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.
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
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:
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 fiances 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.”
