“Someone put her up to it?”
“From what I gather,” Wilde said, “reality TV takes real lives and makes them into compelling stories. They don’t have to be true. They just need to make you tune in. Most of their stars understand that’s the point. You need to feed the drama monster. But Peter the reality character had grown kind of bland. He’d been married for a while. No kids. My guess is, someone on the show set this up to stir the pot. Maximize viewer interest.”
“Which it did,” Rola said.
“Which it did.”
“Plus the producers knew that Jenn’s sister would do anything for a slice of fame.”
“Yes.”
“So the big question: Did Peter roofie or harass other women?”
“Is there any proof he did?”
“The stuff you downloaded off Henry McAndrews’s computer,” she said.
“What about it?”
“We found more photos of Peter.”
“And?”
“I’m having an expert check, but they seem legit. They were also pretty graphic.”
Wilde thought about that. “Any idea who sent McAndrews the photos?”
“Nope. You know about how he billed through his son’s law firm?”
“Yes.”
“So it looks like all the emails were sent to the law firm first, using a VPN and anonymous email account. That’s not difficult, as you know. The law firm then forwarded the emails and attachments to Henry McAndrews.”
They crossed past the bronze Daniel Webster monument. They both stopped and read the inscription on the base: “LIBERTY AND UNION, NOW AND FOREVER, ONE AND INSEPARABLE.”
“Prophetic,” Rola said.
“Yep.”
“But I guess you’d expect that from the dictionary guy.”
That was Noah Webster, not Daniel, but Wilde let it go.
“If I’m following what you’re saying,” Rola continued, “you think the producers decided to cancel Peter Bennett, and by ‘cancel,’ I mean it in two ways. Cancel in the modern vernacular of ruining him. Canceling in terms of getting him off the show.”
“Maybe.”
“It seems extreme. Playing with people’s lives like this.”
“That’s all these shows do. Have you ever watched? You take easily manipulated young people who are thirsting for fame, and then you mess with them. It’s open season. They get you drunk. They create destructive drama. Every already-insecure contestant is put through an emotional wringer, and they aren’t equipped for it.”
“I get manipulation,” Rola said, “but they can’t just make up stuff.”
“They can, yes.”
“No, you don’t get what I’m saying. It’s one thing to tell someone, ‘Pick a fight with that contestant’ or even ‘Break up with that guy.’ Whatever. It’s another thing to set up a situation where you accuse a man of committing a crime like this and destroy his reputation entirely. I don’t care what the release says—he’d be able to sue for damages.”
That was a good point. “Unless,” Wilde said, “it’s true.”
“That’s what I’m trying to get at. Suppose a woman did come to the producers. Or whoever. She told her story about being roofied. She has some evidence. The photos, texts, whatever. So now the producers can reveal this and even claim it’s not only to help the show, but it’s safest for their other employees.”
Wilde frowned.
“What?” Rola asked.
“You’re making sense. Awful sense, but sense.”
“Right? And then add in Marnie. She’ll do anything to get on the show, and she’s easy to manipulate. Like you said, all these contestants are. Your cousin sounds na?ve as hell too. Suddenly the nice-guy Peter is transformed into the ultimate villain. Not only did he cheat and sexually assault—but he did so with the beloved Jenn’s very own sister.”
“It got a ton of attention.”
“Yes.”
Wilde shook his head. “Gross.”
“Also, yes.”
“So what’s our next step? Confront the producers?”
“What are they going to tell you?” Rola countered. “It’s not like they’ll admit any of this. But more to the point, what difference does it make? How does any of this help us find Peter Bennett?” Rola stopped and stared up at him. “We’re trying to find him, right?”
“Yes.”