It was thirty-five minutes before Laurie was satisfied with what she saw in the camera’s viewfinder. “Thanks very much,” she said briskly. “We’ll take a short break and then Alex will start interviewing you. Claire, he’ll start with you. We’ll be back in the den and you two will sit opposite each other in the chairs you and Jane are in now. The rest of you will have some downtime. There are newspapers and magazines in the dressing rooms. It’s such a beautiful day, I imagine you will want to sit on the patio?”
One by one they all got to their feet. Jane was the first one to head for the door. “I’ll put the snacks out and you can help yourselves,” she said. “You can have them outside or in the breakfast room. We’ll be having lunch at one-thirty.”
46
Chief Ed Penn did not realize how much Leo’s abiding worry about his daughter’s safety while the Under Suspicion program was being filmed had affected him.
Even though he had ordered the squad car for the back road, he decided to take a look at the site himself. He was admittedly very curious to see how the graduates looked twenty years later.
It was around ten o’clock when, after having checked the squad car, the Chief decided to go onto the grounds and meet Laurie Moran. Of course he would not tell her of her father’s concern, but on the other hand she was with six people who had been in the house on the night of Betsy Powell’s murder. Penn was convinced that one of those six people was the murderer.
Robert Powell had been in a state of collapse with his hands badly burned from the steaming cup of coffee he had been carrying to his wife. He still could have killed her and figured that burns on his hands were a small price to pay for the appearance of innocence, Penn thought.
Chief Penn well knew that Regina’s father had committed suicide because of the investment he made in Powell’s hedge fund. A grieving daughter might very well have resented Powell for being the indirect cause of his death. The Chief was sure Regina had been lying when she claimed there was no suicide note. She had been only fifteen then, but she had withstood intense questioning, which suggested to him a steely resolve beyond her years.
Claire Bonner was a puzzle. Was it shock that made her so calm after her mother’s death? He had been at the funeral. While tears streamed down Robert Powell’s face, Claire had been cool, calm, and collected, as the expression went.
Nina Craig he knew less about-only that her mother constantly castigated her for introducing Betsy Bonner to Robert Powell.
Alison Schaefer seemed to be the one least likely to have a grudge against Betsy. She got married four months after Bonner’s death, and, at that time, Rod had a brilliant future in football.
Penn had wondered if the paparazzi would try to get on the set. But there was no evidence of that. The guard at the gate let the Chief’s car pass through, and his driver, a young policeman, parked behind the vans. “I won’t be long,” Penn told him and walked toward the patio, where people were gathered for lunch.
Laurie came to meet him and escorted him back to the group, where Penn immediately recognized the four graduates. They were sitting at the same table with Alison’s husband and they all looked up as he approached. They all seemed startled, then defensive, but Regina was the only one who seemed to recoil as if from a blow.
He addressed her first. “Regina, I don’t know if you remember me,” he said.
“Yes, of course I remember you,” she replied.
Chief Penn continued. “How have you been? I was sorry to hear about your mother’s death right after she moved to Florida.”
It was on the tip of Regina’s tongue to say that her mother died of a broken heart because she never got over her husband’s death, but that might open up the subject of the suicide note. Or is the police chief here because he already has it? she wondered. Hoping her hand would not tremble, Regina picked up her glass of iced tea and began to sip it as the police chief greeted the other graduates.
He turned to the table where Laurie, Alex Buckley, Muriel Craig, Jerry, and Grace were sitting.
“In a few minutes Alex will be talking with Regina about her memory of that night and the next morning,” Laurie said. “Tomorrow evening when it gets dark, we will be filming the graduates in evening dresses against the background of the film of the party taken that evening. If you would like to come by and see that scene, you are welcome to come back.”
It was at just that point that Robert Powell came out to the patio. “I’ve been working in my office,” he explained. “Anyone who runs a hedge fund cannot take his eyes off the market for even a minute. Ed, how are you? Are you here to protect us from each other?”
“I don’t think that’s necessary, Mr. Powell.”
Even though he was smiling and seemed at ease, Penn could see the fatigue around Robert Powell’s eyes and the overall weariness in his body as he sat down at the table and shook his head when Laurie offered him a sandwich from the platter Jane had placed there. Muriel, who had been complaining she had nothing to do, suddenly came alive.
“Rob, dear,” she said, “you’ve worked enough today. Why don’t you and I go over to the club for a round of golf? I used to be a pretty good golfer, you know. I’m sure I can rent clubs, and I put golf shoes in my tote bag, just in case I could persuade you.”
Laurie expected to hear a flat refusal, but Powell smiled. “That’s the best idea I’ve heard all day,” he said. “But I’m so sorry to say I must take a rain check. I have a lot of work to do in my office.” He paused, then looked at Laurie. “You don’t have anything for me to do today, I gather?”
“No, Mr. Powell. Alex will be interviewing the girls one by one. And then Jane, if we have time today.”
“How long will the interviews take?” Powell asked. “I expected them to be about ten minutes each.”
“They’ll be cut to that time,” Laurie said. “But Alex is planning to speak with each of them for about an hour. Isn’t that right, Alex?”
“Yes, it is.”
“Mr. Rob, are you sure that you don’t want to have a snack?” Jane asked. “You hardly touched your breakfast.”
“Jane takes such good care of me,” Powell told the others. “In fact, sometimes she’s almost like a mother hen.”
Not exactly a compliment, Laurie thought. She could see from the flush on Jane’s face that she didn’t think so, either.
“Familiarity breeds contempt,” Muriel snapped, staring at Jane as Robert Powell pushed back his chair and went into the house.
Wordlessly, Jane turned away from the table and went to where the graduates and Rod were seated. They all declined more coffee, and seeing that, Laurie pushed back her chair. “If you didn’t know it before, I guess you know it now. There’s a lot of waiting around in this business. Alex will start by interviewing Claire. When she is finished she can go back to the hotel, and then the same for each of you. Figure about an hour apiece.”
Chief Penn stood up. “Any sign of the paparazzi or anyone trying to get in here while you’re filming,” he told Laurie, “give me a call immediately.” He handed her his card.
Rod said to Alison, “It’s getting warm out here. I guess we’re not invited to sit in the living room,” he added sarcastically, “and the den is being used for filming. But I suppose we can sit in the breakfast room. The chairs look comfortable there.”
Laurie stood up and said to Claire, “I do think you should have a little more makeup on. With your blond eyebrows and lashes you’ll end up looking terribly washed out on camera. You really need a little touch-up.” She looked toward the door of the makeup van. “They’re ready for you now,” she said. With a brief nod, she walked over to the door that led to the den and opened it.