Sadie noticed Freda and Penelope hunched over a generous tray of appetizers, mouths in motion with food and chatter.
“Gosh,” Sadie said. “I just realized I didn’t eat much tonight. I’m going to swipe a couple of stuffed mushrooms from over there.” She nodded toward the likely gossip zone and soon joined the table. To her delight, Freda and Penelope kept right on talking as if she weren’t there.
“I say Nevada did it,” Penelope said. “Just to get the lead part. You know how badly she wanted it. And I’m pretty sure she couldn’t stand Brynn. I wouldn’t put it past her.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Freda said. “You wanted the part, too. But you didn’t push Brynn off the catwalk to get it.”
“I wasn’t the understudy,” Penelope pointed out, shrugging.
Sadie gawped at the tacky comment. It almost sounded like Penelope would have considered the drastic move, had she been in line for the role.
An unexpected hush came over the room, and Sadie turned around in her chair to see that Detective Higgins had just entered. Everyone stared at him. Cast members and crew lowered drinks from their lips, setting them on tables or counters. Nevada straightened her skirt; Mitchell, Sid and Ernie, all still leaning against the wall, seemed to stiffen. Even Penelope and Freda stopped talking.
Higgins turned down an offer of champagne and scanned the faces in the crowd. Not for the first time in her life, Sadie wished she could read minds. He was searching for someone; the question was who?
Russell stepped in behind him, snagged a glass of champagne, walked to a nearby table and sat. He chugged the champagne and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. Sadie saw Freda lean toward Penelope and whisper, “I guess that rules out Russell.” To which Penelope replied, “My money’s still on Nevada.”
“Twenty bucks says you’re wrong,” Freda quipped.
“You’re on,” Penelope said.
“I’d like everyone’s attention,” Higgins said, as if he didn’t already have it. “We ran fingerprint tests on the ever so elusive cell phone that Fluffy was finally able to produce.”
“It’s Coco,” Sadie whispered under her breath. Penelope, hearing her, actually giggled, which struck Sadie as completely out of character for someone who moments ago had seemed capable of throwing someone off a catwalk.
Coco heard her name, stuck her head out of the tote bag and looked around. Apparently sensing the tension in the room, she ducked quickly back inside. Relax, Coco, Sadie thought. We already know your prints are on it.
“We did find several sets of prints,” Higgins continued. Sounds of shuffling and murmuring circled the room. “To start with, Sadie Kramer’s fingerprints were on the phone.”
The multitude of looks Sadie received included a look of sympathy from Roxy. Even though Sadie had shown her the phone the day she returned from San Francisco, Roxy must have thought the public announcement to be humiliating for Sadie, and downright perplexing for everyone else.
“We also found...well, I wouldn’t call it exactly a print," Higgins said. “More like a smudge that I believe has a canine origin.” He glowered at Sadie. "At least it matches the smudge on those flyers given out after the show."
"Those are pawtographs," Sadie said, quite irked to hear Coco's personal autograph referred to as a smudge.
Higgins hesitated, as if contemplating his next statement.
"Just tell us," Penelope said, impatient for what might be the best gossip of the year. Others echoed Penelope’s demand.
Sadie surveyed the room, curious to see if anyone seemed especially nervous or more anxious than the others. Both Alex and Nevada were wearing what Sadie thought of as decent poker faces, but most of the people in the crowd appeared merely curious.
“We only found one other set of prints,” Higgins continued, “and they’re confusing since they don’t belong to anyone associated with this play or the theatre, at least as far as we know.” He paused long enough that Sadie wondered if it was simply for dramatic effect. On the other hand, he seemed to be studying people for their reactions.
Higgins pulled a notepad from his pocket and flipped the cover open. “Is anyone here familiar with Sarah Retsof?” He only got shrugs and shaking heads. He looked back at his notes. “She’s in the system, with a record for petty theft.”
“Is she wanted by the authorities?” Penelope sounded almost giddy, just at the thought of the fodder this would provide.
“No,” Higgins said. “Not now. This is a past record, time served long ago. Yet her prints are on the cell phone, so she must have been around here. Does anyone have an idea why that would be?”
Sadie sat up straighter as the pieces fell together. She watched as the expressions on the cast and crew members shifted. Russell looked relieved, knowing he was finally in the clear. Both Penelope and Freda appeared disappointed. The most dramatic change was in Nevada. Her face had gone pale and she pressed her clenched fists into her stomach.
“Detective Higgins,” Sadie said, slowly rising to her feet, “I believe I have the answer to that question.” She moved toward Nevada, whose eyes grew large, silently pleading with Sadie. “Nevada, do you want to explain? Or should I?”
Nevada covered her face and burst into tears.
“I don’t really care who explains this,” Higgins said. “But someone needs to do it now. Ms. Kramer, since your prints are also on the phone, why don’t you just go ahead and enlighten us all?”
Sadie glanced across the room at Ernie, who was watching the scene intently. She then placed a comforting hand on Nevada’s shoulder and looked back at Higgins. “I believe this is Sarah Retsof,” she said.
There was a collective gasp of surprise. Alex looked shocked. Penelope and Freda immediately began to whisper. Almost everyone else in the room looked confused, including Roxy, Coop, and Sid. Mitchell looked dismayed, undoubtedly already foreseeing negative publicity. And Ernie looked nothing short of horrified.
“I knew it,” Penelope said. “I knew she did it all along.” She held her hand out toward Freda, palm up.
Higgins approached Nevada, who became even more hysterical. “I didn’t do anything! I would never hurt Brynn, or anyone!”
“You are Sarah Retsof, is that correct?” Higgins said
“Yes, but… but … not ….” Tears overwhelmed Nevada again.
“Then I’ll need you to come with me.” Higgins reached for Nevada.
“But I never touched that phone! And I never killed anyone!” She took a step back.
“Then why are your fingerprints on it?” Higgins’ question was more of a statement.
“Detective Higgins,” Sadie broke in, “I believe she’s telling the truth,” Sadie said. “She is Sarah Retsof, but I’m betting didn’t know the phone she found in her dressing room was Russell’s, and she’s not the one who killed Brynn Baker.”
“Then who did?” Higgins paused, but stayed close to Nevada while he waited for Sadie to answer.
“Someone who badly wanted to protect her identity, for her sake as well as his own,” Sadie said.
“And who exactly would that be?” Higgins looked around the room as if someone might confess.
“Her father,” Sadie said, directing her attention to Ernie.
“No!” Nevada screamed. “That can’t be true.” She turned to Ernie. “It’s not true, is it, Daddy? You didn’t hurt Brynn, did you?”
Ernie crossed the room and knelt down in front of Nevada. “I didn’t mean to, baby. But she found out about your past somehow and threatened to tell everyone. Your career would have stalled. I couldn’t let that happen to you.”
“Or to your own reputation or career,” Sadie added. “You wanted to be a good father, to help out your daughter, but you didn’t want her past misconduct to taint your reputation. So you gave her a new name and a new life.”
“Yes, that’s right.” He looked up at Nevada. “I’m so sorry about the phone. I left it in your dressing room temporarily the night of the dress rehea
rsal, but it was missing when I went back for it, and I never dreamed you’d touch it.”
“What happened, Daddy? Why?”
“I argued with Brynn that day, trying to reason with her, to appeal to her kinder side, but she wouldn’t back down. I talked to her again after rehearsal. I thought if she’d relent, I wouldn’t need to show up on the catwalk, and she could just think Russell had stood her up.”
“Aha,” Coop interjected. “That’s who I heard yelling from Brynn’s dressing room. I just figured it was Sid, as usual.”
“Hey!” Sid said, frowning.
“I thought if I met Brynn privately to discuss it later, I could reason with her,” Ernie continued.
“So you borrowed Russell’s phone,” Sadie said, “knowing Russell and Brynn had a habit of meeting after hours on the catwalk. Which I suspect you heard from someone who cleans the theatre at night sometimes and tends to have loose lips, shall we say.”
“Uh oh,” Penelope said, sinking lower in her seat.
“You sent the text, copying Russell’s style because you knew she wouldn’t want to talk to you anymore. Then you waited for her on the catwalk,” Sadie continued.
“Yes, but I never meant to kill her, I swear,” Ernie insisted. “She just wouldn’t listen. We argued and struggled, and she went over the edge of the railing.”
“Perhaps with a slight push,” Higgins commented as he pulled handcuffs from his back pocket, helped Ernie to his feet and secured his wrists. “We’ll discuss this further at the station.”
Higgins and Ernie left, with Nevada in tow, who insisted on going along. A few cast members called it an evening, the rest were now subdued after all the drama. Sid and Mitchell headed straight to the open bar for stronger drinks. Freda and Penelope began verbally dissecting the entire scenario. And Sadie, Roxy and Coop took a seat together.
“I don’t understand how you figured out Ernie was Nevada’s father,” Roxy said.
“By her last name,” Sadie said. “Remember the research I did on the backgrounds of all the execs? Ernie was married once when he was young, just briefly, to a Margaret Retsof.”
“OK,” Roxy said. “So when Higgins said the name Retsof, you connected it to his former wife’s name.”
“Exactly,” Sadie said. “His Wikipedia page didn’t list a child, but we know that site can be unreliable.”
“Wow, her stage name, or new identity name, whatever you want to call it…” Coop said. “Nevada Foster. It’s a great name. I wonder how he came up with that?”
“Remember he brought her up from Las Vegas?” Sadie said
“Right,” Roxy said. “So ‘Nevada’ for the first name. Clever. But what about ‘Foster’?”
“I can explain that, too,” Sadie said. Smirking, she retrieved a stack of cocktail napkins and pulled six from the top of the stack. Pulling a pen from her tote bag, she wrote each letter of “Retsof” on a separate napkin and set them in a row across the table. “Go on,” she said.
Roxy and Coop looked at the napkins for a moment, and then started moving them around. It only took a couple switches before the jumbled letters took on the new order.
“Clever,” Roxy said. “R…E…T…S…O…F” reversed is “F…O…S…T…E…R.”
Coco poked her head out of the tote and yowled.
“Yes, Coco,” Sadie said. “Clever, indeed.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Sadie picked up a truffle, popped it in her mouth, closed her eyes, and sighed.
“What do you think?” Amber said. “It might be Matteo’s best creation yet: lemon tart with candied pecans?”
“Delicious,” Sadie said. “I think there’s a bit of ginger in there, too.”
“It’s good to have you back,” Amber said.
“Good to be back, especially after all that cast party commotion. Not to mention yet another discussion with Detective Higgins afterward.” Sadie reached for a second truffle, paused in an attempt to resist, and then gave in.
“I still don’t understand the whole phone scenario,” Amber said. “Why were Nevada’s … er… Sarah’s … fingerprints on the phone and not Ernie’s? He’s the one who took Russell’s phone and sent the message.”
“Ernie had already wiped the phone clean. He planned to put it back in Russell’s dressing room, but heard someone in the hallway, so left it in Nevada’s dressing room sometime during the rehearsal, intending to retrieve it later and return it,” Sadie said.
“And then your little canine kleptomaniac put it in your tote bag,” Amber said.
“Exactly. Meanwhile, Nevada must have picked it up and set it down again.” Sadie eyed the truffles again, this time resisting. “Ernie tried to retrieve it later under the guise of taking Nevada coffee, but it was already in my bag, not that I knew it, of course.”
“That’s why the police couldn’t find it, because you had it.”
“I’m afraid so,” Sadie said.
Amber laughed. “You have to admit it’s funny.”
“Well, I thought so, but Higgins didn’t.” Sadie said. “You’d think the police could have had a sense of humor about Coco unknowingly swiping murder evidence. It’s not like the poor dog was trying to hinder the investigation, after all.”
Coco, comfortably curled up on the counter’s velvet pillow, let out a sigh and rested her chin on both paws.
Amber looked at Coco. “You do know that’s tampering with evidence, don’t you, Coco?” She turned back to Sadie. “Dogs can’t be charged with that, can they?”
“I wouldn’t think so,” Sadie said.
“So you were going to turn it over to the detective, but Coco took it out of your tote before you had a chance?” Amber asked.
Sadie nodded. “Yes, because I stopped by the theatre to see the new show flyers before I headed to the police station. Was that ever awkward when I went in to give the phone to Higgins! I hadn’t told him I was bringing the missing phone, so I just pretended I’d lost a list that I’d planned to bring him.”
“You do have a way of getting yourself in and out of situations, so I imagine you adlibbed pretty well,” Amber said. “Especially with all your recent theatre training,” she teased.
“Very funny,” Sadie said. “Coco’s really the one with the theatre experience now: four performances, all with rave reviews.”
“You must be so proud of her,” Amber said. “Does this mean she has a future on the stage?”
“Not if I can help it!” Sadie laughed. “But she’s a rascal, for sure. Who knows what she’ll get into next?”
“Well, whatever it is, it’s bound to be interesting,” Amber said.
Sadie patted Coco’s head and scratched her behind the ears. “Yes, I imagine it will be.”
The End
Individual Chocolate Lava Cakes
Makes 6
Ingredients
Center
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate (around 60% cacao), chopped
¼ cup heavy cream
Cake
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate (around 60% cacao), chopped
½ cup (4 ounces) unsalted butter
2 eggs plus 2 egg yolks
1/3 cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup cake flour
Garnish
Whipped cream
Raspberries
Instructions
Center
(must be done ahead of time)
Heat the heavy cream in a small sauce pan just until bubbles start to form around the edges, then remove from heat. Do not boil.
Place 2 ounces of bittersweet chopped chocolate in a heat-proof bowl and pour the hot cream over. Allow to sit for 5 minutes, then stir until smooth. (No need to wash the sauce pan, you’ll need it for the cake.)
Refrigerate the chocolate mixture for 2 hours or until firm, then divide into 6 balls. Return to refrigerator until needed.
Cake
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees (F).
> Spray 6 4-ounce ramekins with non-stick cooking spray.
Melt the butter in a small sauce pan then remove from heat.
Add the 4 ounces of chopped bittersweet chocolate to the pan and whisk until melted and smooth. Set aside.
In the bowl of a standing mixer, add the eggs, egg yolks, sugar, and vanilla. Beat on medium high speed for about 5 minutes, until the mixture is thick and light colored.
Gently fold in the melted chocolate and butter mixture.
Add the flour and stir just until combined.
Spoon the batter into the prepared ramekins and place a chilled chocolate ball into the center of each one.
Place ramekins on a baking sheet and bake for about 15 minutes or until cake is firm to the touch.
Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes.
Run a knife around the inside of ramekin, place a small dessert plate over top, then flip over and remove the ramekin. Repeat with each one.
Garnish with fresh whipped cream and raspberries.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I owe tremendous thanks to many people for helping bring A Flair for Drama to life.
Elizabeth Christy's exceptional editing skills have helped make Sadie and Coco's theatre adventure shine. Keri Knutson of Alchemy Book Covers and Design created the lively, colorful cover concept for the Sadie Kramer Flair Mysteries; her artistic talent is always appreciated. Credit goes to both Richard Houston and Tim Renfrow for formatting. Beta readers Jay Garner, Karen Putnam and Carol Anderson provided insight into plot development. Carol gets extra credit for her keen proofreading eye.
If you love Chocolate Lava Cake as much as Sadie does, you’ll enjoy the recipe included after the final chapter. Thanks go to Kim Davis and her Cinnamon & Sugar and a Little Bit of Murder blog for this delicious addition.
As always, I am grateful for the constant support of family, friends and readers. Their encouragement guarantees Sadie and Coco will have more adventures in the future.
A Sadie Kramer Flair Mystery 02 - A Flair For Drama Page 14
