“It was an ugly thing to say,” Anna conceded, “but it wasn’t untrue.”
“You also told me earlier that you were glad to have one last day together in peace after that awful argument.”
She nodded sadly in agreement.
“But it wasn’t entirely a day of peace in your family, was it?”
Anna and Peter exchanged a confused look.
“Isn’t it true, Peter, that you and your brother-in-law, Carter, had an argument before dinner at the gala?”
Peter blinked and Laurie noticed him give his wife’s hand a small squeeze.
“Anna,” Ryan said, “the argument was heated enough that you walked over to hush Peter and your brother. You said they had argued enough for the day and shouldn’t discuss something ‘so morbid’ in public. We have a witness to the conversation. It was in the temple room if that helps to jog your memory.”
Anna shifted in her seat, uncrossing and recrossing her legs.
“The morbid topic was your mother’s will, wasn’t it?” Ryan pressed. “She was planning to change it, and the family was worried.”
“That’s not true,” Anna finally said. “Our mother was very generous, both to her family and to the charities she supported. Nothing was going to change that.”
“But that’s what the conversation between Peter and Carter was about. True?”
Anna and Peter were looking at each other again, and Laurie was wondering if they had made a mistake filming them together. If Anna stood up right now, Peter would follow, and the interview would be over.
Ryan nudged one more time. “Carter went to Peter as the trusted legal advisor, asking about your mother’s will. Carter knew she had plans to change it. Peter respected Virginia’s confidences and said nothing. Wasn’t that why they were arguing?”
Ryan had moved into new territory, speculating about the source of the argument between the two men, but Laurie could tell that their theory had been correct. She could see the worry in Peter’s expression. He wanted to say more.
“He didn’t know anything,” Peter finally said. “He just kept asking me if Virginia had spoken to me about any changes. I thought the entire topic was tacky and selfish, so I kept trying to avoid it. He kept pressing, and that’s when Anna intervened.”
“Did you know that Carter was dating your mother’s assistant, Penny Rawling, at the time?”
Their surprised expressions made clear that they had not known this fact.
“Penny used to read little notes your mother would ball up in her office garbage,” Ryan said. Anna shook her head disapprovingly. “Some of the notes were about changes to her will. In many of them, you and Carter were going to inherit your mother’s shares in the company, Anna, but nearly all of the other assets were going to be designated to charity.”
Anna’s mouth opened, but nothing came out.
“Penny told this information to Carter,” Ryan revealed. “That was why he was pressing Peter for information.”
They looked at each other again, but this time was different. They were no longer worried about the tone of Ryan’s questions. They were seeing something they knew in a different light. They were scared.
“I just thought he was being paranoid,” Anna said quietly. Ryan waited for her to explain. “Mom talked to him, maybe a month before she died. She was worried that he felt ‘entitled.’?” Anna released her husband’s hand for the first time since the interview began and used air quotes to emphasize the last word. “She saw how much harder I worked. Mother told Carter, ‘I’m afraid that if it weren’t for the family money, you would have turned out just like your cousin, Tom.’ Mind you, Tom’s great, and he’s doing fabulous work for the company now, but at the time, trust me: for Mom to compare Carter to our cousin was no compliment at all. Tom was in and out of different jobs, crazy girlfriends, gambling—all in the past now. So when Carter was asking Peter about Mom’s will, I told him he was being paranoid. I thought Mom was just trying to get Carter to grow up a little. I don’t want to believe that he—”
She paused and held Peter’s hand again.
“That he what?” Ryan asked. “What do you think your brother did?”
“I have to tell them,” she whispered. She waited until Peter nodded his approval, and Laurie realized that the power in their marriage might be more equal than it appeared on the surface.
“That argument I had with Mom the day before the murder? It was because Carter had asked about her will, saying he was worried she was going to change it and cut us out. It got me thinking about all the money she was spending on Ivan, so I let her know I did not approve. She made it clear that she was a grown woman who had the right to do what she wanted. But Carter wouldn’t let it drop. As soon as he saw us at the gala, he wanted to know if I’d gotten assurances from our mother that she was going to keep the money within the family. And then he kept nagging Peter about it, demanding that he lecture her about the foolishness of giving the family money away. That’s when I went over and told him to knock it off—we were in a public place.”
“And what did your brother say?” Ryan asked.
“That we—”
Peter interrupted, and Laurie was certain that the lawyer in him was going to cut off the conversation. Instead, he finished Anna’s sentence for her.
“That we had to stop her. That we had to stop her from changing that will, no matter what.”
Anna blinked a few times and her eyes began to water. Peter put his arm around her and waved a hand at the camera, signaling that they were done.
52
By the time Laurie got back to the city after filming, she managed to make it to Union Square Cafe ten full minutes before the time of their reservation. This was one night that she did not want to risk making Alex wait.
She was at a bar seat near the entrance when she spotted him step from the backseat of his black Mercedes, not waiting for Ramon to open his door. She watched as he straightened his jacket at the curb and then checked his hair in the reflection of the glass before he walked inside.
She wondered whether it was possible he had become even more handsome in the past two and a half months, and decided it was.
She had braced herself for an awkward reunion, but as soon as they greeted each other with a quick hug and a kiss, it felt as if they’d seen each other only yesterday. In fact, it was better. It was as if they had reached an unspoken understanding that any hurdles that may have existed before would no longer stand in their way.
The hostess had their table ready, in the back, away from the windows, as Laurie had requested. Even before she had met him, Alex was already a public figure because of the acquittals he had obtained for his clients in several high-profile trials. His work on the first three Under Suspicion specials had broadened his celebrity. Now that his name had been submitted for the federal bench, she did not want their dinner to be interrupted by strangers asking for autographs and selfies.