Page 65 of Stay Awake
“Her name’s Liv. Liv Reese.”
Halliday and Lavelle kept their expressions blank. The dots were connecting.
“Are you aware that he rented the apartment using a fake name?”
“Yes,” she said. “He didn’t want anyone to know that she was hiding there.”
“Did Ted give a reason for the secrecy?”
“He was worried she might be in danger.”
“What danger?”
“She was almost murdered a few years ago. Ted was worried the killer was after her again. He wanted to protect her. Ted felt responsible for her.”
“Did he ever tell you why he broke off their relationship?”
“Ted said their relationship had been rocky for a long time,” Elisabeth said. “She suffered from severe insomnia. She wouldn’t sleep for days. She was constantly popping pills to stay awake. Her condition was getting worse, not better, and she refused to get help. But what bothered Ted most was that she wouldn’t let go.”
“Let go of what?”
“Of her past,” said Elisabeth. “Ted told me once that she was haunted by her inability to remember what happened the day she was almost murdered. It consumed her. It dominated her life, to the exclusion of everything else. All she ever talked about was finding out who did it and getting justice.”
“Is that the reason why Ted moved to New York?”
“He took the job because it was a promotion, but mostly because he couldn’t take it anymore,” Elisabeth said. “He said he couldn’t build a future with a woman who was trapped in the past. Deep down hemust have known she wouldn’t come with him to New York. She suffered night terrors that the killer would find her again. The thought of returning back here, to the place where it happened, terrified her. To cut a long story short, their relationship died a natural death once he moved here. And now Ted is dead. Because of her. It had to be because of her.” Elisabeth broke down.
“Have you ever met Liv Reese?” Halliday asked, once Elisabeth was able to talk again.
“I met her for the first time two weeks ago when she turned up at our engagement party at my parents’ house in Scarsdale,” Elisabeth said, wiping her eyes. “She was dressed inappropriately for the occasion, in a white scrunched dress and bare feet. She’d walked across the waterlogged lawn. Her feet were splattered with mud and loose grass. Her hair was very long,” she said. “Ted was shocked when he saw her. He took her aside to talk privately in the garden.”
“Do you know what they discussed?”
“He asked her to leave.”
“How did she take it?”
“She claimed to have no idea who he was. She told him she’d come to the party because she’d found the invitation that morning stuck to the front door of the place where she was staying with a Post-it note telling her she had to come. Her behavior was so bizarre that we honestly thought she was drunk, or on drugs. My mom called for a town car to take her home. Ted contacted the driver afterward to get her address. He wanted to see her.”
“Do you know why?”
“He told me last night that he wanted to make sure she was okay. When he arrived at her apartment, she had no idea who he was. Ted realized she was suffering from amnesia.”
“Did Ted mention whether Liv had suffered from memory problems when they were dating in London?”
“That’s why Ted was so worried about her. She’d never had memory problems when she lived in London. Other than not remembering the stabbing incident, which Ted said was probably due to her being in a coma afterward.”
“Do you have any idea how she found out about the engagement party?” Halliday asked.
“I sent her an invitation,” Elisabeth said, color returning to her cheeks as she flushed with shame. “She brought the invitation with her that day.”
“I don’t get it,” said Lavelle, who’d been standing by the window and letting Halliday ask most of the questions. “Why invite your fiancé’s ex to your engagement party?”
“I didn’t expect her to actually turn up. She was living in London,” Elisabeth said defensively.
She paused for a moment as if unsure how much to divulge, then took a deep breath and explained in a rush of words, “Liv would call Ted constantly from London. Several times a week. I hoped the invitation would drive home the fact that Ted wasn’t hers anymore.”
“What did she say in these phone calls?” Halliday asked. “Did she ever threaten Ted?”
