GiGi

 

silly me for not editing my profile.  geez.

 

i'm not sure what to think of magdalene.  she's a family friend of gideon's, which puts her in a position of being the girl he "thinks of like a sister".  we all know that girl.  , i've been that girl.  pathetically fallen for a guy who sees their relationship as friendly - sigh.  that girl, unlike corinne's charecter, will settle for whatever relationship she can get with gideon, and if that means she has to be besties with his current fling (be it corrine or eva) she'll do that.  poor thing is screwing his brother for crying out loud!  if that's not taking what she can get i don't know what is.  i don't want to think she's devious. i think she will be incredibly important, though, since she has known gideon for so long.

Hi Jo-mama,

I too am curious to see how much of a role Magdalene will play in the next book. I really wonder what kind of background or information Magdalene could provide that would make her a vital character or one worthy of us dissecting her (just kidding)? Gideon himself stated that Magdalene was nothing more than a family friend and as such I don't see him confiding his deepest darkest secrets to her? I also don't know whether Magdalene would have been privy to the abuse that Gideon suffered? It isn't clear whether Magdalene was friends with Christopher in the early days or whether this was something that developed later on in adulthood when perhaps desperation finally set in and Magdalene realized that she didn' t stand a chance of winning Gideon's heart or affections.

The answers to those questions will help to determine whether the reader will pity poor Magdalene or absolutely hate her....for reasons yet to be revealed? How many more days until June 4th? What do you think?

Hi LNCronan,

I read your posting and I am aware that when a coroner pronounces the time of death for a body, it is not an exact science. The medical examiner would have to factor in the body temperature, the temperature in the room or surroundings where the body was found, etc. I get that. This theory about a whole uninterrupted theory is becoming way too complex. Could it be that Gideon had meetings at his Crossfire Building or one of his buildings, had people as witnesses; Scott for example, then when the day was done, Angus his driver, or Raul, or one of his security detail witnessed him get into the Bentley be driven home, where he was witnessed going into his apartment building, and then seen later that evening leaving his building going to pick up Corinne?

You know and I know that the detectives cast such a wide net, because they want to nail down, means, motive and opportunity and depending on what the suspect says and what the detectives are able to find; can mean the difference between premeditated murder and manslaughter. Let's not kid ourselves here. Detective Greaves is gunning for Gideon in the biggest way; she wants a premeditated murder charge. Let's also remember that is how these individuals get their promotions. They crack the hardest cases and bring down the most unlikely suspects. My, my, wouldn't the head of Gideon Cross be one nice trophy to hang over one's mantle?

 

i'm wondering what angus and gideon might have been through together.  during the gideon/brett fight angus seemed completely comfortable abandoning gideon there, telling eva something like "he knows when to stop".  i still don't understand why they had to leave - there was no danger for the rest of them.

Hi Jo-mama,

Maybe Gideon had Angus remove Eva and the rest of the group from the scene because he didn't want Eva to see his violent side. It also might be very uncomfortable for Shawna and Arnoldo sit back and watch the fight along with Eva. Eva would have felt very guilty about the fight and I think that may have distracted Gideon from protecting himself during the fight. What do you think?

Hi Jo-mama,

I think the most reasonable explanation to this mystery is one that Mrsmajessick suggested. Nathan probably saw photos of Eva and Gideon in the society pages living the good life. Poor Nathan has now been disowned and with that his cash flow has been terminated, so poor little rich kid is running out of money quickly. What better way to replenish the cash fund then with a little extortion scheme. So off he travels to New York to find his ex-step mother and her current moneybags husband and the man that Eva is canoodling with. Surely one them will pay out his extortion demands, right?

Here’s where we have differing opinions; is Nathan being tracked and if so who is tracking his movements? Everyone knows about Nathans whereabouts except Eva and yet no one sees fit to inform her? Why? Why is no one communicating with each other? That is evidenced when Carey was attacked, what happened there? What went wrong? What plan was everyone plotting? Where people working together or was it a situation of each man for himself? Who killed Nathan? Who knew about the plan? See, questions, questions, questions…sigh! :)

 

i do not think gideon was tailing nathan.  while that does seem like a good idea, now, i think his focus was protecting eva and not following nathan.  if he knew where nathan was all the time he would not have been so angry when she went out to lunch or didn't wait for his car to take her to work.  that week is when we are introduced to raul, which is evidence of gideon beefing up his security around eva.

Hi Jo-mama,

I don’t think that Gideon was having Nathan tracked before he got to New York City. If he were, it would open up huge questions; how did Gideon even find Nathan in the first place? If Nathan’s father disowned him then he wouldn’t have a clue as to his whereabouts. Would Nathan’s father hand over his son’s social security numbers or credit card information to man whom he doesn’t know, in the hopes of finding his disowned son? Even if Nathan were disowned, I don’t think that he father would put his own son in harm’s way. Somewhere along the line Nathan popped up on Gideon’s radar independent of his efforts.

After Nathan arrived in New York, it is possible that Gideon had his security team tracking Nathan’s whereabouts. If he did that, it was most likely in an effort to keep Eva safe, but even that theory has its flaws. Where was the security when Carey was being attacked? Where was the security when Nathan unexpectedly showed up at the Crossfire Building a second time (for a potential unexpected visit)? Questions, questions, question, the reader is left with so many questions?

Hi Jo-mama,

I agree with your posting. I guess what will remain to be seen is if Angus knew about Gideon’s childhood abuse, if/when he found out about it and if he did anything about it. I think that those are all really important questions that will help the reader understand the Angus/Gideon relationship more. What do you think?

 

LOL stands for Laugh Out Loud (or Laughing Out Loud).

 

Oh there's lots of material, I think, to tide us all over until June 4. Not only analyzing to pieces every last character, major and minor. But also combing through both books to try to figure out what are the red herrings (designed to deflect the reader) and what are the foreshadowings of what's to come. And of course Sylvia, bless her, keeps feeding us appetizers on a regular basis: the snippets.

 

I'd love it if she were able to have some more time in her busy schedule to jump in answers to spoiler questions.

 

Of the three times we do know he was with Corrine, number one was an intimate dinner for two at a friend's restaurant. Number two, the biggie, was at a very public social function. Number three was for all intents and purposes one-on-one, her being at his office and leaving together in his car. Discounting his assistant Scott and his back-up driver, Raul, it was just the two of them leaving.

 

Eva couldn't help but notice Corrine lives almost around the corner from Gideon. I'm wondering whether that's an important tidbit to the plot of Entwined. Did Gideon spend time at Corrine's apartment? Certainly, it's conveniently located to make it easy for him to spend free time. And if he is trying to fool the police, it'd be smart of him to be going in and out of there. Not having papparazzi hanging outside to snap a picture. But certainly having the building's doormen and downstairs desk people able to say, if it came down to them being asked, that yes, she has Gideon over to her place.

 

I suspect the whole reason he had Corrine over to his office that afternoon was so that the building security and the staff in his office could say, if it came down to anyone asking, that he's had her swing by to see him at work too. Especially because he used to have Eva come up to his office regularly.

 

What I really want to know is where did Gideon go after the vodka party. The very short article online said the party was from 6-9 p.m. Having an alibi of only three hours would be very high risk, because an argument might be raised Nathan died sometime after 9 p.m. Determining time of death is not an exact science. Unless a death is actually witnessed, time of death is at best an educated guestimate. To be safe -- and Gideon was very methodical -- he should have had an alibi for the entire night. 

 

When the cops asked him where he'd been that night, he didn't want to offer his alibi in front of Eva. But he did agree to talk to them while he walked them downstairs. "I was at a work-related function" is something he could easily say in front of Eva and her father. "I spent the whole night with Corrine Giroux" is something he couldn't say.

 

Here's a theory: what if right after the party was over, Gideon went back to Corrine's apartment with her? Bear with me here. Maybe he said something like "we didn't get a chance to really talk at the party, why don't we go to your place. I really want to hear about what's going on with the divorce, how you're holding up, how you're getting settled back in here in New York. I know things are rough. How are you doing?" And proceed to sit there listening to her talk until the wee hours, then walking home.

Hi LNCronan,

I just wanted to clarify with you that cozy and intimate doesn’t mean sitting out right in front of the restaurant in the “front window†where absolutely everyone can see the two of you. Cozy and intimate usually means the back of the restaurant where no one can see the two of you canoodling or playing footsies! Again let’s remember that Gideon hasn’t been able to be alone/or want to be alone with Corinne period. The first time they were engaged, he was climbing the walls, this time he doesn’t even remotely feel that he has to keep up pretenses so Angus, Raul, Scott and security are there. Can anyone say chaperone/ or should I say mood killer? Somehow I don’t think that this observation is lost on Corinne.

If Corinne lives close to Gideon it is by her doing and not his, of that I am sure. Who knows maybe she will wind up being his stalker in the next book (ex-lover who becomes obsessed with the man she still loves). There’s a twist for you.

As for the Nathan thing, sister you are all over the map. I thought you were firmly in “Camp Gideon†and if that’s the case, then somewhere between six and nine pm he was off ending Nathan’s life. As far as the Corinne deal, I highly suspect that there is NO way he would wind up spending the night with her. I think that there are some things that Gideon could explain to Eva but even she has her limits. I really don’t know if their relationship could withstand him spending the night at Corinne’s apartment.

I think this waiting is getting to you LNCronan. It is nice to know I am not the only one with this affliction (please know that I am just kidding). :)

Hi LNCronan,

I think that if Gideon spent any time at all with Corinne, it was strictly at public functions where the two of them could be photographed together, thereby bolstering his alibi. If Gideon couldn’t spend any extended alone time with Corinne, sexual or otherwise, I don’t believe that he was going to start now, especially when he doesn’t have those feelings. :)

Hi LNCronan,

I was wondering how many more weeks do we have to wait until the release of the next book and how many characters do we have left to dissect? Maybe we should space this out a little and make it last? LOL(Is that the term for laughing?)! :)

 

ha!  sorry - i'm not a man, but i am married to one!  it's like nature for a woman to read into everything a man does and analyze it to death (have you read/seen 'he's just not that into you'?), especially a woman, like eva, with deep insecurity issues.  gideon is so typically male!  he does not understand that taking a woman up on her offer of sex might be leading her on.  he doesn't understand why a hotel room isn't romantic.  and he doesn't get why eva wants to know everything.  we women want to know everything, right?  lol - that's why we're here.

 

i'm not really standing up for gideon.  he's easy to love while reading the book because we are in eva's head, and eva loves gideon.  too much, in fact.  we're driven to hate him and suddenly back in love with him again - the power of writing!  but he is flaaaaawed.  not the man for me by any measure, but i understand the man and the woman who loves him.

Hi Jo-mama,

I am confused by your posting. Your gender listed is male and you said that you are female. I think that maybe people may be confusing you as being male because that is how you listed yourself. If you look under your name it says "male". I just thought you should know.

 

I don't think it was Christopher Sr.. I think it was his money that may have paid off the doctors to say that nothing had happen to Gideon. Elizabeth was pregnant and already stressed between dealing with what Gideon's dad had done and now dealing with young Gideon acting out.! Surley a mother wouldn't stay because off the money with a man that may have abused her son.. Like Monica she'd benefit from it..!! Just my thoughts....!!!

Hi MrsCrossfire,

Your idea about Vidal’s money paying off the doctor is plausible. I guess I wonder what Vidal’s role was in this entire fiasco. I keep coming back to whether Elizabeth Vidal said anything to Vidal about Gideon’s claims of abuse? How much did the man know and what was his role, cover-up or otherwise in this story?

Hi LNCronan, Mrsmajessick, Jo-mama,

I didn’t see it written that Gideon was all of his free time with Corinne. I think that Gideon spent the bare minimum amount of time to make his alibi plausible, but that’s it. I think that even a tiny scrap of affection to Corinne meant all systems go in her mind. Maybe she thinks that if she is more supportive of Gideon and what he is going through and is his biggest cheerleader than maybe he will turn his affections back toward her. At best Gideon was always aloof with Corinne and I think that’s what got to her. Could you imagine being in love with someone and wanting to spend all your time with them, hugging, kissing, etc. and then every time you try to spend time with your “paramour†it is over even before it has begun. As a woman, I know that it would devastate me and I think that Corinne felt the same way.

I have been saying that Magdalene was pathetic from the beginning but no one was on team GiGi. That’s ok, there is plenty of room over here ladies. I think that if I had one question for Magdalene I guess it would be; what on earth is so special about Corinne that you completely lost your identity in hopes of capturing a man and how on earth would you compete with Corinne if you didn’t have your own identity (you kept your hair long like Corinne, you were chaste, demure, etc.)? Who is the real Magdalene? It is obvious by this woman’s’ words and actions that she has serious self esteem issues. Ok, so I have more than one question. What does everyone think?

I think that Gideon is selectively dumb and arrogant. It is like you said LNCronan; women have been throwing themselves at Gideon for years and I think that there may have been a part of him that may have just expected that when he told Eva to “wait†that she would. Surprise, surprise, Eva is most likely the first woman who never “jumped up and obeyedâ€. Sigh! There is hope after all. :)

Hi Jo-mama,

If Corinne was honest with herself, she would have realized that she never really had Gideon and I think that somewhere deep down inside she knew that. Gideon could never spend an entire evening with her. He never spent long amounts of time with her either. Gideon kept coming up with excuses as to why he couldn’t spend a weekend with her. No sooner had the weekend started than Gideon was out of there. As a woman, there is no blessed loving way that Corinne didn’t notice that! I am absolutely sure that her radar was up. When she tried in a last ditch attempt to keep Gideon she broke up with him and Gideon DIDN’T chase her. I know that as a woman that must have crushed her! Absolutely everything she feared came true!

As for the word “manipulation†the Oxford Concise Dictionary states; that manipulation manage person property, etc. by dexterous esp. unfair use of influence etc.†I would ask you how is that not negative? If Corinne was trying to manipulate Eva and the entire Gideon situation at the advocacy dinner, then I state that she was trying to manipulate the situation to her advantage by trying to cast doubt in Eva’s mind about her relationship with Gideon and thereby making room for Corinne to try and move in to Gideon’s world. That is a negative act. She was hoping for a second chance with Gideon by trying to cast doubt in their relationship and possibly break them up.

 

You know when all is said and done, Eva owes Gideon an old fashion Arse kicking. I mean come on, treating her like a hysterical, bubble-headed blond who can't handle the truth of Nathan being back in the picture is insulting. I know he was trying to protect her, but everyone seems to forget it was Eva that went through the abuse and she survived it - maybe she would have liked to have had some say in what happen to Nathan. Gideon's lack of trust in her as a strong woman is going to be a real problem for them in the future because Eva is strong & smart. I love the last snippet when she calls him a "caveman" that was spot on, happy for her.

 

As for Corinne, I keep wondering what Gideon said to her about his sudden interest in taking her to dinner and parties instead of Eva. Corinne would have had to ask why he wasn't taking Eva? I mean the last time Corinne seen Gideon he was chasing after Eva out the door. I can't see Gideon confiding in Corinne, but he couldn't have just called her up and said "Let's start hanging out - a lot."

 

I'm starting to think that Gideon may have even called Corinne to show up at the Crossfire looking all mused up that day Eva saw her. We don't know what time Nathan showed up and Gideon may have even put his plan into motion that quickly - this is a man who remembers all of Eva's makeup products by brand and shades - that gives him super powers in my book. That would play along with Corinne taking so long to open the door - keeping the plan going of making Eva think there was something more going on between her and Gideon.  Corrine might have even called Gideon while Eva was waiting. But, if all that is true how much of what Gideon was planning to do to Nathan did he tell Corinne? Surely not that he intended to kill him. But, he had to tell her something???

Hi Mrsmajessick,

I agree with you completely. I think every single one of them; Monica, Stanton and Gideon all deserve one huge B**** slap. Every single one of them could have picked up the phone and warned Eva about Nathan and the potential danger. Yet none of them did. It will be interesting to see if Sylvia will deal with this in the next book.

As far as Gideon is concerned, I don’t think that Gideon said anything to Corinne or asked for her help in leading Eva astray. I think that would just be cruel. Gideon is well aware of Corinne’s feelings for him and I don’t think that he would do anything to give her hope that they might get back together again.

 

sure, he spoke to corinne of her early on - it's probably the only thing he wanted to talk about!  but their post-eva discussions would be wary to include the subject.  if the man you wanted was still hung up on somebody else, would you keep reminding him of her?  no.  even at that dinner where he was ignoring eva to talk to corinne, we know from magdalene that corinne kept trying to discuss eva by talking about herself.  she's a great manipulater.

Hi Jo-mama,

Is Corinne manipulative or is she just pathetic and desperate? My thought is that she is desperate. I think that Corinne has quickly realized that she cannot manipulate Gideon. She tried it once and lost the engagement. I don't really believe that she would be foolish enough to think that she could somehow manipulate him now. What do you think?

Hi LNCronan,

I don’t think that Corinne said anything about her messed about looks or discussions with Gideon. Corinne made it very clear to Eva that she didn’t Eva was good enough for her. She also made it very clear that she made a mistake in letting Gideon go in BTY. I think as far as Corinne is concerned, everything is fair game. I also don’t think that Gideon gives a hoot what Corinne says about Eva. He loves Eva madly, deeply, and obsessively. Point Stop!

What is sad is that Corinne never really had Gideon and I think that’s where it might get interesting. I quite frankly think that Gideon would have initially taken Corinne to task about how she had been treating Eva. I think that Gideon feels guilty about having lead on Corinne (although it wasn’t done intentionally). Corinne still holds a fond place in Gideon’s heart, but I suspect if she keeps the crap up, she’ll get a huge ugly wakeup call from Gideon(via verbal lashing).

Hi LNCronan,

I read your posting and I don’t assume that Nathan was dirt poor. I think that his cash was quickly running out and maybe his dwindling finances, in addition to his mental states were causes of his mental unraveling. There wasn’t anything written other than the fact that Nathan’s father had completely disowned him some time ago. He may have been living off of whatever payoff his father had given him or any trust that he may have had access to. Who knows? I don’t think that the hotel that Nathan was staying at was a nice hotel per se, but probably just an average two/three star rating hotel, but you do have a point. Even the most economical hotel would probably be far more expensive because it was located in New York.

I guess the key question here is; how did Nathan wind up on Gideon’s radar? We the readers don’t have anything to go on here. Sylvia didn’t leave any clues. I suspect that maybe there might be something mentioned in the next book.

Your points about Gideon possibly having Nathan tailed could be a possibility but who knows? I would have found it hard to believe that someone placing a suspect under surveillance could watch that person beat another human being to a pulp? That would make them an accessory to a crime. I wonder if Sylvia will elaborate on this in her next book.

Another question I have is; why would Gideon lure Nathan to New York, to murder him? That makes absolutely no sense to me whatsoever. It would behoove Gideon to travel to Podunk Hicksville to commit the murder. Why would he lure someone into his own backyard where he would obviously be under suspicion? I guess the argument could be made that he would have more control in a setting that he was comfortable with. It just seems like an awfully big risk.

 

as appauling as it might be to think of a woman staying with a man who would rape her child, let's not be naive enough to think it couldn't happen, especially in a piece of fiction.  obviously he told her something horrible was happening, and she didn't believe him.

 

in my opinion, it does not follow gideon's charecter to want to 'save' christopher or ireland from the household.  at some point he cut off all emotion associated with his family.  i imagine it happened before ireland was born, during the abuse, so while she never did anything to push him away he also never formed a bond with her.

Hi Jo-mama,

Let's remember that Gideon wasn't raped just once. He was raped repeatedly and brutally (if his nightmares are any indication). So no I don't know if an author would want to walk that path.

The implications would be that Elizabeth Vidal knew that her husband was repeatedly and brutally raping her son. Would Elizabeth have absolutely no concern for her other two children? What’s more would Gideon have no concern for his two other siblings? What happened when Gideon was a child wasn’t his fault, but having the knowledge that he has and doing NOTHING would then make him despicable. Think about it for a minute. Gideon knows that he is leaving his brother and sister behind with a monster/rapist/pedophile and he does nothing. BOOO!!! UNACCEPTABLE!!! I don’t honestly think that Gideon would be capable of being that cold. After all Gideon openly and whole heartedly supports child abuse charities.

The second implication would be that Elizabeth Vidal was an absolute monster. I know that this woman will never win mother of the year, but a complete monster....I don't know. There isn't any written word to support that and Ireland seems pretty normal thus far. A reader is lead to believe that from the interactions that she has with Eva, Gideon and Carey (on the few occasions that they were together). Who knows though? Time and Sylvia's next book will tell. What does everyone think?

Hi MeganCoils,

No worries. I didn't take your comments as anything more than you tossing out your latest theory. I agree completely that it is NEVER alright to sacrifice your child for monetary or lifestyle gain.

 

I'm re-thinking Monica so much I'm going to have to go back and read all passages in which she appears, looking for clues. Clues about both her and Stanton. I'm still firmly in the Gideon-did-it camp, and I also think Argus may have helped. But I'm now seriously wondering how much interaction Monica and/or Stanton had with Gideon. Even if they weren't involved in the murder, they most certainly must have been involved in the plan to deal with Nathan before that. To keep his presence in New York a secret from Eva. And to keep an eye on him in order to find out where he had hidden the original copies of the photos/video of Eva.

 

How did Gideon find out it had been Nathan who attacked Cary? Gideon must have had Nathan under surveillance. No one had been able to reach Gideon by phone that weekend. But early the next morning, he got a phone call at the hospital. See page 215 of Reflected. I believe that's when he got the news.

 

The hotel fire was at the one where the vodka party was, not the one Nathan stayed at. Gideon owned both buildings, however he knew like the back of his hand the party hotel. He started using that place while still in college as his %#@! pad, his first sex partner there being Corrine. And he obviously bought the place later. I'll bet that once he became famous enough to be tabloid fodder, he was careful about his comings and goings there, slipping out side doors. It'd be pretty easy for him to sneak around and set a fire himself.

 

I think he picked the hotel for that reason, to be able to sneak in and out unnoticed that night. But he took a huge risk in the Eva department by arranging for him and Corrine to be photographed there. Eva knew all about Gideon's past history there, including Corrine. So naturally, she assumed the worst.

 

But what she didn't know is Gideon had cleaned out the room he maintained there. The room came up the first time they had a couples appointment with Dr. Petersen. Later that night, while she was asleep, he slipped away to clean the place out. But when he returned to Eva's place, he found her in the middle of a Nathan nightmare. So he never told her that night about his trip to the hotel. And it didn't come up for discussion since then, not until near the very end of Reflected (page 328) when Gideon told her, told her the day he'd finally started opening up to her as a means to get her to agree to wait for him to come back to her.

Hi LN Cronan,

You make a really valid point about the videos and photos of Nathan’s crimes. The reader is left to wonder where the original videos and photos are. Somehow I doubt that Nathan would have shown Stanton or Gideon the original copies of videos/photos. There would be too much potential risk for destruction of property. I am sure that these men probably got upset when they saw the photos and could have even ripped them up. I guess my question for the universe would be; who was alerted first that Nathan was even in New York? We know that Gideon vowed to find Nathan and make him wish he were dead, but did Gideon make good on his promise?

Oh LN Cronan, anytime you like, come on over to camp-Monica/Stanton, the water is fine! :)

 

GiGi I don't think the fire was at the hotel Nathan was staying at. It was at the hotel where Gideon had arranged the Kingsman Vodka Party. I also think he chose this hotel because if Eva had seen the pictures from the press of him and Corinne and learned that there was a fire there she wouldn't think he took her up to room or reopened the Fpad as she called it. So the Fire had a double meaning..... At least I think...!!!

My guess is Monica may have known that Gideon had played a part in Nathan's death, I say this because when Eva asked Monica if Stanton arranged the murder Monica said "no his mind doesn't work like that" but she NEVER asked Eva if she thought Gideon may have played a part in murder..!!!!

Hi MrsCrossfire,

You right. I have been reading and rereading so many passages from the books that my eyes are starting swirl around in their sockets. Let's hope they won't shrivel up before June 4th. :)

Hi everyone,

I agree with Valgirl. How could a mother sacrifice her child for the sake of money? She would be literally prostituting her son in exchange for her lifestyle. That thought literally just makes me sick to my stomach! I could be wrong but if the situation was that severe, I am not sure that Gideon would allow his siblings to be raised by a pedophile. I can understand Gideon not taking custody of his sister when he wasn’t financially stable but what would his excuse be now? He has all the money in the world. Why would he leave his sister in the custody of the man who raped him? What does everyone think?

 

Bunching together several questions about some of my theories: 

Re: Gideon's phone. On Friday night and Saturday morning, the cops had just barely begun examining both Gideon and Stanton. I think the detective told the truth when she saw how devastated Gideon was by that phone call at the police station. She guessed correctly it was Eva. I think then and there, the detective felt Gideon had personal motive for wanting Nathan dead. And so as the detective continued to investigate, she never for one second bought the cover story about Gideon having gone back to Corrine.

 

The cops had more than enough evidence to get a judge to sign a subpoena for Gideon (and Stanton's) phone records. And video tape of their office buildings. And probably their bank records too. Nathan's extortion attempts were the grounds to delve further into ongoing contact both men had with Nathan in the weeks leading up to his death, including his visits to their offices, and any sizeable chunks of money leaving one or both of Gideon and Stanton's bank accounts.

 

Re: Gideon's security team. I'm not sure exactly where I read Sylvia's spoiler-question answer that Gideon met with his security team at his apartment on Tuesday night, but I do remember it. it may have even been somewhere on this site. if not here, Facebook or Twitter. Angus holds a special place with Gideon, having known Gideon since grade school and serving not only as driver but his main bodyguard. Angus was the person above all else Gideon entrusted to watch over Eva. I believe he opened up to Angus about the full danger to Eva, and if anyone helped him (not with the stabbing itself but the logistics that night, including playing a role in alibis) it was Angus.

 

Gideon was lawyered up, but that does not mean refusing to answer all questions. He'd only refuse to answer any questions that could incriminate him. It would be to his benefit to answer certain questions, including those related to his alibi. The fact he has an alibi is what's known as "exculpatory" -- the very opposite of incriminating.

 

I wonder whether Detective Graves, when working so hard to try to break Gideon's alibi, ended up questioning Corrine about the timeline of her being with Gideon that night. It would be to his benefit for her to answer those questions, even with her lawyered up too. He'd have asked her to "just answer their questions about us being together." But I'm guessing Graves didn't ask Corrine anything, because the newspaper photo alone covered the fact she'd been with Gideon. 

 

I don't think the cops questioned Arnoldo. Arnoldo was lined up to be a potential defense witness if the case ever ended up going to trial. He could give good reason why Gideon dumped Eva when he did (the whole kissing Brett incident) and the fact Gideon started "dating" Corrine again just a few days later.

Hi LN Cronan,

I read your posting and I think that Gideon probably offered the video tapes voluntarily to the detectives to support his claim that he and Eva had already broken up. I just don’t think that he did anything voluntarily without the presence of counsel. I don’t think that there was nearly enough evidence to support the theory that the detectives could have subpoenaed Gideon’s bank records unless (Big Huge Unless here-Nathan had something written down about trying to extort monies from both Gideon and/or Stanton). I guess the big question for me would be: how much available, untraceable money did either of these men have in a vault or safety deposit box etc.? Monica stated to Eva that Stanton had finally decided to payoff Nathan. How was he planning on doing that? Surely Stanton wouldn’t go to his bank and make such a sizable withdrawal because all bank transactions are traceable and anyone wanting to commit a crime wouldn’t want to lead the police to their doorstep.

I understand what you are saying about offering an explanation to the detectives but I honestly think that Gideon didn’t say word one to the detectives until he was in the presence o cousel. It may be a reason why they were pushing so hard to nail everyone’s stories down (so they could then try to begin breaking them down). I know that there isn’t’ any written documentation of this, it is just my thought. I guess we will have to wait and see on June 4th (fingers crossed ). What do you and everyone else think?

 

Thanks for the timeline, LN Cronan, that really helps keep things in perspective. So looking at the timeline brought a question to my mind.

 

Since it appears Gideon was trying to give the appearance of being broken-up with Eva, why did he go to dinner at her house on that Friday? I know he wanted to meet her dad but surely he knew Nathan's body would be found and with all the pictures of Eva laying around the cops would seek her out first. Wasn't he worried about the cops finding him at Eva's in the mist of a family dinner?

 

Then Eva breaking up with Gideon after the fact makes his running around with Corinne pointless. Especially when he had such a noticable reaction at the police station. I would think the cops would see his heartbreak and then guess his motive was for the woman he loves and be able to put it together that Gideon was just trying to make them think he was involved with Corinne which should have raised and waved a red flag over his head "big time!"???

 

Then after that he went back to worrying about being seen with Eva - doesn't make sense - and, add to that he still had his driver trying to give her rides only reinforces that the ties between them weren't fully cut.

Hi Mrsmajessick,

I read you’re posting and I wonder if maybe Gideon went to the dinner because he himself was on the list to be questioned by the police and knew that Eva was next in line for questioning. I say this because Gideon is the owner of the property where the murder was committed and I am sure that the detectives would have been calling and asking to speak with Gideon. He could very well have delayed returning the phone calls, thereby forcing the detectives to find Gideon at Eva’s apartment on Friday night. Maybe he thought that in some strange way he could control the situation. Gideon knew that Eva’s dad was going to be there and that he was a former detective himself. I think that maybe he knew that Victor would interrupt or end any type of questioning because Victor knows the law and wouldn’t let anything happen to his daughter.

Gideon could also reaffirm his cold/apathetic behaviour toward Eva that he had carefully established earlier in the week and that could be witnessed by the detectives, and by the detectives gauging Eva’s reactions. These reactions would have supported the video surveillance and the witness accounts at work.

Maybe Gideon explained away his presence at Eva’s apartment by saying that “I promised my sister that we would go, etc.?†I think that Gideon running around with Corinne served two purposes; one to confirm that Gideon had moved on but more importantly it would have confirmed Eva’s reactions to the detectives. Corinne was Eva’s sore spot and I don’t think that Eva could have hid her disappointment or complete upset at the thought of Gideon dating his old flame.

You make a valid point about Gideon offering Eva rides after they had supposedly broken up. Maybe he explained it to the detectives as an act of charity and a way of keeping an eye on a woman who was clearly distraught about the breakup. Do you think it is possible that Gideon mentioned the possibility of Eva having a hard time with the breakup and he was concerned that Eva might develop stalking tendencies? After all Eva confronted Gideon’s mother, had contact with his brother Christopher, and went to Dr. Lucas’s office to speak with him (which is owned by Crossfire Subsidiaries). Eva had also described herself to Brett as; needy, clingy and insanely jealous. What do you think?

 

Throwing out for discussion today Gideon's hastily thrown together plan of giving the appearance he dumped Eva and how the plan didn't go according to his control-freak expectations. Here's a timeline based on the plan starting after Gideon and Eva returned from their weekend in North Carolina, because Sylvia revealed that taking Eva away for the weekend had not been part of that plan.

 

Friday night: Gideon and Eva leave for North Carolina after the concert. Sometime that same night, Cary was attacked.

Over the weekend, Monica tries phoning Eva and Gideon, but they're both out of phone contact the whole time.

Sunday night just before midnight: they arrive home and Gideon gets his phone message about Cary.

Monday morning, before the workday starts: Gideon sees Eva at the hospital, tells her he spoke to her boss so she doesn't have to go to work that day, and leaves for work himself. As he's walking away, he takes a phone call from someone (his security team?)

Monday night: Gideon takes Corrine to dinner at Tableau One, his friend's restaurant, making sure they sit at a front table and a picture gets taken. He doesn't go to the hospital after work nor call Eva that night.

Tuesday morning: Eva notices he hasn't called/texted in almost 24 hours. She leaves the hospital to go to work. Gideon freaks when he learns she left the hospital, calls her angrily, has Angus pick her up on the way, and calls him to make sure he's got her.

Tuesday lunchtime: Eva finds, via Google alert, an online picture of Gideon with Corrine the night before. By co-incidence, Brett shows up at Crossfire looking to talk to Eva. She forwards the photo to Gideon's email, and she takes Brett to lunch. Before lunch is even over, Gideon finds out.

Tuesday after lunch: When she tried returning to her office, the elevator takes her up to Gideon's floor, and they argue in the hallway. During the fight, he demands she eat lunch at her desk moving forward. She knows something's wrong, but he refuses to say what. As she leaves and the elevator doors close, he says "Trust me." 

Tuesday after work: She goes to the hospital. She calls Gideon at home, and he cuts the conversation short, but not before she figures out he's not alone. She fears maybe Corrine's there. In fact, Gideon was meeting his security people there (Sylvia posted this.)

Wednesday: in the morning at the hospital, Dr. Lucas poisons her mind about how Gideon is treating her. Midday she has her weekly lunch with her boss Mark and his boyfriend Steve. When she gets back, she gets another angry call from Gideon about not following his orders to eat at her desk. "Are we done," she asks him, a question with double meaning.

Wednesday night/early Thursday: she sends him a distraught email about how hurt she is over Corrine. He shows up in the middle of the night and makes love to her all night, but in the dark. She asks why he's acting the way he is, and he responds, "It has to be this way." He leaves before she wakes up. 

Thursday daytime: She attends a meeting about the vodka campaign. He ignores her completely in front of her boss Mark and one of the agency owners. She later calls him, and he promises to meet her at Dr. Petersen's office for their weekly therapy appointment.

Thursday night: he blows off the appointment and instead parties with Corrine at the vodka publicity mixer held at the hotel where he used to take women (including Corrine years ago.) A picture of them huddled close together is taken by the press. Note: Sylvia later posted the publicity mixer was separate from the agency work on the account, which is why Eva's boss Mark hadn't known about it.

Thursday night/Friday morning: Nathan is murdered Thursday night in his hotel room, a building Gideon owns and is within 15 minutes walking distance of the vodka party. His body is found Friday morning.

Friday daytime: Eva picks up her Dad at the airport before work (refusing a ride from Gideon's other driver, Raul, and telling Raul to tell his boss to "go #&@! himself.") 

Friday night: Dinner at Eva's. Gideon and Eva both tense, but he tries a couple of times to touch her, only to have her freeze him out. The police show up, and Eva finds out Nathan is dead. The police ask Gideon whether he knows Nathan. "You wouldn't be asking that question if you didn't already know the answer," he tells the cops in front of Eva. But he won't answer in front of her where he was that night. Downstairs, he gives some sort of answer about where he was Thursday night. When he comes back up, Eva refuses to talk to him; instead, she locks herself in her bedroom. She assumes (correctly) he had been with Corrine Thursday night.

Saturday morning: Her mother shows up at her apartment (while her father is out running.) She tells Eva about Nathan - that he had photos/video of her and tried blackmailing Stanton. Eva guesses correctly Gideon saw the pictures too. Her Dad arrives back, Monica leaves, and then her Dad shows her online the photo of Gideon and Corrine on Thursday night at "that" hotel.

The break-up: Gideon is at the police station (we find out much later) when she calls him on his cell phone. Confirms he saw the pictures Nathan had of her. Calls him terrible things for not having the decency to end it with her before he started sleeping with Corrine again. But tells him she understands why he can't bear to be with her anymore because of those photos. (We find out much later that Detective Graves watched him take that call and that he looks like someone just died. She guesses that call was Eva dumping him, something she later confirms from Eva herself.)

 

My basic theories about things Gideon counted on happening:

• That press photos of him out to dinner Corrine on Monday and snuggled up with her at a hotel party Thursday provided proof he was spending intimate time with her.
• Him publicly cutting Eva out of his life would be bolstered by gossip from his good friend Arnoldo (who owns the restaurant) and by Eva's own coworkers. 
• He did still plan to secretly spend time with her at her apartment. Even with Corrine in the picture, Eva would hold on and settle for pieces of him.
• He counted on her not running away on him this time, because she'd already broken that habit.
• He counted on the cops buying his alibi and quickly crossing him off the suspect list.
• Once the coast was clear, he'd start making up to Eva all the hurt he caused.
• She was never, ever to know he killed Nathan.

 

Things he didn't count on as various parts of his plans blew up in his face:

• Her dumping him. She'd warned him that he could push her away, but he didn't take it seriously enough, just like he hadn't at first taken seriously enough her warnings about her jealous nature.
• Her finding out about the photos Nathan had and wrongly assumed they were the tipping point for him ending their sexual relationship.
• The cops figuring out so quickly ties Nathan had to him, Eva and Stanton. So quickly they ended up coming to her apartment the Friday night Gideon was at her place meeting her father.
• The cops aggressively trying to break his alibi, thus it being too dangerous to see Eva or even phone her.
• Brett staying in the picture by going to lunch with Eva and later giving a radio interview he wanted to get back together with her.
• The detective telling Eva about how and why they believe Gideon murdered Nathan.

 

OK, fellow posters, jump in.

Hi LN Cronan,

Thank you for the detailed outline of your theory. I was just wondering where you got the information about Gideon meeting with his security team, etc.? Does Sylvia have a specific link that someone would have to click on to see the updates? If you could post that information somewhere or even the link, that would be great. Thanks in advance.

Now as to the comment that Gideon made to the detectives. He didn’t say anything other than the statement that he made. Could it be that once Gideon was out of earshot of everyone else, he turned to the detectives and said something along the lines of I’d be more than happy to come down to the police station and give you my statement with my lawyer. Let’s not forget that everyone else has “lawyered†up. I sincerely don’t think that Gideon is going to be the only one who gives a statement without the presence of his lawyers. Let’s also remember that Gideon wasn’t gone that long, so it certainly wouldn’t have been enough time for Gideon to start explaining his whereabouts. If he opened his mouth and said anything, the police would then have probable cause to haul him down to the police station and start asking questions. I just know that there is no way that he would do that (my opinion).

As for the Saturday morning account, I saw the scenario in a completely different light. It was Eva that told her mother about Nathan being dead and, in fact it was Eva that started the entire Nathan dialogue off “She raked a glance over my comfortable SDSU sweatpants and camisole before saying, “Eva. My. God. You have no idea-“ In that comment the reader is left to assume that Monica is talking about Eva’s choice of clothing. The reader could comfortably make that assertion because of all of the other interactions that Monica had with her daughter with regards to her looks, maintaining her looks-in hopes of finding a suitable partner, etc. It is Eva who starts the conversation off “Nathan’s dead.†I shut the door and nervously glanced nervously down the hallway at the guest bedroom….Monica’s response was “Oh…Have the police come by already? They only just left us.†I think that had Eva not said anything to her mother about this, her mother may not have said a word. Monica knew that Nathan was in town well before he was murdered and yet chose to say nothing. I posted about this in another forum but let’s just say the only person that was truly clueless as to what was going on was Eva.

When Eva saw the photos of Gideon and Corinne on Monday evening, She had already decided that it was time for them to have a break (take time apart/break up whatever). So this wasn’t news to her. I think that maybe her father bringing to her attention the obvious problems that she was having, just solidified what she already planning. Eva mentioned something about both she and Gideon were going to have to either recommit to their relationship or that it was going to be over. She never got the opportunity to discuss this with him, so she just went forward with the information she had.

I just quickly wanted to add;

• No mention was made if Arnoldo gossiped. The most that the reader can conclude is that if Arnoldo were questioned with regards to Gideon, he would be able to confirm his presence at the restaurant and how long he was there (through receipts, servers, etc.)

• LN Cronan wrote “The cops figuring out so quickly ties Nathan had to him, Eva and Stanton. So quickly they ended up coming to her apartment the Friday night Gideon was at her place meeting her father. Respectfully I dispute that comment. The cops had suspicions and not actual proof of anything. Gideon played his hand very well. There was only documentation of Nathan in the Building the first time but I am not sure if the book says that or Gideon confirmed to the police that Nathan was trying to extort money from him. I don’t know whether Stanton confirmed to the police either that Nathan was trying to extort money from him. It wouldn’t make sense to me for two powerful men opening up themselves to further scrutiny.

• I think that based on what the detectives found in Nathan’s hotel room and maybe the civil litigation, they surmised that something more significant was going on and that’s why the investigation.

Those are just my thoughts. What does everyone else think?