“How can you be so sure?”
“Back when we were at Colby, a girl named Carly Romano disappeared. It was nearly two weeks before they found her body in Messalonskee Lake. Actually, this will give you some idea of how Meghan and Amanda were so different. We didn’t really know Carly, but the entire college was affected. Amanda was the one who organized the prayer sessions and candlelight vigils; Meghan was the one who helped organize the on-campus search teams and handed out flashlights and safety whistles. Amanda was a caretaker. Meghan was a pragmatist. Anyway, one night, while everyone was still searching, Amanda told me that she nearly broke down when she met Carly’s parents. She said she almost hoped they’d find a body, because she couldn’t imagine anything worse for a parent than not knowing.”
Laurie thought she was living in hell those five years when Greg’s murder was unsolved. She couldn’t imagine how she would have felt if he had simply failed to come home one night. How do people go on?
30
Leo hadn’t allowed Laurie into the kitchen while he was cooking, but he seemed more than happy to let her help with the cleanup. Timmy was off the hook because of his work as sous chef and was in his room practicing the trumpet Leo had bought him last month. He was an enthusiastic student, but as far as Laurie was concerned, his weekly lessons couldn’t kick in soon enough.
While she transferred the leftover lasagna into a Tupperware dish, she made a point of using the spatula to prod between the layers. “Provolone cheese?” she asked.
“Nope.”
“Gouda?”
Her father shook his head. “I’m not going to tell you.”
“Can you at least tell me if it’s a dairy product?”
“It is not.” That was the biggest hint her father had ever given her.
“Spinach?”
“Laurie, I know you’re not the world’s most knowledgeable cook, but please tell me that even you would notice if there were chunks of spinach in your dinner. And you certainly know I could never sneak that past my grandson.”
Generally, Timmy was not a finicky eater, but he had decided in kindergarten that “Popeye food” was not for him. He said it made his teeth feel “yucky.”
“Dad, I’ve been so busy with work we haven’t had a chance to talk about the Amanda Pierce case. I can’t stop thinking about her.”
“When you first mentioned it, the case seemed perfect for your show,” Leo replied as he started the dishwasher.
“At first, I was drawn to it because I knew it would attract viewers. But the more I learn about Amanda, the more interesting she becomes. She wasn’t just another pretty face from an impressive family with a storybook wedding. She was complicated-and still getting to know herself. She was so young, but had already survived a serious illness. Some of the things I’ve heard about her remind me of myself and what I would have done, like organizing prayer vigils for a missing girl in college. But she wasn’t perfect by any means either.”
Laurie continued to talk about the case as she wiped down the countertops. When she’d brought him up to speed, she glanced around the kitchen. “I guess we’re almost finished here.”
She turned to face Leo. “Bullying Meghan into retracting her claims that Amanda stole an idea from her seems especially cold, but do you think it could possibly have anything to do with her disappearance?”
Before Leo could answer, Laurie’s cell phone began buzzing on the counter.
“No rest for the weary,” Leo commented.
The number on the screen was unfamiliar, but Laurie did recognize the 561 Palm Beach area code.
When she answered, a man’s voice said he hoped he wasn’t calling too late. “I spoke this afternoon to your assistant, Jerry. He told me I should call you if I remembered anything more about Amanda.”
“And this is-?”
“Oh, I’m sorry. This is Ray Walker. I was supposed to photograph the wedding for Amanda Pierce and Jeff Hunter.”
“Yes, of course, Mr. Walker. Jerry briefed me on your conversation earlier today.”
The photographer had confirmed that he was not the man in the hotel surveillance video, the one carrying a camera as he appeared to turn to follow Amanda. According to Walker, he had left the property by then to work with another client. More important, Jerry had learned that Walker was six-foot-four and thin, and had been five years earlier as well. The man in the video was slightly overweight and of average height.
“After I hung up, I kept thinking about that weekend. It’s hard to retrace your steps so many years later, but of course the events stand out because of what happened. I’ve had weddings canceled at the last minute before, but never because the bride disappeared. It was very upsetting.”
“We very much appreciate any help you can give us, Mr. Walker. I believe Jerry explained we were trying to identify a man from the hotel surveillance system.”
“He did, and that’s what got me thinking. I was at another wedding the evening Amanda disappeared, so I assumed I had nothing that might help the police. But when Jerry called, he said the video you were interested in was earlier, at five-thirty.”
“That’s correct.”
“Well, it dawned on me that I had an intern back then. His name was Jeremy Carroll. He was self-trained, but quite good. He had a real eye for candids, which is why I took him on. In photography, sometimes assistants can be more trouble than they’re worth. Anyway, he was with me at the Grand Victoria earlier in the day. We spent about two hours there on some informal shots with the wedding party. He would’ve been carrying a camera and was about the same height and weight as the man Jerry described from the video.”
The intern’s name didn’t sound familiar from the reports Laurie had read. She began drying the salad bowl her father had just rinsed. “Do you know if the police ever spoke to Jeremy about that night?”
“I doubt it. Like I said, I assumed he left when I did at five o’clock. But now I realize I can’t say that for certain. Here’s the thing: a couple months after that, I wound up letting Jeremy go. He made some of the clients uncomfortable.”
Laurie’s radar went up. “How so?”
“Socially. They mentioned that he didn’t seem to respect proper boundaries. When you’re photographing intimate events like weddings, it can be tempting to think that you become part of the inner circle. You don’t. Anyway, I never thought too much more about him until your show called today. Now I’m thinking, maybe he took it upon himself to keep hanging around. It’s a long shot, but I thought I’d mention it.”
Laurie found a notepad and jotted down the name Jeremy Carroll. Walker didn’t have contact information for him, but he said Carroll was around twenty-five years old when he worked for him. Laurie thanked Walker profusely before saying good-bye.
“I take it your caller had something interesting to say,” Leo observed.
She summarized her conversation with Walker. “If Jeremy’s the man from the video, I need to talk to him. It really did look like he turned around to follow Amanda. But all I have is a fairly common name and an approximate age.”
“No, you have more than that. You have a father who still knows a thing or two about basic police work.” Leo snatched the piece of notepaper from the counter, and Laurie knew that First Deputy Police Commissioner Farley was on the case.
31
The next morning Laurie had no sooner reached her desk than her phone rang. She suspected it would be Brett. I swear whenever he calls, even the ring sounds angry, she thought.