Her father handed her the iPad. Part of her didn’t want to look. She didn’t want to believe that Timmy had been sitting right next to someone involved in Lydia Levitt’s murder. She didn’t want to believe that the woman’s death had anything to do with her decision to reinvestigate the Cinderella Murder.
She saw the name “Steve Roman” multiple times on the screen. The website was for Advocates for God. Someone named Steve Roman was a frequent poster to the community forum.
She shuffled a pile of documents off a chair so she could sit and process the information.
A member of Keith Ratner’s church had been watching them in San Francisco and had been spotted near the murder of Rosemary Dempsey’s neighbor? This couldn’t be a coincidence.
She thought back to that moment at the end of filming today. When Alex had pressed Nicole about her fight with Susan, Keith Ratner appeared to know more than he was saying. Did the fight have something to do with AG?
Laurie stood from the sofa and steered her son into the kitchen. “Grace? Do you mind keeping an eye on Timmy? I have a few more questions for Nicole.”
58
When Laurie knocked on Nicole’s hotel door, Alex was at her side. He and Leo had insisted that she not leave the house alone. They finally agreed that Leo would stay home with Timmy and Grace while Alex accompanied Laurie to the hotel.
When the door cracked open, it was Nicole’s husband, Gavin, who answered.
“Laurie, hi. It’s after nine o’clock. Were we expecting you?”
“We need to talk to Nicole.”
“I hope this is important. My wife is in bed.”
He stepped aside, allowing them to enter. Laurie was surprised to find a large living area, with a separate dining room to the side. Clearly Gavin had used his own money to upgrade them beyond the standard suite provided by the show. “She’s not in any danger, is she?” Gavin asked. “She’s been so darn nervous ever since Rosemary called her about this show.”
Laurie heard Alex intentionally clear his throat. He was reminding her not to slip into her normal mode of trying to comfort her witnesses. “Actually, yes, there’s a real possibility she’s in danger, Gavin.”
“That’s impossible,” he snapped. “Nicole, you need to get out here.”
When she emerged from the separate bedroom, Nicole was wearing a pajama set topped by a robe. “Sorry, I was getting ready for bed.”
She did not sound sorry.
“They said you’re in danger.”
“I said you might be in danger,” Laurie emphasized. “Have you ever seen this man?” Laurie handed her a printout of Steve Roman’s driver’s license photograph, monitoring Nicole’s face for a reaction.
Her expression was blank. “No, I don’t think so.”
“His name is Steve Roman. We believe he’s the man who killed Rosemary’s neighbor, Lydia Levitt.”
“How would I know a burglar?”
“We think Lydia interrupted this man snooping behind Rosemary’s house, but he wasn’t a burglar. He was trying to learn more about the people involved in Under Suspicion. In fact, just days after Lydia’s death, he was following my family and me in San Francisco. He was probably watching you as well. He could also be the person who attacked my assistant producer, Jerry.”
“I’m afraid I’m not following your logic,” Nicole said.
“Steve Roman is a longtime member of Advocates for God.”
Laurie had been prepared to lay out AG’s connections to Keith Ratner and her theory that Keith may have sent one of his church friends, Steve Roman, to sabotage the show and stop production. But the expression on Nicole’s face at the mention of Advocates for God made it clear that Nicole already knew something about them.
“Today during the shoot, you said you didn’t remember what you argued about with Susan. And when I first met you, you were vague about your reasons for leaving Los Angeles. It has something to do with this church, doesn’t it?”
“I don’t-I don’t know anything about it.”
Alex handed her the file folder they had prepared before leaving the house. Laurie slipped the first photograph from the file, an eight-by-ten of nineteen-year-old Susan, smiling up at the camera. Laurie quickly followed it up with a second picture, this one of Lydia Levitt.
“These two women are dead. This is no longer about whatever personal history you want to keep private,” Laurie said. “People are being hurt. My friend Jerry is in the hospital right now. And it has something to do with Advocates for God.”
Gavin wrapped a protective arm around his wife’s shoulder. “Nicole, if you know something-”
“I never meant to hide anything from you, Gavin. I was trying to protect myself. To protect us.” Nicole took Gavin’s hand in hers and faced Laurie directly. “I’ll tell you. But only to help. No cameras.”
Laurie nodded. At this point, the truth mattered more than the show.
59
Dwight stepped carefully from the dock onto the stern of his boat, a forty-two-foot cruiser perfect for short trips. He immediately felt a calmness enter his body as he rocked with the sway of the boat on the water. The waves slapping gently against the fiberglass were like a lullaby. Once his scuba partner arrived, he’d be out in Shaw’s Cove, diving into the darkness. He loved nothing more than the solitude of night diving.
He would not truly be able to enjoy the scuba dive until he first completed one task. He climbed down into the cabin, retrieved his laptop from his messenger bag, flipped it open, and clicked on the surveillance video of the Bel Air house. It had been two days since Dwight had decided not to go to the police with the video of the horrible attack on Jerry. He had to hope that his continued monitoring might lead him to some answers about Susan’s death, and possibly Jerry’s attacker.
He sped through the video, slowing down only when something interested him. When he reached the end of the tape, he rewound to the scene that fascinated him most, the joint interview with Madison Meyer, Nicole Hunter, and Keith Ratner.
Alex Buckley had caught Madison in a couple of inconsistencies, but they were small ones. She was still vouching for Frank Parker. The bigger revelation was that Susan had a fight with Nicole and had stormed out of the dorm that evening.
Dwight knew how excited Susan had been about that audition. She wouldn’t have missed it voluntarily.
He rewound the video once again, replaying Alex Buckley’s final question over and over again: Where would she have gone?
He closed his eyes and pictured Susan on the night when he decided that he truly loved her. They had worked so late at the lab that they realized that dawn was only an hour away. They decided to drive to Griffith Observatory, reportedly the best place to watch the sun rise. As they sat in the grass, in the dark, she had filled the silence, talking about how petty girls could be to each other. How the theater department was filled with actresses who had the same amount of talent as she did but twice the ambition. How too many of her friends prioritized their boyfriends over their girlfriends. The way, even with Keith, she always felt she had to boost his confidence. She said there was only one place where she could let another side of her personality take over.
Where would she have gone?
Dwight was pretty sure he knew.
He used his computer to pull up an online calendar from 1994 to refresh his memory. By May 7, it had been weeks since Hathaway had caught Dwight hacking into the university computer system. Dwight remembered the timing because he was counting down the days until the end of the semester. He wanted to go to La Jolla for another scuba trip.