Poisonous: A Novel (19 page)

“I’ve had a half-dozen calls from people about that horrid reporter’s article. I don’t want to go through this again. I can’t. He was absolutely
cruel
to me.”

Cruel to
her?
From Max’s reading of the articles, she’d thought he had been critical of Ivy more than anyone. Which, considering that Ivy had been murdered, showed him to be crass and insensitive.

“Mrs. Wallace, I understand your frustration and pain. Mr. Lorenzo has a theory of your daughter’s murder that isn’t supported by the evidence. He intentionally misquoted me in order to forward his own agenda. However, the NET platform is much larger than his platform. We can control the message and, I sincerely hope, find the truth.”

Paula considered what Max said, then added, “There are many people who believe him.”

“Mr. Lorenzo lied in his article,” Max said, “and I’ve demanded a retraction. Today, I simply want to talk to you. There’s no camera, just us. An hour to let you know how the show will unfold. You can ask me anything.”

“This whole thing feels unreal. Why are you even here?” She glanced from Max to David.

“Because,” Max said, “I believe I can find out what happened to Ivy the night she died.”

“You? Really, when the police haven’t done anything in over a year? Why do you even care?” The sarcasm rolled off her tongue smoothly. There was no anguish in her tone, just disbelief.

“I would be happy to answer all your questions if we can sit down and chat. If you’re still uncomfortable when I leave, I’ll run the segment tomorrow without an interview from you, but I’d prefer your cooperation,” Max said coolly. “My job is to investigate cold cases. After fourteen months, the police have no new leads in your daughter’s murder investigation. This is the best time to remind people about the crime, when it happened, what happened, how it happened. Maybe someone will come forward with information that will help the police find the truth. This approach has worked for me many times since ‘Maximum Exposure’ first aired. And ‘Crime NET’ has an even larger audience.”

Max had hooked her. Whether because Paula Wallace believed that Ivy’s murder would gain exposure, or because Paula was curious, Max wasn’t certain. Though still suspicious of Max, Paula was interested and opened the door wider.

“Thank you, Mrs. Wallace,” David said. “I’m David Kane, Maxine’s associate.” He handed her both his business card and Max’s.

The Wallace house was stately and impeccably decorated. And very white. Everything was white, from the rugs to the bleached floors to the kitchen that Max could see around a corner. Along the wide hallway were three pieces of framed contemporary art, each under their own light. Max saw nothing but thick strokes of bright white paint with a literal splash of primary colors in the middle. She almost asked Paula if one of her kids had painted the canvases, then she noted a faint gray signature the lower right-hand corner of each piece.

Max would bet a million bucks that some art dealer had talked Paula into overpaying for these marginal examples of contemporary art.

Paula led them to the formal living room. The couches didn’t look like they’d been sat on, and nothing looked childproof. Max’s grandmother had a room like this—to entertain people she had to talk to but didn’t like.

Max jumped into her normal explanation about “Maximum Exposure” and what she did for the television network, NET, then moved specifically to how she wanted to approach Ivy’s death. “I’ll ask you questions about Ivy, what she liked to do—for example, I’d read how she was a straight A student and wanted to go to USC or Stanford. That’s a good human interest angle, and will really personalize Ivy for the viewers. I’ll ask about the last time you saw her, her state of mind, how she was, general questions to lead into the details that we know about the investigation. We always close each segment with a call to action—and in this case, I’m going to ask viewers if they have any information about where Ivy was after ten thirty the night she died.”

“I don’t understand,” Paula said. “I hardly think the person who killed her is going to come forward and admit it.”

“True, but someone else might know something. Or someone may remember a detail because now they’re thinking about this case in a different way. If people start asking questions again, the killer may feel guilty or panic and say something to someone. We don’t require people to give their name or number. If someone knows something, they may feel more comfortable telling our anonymous hotline than the police.”

“I see.” Paula sounded interested for the first time. “And what do the police say about your involvement?”

“I’ve already met with Detective Martin. I’m bringing in a respected forensic auditor to review the evidence and crime scene and confirm CMPA conclusions, or extrapolate—they have far more resources than local police. So far, I’ve been working well with the detective, and I hope to continue. They have exhausted every lead they had, but if they have new information, they will pursue it. I truly hope I can find them that new information.”

Paula harrumphed and frowned, but didn’t say anything.

Max knew Paula wanted her to ask the question, and Max wanted to resist her curiosity because she had a feeling she knew what Paula wanted to say and Max wasn’t going to like it. But she pushed anyway. “You don’t think the police did a good job?”

“They did a competent job, but never pursued any suspect.”

“You are aware they interviewed dozens of Ivy’s peers, and questioned both Travis Whitman and Justin Brock multiple times.”

“Yes,” she said, her voice clipped.

“Do you think they should have been pushed harder? Did Ivy say something that made you think her ex-boyfriend was dangerous?”

“Travis Whitman is harmless, a little boy in a man’s body. Ivy broke up with him because he was immature and was more interested in sports and hanging out with his friends than her. They were both young—sixteen—hardly ready for any serious relationship. I told the police that Justin Brock had threatened Ivy—he came here, to our home, and screamed at her to come out and talk to him. Of course, I called the police, but my husband went out and told him to leave. He left before the police arrived. The police spoke to him, but refused to talk to us about what they were going to do. He apparently hadn’t broken any laws.” Again, a harrumph that told Max Paula didn’t like the result.

“When was that?” Max asked.

“Before his parents filed that frivolous lawsuit.”

“Wasn’t the civil suit settled out of court?”

Paula’s lips pursed in a thin line. “That settlement is confidential. Who told you about it?”

“I only know that there was a settlement, not the details,” Max said.

“Well, no one is supposed to know about it
at all.
It had to be done, or Ivy’s name would have been dragged through the mud when she’s not here to defend herself against slander. Ivy wasn’t perfect, but what teenager is? She was a good girl who made some mistakes.”

“Honestly, Mrs. Wallace, no one—mistakes or not—deserves to be murdered. That’s why I want to find the truth.”

“Well, then you should look closer at Bill’s son, Tommy. The police never seriously considered him a suspect.” Paula said. She sighed and said, “Poor Bill. He’s done everything for that boy. But he’s brain damaged and dangerous.”

“Detective Martin interviewed him and his mother, and determined that he wasn’t involved.”

“Honestly, Jenny would say anything to protect her son. He was suspended—twice—for fighting. He has a temper. He has always made me nervous.”

“Why?” Max asked.

“You mean, over and above being suspended for physical violence?
Twice?
The way he looked at Ivy. It made her uncomfortable. I shouldn’t have to spell it out for you. Ivy didn’t like being alone with him, and he was at the house the night she died.”

“According to witness statements, your son Austin escorted Tommy home shortly before nine that evening, and returned an hour later. Ivy then left on her own just before ten thirty.”

“What does that matter? Tommy could have left his house at any point after Austin walked him home. The police said no witness saw anyone in the preserve or near the trails, not Tommy
or
Ivy or anyone else. What I know and what I can prove are different. But mark my words, Jenny had something to do with the police going easy on Tommy. She’s lied for him before, I have no doubt she would lie for him again.”

“When did Tommy’s mother lie for him?” Max asked.

“Talk to her. You’ll see what I mean.”

“I’d like your opinion,” Max said. “If the police didn’t do their due diligence, I’d like to know.”

“Meet with him, talk to Jenny, you’ll agree with me. Because truly, who would hurt Ivy?”

Max could think of a half-dozen names that topped the list of kids who would have hurt her if they thought they could get away with it.

And—obviously—one of them had.

“Do you believe that Tommy convinced Ivy to go up to the preserve? Why would she go with him if she was scared of him?”

“I suspect that he followed her.”

“She had a car. Tommy doesn’t have a driver’s license.”

“The preserve isn’t far from his house. Tommy could have overheard Ivy making plans with someone, and then gone up there and waited for her. Why are you interrogating me? I thought you wanted to find out what happened to Ivy. Or are you just like everyone else, wanting to make her out to deserve being … being killed.”

For the first time in the hour, Paula showed genuine signs of emotion. Though Max was irritated with Paula, her anger disappeared. As unlikeable as she was, Paula had lost her daughter. She was still a grieving mother.

“Mrs. Wallace,” Max said quietly, “in no way do I think that Ivy deserved to die.”

David said, “I think we have enough information to put together the segment. Tomorrow morning Ms. Revere and our cameraman, Mr. Morelli, will interview you here. We’d like to take some film of Ivy’s room, the neighborhood, her school. We’d like to talk to your husband as well—”

“Bill is out of town until Friday night.”

“What about Ivy’s father?”

Paula shook her head. “Blaine has no interest in our children. He canceled the last two visits with Austin—over the summer and spring break. Like Bill, he travels for business, but Bill makes a point of being home every weekend.”

David nodded, but didn’t comment. Max wondered if Blaine’s disinterest contributed to Austin’s anger. Or, more likely, to Austin’s attachment to Tommy—an older boy who would do anything Austin wanted to do. A big brother who was more of a playmate than a mentor.

Max said, “We’ll handle the other interviews, you’ll only need to be available for an hour.”

“What other interviews?” Paula asked, her eyes darting from Max to David.

“The detective in charge of the investigation,” Max said, even though Grace hadn’t agreed. “The police chief, if he’ll go on camera. Ivy’s friends. Possibly her ex-boyfriend Travis.”

“Travis did not kill Ivy,” Paula said. “I told you, the police refused to consider Tommy. It breaks my heart to think that Bill’s son could hurt my daughter, but I know what I know.”

“The only way that this will work,” Max said, controlling her temper and trying to remember where Paula was coming from, “is to leave as much open as possible, so anyone who watches the segment or reads it on the Web, won’t be led into thinking one person or another was involved. We want them to consider what they might have seen or heard not only last summer when Ivy was killed, but among friends after the fact. Someone who was acting odd, or even a guilty confession. Teenagers don’t keep secrets well.”

The first “Crime NET” show that aired resulted in the killer confessing when he called in to the hotline. It was a hit-and-run of a mother of two young children. The killer had been a nineteen-year-old college student who was driving drunk. He didn’t remember the accident, but had nightmares for a year. When he saw the segment on the Internet, he knew he’d been the driver. He made a plea deal and received five years in prison, a permanently suspended license, and would be paying restitution for years to come.

“Jenny Wallace has no remorse for protecting her son,” Paula said. “She blames me for her failed marriage, and has been causing problems for Bill and me ever since we were married.”

Max opened her mouth to point out that considering she’d had an affair with Bill while he was still married, Paula was more to blame than Jenny for the failed marriage, but David spoke first. “We have to be careful how to phrase certain information because of potential slander issues. I can assure you we’ll treat this case with complete respect for Ivy. We know you want the truth; we want the same thing.”

Paula nodded, satisfied with his response. David was certainly the diplomat in their partnership. Max’s agitation was growing. At Paula, and at Bill. She certainly didn’t give the husband a pass for cheating on his first wife. He had children. Max wasn’t antidivorce—there were valid reasons to dissolve a marriage. But once you brought kids into the mix, you needed to think twice about your own selfish needs. Bill hadn’t given a rat’s ass about his two children when he screwed around with Paula Lake in Seattle for two years before he divorced Jenny. She’d been married as well with two kids. Was the sex that great that they had to screw up four children?

Max would never get married. It had nothing to do with trust, and everything to do with the fact that she was selfish. She liked her life the way it was, and if that meant she would be seventy and alone, so be it. She didn’t want to change, and would resent anyone who tried to change her. But she also would never have an affair with a married man. That would make her no better than him.

“I have a few ground rules of my own,” Paula said. “You’re aware of the settlement; I will not discuss it.”

“Understood. There is no need to bring up the lawsuit at all.”

“In addition, I will not allow my daughter’s memory to be tarnished, so you will not discuss anything that was brought up in the original civil suit.”

“Mrs. Wallace, there is a line between childish teasing that hurts feelings and aggressive bullying that aims to destroy a person,” Max stated. “I consider Ivy a victim, and her killer needs to be brought to justice. But I’m not giving anyone a pass on cruelty. It is highly likely that Ivy’s online activities provided the killer’s motive. Someone who was hurt so deeply, and blamed Ivy. That is no justification for killing Ivy,” she repeated, “but without exploring all the possible reasons, we’ll never find the truth.”