MISSY’S COTTAGE
MALIBU
FRIDAY MORNING
Missy stood in the kitchen doorway, hands on her hips, wearing shorts, a tight orange tank top, and sneakers on her bare feet. Her hair was tousled all over her head and she looked about eighteen. Daniel swallowed.
“Gloria’s already over at Cam’s parents’ place. When Cam told her who they were Gloria nearly frothed at the mouth she was so excited to meet them.”
She poured Daniel a glass of orange juice. “You look tired. Drink up, it’ll make you feel better.” When he set the empty glass on the counter, Missy said, “What Gloria must have gone through—” She shuddered, then straightened, took a wide-legged stance and tried to look tough. “I wouldn’t have fallen apart, either. Maybe I should get a gun like Gloria did.”
Over my dead body. But Daniel wasn’t stupid. “There are now three of you in the house, and that includes an FBI agent. You’re safe.”
Missy said, “Yeah, I know, you’re afraid I’d shoot Blinker if he showed up again.”
That isn’t such a bad idea, but he said, “Another reason you shouldn’t have one.”
But Missy had moved on. “None of us could go back to sleep when Cam brought Gloria over, so the three of us went over Gloria’s emails and I showed her my records, and we studied hers. You want to know what I think? The connections to Markham have got to mean something. I got to thinking I’d be pretty good at this gathering evidence thing, using my deductive reasoning on the facts I’ve gathered, and nailing a perp. That’s what you call the criminal, right? The perp?”
“That’s what they call the criminal on TV,” Daniel said, watching her pick up the coffeepot, examine the remains, and set about to make a fresh pot.
She got the coffee going, turned back. “It’s too bad I can’t be a cop like you, Daniel, but seeing as how I like acting and I’m going to be a rich and famous star, it’s not to be.”
Daniel raised his eyes to the kitchen ceiling and moved his lips.
“What are you saying?”
“I’m thanking the power above that all is as it should be. The thought of you roaming the streets toting a gun and looking gorgeous makes my heart seize. Rich sounds good, though.”
“You really think I’m gorgeous?”
Daniel slowly lowered his coffee cup to the table. “Well, yeah, you’re okay, sure you are.”
“Hmm. Why would your heart seize?”
“It’s a condition of the men in our family. We see a woman with a gun and we’re goners.” He saluted her with his dinosaur mug. He heard Cam in the living room speaking on her cell. Good, she was here, he had some news for her.
He breathed in the smell of Missy’s delicious coffee. “Has Blinker stayed away since Thursday morning?”
“I saw the bozo yesterday at the library, pretending to read a book. I caught a glimpse, it was Pride and Prejudice.” She shook her head. “Isn’t that a joke? That moron a Jane Austen fan? He acted all surprised to see me and I ignored him. He followed me out, but he did keep his distance.”
“You’re messing with my heart again, Missy. You’ve got Cam here and Gloria.” He saw immediately it was the wrong thing to say. “If I were Blinker I’d already be afraid of you.”
She preened. “He should be, the little putz. Isn’t there anything more you can do, Daniel?”
Yeah, I could tell him I’ll beat the crap out of him if he doesn’t stay a hundred miles away from you. “Let me think about it. And let me know if you see him again.” He looked toward Cam, who stood frowning in the kitchen doorway.
“That was LAPD forensics on the phone. Six bullet holes and a broken window, but no blood anywhere, no tracks.”
Daniel saluted her with his mug. “Come on, Wittier, all is not lost. Let me cheer you up. Remember your parents mentioned how excited Connie Morrissey was about an audition she was scheduled for right before her murder? I phoned her agent, William Burley, at Gush. He remembered the role—are you ready for this? It was the female lead in The Crown Prince.”
Missy said, “And Theo Markham is the producer.”
“Correct,” Daniel said. “Burley said Markham’s assistant called him, told him the audition was a formality. The role was Connie’s.”
“Same role Deborah had when she was killed. Now that can’t be a coincidence.” Missy danced to Daniel, threw her arms around him and gave him a loud smacking kiss. She pulled back, grinning. “Well done, Kemosabe. Isn’t he something, Cam?”
Cam was staring at Daniel. “I wonder why Mr. Markham didn’t mention that nugget when we talked with him? Why would he not want us to know? I mean, why would we think he’d be involved in killing off actresses after giving them roles in his own movies? It makes no sense.”
Daniel said, “What if Connie threatened to kiss him off if he didn’t give her the role? What if she infuriated him somehow and he killed her, using the other murders as cover?”
Cam took a drink of coffee, frowned and stuck it in the microwave, punched in thirty seconds.
“Cam? That’s Daniel’s coffee. Let me pour some for you, in your Princess Elsa mug.”
“What? Oh, I’m sorry, Daniel.”
“Not a problem, you’re warming it up for me.”
Missy said, “It’s disgusting that Theo Markham is already sleeping with another actress. But, Daniel, I don’t think he murdered Connie. He paid her rent, introduced her to producers, and the way she talked about him, I think she really cared about him, and he cared about her. She wouldn’t have threatened to leave him if he didn’t give her a role.” She paused, then said, “You don’t think he tried to murder Gloria, too, do you, guys? I simply can’t see Mr. Markham creeping around at midnight killing actresses in their sleep. That’d make him a psychopath, seriously over-the-edge crazy.”
Daniel said, “We can’t exclude him, Missy. He has alibis for four of the six killings, but the four have huge holes in them. Even though there’s no record of his flying to Las Vegas to kill Molly Harbinger, commercial or private, he could have easily driven.”
“Before you go,” Missy said, “I forgot to tell you that Doc called a few minutes before Daniel got here. He wanted to discuss Deborah’s funeral arrangements. He wanted me to ask you when the medical examiner will release her”—Missy swallowed—“her body.”
“You can tell him Monday. They have more tests, and the M.E. wants to go over the autopsy findings again.”
Missy said, “Poor Doc, it’s so hard on him. He’s such a mess.”
There was a knock on Missy’s door. Daniel’s hand automatically went to his Beretta, but he smiled when Arturo’s voice sounded out. “Hey, anybody home?”
“Come on in,” Missy called back.
When Arturo strolled into the living room, Daniel said, “I expected you to be at the station or at the hospital. What brings you here?”
“I have something for you, but first, where’s Gloria? I wanted to see if she remembers more about last night. Is she around?” He looked at Missy. “Are you Missy Devereaux?”
Missy stepped up, shook his hand. “Yes, I am, and, I might add, a future star. You’re Detective Loomis?” At his nod, she continued, “Gloria’s not here, she’s at Cam’s parents’ house in the Colony.”
Cam said, “She was having such a good time with them, I left her there for the morning. We can all go over there later, maybe have some lunch.”
Missy shook her head. “Bummer. I have an audition for a buttermilk commercial. Actually, I have to go get ready. Good luck, guys.” She padded out of the kitchen.
Daniel said, “Arturo, you have something for us?”
“Come, sit down,” Cam said.
Once seated, Arturo said, “It’s about Dr. Mark Richards’s alibi for Tuesday night, the night Deborah was murdered. He claimed he’d stayed at the hospital all night. We thought we’d interviewed everyone who could verify he’d been there, but it turns out we missed someone because she’d switched to day shift. I found her, spoke to her. She thought Dr. Richards was in the doctor’s on-call room, sleeping, but she needed him, and when he didn’t answer his page, she checked. He wasn’t there. She wondered where he was, but then got busy and forgot it. She says she did see him coming out of the on-call room later, like he just woke up. But there was a sizable gap, and he wasn’t where he said he was.
“Remember he’s a runner, so he could have run to Deborah’s place, killed her, and run back. I timed it, twenty-eight minutes. He could have easily avoided the cameras in the hospital. That late, who would even notice a guy out running?”
Cam said more to herself than to anyone else, “No, I can’t be that wrong about somebody.”
Daniel patted her arm. “Maybe you’re not wrong, but I’ve got to wonder why Theo Markham is so convinced Doc murdered Deborah. What reason could he have?”
Cam said slowly, “It seems to me it’s got to have something to do with Connie Morrissey. But what?”
Arturo said, “Or maybe Doc did kill Deborah, and Markham found out about it.”
Cam looked around. “If that’s the case, just shoot me.”
Daniel said, “Let’s not be hasty, Wittier. Look, Gloria’s a good reason to talk to Markham again, that and why he didn’t bother to tell us he was about to give The Crown Prince role to Connie before she was murdered and then the role went to Deborah. We might get more out of him if we go tell him about Gloria before he finds out from the media.”
Cam nodded, stood up. “Arturo, why don’t you talk to Gloria at my parents’ house while we’re gone? We’ll hook up with you there later.”