“Okay, fine. Make it quick and don’t let anyone see you leave.” Tyler had already pulled up pictures from the memory card on his laptop. He scanned through each one, squinting at the screen. Since the photos were of Aunt Amber, the focus was on her face and not the background, but the set behind her was clearly visible.
Our efforts to get the photos had already paid off. I tapped the screen. “Look at that window across the street. I see somebody there. Can you enlarge it?”
Tyler and I watched Aunt Amber and her photographer leave before he connected the large monitor and projected the image onto the wall screen.
The image was grainy, but there was definitely someone watching from one of the windows on the opposite side of the street. Whoever it was had a perfect angle to shoot Dirk Diamond. From a distance, it was impossible to tell if it was a man or a woman.
One thing was certain, though. The mystery person wasn’t part of the script. The vacant store had been closed for over a year, the windows boarded up with plywood prior to the movie shoot. The boards had been removed only for filming. No one should have been inside that building. It wasn’t part of the script, and it was unoccupied and locked up.
It took a while to sort out what was happening in the script at the exact time each photograph was taken, but we slowly pieced together a timeline from the background activity happening on set in Aunt Amber’s photographs. Tyler clicked through each picture in order until we reached the moment just before Dirk was shot.
But by then, no one was lurking in the building across the street. The mystery figure had vanished into thin air.
I was beginning to doubt we would find anything. There had been no broken glass or open doors or windows. Maybe the figure was just an apparition or figment of both our imaginations.
Then I saw it. I jumped from my seat and tapped on the big screen. “It’s a man, and he’s up on the roof now.” That explained why he didn’t show up in the footage, since the roof was out of frame.
Tyler jumped from his seat. “You know the saying, a picture’s worth a thousand words? Well, this one just might be worth a million bucks.”
There was just one problem. The man didn’t have a gun in his hand. It was painfully obvious to me that we didn’t have all the photographs. I just hoped against hope that the photographer had a second memory card.
We had to unlock the puzzle before Tyler’s fate was sealed.
26
Well over three hours had passed. It was after midnight and Aunt Amber still wasn’t back. That worried me, since Aunt Amber drove like a NASCAR driver and Shady Creek was just an hour away. While she had been forced to physically drive the photographer back, she could have easily used witchcraft for her return trip.
Yet she still hadn’t returned.
“Maybe she can get the photographer’s second memory card without us having to bring him back.” I was pretty sure my spell wouldn’t work a second time. “I’ll try to reach her.”
Aunt Amber’s cell phone went straight to voicemail. I willed her to call me but my telepathy skills were pathetic. I was feeling pretty down and out and even considered calling in Aunt Pearl and Mom for assistance.
Tyler tapped his watch. “It’s going to be morning soon. I don’t think Brayden’s going to wait any longer, especially with all those people outside. I just wish we had more answers.” He paced back and forth.
I sucked in my breath. “I’m going to try that spell one more time. Maybe I didn’t ask for everything the first time.”
“It’s worth a shot,” Tyler said. “What am I saying? I guess I’m so desperate, I’m agreeing with you.”
“Okay, here I go.” That made me want to try even harder. I took a deep breath and repeated the Boomerang spell. My skills were pretty hit or miss so I wasn’t expecting the spell to work a second time. But at this point, we had everything to lose if something didn’t happen quickly.
This time I visualized a stack of photographs and a pile of memory cards as I repeated the spell. If any occasion warranted using magic with reckless abandon, it was this one. I really didn’t see how it could make matters any worse. It wasn’t exactly cheating since the enhanced photographs would be made eventually. I was just speeding up the process.
I jumped as something popped behind me. The sound was a cross between popcorn and a crackling fire, except that it grew louder and faster until it finally exploded in a crescendo of sound.
A puff of gray-green smoke enveloped us. Tyler was barely visible across the table.
“Wow.” Tyler coughed as the smoke dissipated. “That was spectacular.”
“And effective too.” I looked down at my hand, which contained another memory card and a dozen or so photographs. I wasn’t sure if it was lucky or unlucky, but this time there was no freaked-out photographer or Aunt Amber.
The top photo showed Amber seated with the set in the background, similar to the ones we had seen on the last memory card. The next photo in the pile appeared to have been taken a few seconds after the first. They all appeared to be in sequence. The time frame of these new pictures paralleled the earlier ones, though these photos appeared to be ones that had been rejected due to poor exposure, composition, or other reasons. Maybe that was why they had been kept separate from the first batch. All of the photos in this latest batch had something wrong with them.
But one picture had everything right because a figure on the roof was clearly visible.
It was a man, his face obscured by a hoodie and scarf across his mouth and nose. No matter how much we enlarged the photograph, we couldn’t make out his identity.
Tyler hunched over the table, squinting at the photograph. “I wish I recognized him, but I don’t.”
As I stood behind him, something jumped out at me. “Look at his hand. I’ve seen that ring before.” It was a black signet ring. I couldn’t make out the engraving, but it was very familiar to me. I just couldn’t place where I had seen it before.
If only I could remember.
Tyler nodded. “Too bad we couldn’t see more detail because that person has absolutely no reason to be there. All the actors are accounted for.”
I squinted at the hand at the edge of the photograph, but it remained a mystery.
“We’ll find the wearer, as long as they haven’t taken off the ring,” he said. “Maybe you can check everyone who’s staying at the Inn, for starters.”
That was the great thing about a small town like Westwick Corners. There were very few places to eat or drink. Sooner or later everybody ended up at the Inn’s dining room or at the Witching Post’s bar.
I checked my watch. It was three in the morning, but given today’s events, maybe some late-night revelers were still around. “I’ll head over there now.”
“One more thing.” Tyler slid a file folder across the table. “I have more bad news. Steven Scarabelli had a million-dollar policy on Dirk Diamond, just like Bill said. He also had one on Dirk’s wife, Rose Lamont.”
“That’s not so uncommon, is it? After all, Rose and Dirk were Steven Scarabelli’s two biggest stars. If something happens to them, an insurance policy avoids financial disaster. A lot of businesses do that. That way no matter what, Steven could use the proceeds to pay the cast and crew.”
“That won’t happen anytime soon,” Tyler said. “The money will go to Steven’s estate first. I guess the actors will have to sue to get paid. There’s something I think you should know, Cen.”
“What?” I never suspected Tyler was holding anything back from me.
“We’ve got three people dead now if you count Rose Lamont’s aneurysm.”
I gasped. “You think Rose’s death might be from something other than a brain aneurysm?”
“I don’t know, Cen. But the timing’s interesting. Two spouses die within a week of each other, and they have no kids. Rose in particular—she was only in her thirties. Statistically, that is highly unusual.”
“That’s true,” I said. “Rose and Dirk were mega-star
s. I wonder who inherits their fortune.”
“I wondered too.” Tyler tapped the manila file folder. “I checked, and you’d never guess in a million years.”
“Who?”
“Amber West. Looks like she was a good friend of Dirk’s after all.”
I felt like I was going to faint. “How is that possible? Dirk and his wife leave their fortune to her, yet Dirk wants her fired from the movie?”
Tyler shrugged. “Maybe she’s a good friend but a bad actor?”
“She never mentioned any inheritance.” Maybe she hadn’t exaggerated their friendship after all. But until the movie, she had never even mentioned Dirk Diamond by name. Yet apparently they were so close that she was named as his life insurance beneficiary. It was almost like she had a secret life that no one in our family knew about. “Maybe she didn’t know about it.”
“Or it could explain why she’s so late coming back. Maybe she decided not to return after all.” Tyler stood and paced back and forth. “She knows she’ll have to answer a lot of questions.”
“No, that’s not possible. How can you even say that?” I frowned. “She would never leave her family. Besides, she has to actually collect the money, right?”
“True, but you can do that through lawyers and stuff,” Tyler said. “I’m not accusing her, just stating the obvious. If it’s true, anyone can see she stood to gain from Dirk’s death. What is their relationship, exactly? How long did she know Dirk?”
I threw my hands up in defeat. “No idea. I only found out today that she knew any of them. She never talked about them before, but apparently they’ve all been friends forever. I’ve always known that she likes to be the center of attention but had no clue she did any kind of acting. Or that she gave Dirk his ‘lucky’ break.” I made quote marks in the air.
I guess I didn’t really know my aunt at all.
“Maybe Amber’s not so lucky,” Tyler said. “She still has to live long enough to collect it.”
27
I finally left Tyler in the interview room after waiting a while longer for Aunt Amber’s return. But when hours passed and she still hadn’t come back, I grew increasingly worried. If she really was an heir to the Diamond fortune, she now had a price on her head.
I stepped out into the dark lobby and immediately collided with an invisible force. A man’s chest, to be exact. My pulse quickened as arms clamped onto my biceps.
“Let go of me!” I screamed as I tried to spin around but it was no use. I couldn’t break free.
“Relax! Why are you freaking out like that? I’m just trying to keep you from falling.” He loosened his grip and took a step back. I smelled alcohol on his breath.
I recognized the voice—and drunken slur—of Rick Mazure. “How did you get in here?” Maybe Aunt Amber had left the door unlocked in her rushed departure.
“I convinced the security guard to let me in. I urgently need to talk to Sheriff Gates. Is he here? There’s something I have to tell him.”
I exhaled, feeling like an idiot. “You thought of something else since you met with him earlier? Is it something new?”
“Not exactly.” Rick looked down at his shoes, uneasy. “I’m a bit conflicted about the whole thing. I like Steven Scarabelli, but…”
The door clicked open. Tyler stood in the doorway. “What did you say about Scarabelli?”
Rick frowned. “It’s confidential. Shouldn’t we go inside your office?”
“Actually, I was just leaving,” Tyler turned the key in the door and locked it. “You can walk with me.”
“B-but I don’t think—” Rick cast an uneasy glance at me.
“Whatever you have to say can be said in front of Cendrine. She’s helping me with the investigation.”
Rick looked alarmed as he studied me. “Is that normal? I mean, you’re not a detective or anything.”
“It’s all hands on deck,” Tyler said. “I deputized her.”
He had done no such thing, but I knew Tyler wanted me as a witness to Rick’s statements. Not only that but if Tyler waited till morning, Rick might change his mind about talking.
Rick scanned the lobby to make sure no one else was around. “It’s no secret that Dirk gave Scarabelli a bum deal. Dirk’s constant demands infuriated everyone. Scarabelli was very patient with him, but I guess he finally reached the point where he just couldn’t take it anymore.”
“Did Steven confide in you?” I felt a sickening feeling in my stomach. More evidence that pointed towards Steven Scarabelli. By now Brayden knew that Tyler had released Steven Scarabelli. Steven’s dead body at the Inn was proof of that. Releasing a killer could be the nail in the coffin, so to speak. Even with Steven dead, Brayden would accuse Tyler of incompetence, or worse. I shuddered.
“Steven didn’t come right out and say it, exactly. I mean, not literally.” Rick bit his lip. “But he did say yesterday that he’d had enough, and that he’d make sure that Dirk never made another movie as long as he lived.”
“There’s lots of ways to interpret that other than a death threat,” Tyler said. “Maybe Steven didn’t want to work with him anymore. It sounds like nobody else in Hollywood wanted to work with him either.”
Rick laughed. “People will put up with anything for enough money. Even Dirk Diamond doesn’t seem so bad when there’s millions to be made.”
“You’re saying Steven Scarabelli killed Dirk Diamond?” Steven hardly struck me as a killer. Pretty much every member of the cast and crew had remarked on how kind and honest Steven was, and that he would do anything to help another person. He had even helped Dirk, despite the abuse he got in return.
Rick shrugged. “You really can’t blame the guy. Dirk had it coming.”
Tyler frowned. “Do you have proof to back up your suspicions?”
“I overheard Steven and Amber arguing. Amber claimed she would inherit Dirk’s fortune and she refused to share anything with Steven. I was kind of shocked to discover that Amber was a beneficiary in Dirk’s will. After thinking it over, I realized it was important enough to mention,” Rick said. “I’m just sorry I didn’t say anything sooner.”
I flashed back to their earlier argument. Rick’s claim tied in with Tyler’s comment. Was there more to the conversation than just Aunt Amber’s firing?
“What exactly did you hear?” Tyler penciled some notes on his notepad.
Rick glanced furtively around the empty lobby. “Can’t we just—”
Tyler shook his head. “The sooner you tell me, the better.”
Rick sighed. “Okay, look, Steven got backed into a corner and he was desperate. He was in trouble with the investors that were backing the movie. When Dirk quit and Steven still had to pay the cast and crew, he was screwed. The investors were out their money and they weren’t too happy about it. Steven had to find money, and fast.”
I suddenly remembered the ring. I glanced at Rick’s hands, but his fingers on both hands were bare.
“I hesitated to come forward because Steven is my friend,” Rick said. “But then Steven said he was going to kill Dirk. I didn’t take him seriously at first, but then he started asking all sorts of questions about the weapons in the script and stuff. That struck me as strange at the time, but it wasn’t until now that I put all the pieces together.”
“You think Steven planted a loaded gun?” Tyler’s eyes narrowed.
“In light of what happened, it sure seems that way. I know Steven was desperate, but I thought he was all talk. That he would just decide to stop making films with Dirk or something. Until, well…I never thought he’d actually kill someone. I guess Dirk finally drove him to do it.”
It dawned on me that Steven couldn’t exactly confirm or deny Rick’s claims now that he was dead. But all the pieces seemed to fit together.
Except for the shadowy figure on the roof, who was decidedly smaller and slimmer than Steven Scarabelli.
“You’re making a bold assumption,” Tyler said. “But we’ll look into it.”
&nb
sp; “It’s no assumption, Sheriff Gates.” Rick kicked at a chip in the marble floor. “Steven just carried through on his threat.”
“Why didn’t you say anything earlier?” Tyler asked.
“I don’t know…maybe somehow I thought Dirk deserved it. I mean, he was a really mean guy, and if anyone had it coming, it was him. He messed things up horribly for Steven. But no one deserves to die.”
“No, they don’t,” I said softly. “No matter how badly they treat other people.” No one deserves to be a scapegoat either, especially when they were so conveniently dead.
Life was unfair sometimes. Apparently so was death.
28
The once bustling streets outside City Hall were now dark and deserted, a sharp contrast from earlier. Tyler had returned to his office to validate Rick’s information. I walked alone, my heels clicking on the empty sidewalk as I thought about Rick’s claims. I had forgotten to ask him if anyone else was close enough to overhear Steven and Amber’s argument.
It seemed like forever to reach my car though it was only two blocks away. I had parked on the adjacent street just so it wouldn’t be obvious to Brayden that I was at the police station with Tyler. I didn’t expect him to return to the office at this late hour, but I couldn’t be sure. The last thing I wanted was to antagonize him further. That just made things worse for Tyler.
I increased my pace when I spotted my rusty and trusty old Honda waiting under the lone functioning streetlight on the block, looking sad and lonely.
I dropped my purse onto the passenger seat, jumped in the driver’s seat, and turned the ignition. I pulled out of the parking spot and floored the gas pedal, knowing I wouldn’t get stopped for a speeding ticket. I sped through town and was relieved to see that the Dirk fans had abandoned their post for the night too. I turned up the driveway and headed up the hill to the Inn.
It was probably too late, but I wanted to check everyone’s hands while they were still in the dining room or at The Witching Post. Some people might have already left town, thinking that the movie couldn’t continue. Others would have retired to their rooms for the night. But I could probably still catch a few of them.
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