“But, Senator Fairview, haven’t you staked your professional reputation on being anti-abortion?”
He straightened up. “I’ve always favored an exemption when the life of the mother is at risk. And Katie was adamant that she would kill herself. She was so afraid of what her stepmother might do if she came home pregnant. She had two bottles of Tylenol, and she told me she was planning on taking both of them rather than go through with having the baby. I couldn’t let that happen, so I took her to a clinic I knew about. At that point, my only thought was to keep her from killing herself. She was a bright, articulate young woman who was clearly going places.” His voice wobbled. “I guess she was more emotionally unstable than I thought.”
“Senator, the autopsy results show that Katie Converse was murdered. She didn’t hang herself. Someone tried to make it look like a suicide.” Allison took a deep breath. “And we believe that someone was you.”
“No,” he protested, his eyes widening. “I did not kill her! I did not kill Katie Converse!”
CHANNEL FOUR
January 12
Looking directly into the camera, Cassidy said, “Late-breaking news tonight. Senator James Fairview has been indicted by a grand jury for the murder of Senate page Katie Converse.”
As she was speaking, out of the corner of her eye Cassidy saw an intern with a tape come running into the room. By the time he realized he was running into a live shot, he was going too fast to stop. He tripped over a chair and landed just behind Cassidy. She hesitated for only a second, and in that second, if viewers had listened very carefully, they could have heard a whispered curse from the floor.
Cassidy smoothly resumed talking as if nothing had happened.
“The grand jury acted after seeing this exclusive footage, which you will see only on Channel Four. It was taken the same day that Katie Converse disappeared.”
That night, Cassidy flipped from channel to channel. But Fairview’s arrest didn’t lead the news on a single station. Instead, each was extensively covering the same story, the story the intern had been rushing in. In Chicago, the roof of an ice-skating rink had collapsed under the weight of heavy snow. Three kids were missing and eight were confirmed dead. Many of them had been attending a birthday party for a five-year-old.
With a sinking feeling, Cassidy realized the media’s great eye had just turned away from Katie to focus on another story.
MARK O. HATFIELD UNITED STATES COURTHOUSE
January 13
The judge set Fairview’s bail at a million dollars, so he was out within twenty-four hours. A million dollars might sound like a lot to the average person, but Allison knew that a defendant only had to come up with 10 percent. And for a man like Senator Fairview, she thought sourly, a hundred thousand was close to pocket change.
Under the conditions of his bail release, Fairview was not allowed to travel out of state. Release was determined by two considerations: risk of flight and danger to the community. But Fairview was so recognizable—he was currently on the cover of Time, Newsweek, and the National Enquirer—that he was not considered a flight risk, especially since the judge had confiscated his passport. And since it was allegedly a crime of passion, and not the act of a serial killer, Fairview was considered a minimal danger to the community.
As soon as Fairview made bail, he went back to the rehab center, which offered at least the illusion of privacy.
Chambers was out of jail, too, an idea Allison had a lot less trouble with. There was no way to tie the pot plants to him, and Starshine’s story backed him up. After Cassidy’s piece had run, offers to help had poured in from Channel Four viewers. One had offered Chambers a job and a place for him and his daughter to live on a horse farm in rural Washington County. Now they were staying in a mobile home and getting used to having heat, electricity, and running water—all things they had survived without for the past three years.
Allison had just sat down in front of her overflowing inbox when the phone rang.
“Allison Pierce.”
“Ally—it’s Lindsay.”
The first emotion Allison felt was annoyance. The second was guilt.
Lindsay was her sister. She had to be there for her. Even when every-one else had given up on her.
“What’s up, Lindsay?” What she meant was What’s wrong, Lindsay? Because something had to be. For one thing, her sister had never come home for Christmas.
“I’ve been arrested.”
“Are you still in Tennessee?” Or had it been Alabama?
“No, I’m here in Portland. Chris took me back.”
Allison couldn’t believe it. Was there a note of joy in her sister’s voice?
“So what were you arrested for?”
“Selling meth. But I—”