1 DAY AFTER LILY REED'S DISAPPEARANCE

SUNDAY, JANUARY 9, 2022

9:58 AM

NYPD Interview Transcript

Detective Lin: Ms. Brighton, what is your relationship with Lily Reed?

Rosalie Brighton: I'm her publicist.

Lin: How long have you been her publicist?

Brighton: Tiffani Rosswell brought me on the team at the end of November, to help with the press for Booker Lane.

Lin: Did you interact with Ms. Reed often?

Brighton: Not necessarily. She was reluctant to bring someone else onto the team besides her and Tiff. I think they had been working together, just them, for so long that Lily didn't trust someone new.

Lin: Did you and Ms. Reed ever argue because of this?

Brighton: No, not because of my hiring. She was always kind to me when we interacted; we just didn't interact a whole lot. I mainly communicated with Lily through Tiffani.

Lin: Did you and Ms. Rosswell ever argue?

Brighton: No. Tiffani trusted me with the publicity for Lily's books completely, and I've been careful not to take advantage of that trust.

Lin: Could you provide us with an example of your interactions with Ms. Rosswell?

Detective Lin: Seem like regular boss-employee text messages to me.

Rosalie Brighton: Yes, sir.

Lin: And did Ms. Rosswell ever confide in you about Ms. Reed? Beyond work-related information?

Brighton: No, sir. Unfortunately, I don't really know Lily that well. She and Tiffani are kind of like a closed group.

Lin: Were you jealous of their friendship?

Brighton: No. It's a job, not a happy hour. They pay me generously, and I'm happy with that.

Lin: How much are they paying you? And who is 'they'?

Brighton: I make $70,000 a year, and I'm assuming it's paid by Lily or Tiffani.

Lin: You don't know who pays you?

Brighton: The deposits have the name of Lily's publishing house on them. But I don't think the publishing house is paying me to tweet.

Lin: I would be very interested to know exactly who is paying you, Ms. Brighton.

Brighton: Then you can ask someone else, because I don't have the faintest clue. Can I go now?

End of Rosalie Brighton Interview 1.

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2 DAYS AFTER LILY REED'S DISAPPEARANCE

MONDAY, JANUARY 10, 2022

7:58 AM

"You're late."

"I'm not late." Tiffani snaps as she slides into the booth, choosing to ignore the sticky substance on the table in front of her. "It's 7:58."

"Oh." Barry looks at his watch. "My watch is fast."

Tiffani rolls her eyes.

"What's up, Barry? I don't really have time for you right now."

The night before, Tiffani's phone had buzzed with a text message from her best friend's boyfriend, and it was more cryptic than she had the patience for.

Tiffani had always been wary of Barry Thomas. He had entered Lily's life seven full years after Tiffani had, and something about him had smelled opportunistic and insincere. But she had put up with him for Lily's sake, and now there she was, forced to be alone with him when the one person tying them together was missing.

They also happened to be each other's alibis.

"Nice to see you too, Tiff." Barry scoffed, bringing his coffee mug to his lips.

"You seem pretty calm for someone whose girlfriend is missing."

"You seem pretty calm for someone whose best friend is missing." Barry returned, raising one eyebrow. "But I found something in Lily's apartment, and I think you should see it."

Tiffani took Lily's laptop from Barry and looked at the document that was open on the computer.

"This is the file for Booker Lane." Tiffani said, her eyes scanning the first page of Chapter 1. "Why is that—"

"That's what I thought at first, too." Barry leaned forward, "But look at what she labeled the doc as."

Tiffani looked at the top of the page and read the document title.

Booker Lane_REAL.docx

Her eyes flew up to meet Barry's.

"Did you tell anyone about this?"

Barry shook his head.

"Good." Tiff opened up Lily's email and attached the document to a message. She put herself and Barry in the recipient spot and clicked 'send.'

"Let's go to Lily's tonight. 7:00."

Barry nodded his agreement. Tiffani heaved a loud sigh.

I wonder how much she told him.