Kate found Bonnie standing in the middle of her bedroom, sobbing, her cake-smeared arms extended.
“Let’s clean you up.” She led Bonnie across the hall to a bathroom, washed her arms in the sink, then handed her a towel and brought her back to the bedroom. She unzipped Bonnie’s dress and helped her out of it. “Your slip is clean. You just need a new dress.”
Bonnie drew a shuddering breath. “Did Aurelio leave?”
“Yes.”
“Then I’m not going back down there.”
“Yes, you are,” Mrs. Fairchild said, entering the room. “Thank you, Kate,” she said in polite dismissal.
Kate picked up the dirty dress and crossed the hall to the bathroom.
“Stop crying. You’ll ruin your makeup. All those people are here to see you.”
“No, they’re not. They don’t even know I exist.”
Kate tossed the dress in the tub.
“And whose fault is that? You’ve been giggling with that boy all night, when you should be working on Tad. He’s the one who can get you somewhere.”
Kate paused in the dark bathroom, behind the half-closed door.
“I don’t care about Tad. I love Aurelio.”
“No, you don’t. You’re just smitten by a handsome face.”
“He’s sweet and funny and makes me laugh.” Through the crack near the hinges, Kate could see Bonnie sitting at the edge of the bed in her slip. “He works harder than anyone, but Tad’s always mean to him and tells him to work harder. It isn’t fair.” Bonnie sniffed. “Tad’s just jealous because I’m not hanging on his every word anymore, telling him how great he is.”
“Well, you should be. He’s one of the most powerful people in Hollywood—or will be someday.” Mrs. Fairchild handed her a handkerchief. “We’ve talked about this.”
“I tried.” Bonnie wiped her nose. “But he doesn’t like me like that. He did at first, but now he’s tired of me.”
“You’re a pretty girl. You can make him interested again.”
“I don’t want to. I love Aurelio.”
Mrs. Fairchild moved out of view. “A silly crush that will end in a week. Meanwhile, Tad will find some other girl to put in his movies.” Her voice became distant, as if she’d entered a closet. “That’s the problem with growing up as you have. You don’t appreciate what you have—this house, the private singing lessons, the social connections. I would have given anything for that when I was your age.”
Bonnie looked toward the voice. “I do appreciate it.”
“I was hungry every day as a child. Horrible basement apartment with screams outside my window. I slept with a knife under my pillow. I came to Hollywood with nothing but ten dollars and a pretty face. I spent the money on a nice dress, which meant I didn’t eat for two days, but that dress got me a job singing in a bar, and a year later, I was headlining at the best nightclub in town, where I met your father.” Mrs. Fairchild reappeared with a lavender dress in her arms. “I didn’t accomplish that by chasing every handsome face that walked by. Learning which men are worth your time is an important skill for a woman, and you’re old enough to learn it.”
“You told me you worked hard so I don’t have to.”
“Well, I can’t hold the interest of men like Clive Falcon forever. You’ll have to fend for yourself soon.” She looked down at Bonnie’s upturned face, and her tone softened. “Life is a series of choices, and I want you to make the right ones.”
Bonnie sniffed. “Aurelio is a good choice.”
“I know it seems that way now.” Mrs. Fairchild paused, holding the lavender dress against her waist. “There’s a man downstairs, right now, that I almost married.”
Bonnie blinked, surprised.
“Not a very nice man, but he owned the club where I sang, and I was terribly impressed. Then your father started coming into the club and sent me flowers every day, and I realized there were better men in the world. Whenever I see that man, I shudder to think how close I came to settling for him.” She wiped a finger over Bonnie’s damp cheek. “Don’t settle, darling. A woman is only as important as her husband.”
“I’m only sixteen.”
Her mother laughed softly. “Yes, darling, but it’s time to practice.” She laid out the dress on the bed. “Freshen up your makeup, and then find Tad downstairs and remind him how irresistible you are.” She kissed Bonnie’s forehead and left the room.
Kate waited for her to descend the staircase before leaving the bathroom. She took a few steps toward the stairs … then stopped and returned to Bonnie’s room.
Bonnie didn’t seem surprised when she entered. “You heard all that, didn’t you?”
“Yes. I’m sorry.”
“I’m glad. She talks that way all the time, and I hate it.”
Kate sat beside her at the side of the bed. “It isn’t true what she said about only being as important as your husband. Maybe that’s the kind of importance she wants, but not me.”
Bonnie seemed to relax. “That’s why I like you, Kate. You don’t care about stuff like that. You say what you want, and Tad respects you.”
“You deserve respect too, Bonnie. Don’t let him call you bunny rabbit. You’re not his pet. You’re extremely talented. That’s why producers will want you in their movies, not because you flirt with them.”
“I hope so. I want to be a big star.”
“I think you will be. But even if you’re not, that doesn’t determine your worth.”
“You make a lot more money when you’re a star.”
Kate smiled. “I know … I mean your real worth. The fame won’t be you. It’s only the world watching you. They take pictures and write stories but get it wrong half the time. Don’t believe their version of you.”
“I like talking like this.”
“Me too.” Kate hesitated, not wanting to bring up the car, but she needed answers before seeing Hugo again. “Bonnie … do you remember the day of auditions when your car was moved? You didn’t want to tell me about it, but I need to know. It’s important.”
Bonnie looked at her lap. “I was embarrassed, but I don’t care anymore.”
“So … you did drive your car that day?”
“Not me, Tad. We were watching the auditions, and he got bored and said he wanted to show me the star bungalow he’s trying to get for me so I don’t have to drive home when I work late. So we drove across the studio in my car, but as soon as we walked in the bungalow, he started kissing me, and I wanted to leave. We’d kissed before, but I’d just met Aurelio, and I didn’t want to kiss Tad anymore. So I pushed him away and went back to the car. He was really mad, but I didn’t care. As soon as we parked, I got out and left.”
Kate bit back her anger at Tad, not wanting to upset Bonnie further. “You did the right thing. That’s what I meant about holding on to who you really are.” Bonnie was the one who’d moved the yellow car, which meant it had nothing to do with Lemmy’s murder.
Which meant Hugo couldn’t have done it because he’d been at the studio when Lemmy was killed. Without the car, he had no way of getting home and back that quickly. Kate pressed a hand to her mouth, a laugh bubbling out.
“What?” Bonnie asked.
“I’ve been so stupid, Bonnie. I imagined all these reasons for the car being in a different place. Crazy reasons.”
Bonnie wiped her nose on a handkerchief. “It already was in a different place. Tad just parked where we found it. Someone else moved it first.”
Kate’s heart dropped. But if Bonnie and Tad had used the car in the middle of auditions, it still gave Hugo an alibi. “Bonnie, when did you and Tad use the car? Was it right after we arrived, or had we been there a long time?”
“A long time. I went to wardrobe first, and then they tested makeup on me, and then Tad and I watched auditions, and then we drove to the bungalow. After we got back, I walked around for a few minutes because I was upset, then I came in and danced with Aurelio.”
Which left an hour, maybe, before Bonnie and Tad took the car. Barely enough time for Hugo to drive home, kill Lemmy, and park the car in a different place. Possible, but almost an alibi. She had to talk to him.
Kate stood. “You better get dressed, Bonnie, and go back to your party.”
“It isn’t my party. I don’t have any friends here if Aurelio is gone.”
“Don’t I count?”
“Oh!” Bonnie looked up, appalled. “I just meant—”
“I know.” Kate smiled. She walked to the door, then paused to look back at the window. “Close your drapes whenever you change your clothes, Bonnie. That man who got murdered in our house used to take pictures of you through your window. The pictures have been destroyed, but you should know that.”
Bonnie’s mouth fell open.
Kate descended the staircase, steeling herself to face Hugo, armed with more facts than she’d had ten minutes ago.
“There you are,” Glenn said, rising from a chair in the foyer. “Is Bonnie all right?”
“Actually … I think she’s going to be fine.”
“I thought we could go back to dancing.”
“Glenn … I need some time to myself right now.”
“Oh. Sure. I’ll just—”
“Go somewhere else,” she suggested.
She entered the hall that led to the kitchen, where Hugo and Reuben had stood talking in secret. It dead-ended at the side hall where she’d listened. As she came around the corner, she saw Hugo in the study, standing behind the white desk, quickly opening and closing drawers.
Kate froze in the doorway.
He closed the last drawer and straightened, not noticing her, giving his full attention to three items clustered on top of the desk. He picked up an overstuffed envelope, folded it over, and tucked it into his jacket pocket. Then he picked up a loose photograph, looked at it briefly, and added it to the pocket. He paused on the third item, turning it for inspection, giving Kate a glimpse of a gold frog about the size of an egg. He slid the expensive-looking frog into his pocket.
“Hey, put that back!” Glenn ordered from behind Kate.
Hugo’s head jerked up.
“I saw you take that. Hand it over.” Glenn walked to the desk.
Hugo’s eyes didn’t leave Kate’s. “I’m not stealing,” he said evenly.
“Empty your pockets,” Glenn said.
Kate warmed with embarrassment for him—and disappointment. He probably thought the Fairchilds had more than they needed, so he might as well take a few things—not for himself, but so Reuben could escape to Brazil. He probably felt cheated by the world after being fired without pay. But she hadn’t known he was the sort of person who turned into a thief when it suited his needs.
Because she didn’t really know him.
“Put it back, and no one needs to know,” she said quietly. “Right, Glenn?”
Hugo’s eyes shifted to Glenn and then back to Kate. “Well,” he said in a dangerous voice. “Looks like Nancy Drew has a new partner.”
Her throat tightened. She wanted to scream that Glenn meant nothing to her, that all she wanted was to return to last night and stay there forever, but Hugo had made that impossible. He was the one whispering about planted evidence and stealing things. He was the one who wasn’t the person he’d pretended to be.
But all she said was a steely, “Put it back.”
Hugo put his hand in his pocket and pulled out the frog, holding it with two fingers so they could see it clearly as he set it on the desk. Kate thought about the overstuffed envelope, maybe filled with money, and the photograph, but didn’t have the heart to mention them in front of Glenn. She would ask Hugo about them later, along with everything else.
“You better leave,” she said.
His eyes burned into her with unspoken words. “I don’t suppose you want to walk back with me.”
She was tempted but also terrified; she didn’t trust herself with him. “I should stay for Bonnie.”
Glenn turned to her. “I’ll walk you home later.”
Behind his back, Hugo picked up the gold frog and slipped it into his pocket. Kate looked away quickly, not wanting him to know she’d seen and was going to let him get away with it.
He seemed in a hurry to leave now, walking around the desk. As he passed her in the doorway, he said in a low voice, “Well done on the breaking-my-heart thing. It just happened a little sooner than I expected.”
She opened her mouth but couldn’t think what to say as she watched him walk away.
“I’m glad he’s gone,” Glenn said. “Do you want to return to the backyard?”
Kate stared at the place where Hugo had been. “Yes.” She needed fresh air.
Thirty minutes later, as she stood in a quiet corner of the backyard watching Bonnie dance with Glenn, she was surprised to see Aurelio sneaking his way around the outer edge of the crowd, coming toward her.
He leaned close enough to be heard over the band. “You better come home, Kate. Your aunt is here.”