Behind the Seams

by Betty Hechtman

  The counter was manned by a young woman dressed the way Nell did, and it seemed a safe bet she was a production assistant. She didn’t seem happy to see us. Who could blame her? We looked like trouble.

  It had been no problem to get a pass into the studio. Mason’s connections made that a breeze. All the way over, we’d gone over our story. Mason kept grinning and saying how much fun this was. He’d dressed in his work clothes: a beautifully tailored suit in midnight blue, a creamy white dress shirt and subdued silk tie that probably cost a fortune. Mason had thought out our style of dress. Thanks to dealing with defendants, juries and judges, he knew how clothes altered an impression.

  “Think about it, Sunshine, a defendant with a few teeth missing, dressed in baggy jeans and an old tee shirt versus the same guy with a full smile, wearing a suit and tie,” Mason had said. “Our suits give off an air of authority. Watch, nobody will question we are who we say we are.” Now, I saw that he was right.

  “What am I going to do with you, Sally?” Mason bellowed. “The client insisted that he was told the package never arrived. And now you’re admitting that you never really followed through.” He slammed his fist on the counter in supposed anger. Both the girl and I jumped. Then he continued to berate me. I began to slump as if the weight of his words were pushing me down. I stole a glance at the girl behind the counter. She gave Mason a dirty look, and when she glanced toward me, her expression said she felt sympathetic.

  “Can I do something to help?” she said. I looked up at her as if she’d just thrown me a life preserver in the middle of the ocean. Mason had coached me on how to react. I stepped closer and dropped my voice, giving the impression she and I were now a team and he was the enemy.

  “Look, I just need to prove to my boss that a package arrived here. Otherwise he’s going to fire me.”

  She gave Mason another dirty look. “How’d you send it? Messenger or mail?” She held up the clipboard that I knew listed the things delivered by messenger. A little uh-oh went off in my head. We hadn’t considered this. I struggled to think of what to say, but my cohort didn’t hesitate. He took the clipboard from her hand and fluttered through the pages for a moment, then dropped it on the counter.

  “It’s not on here.” Then he looked skyward as if this Sally was just too incompetent for words. “Don’t tell me you mailed it.”

  Mason was doing too well at being obnoxious, and I wondered if there was a whole side of him I’d missed. But then he caught my eye and winked. I remembered that among Mason’s other talents, he could speed-read. I picked up on his cue.

  “You said you were trying to cut expenses,” I said in my wailing voice. For a second I thought Mason was going to lose it. His mouth had started to quiver and slide into a grin, but he forced back the grim expression.

  The girl leaned across the counter and whispered to me, “You can check the log in the mailroom.”

  I threw her a grateful nod and she took me back into the inner sanctum. Mason, still in character, gave off an impatient snort and started to cycle through the messages on his BlackBerry.

  I recognized the corridor that led through the offices from my previous trip. Most of the doors were closed and it was very quiet. Talia’s office still had the temporary sign. The large room the production assistants worked out of was almost empty. There was just one person off in the corner working on something. Just beyond was the mailroom. I felt my heart beating faster as we went inside. She handed over a clipboard with a stack of papers attached. I knew the window of time I was looking for and went right to those sheets.

  My eye moved down the first page and found nothing. Ditto for the next couple. Then saw Robyn’s name on the following sheet. But when I looked at who sent it, it listed Crown Apothecary. Not exactly what I’d been hoping for. I was about to thank her and leave when I noticed there was a p next to it. Maybe it meant something helpful, as in the package came from someone named Paul.

  I didn’t want the girl to see the entry I was looking at, afraid it might stir things up if she realized it was connected to Robyn, who had been murdered. I scanned the list quickly and found something with a blank in the spot for return address and a p next to it. I pointed to it enthusiastically and said that must be the package I’d sent. Then I asked what the p meant.

  “The p means it was marked personal. No wonder they didn’t confirm they’d got it from you.” She pointed to the asterisk in the blank spot for a return address. “The asterisk means there was no return address,” she scolded. “Did you at least include a card?”

  I shook my head and the girl gave me a disparaging shrug. But her mention of a card made me wonder. Would a murderer have put a card in the package? Maybe some little clever message like, Hope you enjoy this sweetener; it’s to die for. Or what if the store had included some kind of packing slip that listed the sender. Would Robyn have even kept it? I decided it was worth a shot. I thanked the girl for all her trouble and said it was all my fault. I glanced toward the way we’d come and said something about being anxious about facing my boss.

  “Could I use the restroom?” I asked, and she nodded with understanding. Who wouldn’t want to stall a little before having to tell their angry boss about their carelessness. She pointed me down the hall and quickly headed back to her station.

  Maybe Mason’s ability to think on his feet was catching. The lack of a person’s name on the return address was devastating, but then I’d gotten a ray of hope when she’d brought up the idea of a card. And maybe a card or packing slip was in the box of Robyn’s stuff I’d seen in the office. I was hoping that Talia hadn’t been too efficient about getting it out of her office. As soon as I heard the door to the lobby click shut, I turned away from the restroom and hurried down the corridor. Talia’s office door was unlocked. I slipped inside quickly and turned on the light. The box was still there.

  My breath was choppy and my heart was jumping in my chest. I had to hurry. I fumbled through the carton and started taking things out. If there was a card or sheet of paper, it would most likely have fallen to the bottom. I glanced at the photo of Robyn and the hole and set it on the desk with the other stuff. It was just the usual hairbrush kind of stuff. One thing did surprise me. A small crocheted cactus complete with a crocheted terra-cotta-colored pot was stuck in the bottom. I looked it over and was impressed by how nicely done it was. On the bottom, there were two initials done in surface crochet. I couldn’t quite make them out because they were so small, but the first one definitely wasn’t an r.

  I snapped back to reality and realized I was wasting time and began to feel around the bottom. A stray paper clip got under my nail and poked me. I pulled out my hand and was examining it for damage when I heard voices. I quickly put everything back as it had been.

  It sounded like a woman and man, and the voices were getting louder. Then I heard the man say, “Talia.” Oops, I was in trouble. I looked around the small office frantically. There was no closest, only a tall narrow metal cabinet, which looked like it served as one. I doused the lights, pulled open the cabinet door and got in, grateful for small favors. Half of the cabinet had no shelves and I was able to stand upright in it.

  I pulled the door shut just in time as I heard them come in. The couple moved their conversation into the small room.

  “Robyn promised me an advance on a big story,” the man said. “You took over for her. Any idea what the story is?”

  “Whatever it was, she never told me. But she did have something up her sleeve. I had to connect the dots myself, though. It seemed like she’d figured out a way to shake things up. Some big surprise that would show a whole other side of Barbara and push the ratings up during sweeps,” Talia said. “It doesn’t matter. I’m in charge now. And don’t worry, I’ll give you any hot info I get.”

  I hoped after that they’d leave, but instead, they seemed to settle in. The cabinet was hot and stuffy and I had the horrible feeling I was going to run out of air. I was really in trouble now.

&nb
sp; CHAPTER 12

  MASON AND I KEPT UP OUR DEMEANOR AS ANGRY boss and errant employee until we drove through the studio gate and were back on the street. Then we both began to laugh so hard Mason had to pull over and park.

  “You were so convincing as the mean boss,” I said. “That girl really felt sorry for me.” I wiped a tear of laughter off my cheek.

  “You have to be dramatic when you’re in front of jury and need to stir their emotions,” he said. “Besides, it would have been a little hard to explain if you’d gotten caught in the closet.”

  I leaned back in the seat, realizing a lot of the laugher was release from the buildup of tension. “Thank heavens for my BlackBerry,” I said.

  “And thank heavens that you thought to use it,” Mason said with a grin. I seemed to be having an endless battle with the smart phone, and for once I had come out the winner. As I was getting close to panic at the idea of running out of air, I had remembered my BlackBerry in my pocket. It was hard to type on the tiny keyboard in the dark, but I’d managed to send Mason an e-mail with enough misspelled information for him to figure out my situation.

  “Ah, but you deserve the credit for knowing what to do with the information,” I said.

  “It was all improv, Sunshine,” he said as he began to recount what he’d done when he saw my e-mail.

  “That poor girl behind he counter,” Mason said. “You should have seen her jump when I started bellowing that Sally was taking too long and I barged through the door to the office area. She came running after me, telling me I couldn’t go in the ladies’ restroom and said she’d check on Sally.”

  “I heard you charge into Talia’s office, saying you were looking for your assistant,” I said, picking up the story.

  “Luckily I made such a ruckus, I caught Talia and the guy with her off guard and they didn’t have time to think. Before any of them knew what was going on, I’d herded them together with the girl from the reception counter, all the while ranting on about my terrible assistant and how I was going to fire her as soon as I found her.”

  “That’s when I opened the door a sliver.”

  Mason nodded. “I saw you, which is why I upped my rant. I don’t even think they realized I had moved them so their backs were facing the cabinet. I hoped you would figure out my plan.”

  “Great minds think alike,” I joked. It had come to me in a flash, he’d positioned them so I could slip out behind them and get into the corridor. “And when I got in the hall, it looked like I was coming from the restroom.”

  “I must have sounded like a lunatic,” Mason said. “But I had to get you out of there quickly before they got a good look at you.”

  “You were more like a whirlwind,” I said. “You just flew out of the office, yelling at poor Sally that it was about time. I wonder what they thought when you grabbed my hand and we started running toward the lobby?” We hadn’t stopped until we got to his car.

  “Probably good riddance, Sunshine. We make a good team,” Mason said as he put the car in gear and pulled away from the curb now that our giggles were spent. “I don’t know about you, but I need a coffee after that. Maybe even one of your famous red-eyes.” He drove to someplace called The Coffee Shack and parked.

  “I’m afraid the production assistant lost her sympathy for me,” I said as we took our coffees to a small table by the window. “But luckily Talia didn’t recognize me, thanks to you.” I took a sip of my red-eye and was surprised at the red stain on the cup. At first I thought it was blood, but then remembered my red lipstick.

  Mason set down his cup. “I have lots of experience of hustling clients past the news media so that no one sees their face. I just had to be a little more creative this time.”

  It was only then that it registered who Talia’s companion had been. Pierce Sheraton.

  “What was she doing with the entertainment reporter?” I said.

  “They seemed pretty cozy. Maybe they’re a couple,” Mason offered. He drank down his coffee and made a face. “I don’t know how you drink these. The espresso makes it a little too coffeeish for me.”

  “There’s only one problem with our adventure,” I said. “It was all for nothing. I found the package listed, but the return address was just some store.”

  “I don’t care,” he said. “I haven’t had so much fun in a long time.”

  His mention of time made me think of the real time, and I shrieked when I looked at my watch. “I have to get to work. Mrs. Shedd wasn’t happy about me missing this morning.”

  “But it’s Saturday,” Mason said.

  “And just another day at the bookstore.”

  Mason thanked me again for our playdate when he dropped me in front of Shedd & Royal. With all our giggles, we’d forgotten that my car was still parked near the corner where Mason had picked me up.

  I got a few strange looks as I walked in because of my clothes. I never wore skirts to work, let alone a Chanel-like suit. The red lipstick was now long gone, left on the coffee cup, and my low ponytail was undone. I’d pulled off the scrunchy in the car.

  I dropped off my purse in my cubby and was glad I’d left a pair of plastic flats there. My feet said a big thank you as I went back into the store.

  “Hey, Pink,” Adele called as she stepped out of the children’s area. “The Hookers are getting together in the back. Something about CeeCee’s niece.” My coworker stopped talking and looked me over. “Are you going for a kind of new look?”

  Adele mumbled something about how my jacket would look a lot better if I added some crochet trim, and then she marched toward the yarn area of the store.

  Mrs. Shedd was relieved to see me. I told her I was just going to check on the yarn department and then I’d handle the information desk.

  Was there ever a time that some of the Hookers weren’t at the table? I could understand Rhoda and Elise practically living there. It was a way for them to get out of their houses, but I was surprised that lately CeeCee always seemed to be there, too. Then I got it. She was looking for moral support in handling her niece.

  The whole table looked up when I approached. If they were trying to hide it, they all failed. I have never been so aware of being looked over. “If you’re after a new look, you might want to contact my stylist,” CeeCee said.

  “Lose the suit,” Rhoda said in her usual straight-on manner. Elise tried to be diplomatic and said I looked good in a skirt. Adele repeated her advice about adding crochet trim.

  “Why are you wearing a suit?” Dinah asked. There was hurt in her voice. I hadn’t had a chance to tell her about the plan and I knew she felt out of the loop. Nell came back from the café carrying drinks. She set them down and slumped in her seat, though when I started to talk about where I’d been, she sat upright.

  I mentioned what Talia had said about Robyn having some secret plans for the show. “Do you know anything about that?” I asked.

  “Are you kidding? Robyn barely talked to me, let alone told me about her plans. All I know is she seemed to work twenty-four, seven. Everyone said she was set on getting ahead. I heard that both she and Talia were up for the segment producer job, and who knows what Robyn did to get it.” Nell stopped and reflected for a moment. “I guess it doesn’t matter anymore; Talia ended up with the job after all.”

  I brought up the photo of Robyn with the piece cutout again. Nell started to dismiss it, then said she vaguely remembered looking at it on Robyn’s desk. “It was whole then. The other person must have seemed like a boyfriend, because I remember wondering how she had time for one.

  “What about the return address? Did you find out who sent the package?” Nell asked expectantly.

  “It’s not exactly good news,” I said. I mentioned finding the listing on the log, but the return address was a store—the Crown Apothecary. When I explained exactly how I’d gotten the information and had to escape the cabinet, there were a few gasps. Dinah looked upset when she realized Mason had been my wingman.

  Nell popped out
of her chair. “Well, let’s go to that store now. We have to do something to find the real killer.” Nell’s eyes grew watery. “If that police detective starts questioning me again, I don’t know what I’ll do.”

  I tried to distract her by mentioning seeing the entertainment reporter with Talia. “Do you think there’s any connection—”

  “I’ll tell you what the connection is,” CeeCee interrupted. “I’ve been thinking about the whole situation, dear, and I think it is all about me. Think about it: That woman was killed while I was doing the show. An appearance where the Oscar buzz about my performance was mentioned. The suspect turns out to be my niece. And that entertainment host shows up outside the bookstore. I’ve had paparazzi snapping a photo when I come out a restaurant, but not someone with a video camera looking for me. I think somebody is trying to frame Nell to get at me. Somebody who hopes this will leave people with a bad taste about me, and when it comes nomination time . . .” Her voice trailed off, but we all got her drift.

  I shook my head with disbelief. I knew CeeCee was used to the idea that the universe revolved around her career, but this was too much even for her. “So you think this was all about someone trying to discredit you so you won’t get an award nomination?”

  “It’s a cutthroat business. You’d be amazed what people will do to try to get ahead.” CeeCee’s voice had a musical quality, and even though the meaning was tough, it came out sounding bubbly like something in a sitcom.

  Nell ignored her aunt’s comment and repeated that we should go to the Crown Apothecary right away. I had to remind her that I worked at the bookstore and had already missed the morning trying to get her off the hook. Finally, we arranged to go when I was entitled to take a break. It would give me a chance to pick up my car as well.

  “I’m coming, too,” Dinah said. “I’m taking back my position as sidekick.”

  Several hours later, the three of us headed to Encino. The Crown Apothecary was in a bank of old stores near Encino park. I’d passed it before and been curious about the name and the fact the sign gave the impression of an old-time drugstore.