Tuesday’s Child

Chapter 22

PATTY WALKED BACK TO THE LITTLE OFFICE THAT HAD BEEN ASSIGNED to her at the rear corner of the building. Before she settled down to sift through the reports in her hands, she went over to the window. Kala and Spenser still looked like they were having a very intense discussion. She figured it all must be good for Camp Aulani since Kala had stuck the white hibiscus in her hair. To Patty, that had to mean Ryan Spenser was no longer Public Enemy Number One. But how and why was it happening? She hoped Kala would call a meeting once Spenser left and fill the staff in on what was going on.

Back at her desk, Patty separated the interviews, two for Audrey Star and two for Adam Star. The female version and the male version of an investigation. She marveled at the tidy reports and the thoroughness. Well, the two law students turned investigators were just a hair away from becoming full-fledged lawyers, so they knew a thing or two about thoroughness when a client’s well-being was hanging in the balance.

Patty started with Rob Pope’s report first. A male’s perspective always intrigued her because, unlike women, the males left out the little things that sometimes had a way of making an entire case; then there was that aha moment when the lightbulb went on. Patty rifled through the pages and had her aha moment herself when she saw that Bonnie Garrison’s report was eight pages longer than that of her partner Rob.

Before she settled down to read, Patty headed to the kitchen for a fresh cup of coffee. Back in her little nest, she got comfortable. Who first, Audrey or Adam? She flipped the pages and went with Audrey. After all, Audrey Star was what this was all about.

Patty read steadily, marking sentences, sometimes whole paragraphs, with a yellow highlighter. When she was finished, she read the summary and was pleased with the information Rob had submitted. What intrigued her most of all was the final sentence, which was a question: “Where are Audrey Star’s journals?”

Audrey Star had been born to Edith and Henry Star on August 7, 1965, in Marietta, Georgia. She weighed in at seven pounds, nine ounces. She was an only child. Her parents died in a boating accident when she was nineteen. The Star fortune was held in trust for her until she turned twenty-five. At that point, she had one aunt on her mother’s side and two uncles on her father’s side. All were deceased now. No cousins to be found anywhere. Nannies and various caretakers over the years were all deceased. Audrey was a pleasant child and went to private schools, young ladies’ finishing academies, “whatever they were,” Rob had written. Her early academic reports indicated that Audrey Star was slow. She showed no interest in the three R’s or anything else, such as spelling, science, or geography. She “failed” every psychological test she was ever given. One brave soul, a psychiatrist named Arnold Rosenberg, had brazenly stepped up to the plate and written that Audrey Star’s mind had never progressed past the age of sixteen. That same brave soul went on to say that Audrey Star was functionally illiterate though one could understand what she wrote despite the misspellings and total lack of grammatical structure, and that she worked very hard to cover up her deficiency. Because she was so bad with numbers as well as monies, she had credit lines out the wazoo, and all she had to do was sign her name, which she was able to do with no problem.

Patty closed her eyes for a moment as she tried to recall if any of this had come out at the trial. She had no recollection of it at all, so obviously it had not come out. Was that because Spenser didn’t root around in Audrey’s past because she was the victim or because he didn’t know where to look? Or maybe the Star people put a lid on the information they were willing to divulge. Patty wondered if Adam had known all these details. If he had, he’d never shared them with anyone, at least not to her knowledge. Then how was it two third-year law students, a.k.a. investigators, were able to find all this information?

Patty scribbled some notes to herself. Ten years was a long time, and maybe the people who did finally talk were aware of Sophie Lee and wanted to right some wrongs? People? So far the only live person who had talked was this Dr. Rosenberg. Where that kind of thinking would take her, Patty had no idea.

Rosenberg, she read, was the doctor who had informed the board of directors of Star Enterprises that Audrey was not mentally capable of handling her fortune and that a trust lawyer was needed to oversee Audrey’s fortune. Things went smoothly when that was done, with Audrey flitting all over the globe partying and enjoying herself until the day she met Adam Clements. A note in the margin, handwritten, forced Patty to turn the paper sideways to read it. Audrey stayed under the care of Dr. Rosenberg until the day she died. Rosenberg was the only person Audrey let it all hang out with. She understood when the good doctor told her she wasn’t on par with other people her age. He encouraged her to keep a journal, and only he and she would be privy to it. If she felt she didn’t want to voice something, she’d write it and let the doctor read it. He had to explain to her dozens of times about patient-doctor privilege. Audrey saw him on the average of twice a month and stayed in touch if she was traveling the world. Along the way, there were many one-night stands, short relationships, and several broken engagements. Men used her. However, she was never brokenhearted when a relationship ended. She simply moved on to the next man waiting in the wings.

Patty turned the page and saw a short report from someone named Derek Saxton. Rob Pope penciled in a note saying, “This guy’s summary is pretty much what all the guys said in regard to Audrey Star. She was coy, kittenish, often resorting to baby talk to get her way. She was easy on the eyes and didn’t mind spending money-not that I was a gigolo, mind you,” Saxton said. “But I did appreciate the pricey gifts. Who wouldn’t like a Maserati?” Audrey was incapable of carrying on any kind of meaningful conversation even if it was about the weather. She liked to be complimented on her clothing, her hair. She was just okay in bed but really didn’t like sexual intercourse. She did like to cuddle and talk about someday. She was a terrible driver, had had numerous accidents, smacked up or totaled more than a dozen cars, until finally the DMV revoked her license, and she had to resort to a chauffeur. From time to time it was known that she did take a car on the road and drive with no license. Even the threat of being arrested didn’t deter her. She knew the Star powerhouse of lawyers would get her off anything that caused her even a moment of trouble.

When Audrey met Adam Clements, she fell in love with him. Adam Clements, Audrey told Rosenberg, was the answer to all her prayers. He could take over her fortune because he was an investment banker. She asked him to marry her, and he accepted. He did put up some resistance when Audrey asked him to give up his job and stay home with her or travel the world, just the two of them. Adam had many sessions with Rosenberg. He knew what he was getting into when he married Audrey. Sometimes they were more like two kids, brother and sister; other times they actually acted like a married couple. Rosenberg said it was a very strange relationship but that it worked for the two of them. He said Adam was a decent human being, and he tried to help Audrey. He’d take her on nature outings since he liked the outdoors. He taught her how to swim. He’d read to her by the hour. She particularly liked political thrillers for some odd reason. With Adam around twenty-four/seven, Audrey gave up for the most part her facials, her hair and nail salon appointments, and her daily massages because Adam said she was beautiful enough without all those “trappings.” They did extensive traveling, with Adam showing her other ways of life and what other countries and their people were like. Even though she’d already traveled to those other countries, she had only experienced the party aspects of the cultures. She particularly liked Africa and its people for some reason and made many trips there.

Patty stopped reading, rubbed her temples as she tried to picture the life Audrey Star had led. She got up and walked over to the window. Kala and Spenser were still talking. About what?

Patty skimmed through a stack of photocopied articles that Rob had included in the file. She went back to Rob’s typed report. Dr. Rosenberg had retired a year ago and was dividing his time between Georgia and Vermont, where he went every summer to escape the heat. “He said he had just returned to Georgia a week ago to testify in a court case and was headed back to Vermont the very day we spoke to him,” Rob wrote. He would be there until after the leaves turned, then come back to the South for the winter months. He said his wife, who had passed away three years ago, was from Vermont.

He said he was shocked, actually the word he used was stunned, when he heard that Adam Star had confessed to killing Audrey. He said in all his counseling sessions with Adam, he never saw one scintilla of violent potential in the man. He said that, in his opinion, “Adam was simply not capable of murder.”

Rosenberg said his services were terminated at Audrey’s death. He said he was given a magnificent bonus for his years of service to Audrey. He followed the trial, testified, and was represented by the Star legal team. At that time, his wife became ill, and he cut back on his practice to spend more time with her. When asked if he had an opinion on Sophie Lee’s guilt or innocence, he said that he did not.

More articles were stapled to the file, articles of Rosenberg’s testimony and the ongoing daily trial reports. And then Patty reached the end of Rob’s report. Her eyes were glued to the last sentence: “Where are the journals?”

Yes indeed, where were Audrey Star’s journals? Especially the last one.

Patty got up again and walked to the window. Kala and Spenser were still talking. She stood at the window for a good ten minutes, her thoughts all over the map. As the personal representative of Adam Star’s estate, Kala had to have a key, or could get one, to the Star mansion, where Adam and Audrey had lived. Maybe it was time to send in a search team to see what could be uncovered. She was sure the police had done it ten years ago, but this was now. The journals could have been secretly removed, then brought back after the trial. It was just a thought but a thought that wouldn’t go away. Because the thought wouldn’t go away, Patty knew she was onto something. Plus the fine hairs on the back of her neck, always a warning sign that she should pay attention, were tingling.

As soon as she was finished reading Bonnie’s report, she would ask Kala, if she ever finished talking to Spenser, if she could go to the house and search it. The thought excited her. Maybe Nick would go with her. It would make him more a part of what was going on. She knew he felt left out-he said so on a daily basis. The thought was so strong she picked up her cell phone and hit the speed dial. “Come over here, Nick. By the time you finish your PT, Kala should be back inside, and we can leave. Unless you have something else planned for your day.” Nick assured her he would be there with bells on. Patty thought he sounded as excited as she felt.

Patty looked at the time on her watch as she started Bonnie’s report. It was almost identical in content to Rob’s but with what Patty called a few more female details. Audrey was addicted to designer clothes, went to all the Paris fashion shows, and bought tons of clothes. At her death there were racks and racks of clothes in her many closets, a good many with the price tags still on them. She also liked expensive jewelry and had millions of dollars in gems, most of which was kept in a safe-deposit box, although she kept a goodly amount at home in a wall safe. The combination was enclosed in the report as well as the location. “I got this from the police report,” Bonnie had penciled in the margin. Dr. Rosenberg said Audrey had six different engagement rings, all emerald cuts. He said he had told her she should return them to the various fiancés but she’d said no, they were given to her, and she was keeping them. When he told her that wasn’t the proper thing to do, she said she would think about it, and maybe she would return them. She never did, to his knowledge.

Dr. Rosenberg said it always bothered him that Audrey used to like to play dress-up in fancy high-end clothing with lots of feathers and boas and the like. She’d spend thousands of dollars on stuff, play with it, then discard it. He went on to say Audrey, when she would return from a trip, would plan a dinner party but not invite anyone. When it was time to sit down to eat, she would call all the staff to eat with her. When he asked her why she did that, she said because no one loved her, and as long as she was paying the staff, they would love her.

Dr. Rosenberg said Audrey Star was one of only four failures in his career. He simply could not break through to Audrey. Audrey Star was never a happy child or a happy woman. However, he said, when she married Adam Clements, she was content. When she insisted Adam change his name to Star, Adam pitched a fit and said no. Audrey went into a deep depression followed by many sessions for the both of them with Dr. Rosenberg. Adam finally gave in when he saw that was the only way to lift Audrey out of her depression. That very day, Audrey bounced back, giddy as a little girl. She immediately called in a team of decorators and decorated the mansion with stars. She called Adam and herself the Two Stars who lived in the Star mansion.

Patty started flipping pages, then she went to the trial transcript. There was nothing about the Star mansion decor anywhere that she could see. She would have remembered that. “Oh, baby, you were one sick puppy, and to think they locked up Sophie!”

What she was reading was so unnerving, Patty shoved the papers away and got up to walk down to the kitchen for another cup of coffee she didn’t need or even want. She saw Kala pouring herself a glass of juice. “So what, now Spenser is our new best friend?” Patty all but snarled.

“Close, but not quite best friends. Yet. Remember what I’ve said all along. Things are not always what they seem. How did your people do with the interviews on Audrey and Adam Star?” Kala asked.

“They’re very enlightening, to say the least. Do you have a key to the Star mansion, Kala?”

“As a matter of fact, I do. Clayton Hughes sent it over about a week ago. Why?”

“I’d like to take Nick with me and go over there and search the house for the journals. Are you planning on staying here at the office?”

“I am, why?”

“Then I’ll give you the reports on Audrey and Adam, and you can read them while we’re gone if you say it’s okay to go over there and poke around.”

“I don’t see any reason why you can’t do that. Come back to my office, the key’s in my desk. Bring the reports with you. You okay with the way things are going with your investigators, Patty?”

“Yes, I am. You’re going to find them very interesting. I didn’t finish Bonnie’s, but I’m sure it’s just clarification of what Rob had in his report. You know as well as I do that women see things differently than men. For some reason we pick up on the nuances, and sometimes that can be crucial, which really isn’t the case here, but I do question why neither side hit a home run with Dr. Rosenberg. With what’s in this current report, it seems to me he’s a key player.”

“Not at trial. Audrey was dead. She wasn’t on trial, Sophie was on trial, and Dr. Rosenberg was represented by the Star legal team. Patient-doctor privilege. Audrey Star was well represented by her team of medical doctors, all high-dollar specialists from all over the world. Dr. Rosenberg merely testified that Audrey had good days and bad days and on her bad days was depressed but easily cajoled out of it by her husband. End of Dr. Rosenberg’s testimony.”

“Yeah, well, wait till you read this report. Wonder why he talked so freely to Rob and Bonnie now.”

“Probably because Adam is dead now and a wrong has been righted with Adam’s confession. Doctors are like us lawyers, Patty, we take an oath. For all we know, Adam had some kind of agreement with the doctor that said after his death, he could spill his guts. I’m just guessing here because I don’t know. Didn’t your people ask him?”

Patty shrugged. “I’ll go get the report and wait in the lot for Nick to pick me up. I’ll check in when we’re done. Is there anything in particular you want me to look for while we’re there?”

“Anything that screams my name, snatch it up. This is a hot potato, isn’t it?”

“And it’s getting hotter by the moment,” Patty called over her shoulder as she ran to her little office. She was back in minutes with the report. She accepted the key to the Star mansion, which was on a curly purple wrist chain. Patty blew her boss a kiss and raced for the stairs that would take her outside.

By the time Nick pulled up in his convertible with the top down, Patty was drenched with her own perspiration. “You need to put the top up and the AC on full blast, or I’m going to explode. What took you so damn long?”

“I had to get gas. This car does not run on empty, you know.”

It was a running battle with the two of them, with Patty saying to fill the tank when it was a quarter full, and Nick saying his car buzzed when he was down to his last five gallons.

Within minutes, the canvas top curled upward and the AC started to spew cold air. Patty fanned herself with her hands. “You know where to go, right?”

“Yeah, I dropped Sophie off a few times. What’s up?”

Patty told him about the reports as well as what Kala had said before she handed over the key. “I hope I’m not wrong, Nick, but I think Dr. Rosenberg is a key player here whom no one explored, or if they tried, were thwarted for their efforts. Money talks and bullshit walks, as Kala and Jay say constantly.”

His eyes on the road, his hands gripping the steering wheel, Nick said, “Give me your definition of Audrey Star and don’t stop to think about the answer before you reply.”

“In my opinion, Audrey Star was mentally challenged and never progressed beyond the age of sixteen. No one wanted that information to come out. Even Adam, at the end when he confessed to murdering her, never said a word about her mental condition. Maybe it had something to do with the stockholders or something. I would imagine that stockholders have the right to expect whoever was at the head of a monolith like Star Enterprises to be of sound mind. It would be like Kala sending Bobby the office boy to defend a client on a murder charge. Bobby isn’t qualified, and neither was Audrey qualified to run Star Enterprises even though she was the CEO and president. It was in name only. She signed her name. Seems she was real good at that. Hey, what do you want from me, Nick? I’m a reporter, not a shrink.”

Nick shrugged. “Do you think we’ll find anything?”

“No. Well, maybe. It would be nice, though, if we did. Adam lived at the house until the last two weeks of his life. He might well have hidden something in the house, like Audrey’s journals. But would he have left them there to be found, knowing when he entered the hospital he wouldn’t be getting out and going home? I’m thinking the way he saw it was he’d confessed, and that was the end of it.

“If he ever did have Audrey’s journals, he might have hidden them somewhere. I have not discounted in my own mind that Dr. Rosenberg might have them. For that matter, Adam could have hidden them in his locker at the country club where he plays golf. Or if he belonged to a gym, he would have a locker there and could have hidden them there. No one at the firm has gotten that far into this mess yet to have thought of that until today. For all we know, they could be hidden in the trunk of his car.

“Nick, let me ask you a question. Knowing Audrey Star’s condition, knowing she knew she was never going to walk again, knowing everything she knew at the time of her death, what would she write in a journal? Her world was one room. She watched television, her husband read to her, a nurse took care of her needs. What would she write about? Why would she even bother to keep a journal? Before, yes, I understand the need to put thoughts to paper. I think those damn journals are suddenly a very big deal.”

Nick took his eyes off the road long enough to give Patty a piercing stare. “What happens if we can’t find them?”

“We have to find them. We look until we have to give up. That’s the bottom line.”

“Okay, we’re here,” Nick said as he put on his blinker and made a left turn onto a gravel driveway. “I hope you have the code to the security gate. Kala said the other day that all the staff are gone, even the gardeners.”

“Four double zeros,” Patty said. Nick punched in the numbers, and the gate slowly slid to the side. He drove through and continued on under the canopy of ancient oak trees.

It was a beautiful house, a huge Tudor with extensions that ran to the back of the house so as not to disturb the architecture. The shrubbery was dense and lush but overgrown. Flowers bloomed everywhere, but they were leggy and spindly and in need of water. The noonday sun glistened on the diamond-paned windows.

“It’s pretty, isn’t it, Nick? This is the first time I’m seeing it. But Sophie described it to me. She said it was a cold, strange house, beautifully decorated with costly things, but there was no warmth at all to it. Even if I didn’t know the house was empty, I would still think so. It just looks like a shell to me even though I can see window treatments. Is that crazy or what?” Patty asked, getting out of the car.

“That’s because you’re a people person, Patty. But I understand what you’re saying. It’s almost like the house is shouting, ‘They’re all gone and they aren’t coming back.’ ”

“I wonder what Sophie will do with it,” Patty said.

Nick stopped in midstride. “If Sophie were to ask me for my opinion, I’d tell her to burn the damn thing to the ground.”

Patty laughed, a bitter sound. “Funny. I was thinking the exact same thing. Maybe she could knock it down and make a little park with benches and flowers and stuff. A few statues, that kind of thing. A place where people could walk to in the evening after the sun goes down. Let’s hope she asks for our opinions. Okay, here goes. Why do I feel like I should ring the bell?”

“Is that some kind of girl thinking? Just open the damn door already and get this show on the road.”

Patty whirled around. “What’s your problem, Nick? I’m getting sick and tired of your attitude. If you didn’t want to come with me, all you had to do was say no. No I can accept. This surly attitude of yours of late is getting on my nerves. Do you want to sit out here on the swing and talk it out? We’ve done that all our lives, and unless we’ve been lying to one another, it always seemed to help. Why, all of a sudden, don’t you want to talk about whatever it is that’s bothering you? By the way, before I forget, it’s my turn to take Jon home with me this week.”

Nick walked over to the swing, noticed the patches of mildew, and perched on the very end. Patty leaned against the porch wall.

“They called me early this morning to tell me I have to have the other hip done, and the sooner the better. There goes my career. I thought I could handle it but… I’m not handling it. I have to be up front with all my sponsors, and the sooner the better on that, too. I’m washed up, Patty. Sophie isn’t going to want some has-been like me. That’s what’s bothering me more than the endorsements and my career.”

“Damn, you are one dumb sorry jerk, Nick Mancuso. Right this minute, I’m ashamed to even be talking to you. If you think even for a nanosecond that Sophie would feel that way, you’re even more stupid than I thought. Don’t say another word to me, Nick Mancuso.”

“So you’re telling me this is a guy thing?” Hope was in his voice, but Patty was heartless.

“I can’t waste my time on stupid people like you. Now get off your ass and help me out here or else go home and I’ll call a cab when I’m ready to leave. Don’t you dare talk to me, Nick. I can’t carry on a conversation with someone so stupid.”

“All rrriiight. I get it. Look, see, I’m happy as a clam,” Nick said, stretching his mouth out as far as it would go with his fingers.

“I’m sorry about your news. It’s going to be whatever you make it to be, Nick. There are a million things you can do with your life. You’re financially sound, and have your whole life ahead of you. Make it count. Do not whine anymore to me. We came here to do a job, so let’s get to it.”

Nick laughed. Patty could always shake him loose. He followed her into the house and gasped as loud as Patty did when they entered the foyer.

“Oh my God!” they both said in unison.