15
The offices of Wakeling Development occupied two floors of a converted warehouse in Long Island City overlooking the East River. As they waited in the reception area, Laurie realized that she could see Alex’s apartment across the water. She wondered whether he was home or at his office, or maybe in court or in a meeting. She remembered when they used to talk on the phone every single night about nothing in particular if they didn’t see each other in person.
The appearance of a young woman through a set of double doors pulled her from her memories. “They’re waiting in the conference room for you.” She offered neither a name nor a handshake, and began leading them down a long hallway.
“You’re not Penny Rawling, are you?” Laurie didn’t know yet where Virginia’s personal assistant had landed after Virginia’s death. Jerry, the resident social media researcher, had located a Facebook profile for a Penny Rawling in Astoria, but her page had the highest privacy settings available. No access to photos, posts, or background information unless you were a Facebook friend of hers.
The woman who greeted them appeared confused by the question and explained that no, her name was Kate. She walked them into a luxurious conference room with a marble table and white leather chairs. A row of three people flanked one side of the table, the lone woman stationed in the center.
Laurie recognized her from media reports as Virginia’s daughter, Anna. She had shoulder-length, honey-blonde hair and wore a perfectly tailored navy blue sheath dress and four-inch nude heels. On one side of her was her husband, Peter Browning, whom the media described as a brilliant but quiet lawyer who quickly became a trusted member of the Wakeling family once he married the beloved daughter, Anna. On her other side stood her older brother, Carter. He was now forty-one years old based on Laurie’s count, but his appearance was boyish. His sandy-blond hair was tousled, he had remnants of a tan even though it was January, and, according to the social pages, he was still very much a busy bachelor.
“I’m Anna Wakeling.” She still used her maiden name, Laurie noticed, and she barely bothered to introduce the men at the table with her. “I appreciate your coming out to Long Island City to meet. So many Manhattanites refuse to cross a bridge or tunnel.”
Laurie made a point to admire the view from the corner windows. “I remember when this area was primarily industrial. I can see why your father was so proud of the mark he made.”
“Which is exactly why our company is still located here. Daddy would never have wanted us to leave.”
Laurie already knew from her phone conversation with Anna that she was familiar with Under Suspicion. Laurie had also explained that their show was interested in reinvestigating the circumstances leading to Anna’s mother’s death.
Once they were all seated, Laurie steered the conversation to the subject of the family’s primary suspect. “Our understanding is that your family was of a single mind when it came to Ivan Gray.”
Anna answered immediately. “That man murdered our mother. End of story.”
“Yet the police have made no arrest,” Laurie said. “Didn’t he have more to gain from marrying your mother than harming her?”
Anna waved a dismissive hand. “Please, she said they’d get married ‘when the time was right,’ but my mother was never going to marry him. He was a phase, a distraction.” Laurie couldn’t help but notice that both Carter and Peter were deferring to Anna. “I hate to say this, but we were embarrassed for her, running around town with this boy toy on her arm. She was old enough to be his mother.”
“Our understanding is that their engagement was imminent. There was even a ring.”
“Which my mother paid for, I’m sure,” Anna said. “And which she did not wear, at least not in public. I’m sure she enjoyed being seen with him, but it was a dalliance, and Ivan knew it. That’s why he stole that money to start his ridiculous gym. When I think about how my father would have reacted. I even told her, ‘Daddy’s the one who worked for this money. He would be destroyed if he could see the way you are spending it.’ ” She shook her head at the memory. “That was the day before she died.”
Her husband, Peter, reached over and touched Anna’s hand to comfort her.
“Mr. Browning,” Laurie began—
“Call me Peter.”
“Okay, and I’m Laurie. My understanding is that your mother-in-law trusted you when it came to her personal finances. Did she speak to you about her plans when it came to Ivan?”
“Well, as a family member, I can tell you that she assured all of us that she was not supporting him financially. She said Ivan had his own ‘working man’s’ income that she only supplemented in ‘modest ways,’ and that she would never allow another man to get his hands on the money earned by Anna and Carter’s father. So of course it came as a complete shock when we learned about all that money going into his business.”
Laurie noticed that Anna’s brother, Carter, was nodding in agreement, but did not seem to be following the conversation closely.
“Peter, you made a point to note that you were speaking as a family member. Weren’t you also the executor of her estate? Surely she must have talked to you about her plans in the event she got married. Was she going to change her will?” According to Ivan, Virginia was planning to make drastic reductions to her family’s inheritance.
“Now I need to replace my family member hat with my lawyer hat. That question is clearly covered by attorney-client privilege, which survives Virginia’s death.”
Laurie noticed that Peter used the more formal name that Virginia’s husband, Bob, had preferred. “But Anna and Carter, you’re not covered by an attorney’s privilege.”
They both shrugged, but seemed to share a knowing glance.
“I’m telling you, Ms. Moran,” Anna said, “Ivan Gray embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars from our mother and then killed her when he realized that she was onto him. The security guard who led her up to the roof said she was upset. She’d clearly had an argument. It’s only a matter of time before Ivan slips and says the wrong thing to the wrong person, and then the police will swoop in for an arrest.”
“Did you see your mother arguing with Ivan, or anyone else, that night?”
Once again, both men looked to Anna for guidance. Laurie wished she had been able to question them separately, but unlike a police officer, she could not control the circumstances under which she met her witnesses.
Anna shook her head. “We’re too honest to fabricate evidence, but there’s no doubt in my mind it was Ivan. Every time I see an ad for his stupid boxing gym, I want to punch something myself.”
“What about Penny Rawling?” Laurie asked. “As your mother’s assistant, she was certainly in a position to see her and Ivan interact regularly.”
An awkward silence fell over the table, and this time, Carter was the one to answer first.
“We created a job for her as a billing clerk after Mom passed, but it didn’t work out. I heard she was starting business classes at Hunter College, but she hasn’t stayed in touch with the family.”
“And what about your cousin, Tom?” Laurie asked. “We’re told that he was also at the gala that night and was a bit of the black sheep in the family.”
Carter let out a knowing laugh. “Boy, was he. For a while, he made me look like a Rhodes Scholar by comparison.”
“That’s all in the past now,” Anna said abruptly. “Tom has matured tremendously. He works here at the company with us now, handling office leases.”
Despite his sister’s serious tone, Carter was still chuckling to himself. “Remember how annoyed Mom was that Tom used the Wakeling name to land tickets that night? She said, ‘Thank God I was able to tell him in all honesty that our table was already full.’ ”
Even Peter and Anna were smiling at Carter’s impersonation of their mother’s precise diction.
“And Tiffany, his embarrassing date,” Anna added.
Carter burst out laughing. “The two of them stuck out like sore thumbs. Everyone could hear Tiffany talking at the top of her lungs about her wacky grandmother, the retired cabaret dancer. She swore a series of U.S. presidents fell in love with her grandmother. But John Kennedy was her favorite. At least she showed good taste there.”
The laughter grew and then subsided as Anna shifted back to business mode, but with a slightly less stilted tone now. “Anyway, cousin Tom is a changed man. He’s a trusted family member and colleague.” She looked directly at Carter as she spoke.
She’s sending her brother a message, Laurie thought. Cousin Tom is a trusted family member. But then why wasn’t he invited to this meeting?
Suddenly, Anna was standing, her attention already drifting to the cell phone in her hand. “I appreciate you’re coming out here, Laurie, but I’m afraid we have another meeting scheduled.”
Laurie was caught off guard. “I was hoping to talk to you about participating in Under Suspicion.”
“I’m sure, but we’d prefer to wait for the police to complete their investigation before a television show begins poking around.”
Laurie had come here thinking that she only needed to get one family member on board to be able to move forward with production, but it was clear that Anna was running the show for all of them, and had made up her mind before the meeting ever began.
“Whether you participate or not, we’ll still be—quote, unquote—‘poking around.’ ” She did not relish the idea of going forward without them, but had a feeling that Brett Young would give her no choice.
Grace surprised Laurie by suddenly handing a file from her giant purse to Peter before he could stop her. “Let us just leave the paperwork with you so you can mull it over. In the interests of full disclosure, you should know that Ivan Gray’s got some strong opinions about your family, and I’ve gotta say: the three of you were a lot nicer in person than he made you sound.”
Jerry looked as if he wanted to pull Grace from the room, but Grace wasn’t finished.
“I’m just a secretary, but if it were me, I wouldn’t want a man like that talking about me on national television without getting in my side of the story.”
When the assistant named Kate arrived to escort them back to the lobby, Anna Wakeling’s face was white as a sheet.