visits with the prisoners. It was more crowded today than it had been when Kerry visited last week. Dismayed, Kerry realized that it might have been better to have officially asked for one of the private conference rooms that were available when both prosecutor and defense attorney requested a joint visit. But that would have meant going on record as a Bergen County assistant prosecutor paying a visit to a convicted murderer, something she still was not quite ready to do.
They did manage to get a corner table, whose location filtered out some of the background noise. When Skip was escorted in, Deidre Reardon and Beth both jumped up. After the guard removed Skip’s handcuffs, Beth held back while Deidre hugged her son.
Then Kerry watched as Beth and Skip looked at each other. The expressions on their faces and the very restraint of their kiss told more of what was between them than would have the most ardent, demonstrative embraces. In that moment Kerry vividly relived the memory of that day in court when she had seen the agony on Skip Reardon’s face as he was sentenced to a minimum of thirty years’ imprisonment, and had listened to his heartrending protest that Dr. Smith was a liar. Thinking back on it, she realized that, knowing very little about the case at the time, she still had felt she heard the ring of truth in Skip Reardon’s voice that day.
She had brought a yellow pad on which she had written a series of questions, leaving room under each to make notes of their answers. Briefly she told them everything that had impelled her to make this second visit: Dolly Bowles’ story about the presence of the Mercedes the night Suzanne died; the fact that Suzanne had been extremely plain growing up; Dr. Smith’s bizarre re-creation of her face when operating on current patients;
Smith’s attraction to Barbara Tompkins; the fact that Jimmy Weeks’ name had come up in the investigation; and, finally, the threat to Robin.
Kerry felt that it was a credit to the three of them that after their initial shock over hearing the disclosures, they did not waste time reacting among themselves. Beth Taylor reached for Skip’s hand as she asked, “What can we do now?”
“First, let’s clear the air by saying I now have grave doubts whether Skip is guilty, and if we uncover the kinds of things I expect to find, I’ll do my best to help Geoff get the verdict reversed. This is how I see it,” Kerry told them. “A week ago, Skip, you surmised after we talked, that I didn’t believe you. That really isn’t accurate. What I felt, and what I thought, was that there was nothing I had heard that couldn’t be interpreted in two ways-for you or against you. Certainly there was nothing I heard that would provide grounds for a new appeal. Isn’t that right, Geoff?”
Geoff nodded.
“Dr. Smith’s testimony is the main reason that you were convicted, Skip. The one great hope is to discredit that testimony. And the only way I can see to do that is to back him into a corner by exposing some of his lies and confronting him with them.”
She did not wait for any of them to speak. “I already have the answer to the first question I intended to ask- Suzanne never told you that she’d had plastic surgery. And incidentally, let’s cut the formalities. My name is Kerry.”
For the remaining hour and fifteen minutes of the visit she fired questions at them. “First of all, Skip, did Suzanne ever mention Jimmy Weeks?”
“Only casually,” he said. “I knew he was a member of the club and that she sometimes played in a foursome with him. She used to brag about her golf scores all the time. But when she knew I was getting suspicious that she was involved with someone, she began to mention only the names of the women she played with.”
“Isn’t Weeks the man on trial for income tax evasion?” Deidre Reardon asked.
Kerry nodded.
“That’s incredible. I thought it was terrible that the government is harassing him. Last year I was a volunteer on the cancer drive, and he let us hold it on the grounds of his estate in Peapack. He underwrote the whole thing and then made a huge donation. And you are saying that he was involved with Suzanne and that he’s threatening your little girl!”
“Jimmy Weeks has made sure his public image as basic good guy has been carefully nurtured,” Kerry told her. “You’re not the only one who thinks he’s a victim of government harassment. But trust me-nothing could be further from the truth.” She turned to Skip. “I want you to describe the jewelry that you believe Suzanne had received from another man.”
“One piece was a gold bracelet with zodiac figures engraved in silver, except for the Capricorn symbol. That was the centerpiece, and all encrusted with diamonds. Suzanne was a Capricorn. It was obviously a very expensive piece. When I asked about it, she told me her father had given it to her. The next time I saw him, I thanked him for his generosity to her, and, just as I expected, he didn’t know what I was talking about.”
“That’s the kind of item we might be able to trace. We can put out a flyer to jewelers in New Jersey and Manhattan for openers,” Kerry said. “It’s surprising how many of them can either identify a piece they’ve sold years before, or recognize someone’s style when it’s a one-of-a-kind design.”
Skip told her about an emerald-and-diamond ring that looked like a wedding band. The diamonds alternated with the emeralds and were set in a delicate pink-gold band.
“Another one she claimed her father gave her?”
“Yes. Her story was that he was making up for the years he hadn’t given her anything. She said that some of the pieces were family jewelry from his mother. That was easier to believe. She also had a flower-shaped pin that was obviously very old.”
“I remember that one,” Deidre Reardon said. “It had a smaller bud-shaped pin attached to it by a silver chain. I still have a picture I cut out of one of the local papers showing Suzanne wearing it at some sort of fund-raiser. Another heirloom-type piece was the diamond bracelet Suzanne was wearing when she died, Skip.”
“Where was Suzanne’s jewelry that night?” Kerry asked.
“Except for what she was wearing, in her jewelry case on top of her dressing table,” Skip said. “She was supposed to put it in the lockbox in her dressing room, but she usually didn’t bother.”
“Skip, according to your testimony at the trial several items were missing from your bedroom that night.”
“There were two things missing that I’m positive of. One was the flower pin. The problem is that I can’t swear it was in the jewelry box that day. But I can swear that a miniature frame that was on the night table was gone.”
“Describe it to me,” Kerry said.
“Let me, Skip,” Deidre Reardon interrupted. “You see, Kerry, that little frame was exquisite. It was reputed to have been made by an assistant to the jeweler Faberg’. My husband was in the army of occupation after the war and bought it in Germany. It was a blue enamel oval with a gold border that was encrusted with pearls. It was my wedding present to Skip and Suzanne.”
“Suzanne put a picture of herself in it,” Skip explained.
Kerry saw the guard at the door look at the wall clock. “We’ve only got a few minutes,” she said hurriedly. “When did you last see that frame, Skip?”
“It was there that last morning when I got dressed. I remember particularly, because I looked at it when I was changing the stuff in my pockets to the suit I’d just put on. That night, when the detectives told me they were taking me in for questioning, one of them came up to the bedroom with me while I got a sweater. The frame was gone.”
“If Suzanne was involved with someone else, is it possible she gave that picture of herself to someone that day?”
“No. It was one of her best pictures, and she liked looking at it. And I don’t think even she would have had the guts to give my mother’s wedding present away.”
“And it never showed up?” Kerry asked.
“Never. But when I tried to say it might have been stolen, the prosecutor argued that if a thief had been there, all that jewelry would have been gone.”
The bell signaled the end of visiting hours. This time when Skip got up, he put one arm around his mother, the other around Beth, and drew them to him. Over their heads, he looked at Kerry and Geoff. His smile made him seem ten years younger. “Kerry, you find a way to get me out of this place and I’ll build a house for you that you’ll never want to leave for the rest of your life.” Then he suddenly laughed. “My God,” he said, “In this place, I can’t believe I said that.”
