Crime Writer Patricia Cornwell's Real-Life Detective Story

How's this for the plo of a detective story? Famous crime wter discovers her millions are missing. Sets out t find out why. That's exactly what happened to our good friend, patricia cornwell. She's... See More

How's this for the plo of a detective story? Famous crime wter discovers her millions are missing. Sets out t find out why. That's exactly what happened to our good friend, patricia cornwell. She's going to talk to us live in a moment. Looking forward to that. But first, the plot, it tickens. It's no mystery. She's the most popular crime novelist of the century. Patricia cornwell's name emblazoned across the covers of 24 "new yo times" best-sellers. But four years ago, the 56-year-old found herself entangled in a mystery fit for a novel. When millions of her hard-earned fortune, seemingly disappeared. Forcing her to track down the cash culprit. Just last month, after seven weeks under the court's microscope, she found her former financial manager had cheated her out of millions. An unexpected plottist for a former crime reporter. The blood doesn't lie. Reporter: Cooking at home. The best thing is to cook this for a long time. Reporter: And flying her private helicopter. This requires a certain amount of skills with your dexterity. Reporter: With the logo of kay scarpetta, her main character. Cornwe cornwell's crime is slated to be played on the big screen by angelina jolie. And patricia cornwell's latest novel is "the bone bed." Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome patricia cornwell back to "good morning america." You fought the good fight. We fought the good fight. The legal stuff rambles on for a while. But stacy and I did what we thought we should do. And stacy is your long-time partner? She is. She is brilliant and brave. And we've done it together. Tell us how you knew something wasn't quite right. Several years into the relationship with this financial management company, I felt like if I tried to cut back on expenses, nothing was accumulating. Over four years, eight months, $85 million went through their hands. They tried to make the case i spent it all. I knew I hadn't. When we finally filed the lawsuit and they returned 103 boxes of the records, stacy and I and my sister who is a bookkeeper, we started going through the paperwork and figure out what happened. You knew that something wasn't adding up. Something wasn't adding up. We still can't really track what happened to the money. That's why this is a civil case and not a criminal case. Clearly, at the very least, it was mismanagement and a breach of fiduciary duty. We should say, the managers have said they're ppointed. I'm sure they are. I'd be disappoint, too. And they're exploring the possibilities of an appeal. They went after you, or I should say, they went after you personally. You could have landed in jail. That's right. Tell us why. He committed campaign violations that were a felony. I didn't know this. I didn't think anything he could have done with my cash was illegal. When we file the lawsuit, they went to the department of justice to, quote, self I think the person getting thrown under the bus was me because the fbi came after my friends, my family. And I was investigated for a year before they closed the case and didn't find me guilty of anything. But I was terrorized. Your life when this was all in court, you said it was an autopsy of your life. It had been. Everything about you was dissected. They said you had an out-of-control lifestyle. You admit that you live large. Robin, look at me. I'm not frugal. I never said I'm frugal. But by no means could you have gone through that type of money. You could not have written this. Maybe you are going to write this. I have to do something with all of the energy I've been living with the last several years. Scarpetta will have to solve a case that has financial mismanagement involved in it. That will be a page-turner, as always. You have said this cost you tens of millions of dollars. I know there's another court legal fees back. You were able to do this. You know the average person can't fight. That's the worst thing about all of this. That's one of the reasons stacy and I have fought this fight. We have to do it for everyone. You have to stand up and say no. You don't get to take advantage of me or mismanage me this way. And it's been every high price you can think of, including the huge exposure because they had tens of thousands of our e-mails and all sorts of things that we didn't have in reverse with them. So, now, a lot of it is out there. And what I said, go ahead. Try to make a mockery of me. Try to embarrass me. I'm still going to fight. And you did fight. And you said, now, you wish you had followed oprah's advice. Always sign your own checks. 13 years ago, oprah told me, sign your own checks. I wish I had listened. We sign our own checks now. We all know we should do that now. You're very generous. You're extremely generous. You donate a lot of your time. You donate a lot of your money. And so happy things are working in your favor. Thank you, robin. It's such a thrill to see you. That's the best part of it. I think I'm going to take my flying lessons now. We can arrange to get you a helicopter lesson, too. Thanks so much. Coming up, you have to stick around for this.