The Cinderella Murder

by Mary Higgins Clark

  “But there was never a trial,” Talia said. “And yet twenty years later, here we are. Formal accusations aren’t the only kind of punishment. Maybe now that you know the truth, you can ask the question the police never did: what happened between Susan and that other roommate?”

  • • •

  While Alex was starting the engine of the SUV, Laurie snapped her seat belt in place. “Good timing,” she said. “Not even noon, and we’re already wrapped up with Frank Parker.”

  Alex turned to her and smiled. “That means there’s no need to rush back. Your dad is at the house with Grace and Timmy, so we know they’re all safe. I have a suggestion. Let’s drive up the coast for an hour and find a place on the water for lunch. I don’t know about you, but my brain is scrambled. It’s as though every time we talk to one of the witnesses, a new suspect emerges.”

  Laurie started to protest that they needed to get back to the house, but Alex was right. It would be good for the two of them to quietly discuss what they had been hearing from the potential suspects these past few days.

  And a little time alone with him would be a nice bonus.

  53

  The next morning, Laurie was on her knees by the front door, buttoning Timmy’s jean jacket.

  “Mom, are you sure you and Alex can’t come to the zoo with us?”

  She had the fleeting thought that Timmy had begun to call her Mom instead of Mommy. He was growing up so fast.

  “Sorry, sweetie, but we talked about this. Alex and I have to work, just like if I was in New York, but we get the bonus of being out here in California. I’ll see you tonight, though. Dad,” she called out. “Are you about ready to hit the road?”

  She looped the last jacket button and glanced at her watch. This was the start of the summit sessions, and today’s participants would be here any minute. Up first was Susan’s social group: Keith Ratner, Nicole Melling, and Madison Meyer. Rosemary was coming, too, because she wanted to watch. Tomorrow they’d talk separately to the computer crowd, Dwight Cook and Professor Richard Hathaway.

  She heard rushed footsteps down the stairs. “Sorry, sorry,” her father said. “I’m coming. I got that e-mail I was waiting for from the Alameda police: a list of license plates that were near Rosemary’s neighborhood the day her neighbor was killed.”

  “Dad,” Laurie whispered protectively.

  “Aw, don’t worry about Timmy. Kid’s tough as nails, aren’t you?” He tousled Timmy’s brown wavy hair.

  “Nails made of kryptonite,” Timmy shot back.

  “When we’re done with the zoo, I might swing by the local precinct here for a little help running some criminal records. How does that sound, Timmy?”

  “That sounds cool. And can we go see Jerry too? I want to get him a stuffed animal from the zoo and bring it to his room to keep him company until he wakes up again.”

  When they had agreed to bring Timmy out to California for an adventure, this wasn’t what Laurie had in mind.

  “You guys have a good day,” she said. “And, Dad, try to take it easy on certain subjects, all right?”

  Alex and Grace came out of the kitchen in time to say good-bye. Just as the rental car pulled out of the driveway, a red Porsche convertible replaced it. Keith Ratner was here. They were greeting him at the door when a black Escalade arrived, carrying Rosemary, Madison, Nicole, and Nicole’s husband, Gavin.

  Laurie leaned toward Grace to whisper a question. “Madison’s staying at the hotel with the out-of-towners? Her house is, like, twenty minutes from here.”

  “Tell me about it. But girlfriend’s agent insisted.”

  As Keith, Nicole, and Madison exchanged polite hugs and exclamations of It’s been so long and You look just the same, Laurie escorted Rosemary and Gavin into the house to settle in as the day’s observers. “Craft services brings in a ton of food throughout the day, so please, help yourself. It’s all set up in the kitchen. Gavin, I didn’t realize you were making the trip down to L.A.”

  “It was the least I could do, given how nervous Nicole has been. You’re probably used to camera shyness, but I’ve never seen her like this.”

  After the bombshell Talia had dropped about Nicole and Susan fighting just hours before Susan’s murder, Laurie had to wonder if the cameras were the only reason for Nicole’s nerves.

  With Jerry still in the hospital, Grace was doubling as production assistant, escorting Keith, Nicole, and Madison to the bedroom they were using for hair and makeup. Once they were camera ready, they’d have a group conversation with Alex in the living room.

  “You ready to roll?” Laurie asked Alex. Their lunch excursion to the coast the previous afternoon had been fruitful. They had rehearsed the plan ad nauseam, but now Laurie found herself hoping that their suspicions about Nicole were wrong.

  54

  As they had planned, Keith was on the far end of the sofa, farthest from Alex’s chair, followed by Madison and Nicole.

  “I thought we’d start,” Alex said, “by having each of you walk through where you were the night of the murder. Keith, would you like to begin?”

  Keith explained that he was at a bookstore with several people who had vouched for his whereabouts, and then volunteered that the gathering was an Advocates for God event. “People can form their own opinions about Advocates for God, but I’ve always been very open about my relationship with AG. I was still learning about the church’s mission at the time, but once Susan died, I poured myself into it. I found that I was a happier person when I was providing service through the church. I became less selfish. But, anyway, that’s where I was—the whole night.”

  Alex nodded, satisfied for the moment. “And what about you, Madison?”

  “I suspect many of your viewers already know my version, because I’m probably most famous for being Frank Parker’s alibi for that night.” Laurie was impressed by how quickly Madison changed her affect for the cameras. Gone was the diva striving for a celebrity comeback. Speaking in the serious, measured tone of a news anchor, she repeated her memorized timeline.

  “And according to Frank Parker,” Alex noted, “you arrived for the audition looking like ‘a million dollars.’ ”

  “Well, I’d like to think so. But it was my audition that got me the role.”

  Alex nodded again. So far, so good.

  Next up was the speaker Laurie was most interested in, Nicole.

  “That night? I never really think about where I was. When I think of that May seven, I always remember it as the night Susan died.”

  “I understand. But surely when a close friend—your roommate—is killed, you must go through a process of saying, What if I had been there? What if I could have stopped it?”

  Nicole was nodding along. “Absolutely.” This was how Alex operated on cross-examination. Give the witness easy statements to agree with, and then use those statements to lead the witness in the desired direction.

  “So,” Alex continued, “you must recall where you were.”

  “Yes,” Nicole said quietly. “To be honest, I’m heartsick and ashamed about that night. I went to O’Malley’s, a local bar. I ended up drinking way too much.” Without being asked, she added, “I was desperately nervous about a biology exam.”

  It had only been a matter of seconds, and Nicole already sounded defensive.

  “You weren’t too upset about your argument with Susan to focus on your studies?” Alex asked sternly.

  Even beneath the makeup, Nicole’s skin tone faded three shades. “Excuse me?”

  “Our investigation has revealed that just that afternoon, shortly before Susan was killed, the two of you had a very significant argument.”

  “Susan was my best friend. We had the occasional squabble, but nothing I’d call a significant argument.”

  “Really? Because according to our source, the dispute was so heated that you threw something at Susan. She then threatened to drop you as a roommate if you didn’t change.”

  Nicole was stammering, pul
ling at the mic looped through the buttonhole of her silk blouse, trying to remove it. Next to her, Madison tried to suppress a smile. She was eating this up.

  “Madison,” Alex said, shifting his attention, “you seem to enjoy seeing Nicole’s feet to the fire.”

  “I wouldn’t say I enjoy it. But, yes, after all these years of being under suspicion, as you call it, I find it a bit ironic that the so-called nice roommate was actually throwing things at Susan.”

  “Some might say it’s ironic,” Alex said, “that you were the one who overheard the fight. So the question I have for you, Madison, is why you never told the police what you heard.”

  “There was no reason. I was coming down the dormitory hall and heard them shout at each other. I didn’t want to get involved. When the door opened, I stepped into the bathroom to avoid the whole scene. Susan left first, then Nicole. That was right around six o’clock. Once I knew the drama had left the building, I went to our room. Then Frank called, and the rest is history.”

  “You say you resent being under suspicion, but evidence of a bitter dispute between Susan and Nicole might have helped deflect that attention. And yet you never mentioned the fight to anyone.” There was a note of astonishment in Alex’s voice.

  The entire room was silent. Laurie found herself leaning forward, waiting for the next words. She hoped viewers would do the same.

  When Madison did not answer, Alex continued to press. “How about this as a theory, Madison? Drawing attention to Nicole as a suspect would have meant deflecting it from Frank. And then your alibi for Frank wouldn’t have been quite so valuable.”

  “The reason I never said anything is because I never thought for a second that Nicole could ever kill Susan.”

  “And you liked being needed by Frank Parker. Isn’t that right, Madison?”

  55

  Laurie could feel the tension in the room. Moments like this were the reason they invited multiple suspects on camera at once. Each person acted as a check on the others, making it harder to sneak in a lie that could easily be disproven by someone else.

  Alex continued to press Madison. “Some people have questioned why Frank Parker—a mere fifteen minutes after Susan’s expected time of arrival—would invite another actress, who just happened to be Susan’s roommate, to audition. Tell the truth: When Frank called your dorm room that night, the call wasn’t really for you, was it? Isn’t it true that Frank was calling for Susan, to see where she was?”

  “Fine,” Madison conceded. “He didn’t actually invite me to audition. But when I realized Susan had no-showed, I saw an opportunity. Susan had told me where Frank lived, so I drove up there. I had no idea at the time that she was in danger. When Frank said she didn’t show up, I figured she was off crying on Keith’s shoulder about the fight.”

  “And just like you seized the opportunity by auditioning, when you realized that Susan had been killed, you seized the opportunity to be Frank’s alibi.”

  “I was his alibi. I was at his house.”

  “But not by eight thirty. He called at seven forty-five inquiring about your roommate, and it’s at least a thirty-minute drive. You’d have to be awfully conniving for your first instinct to be to steal her role.”

  “I didn’t steal—”

  “But some time must have passed before you saw the opportunity, as you described it. To have arrived at Frank Parker’s house looking like—quote—‘a million dollars,’ I imagine you would have spent some time on your hair and makeup.”

  “No, in fact, I was already dolled up.”

  “Right. During our preinterview, you first said you were sick at home when the phone rang. Then you corrected yourself to say you had gotten dressed for a Sigma Alpha Epsilon party and then changed your mind because you weren’t feeling up to it.”

  “That’s what happened.”

  “A fraternity party? Really? Nicole and Keith, you knew Madison in college. Was she the type to show up for a frat party?”

  They both shook their heads. “Absolutely not,” Nicole added for emphasis. “She hated them.”

  “Oh my gosh,” Madison snapped. “Can you stop already? Talk about minutiae. Fine, if you absolutely must know why I was home that night, ready to walk out the door, it’s because I had been expecting a gentleman caller, so to speak.”

  “A boyfriend?” Alex asked.

  “No, nothing serious—but someone I thought was interested. I had sent him a flirty little note, suggesting it would be worth his time to pick me up at the dorm at seven thirty. I got myself dolled up, expecting him to take the bait. Apparently he wasn’t interested, because there I was when Frank called at seven forty-five. Not the kind of thing I wanted to advertise at the time, but not a big deal in retrospect. I got a career-defining role instead. The point is: I was home, the phone rang, and the call records back it up. I saw my opportunity, drove immediately to Frank’s house, begged for a chance to audition, and then acted my little butt off. I was there from eight thirty to midnight, just like I said.”

  “And yet you and Frank have always maintained that he invited you to audition. Why the lie?”

  “A white lie.”

  “Perhaps, but why stretch the truth at all?” Alex asked.

  “Because it sounded better, okay? Susan never came home that night. I thought she was still mad at Nicole and crashing somewhere else. The next morning Rosemary called, completely panicked. She said a body had been found in Laurel Canyon Park and the police thought it was Susan. She was hoping we’d tell her it was all a mistake, that Susan was safe in her room.”

  “But she wasn’t,” Alex said. “You’d been to Frank’s house. You would have known how close the park was. You must have suspected him.”

  Madison was shaking her head and starting to cry. She was no longer putting on a performance. “No, absolutely not. I had been at his house, just like I said. And I knew he’d called the dorm at seven forty-five. So I knew for sure it wasn’t him. But I also knew I was the only person who could prove that.”

  “And so?” Alex asked.

  “So I went to Frank’s. I told him there was nothing to worry about—that I knew he wasn’t involved and that I’d back him up to the police.”

  “But you set contingencies, didn’t you? You threatened him. You told him that you’d only support his alibi if he cast you in Beauty Land.”

  After a long pause, all she could say was, “I earned that role.”

  If this had been a courtroom, Alex would have resumed his seat at counsel table now. His job with respect to Madison was done. She was so conniving that even after she knew Susan was dead, her first priority was becoming a star.

  But this wasn’t a courtroom, and Madison wasn’t the only witness. Alex paused and looked again to Nicole. “Nicole, you must see now that the argument you had that day could be the key to solving her murder. She fled the apartment at six o’clock with every intention of getting to that audition. But she was also having car trouble. We have no idea where she was between that moment and her death. What did you fight about?”

  “I remember now that we had some kind of spat, and I went to O’Malley’s and started drinking. It was a college hangout, and I got pretty wasted. I’m sure you could find people who’d remember. As for the reason we argued? I have no idea. Something stupid, I’m sure.”

  “Keith, you’ve been very quiet during this. Wouldn’t Susan have confided in you that she was quarreling with one of her closest friends?”

  He shrugged as if this was the first he’d heard of any tension between the two friends. His seeming indifference struck Laurie as odd.

  Alex made one more effort. “I want to ask you all, now that the importance of the question is clear. For the first time, we have revealed that Susan stormed out of her dorm room. It is likely because of her car problems that she did not drive herself to Frank Parker’s for the audition. That means she may have encountered someone the police never questioned. Where should we be looking? Where would she have gone?”r />
  Madison appeared genuinely perplexed, but Laurie noticed Nicole and Keith exchange a wary glance.

  From the first time Laurie had met Nicole in person, she’d believed Nicole was being intentionally vague about her reasons for leaving UCLA. They hadn’t yet solved the case, but one thing was clear: Nicole’s departure from Los Angeles had something to do with her fight with Susan, and Keith was covering for her.

  56

  Leo Farley sat back on the sofa to rest his eyes. Detective O’Brien, the lead detective, had e-mailed Leo a list of license plates from camera footage near Castle Crossings, the gated community where Lydia Levitt had been killed. Today, after taking Timmy to the zoo, he had stopped by the LAPD and gotten driver’s license photos for most of the cars’ owners, as well as their criminal history reports.

  He had excused himself from the dinner table early, eager to pore through the materials. This house was luxurious, but at the moment, he missed the bulletin boards and laminate furniture of a police precinct. The documents and pictures were spread around him in layers across the sofa cushions, glass coffee table, and plush carpet.

  Two hours later, he had finished his second perusal of every single piece of paper. He had been hoping for an obvious lead: a name associated with the Susan Dempsey case, something to connect the murder in Rosemary’s backyard to the murder of Rosemary’s daughter twenty years earlier. He had to believe that Laurie’s decision to feature the Cinderella Murder case had led to the attacks on both Rosemary’s neighbor and Jerry.

  But nothing was jumping out.

  Timmy came bounding out of the kitchen toward him. “Grandpa! Have you found anything yet?”

  “Careful,” Leo warned as Timmy tipped over a stack of printouts on his way to Leo’s side. “I know this stuff looks like a mess, but I’ve actually got a system going here.”