Dora Gayle, a homeless woman who called herself Cinderella, held
the door open to a coffee shop hoping for a handout, was found stabbed to death
in the vestibule of a bank. An unknown in a city with thousands of faceless
unknowns.
Clare Carleson is Channel 10s news director. Last time we
met she was still struggling with a decision she made as a freshman in college.
Remember that Clare is first and foremost a reporter, a Pulitzer Prize winner
for her work about a little girl who was abducted on the way to school and
never heard from again. She goes against the grain of her news staff and
approves a full press on Dora Gayle’s murder, determined to prove that being
homeless doesn’t make one any less of a person than a politician, athlete, or
movie star.
A month or so later, Grace Mancuso is found bludgeoned to
death in her apartment. Grace was a player with Revson Investments who got
caught up in an embezzlement scheme that bilked a couple hundred investors out
of millions. Regulators went after Revson and Grace took a plea. People within Revson
and the investors weren’t really happy with Grace for different reasons. The suspect pool is large.
This murder of a hot blonde business woman presses Cinderella off the primetime
news and, as they say in the news business, ‘below the fold’.
Grace’s murder was brutal. She was barely recognizable. This
was about more than just money. This was personal. She’d had a string of
boyfriends, a girlfriend, and was desperately in need of money but close to a
big score. A really big score.
But it was more than just the murder. A note was left at the
scene. A note with 5 names of people who must account for their sins:
1.
Bill Atwood: Disgraced Congressman (for multiple
affairs) now trying to amend his image as President of Benson College in NYC
2.
Emily Lehrman: Big shot criminal defense
attorney who was once an advocate for renters, homeless, and others under the boot of The System.
3.
Brendan Kaiser: Media tycoon who just happens to
own Channel 10 amongst multiple other media outlets and formats.
4.
Scott Manning: NYPD detective on force leave due
to possible involvement in mis-deeds that resulted in an Hispanic suspect being tossed out a window.
5.
Dora Gayle: Homeless women recently stabbed to
death.
Clare tells her boss about Kaiser being on the list and they
both take this info to Kaiser. To his credit, Kaiser tells the news team to go
all out on one condition – that Clare be the lead reporter. Forever a reported,
Clare dives in.
Initial main questions are the connections between the
names. Their first investigations find no connection and then start to wonder
why a homeless woman would be included with the other four.
Kinks in Atwood’s story point to him and in everyone’s haste
to find Grace’s killer, Atwood is taken in custody. But in the afterglow of
leading the cops to Atwood, Clare’s not so certain now. One of Clare’s mentors once told her about a
hot story, ‘No matter how much you feed it, the beast is always hungry.’ And
this beast is really hungry.
So Channel 10’s team starts back at the beginning by tracing
the history of each name on this list way back, 20-30yrs, finding one night when all five names
on the list crossed paths, even if was just in passing. The night the METS came
from behind to beat the Red Sox (the night of Buckner’s error) that propelled
the METS to a World Series title. The connection found, the beast starts roaring
for food and the story unfolds.
Have to finally admit what I guess I’ve always thought.
I’m ready to elevate Belsky into my power rotation. I loved his Gil Mallory
series and Clare Carleson is equally excellent. One of Belsky’s goals is to
show readers the true ins and outs of news reporting, much of which is based on his
own reporting career. To say Clare is a flawed news director and reporter is an
understatement because her college decision still haunts her in life, loves (and three
failed marriages), and career. On one level it’s hard to pull for Clare because
of her personal self-inflicted issues, but on the other hand, she is such a
dogged reporter that each lead, no matter how small, is met with our approval
that we can’t help but hope she wins. And maybe, just maybe, with a couple
wins, she can finally find in it herself to look in the mirror and not be so sad.
ECD
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