If uttering Roxanne Rafferty’s name out loud came as a surprise to Helen, she didn’t show it. Her composure remained the same, her tired eyes not registering any sudden movement that would give away her innermost thoughts. She twisted her cane back and forth with the palm of her hand and stared straight ahead, choosing her next words carefully. “Why are you asking about Roxy—is it because of the movie? No one knows where she—”
“I know all of that already.”
“What exactly do you think you know?” Helen snapped.
“Roxanne went missing after attending a party at the manor. She was never seen again.”
“Is that why you’re so curious—because of the scandalous history behind her disappearance? You’re wasting your time. That was ages ago.”
“I’m interested in a lot of things.”
“Such as?”
“How you knew her.”
“From the movie set, of course. There’s no reason to hide it, so I won’t.”
“Did she attend many of my grandparents’ parties?”
“I don’t remember seeing Roxanne at more than one or two. She wasn’t a staple like some of the others.”
“What about the night she went missing—did you see her then?”
Helen shook her head. “I had an audition in California.”
“For what?”
“A role I never got.”
“What was the name of the movie?”
“Why do I get the feeling I’m being interrogated?”
“I’m just asking a few simple questions.”
Helen squirmed in her seat. “I get the feeling it’s a lot more than that. You’re meddling into something you shouldn’t.
“I read in the newspaper that my grandfather went missing that same night. Were they having an affair?”
“Norman and Roxy—how would I know?”
“You were their neighbor,” Addison stated. “I’m sure you heard things.”
“I wasn’t here that night. I already told you.”
“Did you know Roxanne well?”
“Not really. We talked a few times on set or when we saw one another at social gatherings.”
“Who else was at that party the night she went missing?”
“I don’t know. I never asked. Now—as I said before, I have an appointment to get to.” Helen stood and called for the help. He came quickly, as though he’d been standing in the next room, listening and waiting.
Addison sighed, her hope of learning something useful from Helen drifting away like an inflatable raft tossed around an unruly ocean. She was about to leave—disappointed at having gotten only meager explanations to her queries when one last question entered her mind. She pivoted on her heel. “Do you remember the names of the detectives who worked on the case?”
“How could I forget? They hounded me and everyone else I knew that first year.”
“Why?”
“The public demanded answers, and they thought if they kept interviewing us, eventually someone would change their story.”
“I’d like the names of the detectives.”
“Dobbs and Houston. Why do you want them so badly? What’s your motivation in all of this?”
Addison’s stomach lurched. She crossed her arms in front of her and looked Helen in the eye, amazed at how hard it was to speak the simple truth. “I…I believe Roxanne was murdered.”
Helen’s gasp resonated throughout every corner of the valley. She smacked her cane down on the tile floor with both hands and stood firmly behind it. “Now wait just a minute! Why would you say something like that?”
“I’m not the only one to suspect foul play.”
“But there isn’t any proof.”
“I’m entitled to my own opinion. I don’t need any proof for that.”
Helen fell silent and remained that way for over several seconds. “I shouldn’t be telling you this, but I don’t see what harm it will do now. There was a rumor going around the time of Roxanne’s disappearance.”
Addison stifled a smile—finally she was getting somewhere. “What was it?”
“Supposedly your grandfather and Roxanne were having an affair. For how long, I never knew. Someone found out about it and told the producer of the movie he was working on.”
“But you just said you didn’t know if they were having an affair,” Addison said.
“I also said I needed to leave, and since you’re standing in my way, I’ve decided that since you want the truth so badly, why not give it to you? You seem to think you can take it.”
“Go on.”
“If the affair turned out to be true, and I never knew if it was, it would have been a big deal at the time because the producer accused your grandfather of convincing the studio he worked for to hire Roxanne for roles in movies that should have gone to other actresses. Something like that could have ruined his career.”
“And you believe that’s why he left?”
“I believe it’s why they both left. In my opinion, she went first and he followed once a little time had passed. You asked me if I knew why your grandmother left the manor. I don’t. But I imagine living there after finding out everyone in Hollywood suspected her husband of messing around behind her back would have been enough to break any woman.”