She tapped a quick answer on the screen. Cautiously optimistic. Still much to do. She hit send and tucked her phone in her pocket.
She didn’t want to think about how her father would feel if she wound up believing Casey was wrongly convicted. And she didn’t want to disappoint Charlotte by concluding her friend’s cousin was guilty of murder. But she did need to nail down a case for their next episode.
As she pressed the buzzer for the apartment, she thought: I’ll go wherever the evidence leads me. That’s the only right answer.
15
The apartment was modest but sparkling clean. Not surprising, perhaps, given that its owner had spent decades as the Raleigh family’s most beloved housekeeper, Elaine Jenson.
“Thank you for seeing me on such short notice, Mrs. Jenson.”
“Please, call me Elaine.” The woman was just as tidy as her apartment, with a perfectly pressed turquoise blouse and black pants. She was five feet tall at most. “But I have to admit I’m not sure I would have agreed to this if I had known the nature of your television program. I assume it’s no coincidence that you called me with questions about Hunter shortly after the release of Casey Carter.”
When Laurie had called while riding back from Connecticut, she had simply said that she worked for Fisher Blake Studios and wanted to speak to her about her former employer. “Not a coincidence. In fact, I got your name from Casey.” Elaine’s pursed lips made clear that she wasn’t happy about the connection. “I take it you’re not a fan.”
“A fan? No. At one point, yes, but no longer.”
“You believe she’s guilty.”
“Of course. I didn’t want to, not at first. I adored Casey. She was young, but she was formidable, and I believed she was a fine choice to be Hunter’s wife, despite his father’s concerns. I’m glad I never spoke up, because it turned out the General was right about her. Not that he ever predicted murder, of course.”
“Hunter’s father didn’t approve?”
“Oh dear, see? I just assumed as a reporter you must have known. I don’t speak about the family. I think you should go, Ms. Moran.”
“I’m not here to dig up old gossip,” Laurie said. “If the family disapproved of Casey before Hunter’s death, Casey didn’t mention that to me.”
Elaine’s eyes dropped to her lap. “That’s because Hunter never told her,” she said quietly. “Now, please, that’s all I will say. I’m retired now, but the Raleighs have been wonderful to me. It’s not right for me to talk about this.”
“I understand.” Laurie rose from her chair. “This is a lovely apartment,” she said, changing subjects. “Have you always lived in the city?”
Elaine still had the same phone number listed in police reports after Hunter’s murder. Finding her had taken one phone call.
“This has been my home since I married my husband twenty-six years ago, but Hunter knew how much my children loved the outdoors. I’d take them up to the country house for weeks at a time in the summer. We’d stay in the guest house and help out up there, but usually I worked for the family in the city.”
“What about Mary Jane Finder? Did she ever go to the country house?”
“Not to work per se, but she was at the General’s side more often than not,” she said, a slight edge in her voice. “She’d been to the house, of course.”
Detecting disapproval, Laurie decided to press further. “I believe she even attended the foundation gala with him the night Hunter was killed. That seems unusual for an assistant.”
“I thought so, too. Many of us did, but who am I to say?”
Elaine might be protective of the Raleigh family, but not of the General’s assistant. “I’ve heard that Hunter didn’t approve.”
Laurie could tell that Elaine was choosing her words carefully. “He was wary. His father was a widower. Powerful, moneyed. It’s not unheard of for outsiders to step in and take advantage.”
“What about Hunter’s driver, Raphael? I’ve heard he and Mary Jane were friends. Are you still in contact with him?” Laurie had him on her list of people to interview. At the very least, he could describe Casey’s condition on the ride home from the gala.
Elaine’s face saddened. “Such a lovely man. He passed away about five years ago. Raphael was a friend to all. Most of the staff I knew are gone now. But not Mary Jane. If it were up to that woman, she’d be there until her last breath. Now I think I’ve said enough.”
Laurie thanked Elaine for her time once again. As she neared the apartment door, Laurie offered one more observation. “Hunter sounds like he was a wonderful man.”
Elaine’s eyes brightened. “A true gentleman. Not only generous and honorable, but a visionary. He would have made an excellent mayor, or even the President of the United States.”
“I believe he even met the President, didn’t he?” Laurie asked.
“Oh, he certainly did,” Elaine boasted. “At the White House. The Raleigh Foundation was one of five charities chosen to exemplify the value of private giving. That was all Hunter’s doing. The foundation had been around for years, but it was Hunter who decided to focus its mission on breast cancer prevention and treatment after his mother passed from the disease. Poor Miss Betsy. Oh, that was so horrible,” she said, her voice drifting off.
“I’ve heard that Hunter was quite moved to be recognized by the White House.”
“Very proud,” she said, sounding proud herself. “He even kept a picture from that night, right on his nightstand.”
Bingo, Laurie thought. “At the country house?”
She nodded. “Most people would keep something like that front and center on the office wall. But Hunter wasn’t one to brag. I think he kept it in a special place because it meant something to him personally.”
“I know this seems like a strange question, but would the picture have been on the nightstand the night he was killed?”
“That’s a strange question, indeed. But the answer is yes.”
“Because that’s where it always was?”
“No, I’m more certain than that. You see, I used to go to Hunter’s Connecticut house one day a week to clean. Raphael would drive me back and forth. But that night a car service took me home because Raphael was driving Hunter to the gala. I was dusting the picture of him and the President when he came into the bedroom. As he was about to leave for the gala, I asked Hunter whether he’d be getting another picture with the President there. He laughed and said, ‘No, the President will not be attending.’ I thought about that conversation after he left. I had no idea it would be the last thing I ever said to him.”
“And was anyone else in the house after that?”
“No, just me. I locked up when I left. And then of course Hunter and Casey came back to New Canaan…” Her voice trailed off.
Laurie could picture the scene as if it were happening today, right in front of her. It felt absolutely real. She believed Elaine that the picture frame had been on that nightstand when Hunter left for the gala, which meant that Laurie was beginning to believe that Casey just might be telling the truth.
Someone else was with them in the house that night.
16
They were in Alex’s apartment waiting for the kickoff. The football game hadn’t started, but game snacks were in full force. An array of chips, dips, and crackers was spread across the top of a sideboard in Alex’s living room. “I assume Timmy is responsible for the nearly empty bowl of cheese popcorn,” Laurie said.
“I ate some, too,” Alex volunteered. He was sitting on the couch, his arm around her.
“Ramon, if it were up to Timmy, he’d eat nothing but macaroni and cheese, and cheese popcorn,” Laurie said.