Chapter 15
Poppy had been so shaken and unsettled by her stumbling upon the lifeless body of Danika Delgado sprawled out with a pillow over her face that she had nearly fainted dead on the spot. Matt swooped in to catch her and half escorted, half carried her out of the trailer while Greta Van Damm, who was quickly called to the scene by Timothy the production assistant, took charge and called 911.
Matt gently led Poppy over to a nearby director’s chair and had her sit down. She took deep breaths, trying to calm herself. This was highly unusual for her to react in such a dramatic way. After all, this was not the first time she had seen a dead body let alone a crime scene in the time since opening the Desert Flowers Detective Agency. But it was the strong sense of déjà vu that was overwhelming her, and Matt quickly picked up on it.
“What is it, Poppy? What has you so spooked?” Matt asked, clasping her hand, trying to offer her some comfort.
Poppy shook her head. “I’d rather not talk about it.”
“But—”
“Please, Matt. Not now.”
Her tone was firm and Matt relented and asked no further questions. Poppy knew she would have to explain everything at some point, but was not emotionally prepared to do so just yet.
Remarkably, the police arrived within twenty minutes followed closely by the county forensics team. The set was swarming with law enforcement, and Poppy recognized the head honcho running the entire show immediately. Detective Lamar Jordan, primary detective with the Riverside County Central Homicide Unit. He was tall, handsome, African American, outspoken and charismatic. Poppy had met him on a number of occasions, and although she could not claim that the detective was outwardly hostile toward her, he certainly did not appreciate her recurrent presence at the crime scenes he was called in to investigate.
Poppy watched with a sense of dread as Detective Jordan questioned Timothy about who it was who discovered the body. Timothy turned, pointing in Poppy’s direction. When Jordan’s eyes fell upon her, he audibly groaned. He then shook his head and sternly marched over to where Poppy was sitting with Matt.
“Hello, Detective Jordan,” Poppy said tentatively.
“Poppy Harmon,” Lamar said, rolling his eyes. “Of course you’re here.”
“It’s always nice to see you,” Poppy said. “I wish just once it would not be under such tragic circumstances.”
“Me too, believe me,” he said, stone-faced. “Now, would you mind telling me what you’re doing here?”
Matt, who didn’t appreciate Jordan’s dismissive attitude toward Poppy, interjected, “Poppy is playing a role in the movie they’re shooting.”
Jordan turned his head toward Poppy and arched an eyebrow. “You’re acting again?”
“Yes,” Matt answered for her. “We’re both in it.”
Jordan chuckled derisively. “Matt Flowers. The Hercule Poirot of the Coachella Valley. My wife reads of your exciting exploits in the Desert Sun. I think she may even have a little crush on you.”
Matt could not help but crack a smile, flattered.
“So you’re strictly actors and not here in any official capacity as private investigators?”
They both hesitated before Poppy answered, “No, that’s not exactly true. Danika Delgado hired us to find a stalker who has been harassing her.”
“I suspected as much,” Jordan said, sighing.
“His name is Byron Savage,” Poppy continued. “And we have found a home address in Desert Hot Springs. You really should look into him because he has crashed the set before and—”
Jordan cut her off. “Yes, I know. And according to the crew we’ve already talked to, security has been tightened considerably since then. The guard swears no one outside of the cast and crew working today has been anywhere near the victim. We’ll check it out, but it’s unlikely this stalker is actually responsible for murdering Ms. Delgado.”
A chill ran through Poppy’s body.
Jordan noticed Poppy slightly trembling. “Are you okay, Ms. Harmon?”
“Yes,” Poppy whispered, obviously disturbed.
“Something you want to tell me?” Jordan asked.
Poppy raised her eyes to meet his and said firmly, “No.”
She needed to process what was now racing through her mind before she could seriously consider discussing it with anyone, even the detective looking into Danika’s murder.
“All right then, that’s all for now, but you can bet I’ll be in touch with more questions,” Jordan said firmly.
“And we will certainly be available at any time to answer them, Detective Jordan,” Poppy said, forcing a smile.
Jordan shook his head one more time and walked away.
“Not our biggest fan,” Matt remarked.
“He just doesn’t like us sticking our noses into police business, making his job harder.”
“But maybe if we all try working together . . .”
“Detective Jordan doesn’t strike me as a team player.”
Matt sighed. “I somehow feel this is all my fault.”
Poppy sprang to her feet. “Matt, no . . .”
“I should have stuck by her side, even after she fired us, and then maybe this would never have happened.”
“You heard the detective. The set was locked down. We thought she was safe,” Poppy insisted.
“But she wasn’t. And that’s on me.”
“I will not allow you take the blame for this, Matt, but if it makes you feel any better, we can push forward and try to find out who—”
“There you are!” Hal Greenwood bellowed as he hustled his hefty frame toward them with Greta chasing after him. “I just heard you two are not really actors!”
“Well, I have a People’s Choice Award that would help argue that point,” Poppy balked.
Hal turned to Matt. “I thought you were a security guard, not a private detective!” Hal bellowed.
“Danika hired them,” Greta calmly explained. “To find her stalker.”
“So Danika was paying them?” Hal growled.
Greta hesitated. “Not exactly. There was a clause in her contract for added security, if necessary, and so—”
“I’m bankrolling these two clowns? Well, okay, if they work for me, then I can fire them!” Hal yelled at Greta before turning back to Poppy and Matt. “You’re fired!”
“Twice in one day,” Matt said under his breath.
Greta quietly said, “Hal, they still have contracts as actors—”
“It doesn’t matter! I’m shutting down production until this whole ugly mess is figured out. If and when we start up again, it will be with an entirely new cast!”
And then Hal angrily waddled off, his face as red as a ripe tomato, followed on his heels by his loyal lieutenant, Greta.
Poppy and Matt exchanged resigned looks. Poppy’s comeback and Matt’s big break were both now officially kaput.