder than any of the graduates’ parents.
Alex walked over to the bar to make cocktails while Ramon continued to prepare dinner in the kitchen. Measuring shots of gin into a martini shaker, Alex asked Andrew about Marcy and the kids. He and Marcy now had a six-year-old son and three-year-old twin daughters.
“I love coming back to the city,” Andrew said, “but, man, it’s getting harder and harder to leave them, even for a few days. Marcy tells me I’m lucky to have a break, but I miss them like crazy when I’m here.”
Alex smiled, wondering what that was like. He handed Andrew a martini, and the two of them clinked glasses.
“So what’s your story, Alex? I thought I might finally meet Laurie tonight. She couldn’t join us?”
Alex regretted mentioning the possibility when Andrew had phoned yesterday. “I invited her, but she’s lining up a new case. When she jumps in, it’s not just with both feet. She gets in all the way up to her ears. She didn’t want to ruin dinner by being distracted.”
Andrew was nodding. “Sure, I understand.”
It was obvious to Alex that his brother, in fact, did not understand. When Laurie said she didn’t want to meet Andrew until she could give him her full attention, Alex accepted the explanation at face value. Now he was seeing it as yet another wall standing between them. “Hopefully, next time.”
Alex found himself relieved when Ramon appeared with a small plate of hors d’oeuvres. He had not realized until that moment how much he wanted Andrew to meet Laurie. Andrew was the only real family member he had. Would there ever be a time when Laurie would become part of this family, too?
28
“Are you sure you don’t want my help, Dad?” Laurie called out to the kitchen.
“Tonight’s my night with my sous chef,” Leo said, popping his head around the corner. Laurie smiled at the sight of her father in the chef’s hat that Timmy had given him last year for Father’s Day.
Timmy’s grinning face, smeared with tomato sauce, appeared for an instant and then disappeared into the kitchen again.
Her father was preparing what he called his “Leo lasagna” for dinner. She knew from eating it that it contained Italian sausage, mozzarella, and fresh ricotta, but that didn’t explain why it tasted better than every other sausage lasagna she had ever sampled. Her father was so protective of the recipe that he joked about putting it in his will.
“I’ll get it out of Timmy,” she said. “What’s that new video game you’re asking for?”
“Nice try, Mom,” Timmy said. “Grandpa, your secrets are safe with me.”
“Laurie, I’m actually surprised you’re home. Alex told me that Andrew was coming into town. I assumed you would want to join them for dinner tonight.”
After Alex accepted her invitation to host Under Suspicion, Leo had struck up a friendship with him outside of the show. They had grown even closer since Laurie and Alex had started seeing each other. She was delighted that her father approved and had someone to talk sports with, but sometimes there were downsides to their independent communications.
“I was too wired,” she said. “I needed to get some more work done before I could relax.”
“Well then, go ahead and do it,” her father said. “Chardonnay or pinot noir?”
With her father and son hard at work on dinner and a glass of wine in hand, it was a good time to follow up on some of the issues that had come up today on Amanda’s case. First on her mind was Charlotte’s claim that Meghan accused Amanda of stealing a multimillion-dollar idea. There was no reason Charlotte would make that up, but it seemed far-fetched to think that Meghan would kill her best friend over a business dispute. Besides, Ladyform continued to own the idea, whether Amanda was there to control it or not.
But Laurie’s conversation with Charlotte echoed for a second reason: her description of her sister’s personality. Sandra made Amanda sound almost impossibly happy about every aspect of her life. She hadn’t even mentioned Amanda’s cancer. But Charlotte spoke about Amanda in a darker way, as if both women were trapped beneath their parents’ expectations. Laurie had gotten the same impression from Mitchell Lands. If the lawyer was right, maybe Amanda had changed her will to leave some money behind for Jeff once she disappeared for good.