CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Kate found Sloane already at her cubicle when she arrived at the field office the next morning. She had two printed lists on her desk and a cup of coffee in her hand. She looked up when Kate approached, offering a tight smile.
"Morning," Sloane said. "I've been here since seven, going through the files. Scoured them last night, too."
"Find anything interesting?" Kate set her own coffee down on the edge of the desk.
"I made a list of program participants worth talking to." Sloane handed Kate one of the printed pages. "People who went through Second Act but didn't complete it, or completed it but didn't open businesses. I figured they might have different perspectives than the success stories."
Kate scanned the list, then pulled out her phone and opened her own notes from the previous night.
She had done the same thing, working through the participant records after Michael had gone to bed.
The names on Sloane's list matched two of the ones she had flagged.
She smirked, hoping this was a good sign in terms of how their day would go.
"Mariah Layne and Nora Hazlewood," Kate said. "I came up with the same two."
"Really?" Sloane looked genuinely pleased. "That's good. Means we're thinking along the same lines."
Kate sat down in the empty chair beside the cubicle. "What do we know about them?" She, of course, already knew; she’d done a bit of a profile on both women last night. But she wanted to see how Sloane’s mind worked.
Sloane pulled up files on her laptop. "Mariah Layne is fifty-three. She went through the program last spring but dropped out halfway through. According to the records, she cited personal reasons. Nora Hazlewood is fifty-one. She completed the full program last fall but never launched a business."
"The records show they were both referred by Patricia Holmes," Kate added, reading from her phone. "But neither one stuck with it."
"Should we bring them in for interviews?"
"Let's call them first," Kate said. "See if they're willing to talk over the phone. We can always do in-person follow-ups if needed. It’ll save a lot of time if it works out."
Sloane nodded and pulled up Mariah Layne's contact information. "You want to take this one or should I?"
"Go ahead," Kate said. "I'll listen in."
Sloane put the call on speaker and dialed. The phone rang three times before a woman answered on the other end.
"Hello?"
"Hi, is this Ms. Mariah Layne?”
“Yes, it is. Who is this?”
“I’m Agent Erica Sloane with the FBI. I'm calling about the Second Act Success program. I was wondering if you might have a few minutes to talk?"
There was a pause on the other end. "The FBI? Is this about what happened to Patricia and Rachel?"
"Yes, ma'am," Sloane said. "We're investigating their deaths and trying to understand more about the program. We understand you went through it last year."
"I did," Mariah said. "Well, partway through. I dropped out."
"Can you tell us why?"
"It just wasn't for me." Mariah's voice was careful, measured. "The program itself was fine, but I realized halfway through that I wasn't ready to start a business. It's a lot more work than I thought it would be. Not just in terms of finances, but also time and resources.”
Kate leaned closer to the phone. "Ms. Layne, this is Agent Kate Wise. Did you know Patricia Holmes personally? We understand she referred you."
"I knew her a little bit. We met at a networking event and she was so enthusiastic about Second Act that I thought I'd give it a try."
"How many people from your cohort actually ended up opening businesses?" Kate asked.
Mariah was quiet for a moment. "Out of our group? Maybe three or four out of twenty. Most people realized during the program that running a business wasn't what they wanted. And of the ones who did open businesses, I think only one is still operating."
"That's a pretty low success rate," Sloane said.
"It is," Mariah agreed. "But honestly, I think that's normal. Starting a business is hard. Most fail within the first year. The program gives you the tools, but it can't make you successful."
Kate made a note on her phone. "Did you notice any tension between participants? Anyone who seemed resentful of the people who did succeed?"
"Not really. Everyone was supportive of each other, at least while I was there. If anything, people were harder on themselves than they were on others."
They asked a few more questions, but Mariah didn't have much else to offer. She hadn't kept in touch with anyone from the program after dropping out, and she hadn't spoken to Patricia Holmes in months. She seemed a little embarrassed that she’d not been able to stick with it.
After ending the call, Kate looked at Sloane. "That success rate is lower than Crawford made it sound."
"A lot lower," Sloane agreed. She pulled up Nora Hazlewood's number. "Let's see what the second one has to say."
This time Kate made the call, putting it on speaker so Sloane could hear. This call was answered on the second ring and a quick round of introductions were made.
"Ms. Hazlewood? This is Agent Kate Wise with the FBI. I'm here with Agent Erica Sloane. We're investigating the deaths of Patricia Holmes and Rachel Thornton, and we'd like to ask you some questions about the Second Act Success program."
"Oh God," Nora said. Her voice sounded strained. "I heard about what happened to them. It's awful."
“Do you mind asking how you heard?” Kate asked, recalling that Mariah had also already heard about both deaths.
“Facebook. Word gets around quickly, you know? And you said… well, you wanted to know about Second Act?”
"That’s right. You went through the program last fall, is that correct?"
"Yes. I completed the whole thing but never opened a business."
"Can you tell us why?" Kate asked.
"I spent six months in the program learning everything I needed to know," Nora said. "Business plans, marketing strategies, financial management. But when it came time to actually launch, I froze. The risk was too big. I just got cold feet. What if I failed? What if I lost everything I'd invested?"
"That's understandable," Kate said. "How common would you say that is? People completing the program but not following through, I mean?"
"Very common," Nora said. "I'd say at least half the people in my cohort never opened businesses. They finished the training and then just couldn't take that final step."
Sloane leaned toward the phone. "What about the ones who did open businesses? How many of them succeeded?"
"Well, I guess that all depends on your definition of succeeded," Nora said. "If you mean still operating after a year, maybe two or three out of ten. Most fail within the first few months. It's one thing to have a business plan. It's another thing to actually make money."
Kate thought about this. "Both Patricia Holmes and Rachel Thornton were still in their first year of operations when they were murdered. Does that seem unusual to you? That they were both doing well enough to be featured in marketing materials?"
"Honestly? Yes," Nora said. "Most businesses barely break even in the first year. The fact that they were both successful enough to be used as examples is pretty rare."
"Did you ever hear about anyone being upset about that?" Sloane asked. "About certain people being held up as success stories while others were struggling?"
Nora hesitated. "Not directly. But there was this one woman, Lauren Mitchell. She was in a different cohort than me, but word got around about her situation."
Kate sat up straighter. "What happened with Lauren Mitchell?"
"She opened a business right after finishing the program… some kind of consulting service. It failed after four months. She blamed Second Act for it, said the program set unrealistic expectations and took her money without delivering the results they promised."
"Did she take any action?" Kate asked.
"She tried to sue Crawford and the program," Nora said. "I don't know all the details, but I heard she hired a lawyer and everything. The suit was dropped eventually."
"Do you know why it was dropped?"
"No idea. But Lauren was pretty angry about the whole thing. She felt like she'd been sold a dream that turned out to be a lie."
Kate made detailed notes on her phone while Sloane asked a few follow-up questions. But after the information about Lauren Mitchell, everything else was mundane. As Sloane ended the call, Kate then ran a quick Google search for Mitchell.
“Look at this,” Kate said, showing Sloane her phone. "Lauren Mitchell… former attorney who sued the program."
"And the suit was dropped," Sloane said. "We need to find out why."
Kate stood up, her coffee cup empty. "I think we need to talk to her… and not just on the phone. Someone who's angry enough to sue, who blames the program for her failure, who might be resentful of people like Holmes and Thornton who succeeded where she didn't… that feels pretty big."
"I'll pull her information from the records," Sloane said, already turning to her laptop.
Kate looked at the list of names on Sloane's desk, at the notes they'd taken from both phone calls.
The picture was getting clearer. Most people who went through Second Act Success never opened businesses.
Of those who did, most failed quickly. The fact that both victims had been thriving in their first year was unusual enough to make them targets for someone's resentment.
And right now, Lauren Mitchell seemed to fit the bill.