Forgotten Girls, The (12 page)

“When I work a homicide, it is
very important I learn as much as I can about my victim,” Bella began. “I’m
hoping, as her closest friends, you can help me with the kind of information I
am looking for.”

There was silence.

“OK. So let’s talk about Jos.”

The women looked miserable.

“She was a really good tennis
player. And mom,” Kim answered. “Just a sweetheart. She and Jamie have two
beautiful daughters. They are a very wealthy family,” she whispered, shaking
her head side to side.

Erika rolled her eyes. Bella could
see why.

“How did Jos seem to you at the
gala?” Bella asked Kim.

“She seemed OK. I mean, she wasn’t
her usual bubbly self.”

Kim looked at Jenna and Stephanie
for approval when she said this. Neither made eye contact with her.

“I didn’t see her much now that I
think of it,” Kim added.

“I heard you all hung out together
most of the night?” Bella asked.

“Not me,” said Kim. “I had to help
run the auction. I saw Jos during the speech, but not afterwards. It was soooo
crowded it was ridiculous. They have to come up with a better venue for next
year.”

“Are you kidding? The Yacht Club
is perfect,” replied Stephanie. She looked offended.

“Weren’t you in the restroom with everyone
after the speech? I thought that’s what I heard,” Bella redirected her.

“Was I?” Kim chirped.

“Duh,” said Stephanie,
condescendingly. “Remember the attendant didn’t have any wash cloths left and
you had a fit?”

“OHHHHH, yes. I do remember now.
Yeah, what was up with that? You know you are having hundreds of guests and you
don’t bother to check whether the bathroom is fully stocked?” Kim asked no one
in particular. It was more of a statement.

No one responded.

“Kim, did you speak to Joslyn in
the bathroom?” Bella pressed.

Kim searched her memory.

“Briefly,” Kim replied haltingly.
“She was drunk, that was pretty clear. But she was quieter than normal. She kept
looking at her watch.”

“What kind of watch?” Bella asked.
Joslyn’s wrist had been bare.

“Her rose gold Rolex,” Kim
answered, as though it were obvious.

“Where did she go after the
bathroom?”

Bella spoke quickly and Kim looked
flummoxed.

“I, I don’t know actually,” Kim
replied nervously. “Steph, do you remember?”

“Remember what?” Stephanie asked.

“Did Jos leave before we did? I
don’t recall.”

“Neither do I,” Stephanie
answered.

“Well, did anyone talk to her in
the bathroom?” Bella pressed.

They all shrugged their shoulders
as though they didn’t remember.

“Was it crowded in there or just
the three of you?” Bella asked.

“Just us, I think?” Kim answered
uncertainly.

“Right,” Stephanie nodded.

Trying to get substantive answers
from these women was quite a task.

“What can you tell me about
Jamie?” Bella asked the table, switching gears.

“We LOVE him!” Kim said in a
hushed voice. “Jos and Jamie are, I mean, were, like, the perfect couple.”

Stephanie looked dismayed. Bella
watched Jenna eye Stephanie.

“So there was no trouble brewing
in paradise that any of you knew about?” Bella winked in a conspiratorial way,
as though she were one of the girls. But she wasn’t. Stephanie and Kim looked
turned off and Jenna was not amused.

“Absolutely not.” Kim reacted as
though she had been personally insulted.

“How could you be so sure?”

Kim looked confused.

“I just am,” Kim replied in a
snarky tone.

“How close would you say the two
of you were?” Bella had her hooks in and didn’t want to let go.

“As close as two friends can be.
Like a sister,” she said sadly.

There was that phrase again. Some
sisters.

“OK. Can you tell me a little
about her job at the
Gazette
?” Bella continued.

“Not really,” Kim hedged.

“Do you know what she was working
on lately?”

Kim shook her head and shrugged.
“Not really.”

“You were in Mexico Christmas?”
Bella asked.

Kim looked nervous when she nodded
and Bella wondered why. Her cheeks flushed discernibly as she darted her eyes toward
Stephanie.

“How did Jos seem to you that
week?”

Kim was reluctant to answer, Bella
noticed. She looked down in her lap, took a sip of her smoothie, and looked at
her watch. She was starting to look uncomfortable.

“She seemed fine,” was all she
said. Her cheeks remained red.

Stephanie’s eyelashes fluttered as
she pushed her hair behind her ears and fiddled with her hands in her lap.

Bella turned her attention toward
Stephanie.

“OK. Stephanie, I remember your
saying Jos was very happy because ‘she had won’?”

By the look on Jenna’s face it
seemed Bella had stepped on a land mine. And she had. Purposely.

“Won what?” Erika asked, confused.

Jenna looked away from the table
as though she saw someone she knew on the sidewalk, but there was no one there.
She redirected her gaze back toward the group.

“Yes, she had won, Steph. You are absolutely
right,” Kim chimed in, apparently knowing exactly what Stephanie had meant. “It
was such a brutal year.”

“Ohhhh, Vanderbilt…” said Erika,
now realizing the context.

“It was our girls’ senior year,”
Kim said to Bella, “so we spent the year applying to colleges and waiting for
results. There is so much competition and pressure to get into a top school—it’s
just insane! Forget about the Ivies. Perfect scores aren’t even enough
anymore,” Kim fretted. Bella nodded in fake sympathy as Kim continued:

“You need straight A’s, all APs, varsity
letters—plural—perfect test scores, a TON of extracurriculars, honors, awards,
yada yada yada, on and on…it’s just crazy,” she sighed.

Erika jumped in with an irritated
tone. “If you need your kid to attend one of the top-tiers then yeah, senior
year sucks.”

“Who doesn’t?” Kim shot back.

“Plenty of normal parents still
around, Kim. You just don’t know many of them,” Erika informed her with a grin.

To this Jenna rolled her eyes. “Here
we go,” she said under her breath.

“What was that, Jenna?” Erika
asked.

“Nothing,” Jenna sang in a little
girl voice.

“What was Jos’s attitude about all
of this?” Bella asked, interested.

“She was like the rest of us—plugged
in. I don’t know how you can be a good mom without being super plugged in
though. I mean, what are ya gonna do, just leave it all to your kids? Like they
know how to package themselves?”

“Was Joslyn stressed about any of
this?”

“Not particularly, no. I think
whatever college Carly ended up in for the most part she would have been fine,”
Kim replied.

To that Jenna snickered. “Please,
Kim, Jos wanted Carly into Vanderbilt as much as the next person. Don’t kid
yourself.”

“I am not saying she didn’t. I
just think she would have been fine if it didn’t happen,” Kim said defensively.

“I don’t think she really had much
to worry about,” Jenna said a bit sarcastically. “It was obvious Carly was
getting in to Vandy. It kind of helps when you can write a big fat check to the
development office, don’t you think?”

“Well, who of us can’t?” Kim
countered. They all avoided looking at Erika.

“Money alone is useless without
connections,” Jenna pointed out nastily. “Jamie knows everyone. Which is fine,
don’t get me wrong, but let’s call a spade a spade. Jos acted like Carly did it
on her own. We all know she didn’t.”

There was an uncomfortable
silence.

“Anyway, Jos usually got what she
wanted so no big surprise,” Jenna added in an offhanded way, twirling her straw.

“Well, she didn’t get what she
wanted Wednesday night, did she, Jenna?” blasted Erika.

Everyone at the table looked shocked,
except Jenna, who glared icily at Erika.

“That’s a horrible thing to say,
Erika,” said Stephanie. Her eyes were saucers, as though she had seen a ghost.

“Hey, girls,” Bella interrupted. It
had become heated way too fast. “Come on, listen, everyone’s on edge here. Your
best friend was murdered for goodness’ sake. Let’s all take a breather and calm
down.”

It wasn’t in Bella’s interest to
have an explosion at the table. Not yet. She needed to hear and see more.

“No one was talking badly about
Jos,” Kim pouted, looking at Erika. “What’s wrong with getting whatever you
want? That just means you’re lucky, that’s all. It’s a compliment.”

“Oh yeah?’ Erika challenged.

Kim looked at Jenna for approval,
but Jenna wouldn’t look her way.

“We can debate that if you like,
Kim,” Erika added.

“It is a very competitive world
and parents just want the best for their kids,” Stephanie chimed in, trying to defuse
the tension.

“What does that mean?” Erika blurted
with frustration. “The best college so they can get the best job so they can
get the best house in the best town? I mean, why such desperation to have and
be the best?”

“What’s wrong with having and
being the best, Erika?” Jenna confronted.

“Because ‘best’ is a relative term,
Jenna—it means different things to different people. You’ve managed to reduce
your daughter to a bunch of numbers, grades, test scores, and achievements. All
that matters is whether she gets into a top-tier school. Either you really
think that will be a cure-all for her life or you’re desperate for bragging
rights. Either way, I think it’s sad.”

“What would you know about it?”
Jenna sneered.

“A lot more than you realize,”
Erika answered.

Jenna looked at Erika like she had
two heads.

“Honestly, Erika, I don’t even
understand what you just said. I mean, what world do you live in? My head is
spinning. Wouldn’t you want the best for Perry? Do you really want Perry to be
mediocre her whole life?”

Jenna’s tone dripped with pity.
Kim and Stephanie looked nervous.

Erika was disgusted. “What does
mediocre mean?”

The table was quiet. Jenna fiddled
with her straw.

“Mediocre means nothing special.”

“So if Jesse doesn’t get into
Vanderbilt you will consider her to be nothing special?”

Erika looked like she was holding
herself back from leaping out of her chair and strangling Jenna.

Jenna looked brazenly at Erika and
smiled.

“Acceptance to one of the best schools
does make you special. I am sorry, Erika. That’s just the way it is. It gives
you status, power, and options. There’s a reason everyone wants to get in to
these schools.”

The women at the table looked
embarrassed.

“Are you seriously implying if a
kid doesn’t get into one of the best colleges they will not be successful and
happy in their life?” Erika asked. “Do you seriously believe the college you go
to is that important?”

“The best colleges give the best peers
and contacts. That’s just the way it is. I didn’t make the rules,” Jenna said
flatly.

“That’s actually a very provincial
way to think about it,” replied Erika. “You clearly don’t have much confidence
in your kid if you are clinging so hard to the name of a school.”

Jenna’s face revealed no emotion.
She sighed as though she were exhausted.

Erika wasn’t finished. “Plenty of
kids drinking their way through the best schools, Jenna. Plenty of Ivy
graduates going through life divorced, broke, and medicated like the rest of
the population. Plenty oozing arrogance and ego but have little to no emotional
intelligence. Ever spoken to a Harvard grad? Most will mention Harvard ten
times in one sit-down.”

“Whatever, Erika, I am not going
to argue with you. You are way too sensitive and believe me, I can understand why.”

Jenna dropped the comment and
smiled condescendingly.

Erika gave Jenna a searing look

“Where did you go to college,
Jenna?” Erika blasted sarcastically. Jenna held a certificate from a two-year
program in New York City and Erika seemed to know that.

Jenna smiled slowly and a look of
deadly seriousness came over her face.

“I was lucky, I suppose,” was all
she said. “I married right.”

Stephanie and Kim looked down at
their laps as Jenna squinted her eyes and licked her lips, which had scrunched
themselves into a sour expression.

Erika turned to the other two.
“Jump in whenever you feel like it, girls,” she said.

The server arrived at the deadly
quiet table with Bella’s croissant and milkshake, whose mountain of whipped
cream cascaded down over the sides of the glass. Bella scooped it up with a
spoon and devoured it, pretending to ignore the sullen faces around her.

“Jesse belongs at Vanderbilt,”
Jenna said to Bella, explaining herself. “She earned it. Wanting her to get in
doesn’t make me bad.”

Erika was flabbergasted. “This
isn’t about Vanderbilt, Jenna.”

“Stop trying to start a fight,
Erika. Oh my god, really,” Stephanie pleaded and Kim nodded. Jenna simply smiled.
She was enjoying this. Bella’s eyes darted back and forth between them.

“Vanderbilt is looking at the wait
list now, right, Jen? Who knows what will happen?” Stephanie said carefully,
trying to appease her.

“No one will be getting off the
list this year after what happened,” Erika said.

“You’re wrong. I spoke with Arlene,”
said Jenna.

Erika stood her ground. “It’s not
going to happen—you should be happy with her choices and let it be.”

“We shall see,” Jenna snarled,
fighting to hide her contempt but no longer doing a good job. That permanent
smile was gone. In its place was pure unadulterated hatred.

“Are you all referring to the two
spots that opened when those girls died?” Bella played dumb. Pay dirt. This was
exactly where she was hoping the conversation would go.