Teddy had parked his car a block away out of habit. He hurried to it, climbed in, and started the motor.
In his rearview mirror he could see the red and blue lights flashing as he pulled away.
9
Early the next morning Teddy was awakened by a banging on the front door. He rolled over in bed and checked the security system. It was the police.
Teddy pushed the intercom and said, “Just a minute.” He pulled on a bathrobe and stumbled downstairs.
Teddy opened the front door and said, “Did you find out anything?”
That took the officer aback. “Find out anything?”
“About the break-in.”
“Only in a manner of speaking. The man who attempted the break-in was found dead in his apartment last night.”
“Are you kidding me?”
“No, sir, that’s a fact.”
“So, you don’t know why this guy targeted my house, and now we’ll never find out?”
“That the least of our problems. We have a murder on our hands.”
“That’s got nothing to do with me.”
“Well, sir, you do top the list of people who might want the victim dead.”
Teddy groaned. “That doesn’t even make any sense. The guy tried to rob me so I killed him? I certainly hope you have a better theory than that.”
“We’re just running down leads.” The officer turned and pointed. “That is your Porsche Speedster parked over there, isn’t it?”
“What about it?”
“The police responded to a call last night of a man breaking into the downstairs door of the building where the victim lived.”
“Well, I hope they had more luck investigating that break-in than they did mine.”
“A car matching the description of yours was seen parked in the neighborhood about the time the police got the call.”
“Did they get the plate number?”
“I’m not at liberty to say.”
“You are, actually. You just don’t have it because they didn’t get it. This is Hollywood. You know how many vintage cars there are in this town? Maybe it’s an affectation, but I don’t care. I’m not out to impress anybody. I happen to like the car.”
“Where were you at the time of the crime?”
“Well, I don’t know when the crime was committed. What time are we talking about, Officer?”
“Around eleven last night.”
10
Mason Kimble and Gerard Cardigan clinked brandy snifters.
“There’s nothing like a good action movie,” Mason said.
“I’ll say,” Gerard said.
They were watching Tessa Bacchetti’s sex tape. They never got tired of watching it. Mason had frozen it on the money shot in order to fill the brandy snifters. He took a sip and leaned back in his chair.
“You can sort of tell she doesn’t know,” Gerard said.
“Oh? How?”
“It’s subtle, but it’s there.”
“In other words, you don’t know.”
“I don’t know, and neither does she. That’s the whole thing.”
“What’s the whole thing?”
“You can tell he knows,” Gerard said. “That’s how you can tell she doesn’t. He’s self-conscious and looks toward the camera, and she’s uninhibited and never gives it a glance. The contrast, you see?”
Mason laughed. “Are you really finding subtext in a home sex tape?”
“No, but if we had to release this—”
“We’re not.”
“No, we’re not,” Gerard agreed. “But if we have to show it to her husband . . .” He smiled and shrugged.
“We’re not doing that either.”
“Worst-case scenario. We don’t want him to think she didn’t know she was being filmed. We can edit it to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
“How so?”
“Take out the part that makes it look like Nigel knew he was filming.”
Mason saluted him with his snifter. “Good point.”
Mason and Gerard were very much alike. With short haircuts, button-down collars, and bespoke suits, they looked like a couple of Ivy League frat boys, which they actually were at Princeton, before their mutual love for hazing fraternity pledges got a little out of hand. One freshman had three broken fingers. Another nearly suffocated in a junked refrigerator. They barely escaped expulsion. Mason sublimated his urges into film, Gerard into bisecting lab animals.
The boys still tended to dress alike. The only real difference was while Mason’s white shirts had button cuffs, Gerard’s had silver-studded cuff links.
“How’s it coming with the stockholders?” Mason asked.
“The old lady’s going to sell. At least I think she will. She’s afraid I’m going to kill her cat.”
“How did she get that impression?”
Gerard’s smile was angelic. “I have no idea.”
“So they’re all falling into place.”
“We have a problem with Miss Morgan.”
“Oh?”
“She’s a retired actress and sees the stock as her last connection to the movie business.”
“What will it take to change her mind?”
“Nothing, I’m afraid. Her son’s another story. He’s a cokehead and needs the money. He’d sell it in a heartbeat.”
“Too bad he doesn’t own the stock.”
Gerard leaned back in his chair, cocked his head, and smiled. “Isn’t it?”
11
Teddy changed into his Billy Barnett attire and dropped in on the Centurion Studios accountant. Kenny was, as usual, sitting at his desk with his nose buried deep in a ledger. Teddy waited for him to emerge. He didn’t.
“Hi, Kenny. How’s it going?”
He looked up then, startled. “Billy. I thought you were on vacation.” In order for Teddy to act in Peter’s new film as stuntman Mark Weldon, Billy Barnett had officially taken a long vacation.
“I am. Just thought I’d check in.”