Roberts arrived at the Walterdale Theatre, seeing Stone was already talking to the coroner, Dr. Neelam Hangal. Nearby, a group of people stood, looking at the sheet-covered body. A distressed woman stood staring at the body, clutching a white tissue.
“What happened?” Roberts asked as she approached Stone.
“Looks like murder. Dr. Neelam suspects our victim has been poisoned.” He filled in the details of his name and time of death.
“From what? Did he eat something here?”
Stone shook his head. “No, nothing was consumed around here. He’s an actor. He and the others just finished doing a play.” He pointed at the Waterdale Theatre. “Over there. Ironically, it was a murder mystery.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah, death imitating art.”
Roberts sighed at his joke. “Is that where he took the poison?”
“I don’t know yet but it seems plausible.”
“Who’s she?” Roberts pointed at the woman standing with the tissue.
“The victim’s girlfriend, Tanya Conner. You may have better luck talking to her than me. She kept crying, so I told her to wait and we’d question her later. The rest of the actors said they didn’t notice anything unusual.”
“Okay, I’ll talk to her.”
Roberts walked up to Conner. “Hi, Tanya. I’m detective Anya Roberts. I understand Paul and yourself were actors in a play.”
Conner nodded. “Death of a Philanderer. Paul was the leading man. He actually played two roles.” She used a tissue to dab at her eyes.
“Why don’t you come with me? We can sit on that bench.”
Conner saw the green metal bench and nodded.
After they sat, Roberts asked, “Is everyone here an actor?”
“Yes. Well, except for Dana Sharpe, who left the play a couple of weeks ago for personal reasons, and Kimi, who’s with Mitch.”
“Did Paul have any enemies, someone who wanted to do him harm?”
Conner bit her lower lip. “Mitch Donnelly. He was angry when Paul got the leading man role and not himself. Also, at the time, I was going out with Mitch. I ended up breaking off with Mitch and started going out with Paul.”
“Do you believe Mitch is capable of murder?”
“He’s a loner, temperamental, and smart. It’s hard to know what he’s thinking at times. I guess he would be capable of murder. I hope not.”
“Okay, that’s it for now. We’ll contact you later. I’ll get one of the officers to drive you home.”
Roberts spoke to one of the officers and went over to where Stone was writing in his pad. “What do we know?”
Stone conferred with Roberts. “I’ve collected names and contact information from the rest of the actors. We probably can start letting them go home. Did Conner give you any more information?”
“Not much. She told me of a conflict between Mitch Donnelly and our victim, so we do have a starting point.”
“Okay, I’ll talk to Donnelly now and then we can call it a night.”
Donnelly slouched on the bench, the same one Conner sat on earlier with Roberts. “Yeah, so I didn’t like Paul. I didn’t kill him though.”
Stone pressed forward. “I didn’t expect a confession from you. But of everyone in the play, was there anyone else who may have had a grudge against him?”
“You’re the detective, find out for yourself.”
“Do you really want to play the jerk with me? The guy who can haul your ass downtown and hold you twenty-four hours on suspicion of murder?”
“Fuck. I really didn’t pay attention to anyone else who disliked him. I know I didn’t do it.”
“All right. Keep close to your phone in case we need to call you.”
He watched as Donnelly leave the area with Kimi Philips hurrying after him.
“Well?” Roberts asked.
“I think we need to wait for the coroner’s report on what poison killed him. Maybe that will help narrow the suspects. Right now, if we assume it was a poison in food or drink, we don’t know how it may have been added or by who.”
“I don’t know anything about the play or how the actors interact, but right now, I’m assuming it could have been anyone. The other thing is they all came from acting in a play. Maybe the poison was administrated before the play started and just now showed its effects.”
“Good point. Let’s have the theatre where the play was held sealed off until we can take a closer look.” Stone yawned. “Okay. Tomorrow is another day.”