“When did you last see Henry?”I asked.
“The August reception at Henry’s family estate.I think they call it Wainwright House.That was the last foundation event before he died.”She looked out the window toward the yard.“He seemed well.Happy, even.I remember thinking he seemed lighter than he had in years.”
“Did he seem like a man who was troubled about anything?”Dash asked.“Worried?”
“No.That’s what made the news about his death so shocking.A financial irregularity, James said, and the evidence pointed to Henry.And that Henry couldn’t bear the idea of it coming out.”She shook her head.“We all voted to protect Henry’s name and legacy, despite the money that went missing.Henry had no family left other than his sister, and filing a lawsuit to reclaim the money that went missing from his estate seemed petty.It was Henry and James who started the foundation, and neither of them received a salary, though we could have paid them.”
“Was the board paid?”Dash asked.
“Yes.We were well compensated for our time, and we had yearly retreats for us and a guest at a private resort in Aruba.Plus the galas and fundraising events.It was a very posh and select club.I’ve sat on other boards since then, and I didn’t realize at the time how special what we had was.”
“Let’s talk about the last event in August,” Dash said.“We’ve heard from a couple of different people that Henry was in a relationship.Do you know anything about that?”
She was quiet for a moment.“It feels strange talking about him like this.”
“Because the relationship made you uncomfortable?”I asked, going on a hunch.
She winced and I knew I’d hit the nail on the head.
“I’ll admit I had a terrible crush on Henry from the day I met him.Completely one sided and completely pointless.He never looked at me that way.But it meant I watched him more than I should have.”
“So you noticed things others might not have seen?”
“You could say that,” she said.“There were only three women on the board.You know how men are.They never notice anything unless you hit them upside the head with it.I think I first noticed it at the event in August.Henry was always very circumspect and professional, but she was quite a bit younger and didn’t have the experience to keep her thoughts off her face.”
“We heard she was more than quite a bit younger,” I said.
“It was very awkward.She was young enough to be his daughter.And like I said, I was probably more sensitive since I’d have given anything for Henry to look at me like he looked at her.They didn’t even dance together.But she was standing next to her father and a group of donors, and Henry walked up to the group.Their shoulders brushed and she looked up at him with such stark adoration in her eyes that I didn’t know how others couldn’t see it.Henry just kept on talking, but he turned his body to talk to her father and their hands brushed and lingered for just a moment too long.”
“Her father being Byron Jameson?”Dash asked.
“Yes,” she said.“Byron’s wife died when Serena was just a baby, so as she got older she became somewhat of a hostess and confidant for him.She was at every event, she always accompanied him to our retreats.I actually felt a little sorry for her.She didn’t get to live a normal childhood.He treated her like more of a secretary.And then she turned from girl into woman, and you could tell he was holding the reins a little too tight.Now that I’m older, I honestly don’t know what Henry was thinking.There was no scenario where that was going to end well.”
“Was it just that once that you noticed?”I asked.
Color went to her cheeks immediately and she said, “No, there were a couple of other times.After 9/11 things got crazy for us as an organization.There were travel restrictions and we were having to work through a lot of red tape.We had doctors stuck in foreign countries.It was a very volatile time.We really came together as a board and all of the staff did too.It was actually during this crisis that we approved purchasing the Maritime Exchange Building in downtown Charleston.We knew with the size of the staff we had, and in a time of crisis, we needed a home base and a command center.9/11 completely made us rethink our policies and protocols.
“Of course we didn’t have the building at the time, so we rented out convention space at the Marriott and a block of rooms for everyone flying in from other locations, and we set up headquarters there for a couple of weeks.Henry’s room was at the opposite end of the hall from my room, and as I was heading to the elevator I saw Serena getting off.She didn’t see me.But I had a straight-shot view of seeing her go to Henry’s room.She knocked and he let her in.”
“Do you think Byron knew about their relationship?”Dash asked.
“Maybe,” she said.“I think they were starting to get more careless toward the end of Henry’s life.There were other occasions I saw.But I don’t know if Byron knew.I wouldn’t think so.”
“Why’s that?”I asked.
“Like I said before.Byron would have killed Henry.He definitely had a temper, and while it was quick to blow over everyone knew how protective he was of Serena.He would have lost his mind.”
“Did you ever see her after Henry died?”I asked.
“Just at the funeral,” she said.“It was a horrible day.It was overcast and raining.The church was packed out the door and even at the graveside there were so many people the tent couldn’t hold them all.It felt like we were all in some strange dream.Serena sat next to Byron.I remember her face was pale as marble, but she wasn’t crying.I’m not sure that she could.She seemed in shock.Everyone was.”
“Does she still live in Charleston?”Dash asked.
“Not that I know of,” she said.“I remember how off Byron seemed in those months after Henry died.I remember him saying that Serena had decided to move out.She’d told him it was time for her to have a life.He was really upset about it.I think maybe it was too much on top of his grief for Henry, and that’s why he resigned with no warning.”
“That’s very helpful,” I told her as we stood to leave.
She walked us to the door and said, “Will you let me know if you find out what really happened to him?”
