“I’m going to contact Yousef Khan’s attorney.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
The Winters case had been front-page news, and it was easy to find an old picture of Rose McIntire on the internet. McIntire had been an aspiring actress when Claire Winters was murdered; a slender, attractive woman in her midtwenties with a milk-white complexion and hair the color of her first name.
McIntire had roles with a few lines in some B horror movies before the murder, but she’d been cast inHard to Kill IIandHarder to Killafter she became part of Corey Rockwell’s alibi. Her screen credits ended a few years after the publicity attached to the Winters case died down.
Ken had been able to track down the actress because she still received residuals when theHard to Killmovies were shown on television. A call to the Screen Actors Guild had gotten Ken Rose’s address and her married name.
Ken booked a flight that got him into Los Angeles at five in the afternoon. An hour later, he was parked in front of acondominium with a view of the ocean that must have cost a lot more than the bungalow Rose McIntire was renting on the night Claire Winters was murdered. Of course, Winters had been murdered ten years ago, and a lot can happen in ten years.
Ken rang the doorbell. He heard footsteps and was certain someone was studying him through the peephole. Ken flashed his best smile. Moments later, an older, but still attractive, version of Rose McIntire opened the door. She’d put on a few pounds, but her curves and large breasts would have been the rage in the fifties and early sixties when zaftig women like Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield were the sex symbols.
“Rose McIntire?” Ken asked.
“Yes?”
Ken handed her his card. When McIntire finished studying it, she looked confused.
“This says you’re from Portland, Oregon.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Why do you want to talk to me?”
Ken had decided that he would get a lot more information from the former actress if he told her the little white lie he’d used to get her address.
“I’m representing a client who’s producing a pilot with a true-crime theme for a streaming service, and he wants to do a reenactment of an old case that received a lot of publicity. You were a witness in the case, and we’d like to get your input. Do you have a few minutes you could spare?”
“Is this about Corey Rockwell and Claire Winters?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“What’s the streaming service?”
McIntire sounded excited, and Ken thought she’d taken the bait. He smiled.
“I’m not at liberty to say, but it is one of the major players.”
“Is it Netflix?”
Ken winked. “I can neither confirm nor deny that.”
McIntire grinned. “Any chance I could get a part?”
“We’re just in the planning stages, but you’re a professional actress, so anything can happen.”
McIntire frowned. “Why the Winters case? I didn’t think there was any mystery about what happened.”
“I can’t reveal confidential information. Let’s just say that there is newly discovered evidence that suggests that the man who was convicted of the murder may be innocent.”
“I thought the cops got the right guy, that Arab. He had the knife. Didn’t they get him on DNA? DNA doesn’t lie.”
“Like I said, there’s evidence that suggests the man was unjustly convicted.”
“You can’t be thinking that Corey had anything to do with Winters’s death. I know for a fact that Corey couldn’t have killed her.”
“I’d really appreciate it if you could explain why you think Mr. Rockwell didn’t do anything wrong.”