“Why is that?” Flint asked. “If Mandy Garland is concerned with her own career, you would think she would want Haley's career to blossom as much as possible.”
“Mandy Garland wants Haley to fail,” William said. “Haley Frost isn't just some dumb blonde that walked in off the street. The young lady is smart. I heard she was attending nursing school in New York before being dragged out here. I admire Haley because she has brains. And like I said, with enough acting classes and coaching, Haley could really make a splash. I would love to see her take on a serious role instead of these plastic roles.”
“Why would Mandy Garland want Haley Frost to fail?” Flint asked.
“Who knows? I'm not Haley's agent, so I have no say so in which films she decides to show her face in. But let me tell you this, detective. If Mandy Garland, that slithery snake, wanted Haley to succeed, she wouldn't have convinced Haley to turn down some very important roles. Of course, Haley doesn't know this, so you didn't hear it from me.”
“I think that old hag knows the princess is a dud and is riding the train for what's its worth,” Zach said. “In this business, you have to milk the cow for all its work. Yeah, it's true, films like this one are a waste of talent, but they bring in a good dime. Haley is being paid eight million dollars to make this film. Her agent gets twenty percent of that. That means the old hag gets over one and a half million dollars. Not bad.”
William threw a finger in Zach's smug face. “Haley's contract is confidential.”
“Hey, back off,” Zach barked. “You know nothing is secret around here.”
“Well, it needs to be,” William warned. Shaking his head, he turned to Flint. “Haley could be something special, but eventually, she will fade out and be shown the door.”
“What about her singing?” Flint asked.
William sighed. “Maybe in the old says when talent mattered,” he said. “Detective, there are far too many untalented actresses and singers in this world. If Haley attempts to try to become a singer, people will only see her as a person attempting to ride a wave off a few bad films. It's like I said, Mandy Garland has hurt Haley is more ways than one.”
Flint grew silent for a moment. “Any idea who might be sending her death threats? It's kind of strange to me that death threats are being made toward a young lady who is new to the business and acting in films that, as you believe, will end her career.”
“I don't have a clue,” William said.
Zach looked down at his feet for a few seconds, and then raised his eyes and casually glanced around.
“Do you know?” Flint asked him.
“Nope,” Zach answered somewhat sarcastically. “William, are we going to shoot today or what?”
“Just a second,” Flint said. “How did you get into acting?”
Zach did not reply.
“His grandfather worked with John Wayne on a few westerns and guest starred a few times on Bonanza,” William said. “His father directed a few movies in the late 1980's before hitting the bottle. Zach here thinks he's a star because he got cast in a sitcom when he was ten years old... a sitcom that ran only for two seasons, mind you.”
“Hey!” Zach said.
“After the sitcom failed he did a few commercials, eventually landing a role in a teen scream movie that did well. But as you can tell, Detective, his career is going down the drain, the same as Haley's.”
“Hey!” Zach yelled at William. “My career is just fine.”
“Sure, kid,” William said. “Detective, we really need to begin work.”
Flint stared hard at Zach. “Where were you last night?” he demanded.
“With my girlfriend,” Zach said, breathing hard, then turned to William. “Next time you say my career is over, you better realize what loser the studio is hiring to make these stupid movies! I quit!”
He turned and stormed off.
“You're fired!” William yelled at Zach’s rapidly departing back. “Your career is finished, do you hear me?”
Flint watched Zach kick the exit door open and stride back outside into the heavy rain.
“Welcome to the world of the rich and famous,” he said, and walked away to find Tori.
*****
Chapter 4
Dark Hallways
Flint walked down the fake dirt trail until he came to a wide clearing. Stopping, he stared up at the large country home, which gave him the creeps. The interior of the house was even worse, filled with dusty, spooky, furnishings, peeling wallpaper, and portraits of an old man that made Flint's skin crawl. “What a waste of money,” he said.
Spotting Tori standing with Haley on the front porch, Flint looked around for Mandy. Mandy was nowhere to be seen. Matt and Dave walked up. “Where's Mandy Garland?” he asked.
“Bathroom break,” Dave answered, chewing on a protein bar. “We heard some shouting.”
Flint grinned. “It seems like the leading man had a pouting fit and quit the movie.”
Matt and Dave didn't find Flint's statement amusing. “Each actor is under contract,” Matt pointed out. “Zach can't quit. The studio will sue him if he tries.”
“Oh, I know that,” Flint said. “I'm sure that spoiled brat will be back on this creepy set by tomorrow. I just liked seeing William put him in his place.”
“Those two have been fighting a lot,” Dave said. “It seems like every time we're on this set William and Zach are at each other’s throat.”
Flint nodded. Then, a question dropped into his mind like a paratrooper jumping behind enemy lines. “Dave, when did shooting for this movie begin?”
“About the same time Haley began receiving the death threats,” Dave said.
Flint rubbed his chin. “You guys go stand with Haley and send Tori over to me. And Matt, no flirting, okay?”
Dave grinned at his brother. “She's going to turn you down, I bet you your new Glock 19.”
“No way,” Matt said. “I'm warming Tori up to me right now. Later on, she'll melt like hot butter on a stove, wait and see.”
Dave rolled his eyes and walked off. Matt shrugged. After sending Tori over to Flint, they stood with Haley on the front porch like two protective brothers.
“Yeah?” Tori asked Flint.
“Any information on the missing uncle?” Flint asked.
Tori shook her head. “Flint, this guy has vanished into thin air. Of course, that's no a crime. But we both know he's probably around here someplace.”
Flint watched Haley check a burn on Dave's arm. Haley had a tenderness to her that was very special. The last thing Flint wanted to do was see Haley waste her life making stupid movies when she could working in a hospital making a difference in the lives of patients who needed her. “Zach stormed out of the building. William canceled shooting for today and sent everyone home. We might as well get Haley back to the house.”
Tori caught Matt looking at her with a silly expression. “I'm going to slap that guy.”
“Just go have dinner with him. The poor guy has it bad for you, Arnold.”
“No way,” Tori objected. “I mean, he's a nice guy, Flint but--”
“Remember when you flirted with the coroner?” Flint said, holding back a grin. “Arnold, Matt is a step up.”
“Don't remind me,” Tori said miserably.
“Look, let's focus on the case for now. When we get back to the house, I want to speak with Haley's stepmother. So far every attempt to contact this woman has failed. Today, I will get Mrs. Glenda Frost on the line or else.”
“Do you really think Haley's stepmother is related to Mandy Garland?” Tori asked.
“It's possible,” Flint said. “It's also possible that Glenda Frost married Haley's father to destroy the man. I'm still working the kinks out, but I think I'm swinging at the right ball.”
“Why?”
“Arnold,” Flint replied, “I'm still working out the kinks. Besides, we're looking at two mirrors, now, instead of one.”
“What do you mean?”
&
nbsp; “The death threats made against Haley are being written by Mandy Garland, I'm sure of that. Mandy intends to kill Haley. That snake has a hired someone to do the dirty work for her. So that's mirror one. Mirror two is this movie. The killer is someone working on this movie, someone who knows Mandy Garland.”
Tori went back to Flint's original statement. “So if Glenda Frost married Haley's dad to destroy him, and if she's related to Mandy Garland, that means Haley is being used a pawn?”
“We don't have all the answers yet. When we find the missing uncle, we'll be able to put some more of the missing pieces to the puzzle together. Until then, we have to sit tight and protect Haley. The arsenic put in the soup was real. Haley's life is in real danger, and we're not going to let anything happen to her.”
Tori looked at Haley. She was becoming fond of the young lady. “She's a sweet kid,” Tori said. “Last night she sang me a song and my goodness, what a voice.”
Flint began to speak, but William came bursting up the fake dirt path. Pale faced and breathing hard, he raised a shaky hand and pointed over his shoulder. “The... bathrooms... I... she... dead...”
“Who is dead?” Tori demanded. “Dave, Matt, get Tori down here, now!”
Flint drew out his gun. “Stay with Haley,” he ordered Tori. “William, show me.”
William swallowed. “No... way. You go alone.”
Flint shook his head and took off down the trail. Running hard, he aimed his body at the employee bathrooms located on the far right side of the set, sitting in a tight corner down a dark hallway. With his gun at the ready, he ran down the dark hallway, turned right, and hurried to the woman’s bathroom. Mandy Garland's legs were sticking out of the bathroom door. Flint slid to a stop, and after catching his breath kicked the bathroom door open with his right foot, jumped over Mandy's dead body, and conducted a security search. After finding the bathroom empty, he focused his attention on Mandy's body. The woman was lying face down. Kneeling down, Flint examined Mandy Garland's neck. It was clear that someone had strangled the sour woman to death.
Standing up, Flint began to think. The position of the body told Flint that the killer had attacked Mandy from behind, right as she was entering the bathroom. Stepping out into the hallway, Flint kneeled down. Running his hand over the hard gray floor tiles, as he stared up the dark hallway, he felt puddles of rain water on the floor.
He got back to his feet and looked toward the men's bathroom. Raising his gun, he kicked open the door, then charged into the dark room. With his left hand, Flint reached out and found a light switch. After flicking the light switch to the on position, he watched the overhead fluorescent light bulbs struggle to life. The bulbs dropped a pale, unhealthy, yellow light down onto a brown tiled floor.
Flint kept his gun at the ready and began checking the bathroom. After checking four empty stalls, he returned back out into the hallway. “Well,” he said, standing next to Mandy Garland's body, “this game has changed.”
Hearing running footsteps, Flint waited, gun in hand. Tori appeared a few seconds later. “I told you to stay with Haley,” Flint snapped.
“I know, but you're my partner,” Tori said, lowering the gun she was holding. “So Mandy Garland is dead?”
“Strangled,” Flint said. “Killer came in from the outside.”
Flint bent down and showed Tori the puddles of water on the floor. “Most likely these puddles were made from a rain jacket dripping water. When the killer began strangling Mandy Garland, she began to fight, so he had to use a lot of strength, shaking her back and forth, knocking rain water off his jacket.”
Tori closed her eyes. She imagined a dark figure walking down the dark hallway, then sneaking up behind Mandy Garland, and strangling her. She saw rainwater begin falling from the killer’s rain jacket down onto the floor. “The building is secured, though,” she said, opening her eyes. “How did the killer get in from outside?”
“Good question,” Flint said. “Did you call this in, yet?”
“I'll do it now,” Tori said. She pulled out her cell phone to ring Chief Cunningham.
As Tori spoke with Chief Cunningham, Flint stepped over Mandy Garland and went back into the women's bathroom. The bathroom held four stalls facing a long gray counter, which sat under a dirty mirror. Kneeling down, he ran his hand over the gray floor, and found it was dry.
He got back to his feet to re-examine the bathroom stalls, then turned his attention back to Mandy Garland. A black purse was lying a few feet from her hands. Flint picked up the purse, opened it, examined the contents, and then zipped the it closed. He tossed it down on the bathroom counter. “Money... bank card... all accounted for,” he whispered. “Mandy Garland was killed because she knew something.”
“Flint!” Tori yelled from the hallway.
Flint charged out. Tori was standing with her back pressed up against the hallway wall, pointing her gun at the men's bathroom door.
“What?” Flint asked.
“The door began to open. I heard it,” Tori said in a scared voice. “I saw a hand with a black glove.”
Flint wasted no time. He kicked the bathroom door open. Preparing to defend himself against a killer, he moved into the bathroom. As he did he saw a foot disappear into the ceiling. “He's in the ceiling,” Flint yelled, spotting two water-logged ceiling tiles moved out of place over the last stall. Raising his gun, he fired off three shots. “I'm going up, Arnold!”
Tori ran into the bathroom. She saw Flint move to the end stall, kick the stall door open, climb up onto the toilet, and begin hoisting his body up through the open tiles. “I'm right behind you!” she yelled.
Raising his head up into absolute darkness that smelled like molding wood, Flint looked to his left and then to his right. Only darkness greeted him. And then, a few seconds later, he heard a creaking sound in the distance. A wet, square, light appeared. Squinting his eyes, he saw the killer crawl through a medium sized rusted vent and vanish out into the rain. “He's outside!”
Tori moved back as Flint dropped down from the ceiling. He dashed out of the bathroom and back up the dark hallway to the exit door, with Tori following him. Bursting out into the rain, Flint picked up his pace. He sprinted down the left the side of the building, with his eyes upward. When he spotted the vent the killer had removed, he stopped. Throwing his eyes around, he searched the studio lot for any sign of movement. “Too many buildings... too many places to hide!” he growled and kicked the wet pavement under his feet.
Standing in the pouring rain next to Flint, Tori looked around at the other buildings lining the lot. Lowering her gun, she knew the killer had escaped. “Come on, partner,” she said, “let's get back inside.”
“Why did the killer come back?” Flint asked. straining his eyes through the rain. “Unless he forgot something or realized something important.”
“Maybe my imagination ran away from me, but for a moment... I thought I was in that creepy house... and someone was coming to kill me,” Tori admitted, feeling a cold shiver run down her spine. “I think I've had enough of this movie set, Flint. I just got a dose of real life and that's enough for me.”
“Come on,” Flint said. Walking back inside, he journeyed back to the bathrooms. Easing his way back into the woman’s bathroom, he noticed Mandy Garland's purse was missing. “Arnold, the killer isn't working alone.”
Tori looked down at Mandy Garland's body. “I'll be with Haley,” she said and walked away.
Flint stayed behind. And then an idea struck his mind. He went back outside and made his way back down the outside wall, until he came to the vent. It was far too high for anyone to climb up. The killer had to have come inside through some entry door. But, Flint thought, the killer knew exactly how to escape. “The killer knows the layout of this building,” Flint whispered.
After returning back to the set, Flint pulled William aside. “When did you find Mandy Garland lying dead?” he demanded.
William answered Flint's question in a shaky voice.
“She was lying there, face down. I thought maybe, you know... she passed out or something.”
“Did you see anybody?”
“When I walked down the hallway, I heard the door to the men's bathroom close,” William said. “I didn't kill that old bat, detective. Listen, when you drink as much coffee as I do, you make numerous trips to the bathroom, you know. I swear I was just going to the bathroom.”
Flint looked over his shoulder. Haley was standing between Dave and Matt. Both men had their guns drawn. Tori was standing in front of Haley with her own gun still at the ready.
“Whoever killed Mandy Garland knows the layout of this building,” Flint said. “Also, whoever killed Mandy Garland is in great shape. Tori,” he yelled, “we need to find a rat named Zach. Call security and see if that boy has left the studio or if he's still around.”
“Why would Zach kill Mandy Garland?” William asked, trying to calm his nerves.
“I'm not saying he did,” Flint replied, putting his gun away. “I am saying that the killer knows the layout of this building.” Flint didn't mention that while he and Tori were chasing the killer, a second person had slithered down the dark hallway and snatched Mandy Garland's purse.
Later, when Chief Cunningham arrived, Flint pulled him to the side. “Chief,” he said, holding a brown paper cup full of coffee, “Arnold and I can't locate Haley's uncle. We also can't get her stepmother to answer our calls. I need to you to find out the whereabouts of Glenda Frost for us.”
“I'll give Haley's father a call,” Chief Cunningham said, staring at the creepy house.
“I know,” Flint said. “That house is enough to give anyone the creeps.”
“It's difficult for me to believe that Ned could be involved in this,” Chief Cunningham said. “He was a good cop, Flint.”
“Sometimes a good cop becomes what they hate most,” Flint pointed out. Taking a sip of his coffee, he let his eyes fall on the house. The house was designed and built to relay a story filled with nightmares and horror. “I see enough of those things in real life,” Flint said, then walked away.
Detective Flint Box Set: A Detective Story Box Set Books 1-3 Page 19
