The Cinderella Murder (28 page)

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A
s 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, pulling 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?”

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L
aurie 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?”

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.

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