“Yes. I know she was convicted of murder. I always thought the circumstances didn’t fit the girl I knew. I’m glad to hear after so many years that she is finally home with her family.”
“The circumstances surrounding Grace Sebold’s conviction . . . ,” Sidney said. “You remember them, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
Sidney was silent for a moment as she waited for Mrs. Anderson to elaborate. When she did not, Sidney spoke. “A young man named Julian Crist was killed while in St. Lucia on spring break. The circumstances of Julian Crist’s death are, frankly, startlingly similar to your son’s.”
“So I’ve been told.”
Sidney placed her elbows on her knees and leaned closer to Henry Anderson’s mother. “Grace and Julian were dating when he was killed. They were finishing medical school at the time, and preparing to start a residency program together. Like your son, Julian Crist fell to his death from a mountain bluff.”
Betty was already shaking her head. “Henry’s death was an accident. A tragic accident that took my son at a horribly young age.”
“Do you remember Gus Morelli?”
Betty attempted to raise her sagging eyelids as her voice took on a controversial tone. “He was one of the detectives involved in Henry’s case. And he came to me during Grace’s trial with the same theory I think you’re trying to present now.”
Sidney took a deep breath. “Back in 1999, Detective Morelli believed that there may be more to Henry’s death. That, perhaps, it wasn’t an accident.”
“Henry fell off that bluff. I wish it hadn’t happened, Ms. Ryan. I’ve offered so many times to take his place. My boy is gone and I hope to see him again someday. But I’m not going to try to bring him back to life by turning him into some pop-culture star to help your television program.”
Sidney pursed her lips and nodded her head. She didn’t mention that turning Henry into a star was the furthest thing from her mind, or that hertelevision programwas likely as dead as the two boys who once loved Grace Sebold.
“I understand,” Sidney finally said.
Betty Anderson’s grief, even all these years later, was still palpable. If she didn’t want to hear that her son had possibly been killed, then Sidney guessed her audience, who was salivating for the episode that showed Grace Sebold’s exoneration and release from jail, did not, either. Graham Cromwell and Ray Sandberg certainly would not be interested in pursuing anything that might disrupt the smooth sail they saw for the final three episodes.
The question Sidney weighed as she sat in Henry Anderson’s old house was whether fame and fortune were enough for her, or if the truth was the only thing that mattered.
CHAPTER 48
Wednesday, July 19, 2017
THE NEW YORK OFFICE OF THE CHIEF MEDICAL EXAMINER WAS LOCATEDon East Twenty-sixth Street. Sidney made it back to the city just before seven, agitated from the gridlock and with a sore right hip from navigating stop-and-go traffic. She was led to the third floor, where Dr. Livia Cutty sat behind her new desk and typed on her keyboard.
“Hey,” Livia said when Sidney appeared at her door, “you made it.”
“Traffic. Sorry, I’m late. And sorry to call on you during your first week in New York,” Sidney said.
“It’s perfect timing. I don’t officially start until August first. They buffered me a couple of weeks to get settled and find my way around. I can’t take a formal case until then, and I’m bored as hell. I was happy you called. Sit down. I’ll show you what I found.”
In 1999, Henry Anderson’s body had gone to the Adirondack Medical Center Morgue in Essex County, New York, for autopsy. Since receiving Sidney’s call early this morning, Dr. Cutty had made some calls to Essex County and tappedinto the New York State database to bring herself up to date with the old case.
“Back in 1999,” Livia said, “there were no electronic medical records, so everything I pulled on the Anderson case is on file. This is what I was able to track down on short notice.” She pushed a manila file folder across her desk.
Sidney spun the folder around and opened the cover. The first page was a summary from the scene investigators who arrived at the site where the Anderson boy’s body had been found. Sidney skimmed the findings while Livia summarized.
“The Anderson boy was an eighteen-year-old high-school senior visiting Whiteface Lodge with his family for the Memorial Day weekend. He went missing after a group of teenagers, sixteen in all, went on a hike to High Falls Gorge, where they all ate lunch. That evening, Henry Anderson never came back to the resort. Police were called and a search was started. A couple of the boy’s friends”—Livia looked down at her notes—“Charlotte Brooks and Daniel Greaves, eventually found Henry’s body just after eight in the evening.”
Sidney looked up from the report when she heard the names. “Where are you getting these specific details?”
Livia pointed to the page in front of her. “I’m reading the detective’s notes. A copy was in the file. Is something wrong?”
“Charlotte Brooks and Daniel Greaves were Grace’s friends who got married at Sugar Beach.”
“In St. Lucia?” Livia asked.
Sidney nodded. She again saw her blockbuster documentary, set to air the final three episodes that showed the unearthed blood evidence and the debunked cleanup that helped exonerate Grace Sebold, as well as her triumphant return home, falling to pieces as some larger conspiracy swirled in her thoughts.
