by Maisy Morgan
“Yes,” Mary said. “It’s in her hip, and her kidneys are shutting down. Cindy said the doctor is saying they caught it early—that with treatment, she’ll improve. But… still… cancer, Preston.”
“That poor kid,” he said. “It’s not right. With everything she’s already been through. Now this?”
Mary hugged him too. She held him tight and wished at that moment that none of this was true and life could return to normal, but they both knew that wasn’t going to happen any time soon. After the moment passed, they pulled apart. “We’ll do what we can for Cindy and Hannah to make this easier on them. She’s got a follow-up appointment today up in Atlanta. Let’s try not to start panicking just yet,” she offered, trying to convince herself as much as him.
Preston nodded with her same level of forced conviction. “Well, before that news… I was coming to see if you wanted to go with me to meet Walter.”
“Walter? The assistant director?” Mary questioned.
“Yeah,” Preston said. “When we were at the studio, I got the impression that those two had some sort of history—Walter and Donnie, I mean.”
“So, you’re looking into someone other than Matthew?” Mary asked.
“Of course I am,” Preston said. “I don’t know why, but I trust Matthew. I don’t think he had anything to do with Donnie. I could be wrong, of course, which is why we’re still keeping an eye on Matthew. But I don’t know… I think he can be trusted.”
“I’m glad you feel that way,” Mary said, feeling slightly better as one knot in her stomach loosened. Preston’s opinion meant a lot to her, and she found comfort thinking that he agreed with her too. Matthew was a good guy after all. “It makes me feel better about Lilly hanging around him. Let me go tell Ella May I’m going with you.”
Mary informed Ella May that she was dipping out, thanked her again for her help, and then she and Preston loaded up into his patrol car and headed to the studio in Senoia. Preston showed his badge to the security guard, and eventually, they found their way towards a set that was being set up for a scene later that evening. Walter was overseeing the setup. He sighed when he saw Preston and Mary approaching, not liking being distracted from his work.
“Officer Preston,” Walter said and shook Preston’s hand.
“I appreciate you being willing to talk for a bit,” Preston said. “You remember Mary?”
“Yes, good to see you, Mary,” Walter said with a pinched smile. “What do you need to know? As you can probably see, we’re on a tight schedule with filming. I have to oversee the details of this scene.”
“Of course,” Preston said, glancing over towards the scene that was basically a trash dump. “A dump scene?”
“Sort of,” Walter said. “But we’re not here to talk about the set, are we?”
“I need you tell us where you were during the time of Donnie’s murder,” Preston said, not in the mood to waste any more time on small talk.
Walter frowned. “Am I a suspect or something?” he asked.
“Do you want to be?” Preston asked.
Walter huffed. “No, obviously. I was out to lunch—I wasn’t even here on set.”
“Care to tell me who was with you?” Preston asked.
Walter suddenly looked nervous. “Well, honestly, I just needed to grab a quick bite, so… I went by myself.”
“Can you tell me where?” Preston asked. “So that I can confirm when your card was used?”
Walter went pale. “Oh, well, I went to Katie Lou’s Barbeque, but, er… I paid in cash.”
“Of course you did,” Mary said, and Walter shot her a filthy look.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” he questioned.
“That you and Donnie have some sort of past,” Preston said. “And that you are unaccounted for during the time of his murder with no evidence as to where you were.”
“Look, what went down with Donnie and me was a while ago,” Walter said. “I don’t like the guy, but it’s in the past. I moved on.”
“Care to tell me exactly what happened?” Preston demanded.
Walter sighed heavily. “Yeah, sure, I guess. Uh, it was a few years ago. Early in both mine and Matthew’s careers. We had a project together out in LA. Donnie was representing Matthew. I was still trying to make a name for myself as an up and coming assistant director, so at this particular project, I was just doing set work. Set design and basically an errand boy for the director.”
“Things didn’t go super great on the set?” Mary asked.
“Hardly,” Walter said. “Like I said, I was just an errand boy on that job. I needed the job—bad. I wound up spilling hot coffee all over Donnie, and he overreacted like some sort of prima donna. Threw a fit. The director thought about firing me over the whole thing. It would have been detrimental to my career.”
“You didn’t lose the job though?” Mary asked.
“No, thankfully,” Walter said. “Thanks to Matthew. He made Donnie chill out and went and talked to the director for me. Told him Donnie was overreacting. To be fair, Donnie did get a pretty serious burn from the coffee, which I owned up to, but he nearly lost me my job over it.”
“Almost lost your job, huh?” Preston asked, probing a little.
“Don’t start,” Walter warned. “I could have stopped Matthew from getting this job, you know. That would have really showed Donnie. But I’m not that bitter over the incident. I respect Matthew, so I wasn’t going to screw with Donnie and wind up hurting Matthew because of it. I don’t care about it. I’ve moved on. Sure, we had beef back in the day, and we weren’t exactly friends when he came to town, but kill him? No. Not over spilled coffee.”
“How were you two once he got here?” Preston asked.
“All right, I guess,” Walter said. “Occasionally short with one another, I suppose. But we didn’t let it affect our working relationship here on the set. Not that we had much time to fester in that. We had only been filming for a few days when he was killed.”
“We’ll be following up on your so-called alibi at the restaurant. See if anyone remembers seeing you there,” Preston said.
“What happens if they don’t?” Walter asked, somewhat nervously.
“Then we continue looking into you, of course,” Preston said passively.
Walter huffed. “Fine. Look, I want to cooperate. I don’t want you thinking I had anything to do with what happened to Donnie, so whatever you need, just tell me.”
“We will,” Preston said.
“So, you’re all friends with Matthew, right?” he asked.
“You could say that,” Mary said.
Walter pointed down a dirt path. “There’s a set down that way. Look for studio D. It’s where they’re filming today. Matthew and Sven are filming inside there. You should go check it out. Matthew’s pretty good for someone so fresh in the field. He’s a treat to watch.”
“Really?” Mary questioned, admittedly uninterested and likewise unamused by Walter’s quick change of topic.
“Maybe we could talk to Sven,” Preston said. “He was here at the studio the day Donnie was killed. He might have seen something. Might as well ask around and talk to a few people since we’re here.”
Mary nodded, and the two of them headed down the dirt path leading to Studio D, where Walter had directed them.
Chapter Fifteen
Mary and Preston entered the large building. It was fairly dark inside, and on either end of the warehouse were various sets—a bar, an apartment, a school, and so on. At the far end of the warehouse, Mary could see everyone gathered. There were various spotlights set up that the director was currently instructing people to dim, and someone was redoing Matthew’s gash on his head—evidently filming the same scene that they had been working on the day Donnie had died. Sven was standing nearby, a makeup artist giving him a similar touch up for a cut on his cheek.
Lilly spotted Mary and Preston entering the warehouse, and she smiled at them. She came, meeting them about halfway. “Come t
o see some filming?” she asked. “They’re about to get started. This is going to be a really good scene.”
“Well, we’re here for the investigation, but I wouldn’t mind seeing your boyfriend in action,” Mary admitted with a shrug. She hated that they had to be in the middle of the interrogation for a murder case when they should be able to be carefree and enjoying the time they had on set. She hated even more that Donnie had been murdered. It had been so hard for Matthew and Lilly.
The director was calling for everyone to get on their marks. They had three cameras set up for this scene. Sven was bouncing around a bit in anticipation of the shoot. “What’s he doing?” Mary questioned.
“They’re filming the aftermath of their fight,” Lilly said.
The particular set was an alleyway. Given the dim lighting, Mary presumed it was to be night. Sven stood with his back against the wall that was supposed to be the base of a building, and Matthew stood with his hands gripping the collar of Sven’s shirt. The director called for action, and Matthew went right into it, shaking Sven. “That’s enough, Conner! That’s enough!”
“Get your hands off me!” Sven roared, shoving Matthew back, causing him to stumble before he regained his footing. The two stood panting, staring one another down. Sven ran his fingers through his hair, glaring at Matthew and taking a deep breath. “I’m sorry, all right?”
“Sorry…” Matthew said, letting the word ring for a moment. “You’re sorry? Took you five years to say it. You think that means anything to me now?”
“Reg—”
“No, don’t you talk,” Matthew warned, his eyes suddenly filling up with tears. “No, not this time. This time you’re going to listen. For once, shut up and listen to me.” Matthew breathed deeply. “Drake’s dead because of you and your crap. He came looking for you—for you, Conner. He did everything for you. Big, bad Conner—our pack’s little ringleader. He died because of you; he died for you. And I would have done the same stupid thing if it had been me.”
The camera zeroed in on Sven’s face for a moment. On one of the screens, Mary could see the closeup. Sven’s lip twitched like he too was fighting back tears. Mary had no idea what the backstory to this scene was, but she was instantly drawn in. Sven opened his mouth to speak. “Reggie, I—”
“I ain’t done!” Matthew roared. “I would have done the same thing. I would have, if I’d known. I would have been dead instead of Drake.” A fresh onset of tears streamed down Matthew’s face. He was shaking. “But I was thinking. Yesterday. I was thinking about what happened, and you know what I realized?” Matthew paused for a moment. “I realized you wouldn’t have done that for either one of us. You wouldn’t have done it.”
“That’s not—”
“Shut up!” Matthew shouted, pointing an accusing finger at Conner. “Big, bad Conner Stuart. You’re always looking out for number one. You’re a selfish jerk.”
“I never asked for any of this!” Sven shouted. “I never asked Drake to come. I never asked.”
“You didn’t have to, Conner,” Matthew said. “You didn’t have to ask!”
There was another long pause. Matthew stuffed his hands into his jacket pocket. Sven looked away. “I don’t know what to do,” Sven said. “What do I do?”
“I’m sorry, Conner,” Matthew said, and he turned around like he was about to leave. “But you’ve got to figure that one out on your own.”
The room was silent. The director started clapping. “Are you kidding me? That was perfect! Perfect!” he exclaimed. “Sven, Matthew—excellent!”
They wound up shooting the scene a couple of more times for good measure, but the director kept referring to that first take as the one to compare it to. By the third shoot, Mary started noticing that Matthew was getting a bit shakier. He came up to the director and muttered something to him after the last shoot. The director clasped his shoulder, and they whispered to each other for a minute. The director looked a bit sad. “All right, folks. We’re gonna do lunch and come back,” he said.
Matthew, whose eyes were still a bit glossed over, gave Lilly a rather pleading look. “Um,” Lilly said, turning to Mary and Preston for a moment. “I’ll see you two in a bit. I’m going to go with Matthew to his trailer… make sure he’s okay…”
Mary nodded and watched the two of them hurry off. “Everything all right?” Preston asked the director as the man was walking by him, a script under his arm.
“Scene hitting a little too close to home for Matthew, I think,” the director said. “Makes for good acting, but he needs a minute. You’re the officer working Donnie’s case?”
“That’s right,” Preston said.
“Well, if you need anything, let us know,” the director said. “I think I’m going to go check in on Matthew myself.” The man nodded approvingly at Preston and Mary and then dipped out.
Sven was seated not too far off. One of the makeup girls was wiping the fake blood from his face. “Thanks, Kate,” he told the woman when she finished just as Preston and Mary approached.
Sven glanced up at them. “Officer Preston and Mary, right?” he asked, sticking his hand out to Preston.
Preston shook his hand. “That’s right,” he said. “Impressive job there, Sven. You and Matthew killed that scene.”
Sven smiled. “Thanks. Matthew’s giving me a run for my money. He’s a real up and comer, so I guess I wasn’t expecting what he’s putting out. He’s done fantastically.”
“We’d like to talk to you a bit about Donnie,” Preston said, always quick to cut to the chase while on the job. “We’re working the case and are interviewing anyone who was on set that day.”
“Oh, yeah, sure,” Sven said. “Whatever you need.”
“Can you tell us about him?” Mary asked.
“Can’t say I know a whole lot about the guy,” Sven said. “He was just Matthew’s assistant, I thought. Didn’t realize they were buddies until after he died. He seemed like a decent guy. Real charmer, I’d say.”
“Why would you say that?” Preston asked.
“He’s good at what he does. You can’t make it into film on talent alone, you know? Got to know somebody. Donnie was good at that sort of thing. He has a lot to do with why a newbie like Matthew would get a role in a movie like this. I had landed my role months before Matthew. Now, I’m not sure exactly what went down, but I’m pretty sure Donnie sweet-talked my assistant into making a few calls for him.” Sven said this with a slight laugh.
“Tasha?” Mary asked.
“Yeah,” Sven said. “Tasha made a bunch of calls for Donnie—she and Donnie had a lot to do with Matthew landing an audition for the role. She gave me his headshot, actually.”
“Is Tasha here?” Preston asked. “Maybe we should talk to her too.”
“She’s offset today,” Sven said. “Got her running some errands for me. Dry cleaning, running to the bank—that sort of thing. Not sure where she’s at exactly right now, but she’ll be on set all day tomorrow if you want to swing back by.”
“Yes, I think that’d be a good idea,” Preston said. “Can you tell us where you were during the time of Donnie’s murder?”
Sven thought for a moment. “Matthew and I had just wrapped up our scene we were shooting. So, I was either still on the set with everyone else or headed to my trailer, depending on exactly what time it happened.”
“We appreciate you taking the time to talk to us,” Preston said. “If there is anything else you think of that you might have heard or noticed that could help us with the case, no matter how small, would you give us a call?” Preston handed Sven a card.
Sven nodded. “Of course.”
Mary and Preston interviewed a few people on the crew, but they turned up empty. “I think we should go speak to Matthew before we leave,” Mary said. “I’d like to make sure he’s okay.”
Preston nodded in agreement, and the two of them headed out of the warehouse and down a long grassy hill that led to a number of trailers. Matthew and Lilly wer
e seated just outside of his trailer on the little steps leading up to the door. His shoulders were slumped, though he looked like he certainly felt better than he had looked earlier. Lilly was holding his hand, smiling and talking pleasantly to him when they came up.
“Hey,” Matthew said casually to them.
“How are you holding up?” Preston asked him.
“I’m all right,” Matthew said. “I just got a little worked up is all.”
Preston nodded. “Do you think you need to take a step back from filming, Matthew? I can’t imagine this is particularly easy on you right now.”
“They’re on a strict schedule,” Matthew said. “I could ruin my career if I just walked away for a few weeks. I’m going to be given time off for the funeral, of course. I won’t miss that. I’ll take a little bit of time, but right now, I can’t inconvenience the entire crew. It would affect everyone here—hundreds of people—if I just stepped away. I can’t mess with people’s jobs.”
“I see,” Preston said. “You seem to be under a lot of pressure.”
“Everyone has been very understanding,” Matthew said. “Donnie was my best friend… despite everything he had been up to behind my back, he was still my best friend. Known him since we were little kids. The plot of this movie is kind of… well… a little too much like life right now.”
“I’m sorry, Matthew,” Mary said. “Listen, I think I owe you an apology.”
Matthew looked up at her curiously. “How so?”
Mary sighed, holding onto the railing by the steps leading up to the trailer door. “I don’t think you had anything to do with what happened to Donnie. I got very distant the moment Officer Paul arrested you, and I don’t think that was right of me. You’ve been so good to my family and me, and I didn’t return any of that kindness to you.”
Matthew frowned. “You do not owe me an apology for that. I was arrested for murder, Ms. Hopkins. You’re a good mom. An amazing grandmother. Not wanting me around Tripp, that was a legitimate decision. I don’t blame you one bit for it, but I’m glad that you believe I didn’t have anything to do with it. I would never hurt anyone, let alone my friend.”