“Now I see why Kate did it on Sunday morning,” Ann said. “Carson was the headliner on every show, and she blew him right out of the water. Nobody will ever remember what he said! And tomorrow morning, Kate will have the headline in every newspaper, and Carson will be buried inside!”

Chapter 59

On Sunday evening, Stone and Ann settled in to watch 60 Minutes. “I didn’t see any promos for this,” Stone said.

“That’s because it’s a secret,” Ann replied. “They didn’t want Barbara Grosvenor to know about it, because she would probably have tried for a court injunction to block it.”

The front-end teaser on the show was simple. Morley Safer looked into the camera and said, “Tonight, we have something different for you. Everybody knows someone who went through the divorce from hell, but this one adds something extra—repeated attempted murder. Stay tuned for the fireworks.”

“That’s the first time I’ve seen this show open without excerpts from the interviews.”

“Great hook, wasn’t it?”

—

IN LOS ANGELES, Billy and Betsy Burnett watched the show. “Uh-oh,” Billy said, “I think I know who this is.”

“This is what you were talking about, isn’t it?” Betsy asked. “Barbara’s PR campaign to destroy Ed Eagle?”

“I’m afraid so.”

—

IN SAN FRANCISCO, Charles Grosvenor was watching the evening news at his desk at the dealership. He was there to receive the Bentley he had loaned Hugh Gordon, and Gordon had just driven up. He came into the office just as 60 Minutes began, and he heard Morley Safer’s opening remark.

“What the hell?” he said.

“This isn’t about Barbara, is it?” Charles asked.

“It can’t be. The station manager told me he wasn’t . . .” He stopped and thought.

“He wasn’t what?”

“That he wasn’t going to run the interview. He didn’t tell me that 60 Minutes was going to run it.”

“Oh, shit,” Charles said. He grabbed the phone and called home; the number was busy. He tried Barbara’s cell phone, but it went directly to voice mail. “Sweetheart,” he said, “call me immediately!” He hung up just as Safer returned.

“Some years ago,” Safer was saying, “a prominent trial attorney from Santa Fe married a woman called Barbara. He says now that it turned out to be the worst mistake he ever made. Our correspondent Pamela Hale interviewed Barbara Eagle, now Mrs. Charles Grosvenor, and got her side of the story.”

Charles tried the number again; still busy. “I’ve got to get home,” he said. “There’s no telling what she’ll do if she sees this.” He let himself and Hugh Gordon out of the building and locked it behind them.

“I’m awfully sorry about this, Charles,” Gordon said. “I did everything I could to prevent it.”