The Cinderella Murder by Mary Higgins Clark, Alafair Burke

she finished shooting Beauty Land , he dropped out of college. He told everyone he had landed a major agent who had big plans for him. But whispers in the theater department speculated that he was so broken up about Susan’s murder than he could hardly function, let alone attend school or launch an acting career. Supposedly he had found Jesus. Other, less kind whispers suggested that his departure was proof that he’d had something to do with Susan’s death after all.
    Now, twenty years later, time had been easier on him than on Madison, as always seemed to be the case with men. Somehow the lines on his thin, angular face made him even more handsome. The dark, tousled hair that had pegged him as a rocker type when he was a college freshman now came off as comfortable and confident. Heoccasionally showed up as a featured guest on a one-hour network drama and had even had a small part in an indie film the previous year. But even so, Madison hadn’t seen him in a regular gig since his cable sitcom was canceled four years earlier. Keith needed Under Suspicion almost as much as she did.
    “Not a chance encounter,” she confirmed, just as the waitress returned with her drink. She took a seat next to him and smiled.
    “Uh-oh. It’s been a while, but I know that look. You want something.”
    “Did you get contacted by a TV producer named Laurie Moran?”
    “Oh, I get contacted by so many projects, I can’t keep them all straight.” Now he was the one smiling. He was still a ham, a completely charming ham.
    “It’s for Under Suspicion ,” she said. “They want to do a show about Susan’s murder. They must have contacted you.”
    He looked away and took a sip of his drink. When he spoke, the lighthearted tone was absent. “I don’t want anything to do with it. What’s the point in rehashing everything that happened back then? They’re really doing it?”
    “Sounds like it.”
    “Do you know who else is in?”
    “Susan’s mother, Rosemary. Nicole, wherever she disappeared to. Apparently her last name’s Melling now. And the person I think you’ll really be interested in: Frank Parker.”
    When Keith heard that Madison had landed the role in Beauty Land, he had shown up outside her dorm. He was drunk and yelled, “How could you? That man killed my Susan, and everyone knows it. All you ever will be is a cheaper, lesser version of her!” It was the only time he had made her cry.
    “I’m surprised they got anyone to go along with the show, other than Rosemary,” he said.
    “Well, I for one am doing it. If we play our cards right, it couldhelp us both. Millions of people watch that show. It’s exposure.” She didn’t add that she also hoped to persuade Frank Parker to find a role for her in his next project.
    “I’ll think about it. Is that it?”
    “What I really need, Keith, is your word.”
    “And what word might that be? A secret, magical word?” The playful smile had returned.
    “I mean it,” she said. “No one can ever know about us.”
    “It was twenty years ago, Madison. We were all kids. You really think anyone will care that you and I played footsie on occasion?”
    Was that all I was to him? she thought. “Of course they’ll care. Susan was—perfect Susan: smart, talented, the whole package. I was—how did you word it? The other beauty, but a cheaper, lesser version . You know that the producers will portray Nicole as the good, loyal friend. I’ll be the rival drama queen.” Madison knew that the friendship between Susan and Nicole hadn’t been nearly as perfect as the media had made it seem in the aftermath of Susan’s death. “There are still people on the Internet saying I must have killed Susan or at least faked an alibi for Frank Parker, so I could get the role in Beauty Land. If the world finds out I was sneaking around with Saint Susan’s boyfriend, they’ll really think I did it.”
    “Well, maybe you did.” She couldn’t tell whether he was teasing or