CHAPTER NINETEEN
But leaving now felt wrong. They were making progress, even if it was slow progress.
And what kind of a so-called mentor would she be if she left now, just because things felt like they were at a stand-still.
Every interview, every record they reviewed, every piece of information they gathered was bringing them closer to understanding who had killed Patricia Holmes and Rachel Thornton.
Kate looked across the cubicle at Sloane, who was focused on her laptop screen with the kind of intensity that suggested she had found something interesting.
"What are you looking at?" Kate asked.
"The Facebook group Mitchell told us about," Sloane said without looking up. "The one for Second Act Success participants."
"I thought that was a private group."
"It is. Was. It's been closed for about six months.
" Sloane scrolled through something on her screen.
"But I was able to get in touch with the old moderator.
She gave me access to the archived feeds.
Facebook's legal department helped expedite the process once I explained it was part of a murder investigation. "
Kate stood up and moved around to look at Sloane's screen. She wondered how much time has been wasted on waiting for the Facebook assist; from what she’d always heard, they were notoriously slow.
On Sloane’s screen, the Facebook interface showed a series of posts from various users, all discussing their experiences with the Second Act Success program.
Some posts were encouraging and supportive.
Others were frustrated complaints about businesses that had failed or expectations that hadn't been met.
"There's a lot here," Kate said. "What specifically are you looking for?"
"Anyone who showed excessive anger or resentment toward the success stories." Sloane clicked on a saved folder. "I've been flagging posts that seemed particularly hostile. And there's one person who keeps coming up."
She opened a thread from eight months ago. The original post was from Rachel Thornton, sharing news that her interior design business had been featured in Second Act Success's latest marketing campaign. The post included photos of her work and a link to the program's website.
Most of the comments were congratulatory. People celebrating Rachel's success, asking for advice, expressing hope that they might achieve similar results. But one comment stood out from the rest.
Kate leaned closer to read it.
Jennifer Grisham: Interesting that Crawford chose YOUR business to feature when there are plenty of other graduates who've been successful for longer.
My bakery has been operating for nine months and pulling in twice your revenue, but apparently interior design is more photogenic than actual food. Guess that's what matters to him.
"That's pretty harsh," Kate said.
"It gets worse." Sloane scrolled down to show more comments. Another user had replied to Grisham's comment, gently suggesting that Crawford probably featured different businesses to show the variety of success stories from the program.
Jennifer Grisham: Or maybe he features the ones who keep kissing his ass and pretend like his overpriced program actually taught them something useful. Rachel's success has nothing to do with Second Act and everything to do with her own talent. But sure, let's give Crawford all the credit.
Kate studied the comment. The anger was clear, but it was directed at Crawford—just like Lauren Mitchell. Grisham seemed to be defending Rachel's talent while criticizing the program. And yes, there seemed to be some jealousy there as well.
"Keep reading," Sloane said, scrolling further down the thread.
Several more users had chimed in, some agreeing with Grisham and others defending Crawford's approach to marketing. One woman had posted a long comment about how the program had genuinely helped her understand business fundamentals.
Jennifer Grisham: Oh please. You're delusional if you think Crawford's generic worksheets and motivational speeches are worth fifteen thousand dollars.
He's a con artist who preys on desperate women, and anyone who defends him is either too embarrassed to admit they got scammed or too stupid to realize it.
"It seems Ms. Grisham is quite outspoken," Kate said.
"It gets worse," Sloane repeated. She opened another thread, this one from six months ago. Patricia Holmes had posted about a successful client meeting and thanked the Second Act Success program for giving her the confidence to pursue her consulting business.
Jennifer Grisham: Confidence doesn't come from a program. It comes from actually doing the work and getting results. But I guess some people need to believe they couldn't have succeeded without Crawford's help. Whatever helps you sleep at night.
Another user had responded, pointing out that there was nothing wrong with acknowledging the program's role in someone's success.
Jennifer Grisham: There's everything wrong with giving credit to a charlatan who's getting rich off women's insecurities. Patricia is successful because she's smart and works hard, not because she sat through Crawford's useless seminars. Stop lying to yourselves ladies!
Kate straightened up, processing what she was reading. "She's aggressive."
"Very aggressive," Sloane agreed. "And look at this one."
She opened a third thread, this one from four months ago. Someone had posted a general discussion question asking whether people thought the program was worth the cost. Several users had shared positive experiences, citing specific ways the program had helped them.
Jennifer Grisham: The program is worth exactly nothing.
Zero. Crawford is a fraud who packages common sense advice and sells it for thousands of dollars.
Anyone defending him is either in denial about wasting their money or too proud to admit they could have learned everything he 'taught' from free YouTube videos.
"She's not just critical," Kate said. "She's actively trying to tear down anyone who credits the program."
"Right. And she keeps mentioning her bakery.
" Sloane pulled up Grisham's Facebook profile, which was public.
The page was filled with photos of elaborate cakes and pastries, along with posts about her business's success.
"Jennifer Grisham runs an artisanal bakery called Grisham's.
It's been in operation for just over a year. "
"What kind of success is she having?" Kate asked.
Sloane clicked through several posts. "By her own account, she's doing very well. Multiple posts about meeting sales goals, expanding her product line, hiring additional staff. There are a lot of great reviews from customers.”
"And she's angry that Crawford used Rachel Thornton's interior design business as the cover girl success story instead of her bakery," Kate said, piecing it together. “Which is odd. If her business is doing so well, you wouldn’t think she’d be complaining all that much.”
"Yeah, it looks that way." Sloane opened another thread. "This one is from two months ago, right after Second Act Success launched a new marketing campaign featuring Rachel's business prominently."
Kate read through Grisham's comments on the thread.
The woman had gone on multiple rants about Crawford's choice to feature Rachel, claiming it was because interior design was more visually appealing than food in photographs.
She had accused Crawford of playing favorites, of choosing businesses that made him look good rather than businesses that were genuinely successful.
And when other users had tried to calm her down or suggest she was being unreasonable, Grisham had turned her anger on them.
Jennifer Grisham: You people are pathetic.
Defending a con artist and attacking someone who's trying to tell you the truth.
Crawford doesn't care about any of us. He cares about his bank account and his reputation.
Rachel's business is successful IN SPITE of his program, not because of it.
And if you can't see that, you deserve to be taken advantage of.
"That's borderline slanderous," Kate said. “Though, let’s give her credit: most of it is well-written.”
"More than borderline," Sloane replied. "In several of these posts, she directly accuses Crawford of fraud and calls other participants stupid or delusional. The moderator eventually kicked her out of the group."
Kate stepped back from the computer, thinking. "What's your theory?"
"Grisham sees the other successful graduates as competition," Sloane said. "Not business competition exactly, but competition for recognition. And if that’s the case, then maybe she doesn’t want recognition from the program.
Maybe she wants to be the one who proves you can build something without Crawford's help.
When other women get featured in marketing materials or share their success publicly, it undermines that narrative. "
"So she eliminates them," Kate said slowly. "Makes it look like someone is targeting Second Act Success graduates, when really she's just removing the people who contradict her story about the program being worthless."
"It's a theory," Sloane said. "Could be completely wrong. But Grisham fits the profile better than anyone else we've looked at so far."
Kate pulled out her phone and searched for Grisham's bakery. The business had a professional website with an address in Richmond, less than eight miles from the field office. According to the homepage, the bakery was open until six on weekdays.
"It's only fifteen minutes," Kate said, showing Sloane the address. "We could go talk to her right now."
Sloane saved the Facebook threads to her case files and closed her laptop. "Let's do it. Hell, I could use a donut or a cupcake or something."
“Well, which one?” Kate asked.
“I have to choose?”
“I suppose not,” Kate said with a smile. “I’d never force someone to make such a choice.”
They gathered their things quickly and Kate found herself delighted when Sloane laughed at that brief, insignificant exchange.
Kate sent a text to Allen letting him know she would be later than expected, that a lead had come up and she needed to follow it.
He responded almost immediately with a simple thumbs up and a reminder to be careful.
They walked out of the field office together, heading for the parking garage where their cars waited.
The afternoon sun was lower now, casting long shadows across the pavement.
In other words, another day was coming to an end and there was still a killer out there.
It was a feeling Kate had always hated and had nearly hidden with her newfound consultation gig.
But now it was back, haunting her as usual, and she didn’t intend to let it hang around for long.