Suzie smiled as she pulled the door shut.
“Roth was a producer. Only worked for me when a project was in need of his skill at bringing it to an audience—a big audience.”
“I’ve been told he was producing a new project for you, Mr. Burnett. The Baker Girl? A reality TV show? My missus likes that reality stuff.”
“Yes. I reluctantly agreed to the project. I’m NOT a fan of reality TV but Roth thought this show had great potential. Actually, it was getting to be a money pit. But no more.”
“How’s that, Mr. Burnett?”
“No Roth. No show. Project canceled.”
“Do you have an idea who might have wanted him dead, other than yourself?”
“Now see here, Detective, I don’t like your insinuation.”
The office door opened a crack and Suzie said in a sweet voice and a smile that Harry was in the building and waiting for him in Studio A.
“You’ll have to excuse me, Detective.”
“Certainly, Mr. Burnett. Ah, one more question before you go. Did you bring cupcakes to your party?”
“Of course I did. Lots of people did. Why?”
“Well, it looks like a cupcake—”
“Goodbye, Detective,” Burnett said and stalked out of his office, passed Suzie, banging the door shut as he disappeared in the hall.
Drake shuffled towards the door but Suzie motioned him to stay in Burnett’s office.
“We can chat here, Detective Drake. More private. Comfortable. Now what do you want to know? Maybe I can help. I hear things. People confide in me.”
“Right, right.”
Drake sat on one end of the couch in the sitting area of the office and Suzie planted herself on the other end, sitting sidesaddle so she was facing the detective. Her curves were not lost on Drake.
“The cupcakes, Miss Savage—”
“Please, call me Suzie.”
“Yes, yes, Suzie. Do you have a list of some sort as to who brought cupcakes to the barbecue?”
“Only in my head,” she said batting her extra long black lashes at the detective. “But I suppose I could type one up if that would help. There were so many. I decided not to bake anything. It wouldn’t have been appreciated and I like to be appreciated.”
“I see, I see. If you could use that head of yours to type a list up for me, it would be appreciated?”
“Certainly, Detective. Will you stop by to pick it up?”
“No, no. Here’s my card, email address. That will do, Miss Savage—”
“Suzie.”
“Suzie, were all the people invited? In other words—”
“Word of mouth, Detective. Except for the equipment rental boy. He seemed to be enjoying himself. He was carrying a cupcake when he ran smack into Mr. Roth.”
“What happened to the cupcake…Suzie?”
“I don’t know, Detective.”
Chapter 35
SITTING IN HIS PINK Beetle Drake absently tapped the steering wheel with his pen. With a sigh, he checked the cell number Suzie gave him for a cameraman by the name of Paul Templeton. She said the man was on call by various producers who worked for Burnett Media.
Templeton picked up on the first ring.
“Mr. Templeton, this is Detective Drake. I’m working on a case that Miss Savage said you may have some knowledge.”
“Blast it! I thought this was a casting call. No offense, Detective.”
“None taken, Mr. Templeton.”
“This is your lucky day. I’m finishing a shoot in Studio D. Where are you?”
“In Burnett Media parking lot.”
“Swell. I’ll be out in five. What’s your car?”
“Ah, a pink Beetle near—”
“Sweet. Want a cup of coffee? Looks like there’s just enough for two left in the pot.”
“I’ll pass, Mr. Templeton.”
“Suit yourself. Sounds like I won’t have any trouble spotting you…the pink Beetle.” Templeton hung up chuckling.
Waiting for Templeton, Drake spotted a man in bib overalls heading to the dumpster. The detective hustled after him.
“Sir, sir, can I ask you a question?” Drake shouted.
“Sure, but that’s it,” the man called over his shoulder dumping a barrel of trash. “I’m about to clock out for the day.”
“My name is Detective Drake. Were you on duty at the party, the barbecue? Fourth of July?” Drake said trying to catch his breath.
“Sure. I always get an invitation to their shindigs…wear my tux with a black bowtie.”
“I see, I see. By any chance do you use rat poison in any of the studios? Especially, the kitchen studio, Studio 7, where—”
“Hardly. If there’s even a hint of a rat roaming around I call pest control pronto. A starlet would freak out if she saw one. Gotta run, bye.”
Turning around Drake saw a man carrying a large shoulder bag jogging from the third entrance door. The man glanced around then headed to the pink Beetle. Juggling a foam cup Drake presumed was filled with coffee, the brown liquid was sloshing over the rim with each step. The man let out a few expletives flinging coffee off his fingers. With a broad smile he opened the passenger door and gingerly placed his bag in the footwell.
“Mr. Templeton, Mr. Templeton, hold up. I’m coming.” Strands of silver hair were flying out straight as he ran then curled around his ear.
“Detective?” Paul asked with a grin, his right foot out on the pavement.
Puffing, Drake slid behind the wheel of the pink coupe. “Yes, yes. I could have met you inside but—”
“Nah. This is better. Can you drop me off a couple of blocks down the road? Service station is digging a nail out of my left rear tire. Flat as a pancake. So what can I do for you?”
“I’m investigating Mr. Vincent Roth’s—”
“Oh yes. Suzie called. I don’t know anything other than he died of complications of some kind.”
“Yes, you might say that. So you knew Mr. Roth?”
“Worked on a project a few months back and was scheduled to help finish a project—Baker Girl something, but then he up and died. Stuart Washington took over.”
Drake noted the new name on his pad of paper. “Were you at the barbecue? Fourth of July.”
“Briefly. Free food. Always up for a party with free food. I bet you’re like that too, hey Draky?”
“Not really. The missus and I are homebodies. Did you bring cupcakes to the party?”
“I ask you, Draky, do I look like a cupcake kind of guy? Although, that Baker Girl, she’s a pretty sweet cupcake don’t you think? You must have questioned her?”
“Oh, I don’t—”
“Come on, Draky. You can look. Just don’t touch. Besides, they had a whole table full of cupcakes. I saw Burnett put some on the table, sneaky like. And, I know for a fact Baker Girl brought some and then Suzie, she never misses a chance to butter up her boss.”
“Umm. You sure Suzie did and you didn’t…bring cupcakes? Maybe you forgot…stopped at a bakery.”
“Hey, I come for free food. Never buy any to give away. No siree. I had a hot dog and left with two burgers.”
“Did you happen to see a young man carrying a cupcake bump into Mr. Roth?”
“Heck, detective, there’s always someone bumping into someone at these shindigs. Mostly
on purpose. A wannabe starlet into a director, a leading man lurching into his leading lady. But I don’t remember seeing anyone toppling into Roth. If you don’t mind, can you drop me off now.. They called. My tire is roadworthy again.”
Chapter 36
THE NEXT DAY DRAKE drove to the rental company where the delivery boy worked that Templeton mentioned. ABC Rental was a party in waiting. They offered everything from ordinary tables with umbrellas and chairs, tubs for ice and cold drinks, to bar setups and tents. On the Fourth of July, ABC Rental had contracted to set up for a barbecue party at Burnett Media.
The delivery boy, Jimmy Spider, was a young man who at time
s lived on the edge. He had a record. He always professed his innocence and never served time except for three months in juvenile detention for helping himself to the cash in the register of a second-hand store. Spider was his stage name—always thinking ahead. You never know where the big break might come from in Hollywood.
The manager gave the okay for Jimmy Spider to talk to Detective Drake. In answer to the manager’s question of why, the detective said he wanted to talk to the delivery person about the man who was thought to have suffered a heart attack at the Burnett Media venue. This man was now considered to be a murder victim.
A skinny lad, jumpy, Spider was always in a hurry dashing from place to place. He grew facial hair to appear older to the girls. After all, this was Hollywood. A guy had to be ready. Jimmy was eager to jump in for anything that came his way but he stayed clear of lawmen. He relaxed when Drake introduced himself as working on a case and maybe Jimmy could help him crack it.
How fun.
Jimmy puffed up his chest at the thought of cracking a case, a murder case.
“Jimmy Spider at your service, Detective.”
“Good, good. You, ABC Rental, staged the barbecue at Burnett Media, Fourth of July?”
“Yes sir—a barby like this, and this one is even bigger,” Spider said running from one floor model to the next, then back to Drake.
“Did you bring any cupcakes to the event?”
“No sir, but I admit to eating a few. A very nice redhead offered me one,” Spider said.
“Oh, who was that?” Drake hadn’t questioned a redhead. He now took more interest in what Jimmy Spider had to say.
“I dunno. Take a look at that Key West bar, Detective,” Spider said running across the floor to a tiki bar under a thatched roof.
Drake hustled after him. He wasn’t done with questioning the young man.
“Now you tell me if this isn’t what every party should have? Says romance, don’t you think?”
“Mr. Spider you’re pretty fast on your feet. Did you happen to run into someone at the barbecue?”
“Nope…oh wait, yes I did. Somebody at the cupcake table shoved a bowl with a cupcake in it telling me to take it to a blonde across the way. I dashed over to her, dashed because I still had a few chairs to unload, and a man stepped in front of me. Bang! I ran into him. I almost fell, lost the cupcake and hightailed it back to the truck for the last of the chairs.”
“Who gave you the cupcake, Mr. Spider?”
“Dunno. A woman maybe. One minute I was going for the chairs and the next I had a cupcake. A finger by my ear pointed to the blonde and I took off.”
“How do you know it was a woman…you said a finger by your ear—”
“Detective, I may be young but I know a woman’s voice.”
“What happened to the cupcake?”
“What cupcake?”
“Come on, Mr. Spider. The cupcake you were supposed to give to a blonde.”
“Dunno.”
“The man…the man you toppled into. What happened to him?”
“Dunno. Detective, my boss is waving at me. A truck is leaving, a delivery. I have to get going or it will leave and I won’t get paid. So long.”
“Just a minute…the blonde, one of these girls?” Drake pulled a picture taken at the barbecue of Suzie and one of Star from his pocket.
“Oh…that one. The one in the blue and white striped dress…very sweet.”
Drake watched Spider run through the swinging doors at the back of the display floor.
He had pointed to Star Bloom.
“Was Miss Bloom the target?” he mumbled.
Chapter 37
LOOKING OUT AT THE perpetual sunny day, Star wondered why she never felt restless on a sunny day in Daytona Beach like she felt in Hollywood. Tyler was at a meeting in a hotel with his Twentynine Palms’ team. They wanted to get his okay on the final tweaks to the animation project. Roxy had given a preview clip of the video to the head of the challenge for his feedback before submitting the final product.
Star gazed at her computer and the unfinished manuscript for the kid’s cookbook. No matter how guilty she felt, she kept procrastinating. She simply couldn’t force herself to engage to finish it. Was it the dreaded writer’s block? Maybe if she called Gran, asked her for some of her special recipes, that would light a fire to her creative juices.
Her cell vibrated on the counter giving her a reprieve. It was a New York City number, Grace Turnbull. Star thought about letting it go to voicemail. She’d never heard the name before, Grace Turnbull.
What the heck, she thought.
“Hello.”
“Hello, I’m looking for Star Bloom. Is she there?”
“I’m Miss Bloom.”
“Oh, wonderful. My name is Grace Turnbull. Vincent Roth called me a while back about your idea for a children’s cookbook.”
“He never said anything to me about talking to you.”
Grace laughed. “That’s Vincent for you, full of surprises. You probably haven’t heard of Turnbull Publishing either. We specialize in books for children. Vincent and I go way back but we tried to keep in touch after he and his wife moved to Hollywood. He always aspired to be a big producer.”
“Miss Turnbull, I’m sorry to tell you, but Mr. Roth died a few weeks ago.”
“What? He died? Oh dear. Was it his heart? Did it finally give out?”
“The cause of his death is still being…hasn’t been established exactly.”
“What a loss. I know he was excited about a television show. I believe he said it featured you, Miss Bloom. Anyway, I’d like to meet you…here in New York City.”
“I really can’t get away right now—”
“Miss Bloom, my staff and I want to hear about your project. Given how Vincent went on about you and the kids…get them interested in cooking, keep their noses off their phones, their gaming tablets.”
“I’m sorry, I just can’t.”
“Miss Bloom, tell me you’ll think about it. You can do that can’t you?”
“Yes. I can.”
“Good. I’ll send you some information about my company. You’ll see how well your kid’s project could fit. Good chatting with you. Have a nice day.”
“You too.”
- - -
Jimmy Spider was broke. He desperately needed to smoke some weed. He was on break waiting for a truck to return with some new tents to add to the rental inventory. If only he had some cash there was time to make a dash to the weed store on the next block.
His cell beeped, beeped again. “Ah, maybe my prayers are going to be answered,” he mumbled digging it out of his cargo pants. Too many pockets. He slapped both legs, then his hip pocket. Ahhh.
“Jimmy, I have a job for you. Meet me on the side street to ABC Rental at six o’clock tonight. It’s a quick delivery. You pick up a pizza at Pizzas Galore then meet me—you know the place. I’ll give you a glass jar with a drink to go with the order. It’s for one of my best customers. That’s it. Nothing to it. I’ll write the address on the box. It’s important you make the delivery exactly as I instruct, immediately after we meet. Fussy customer. Do you understand?”
“Yes, but I need payment up front or no deal. Stop by now. Cash, or I won’t meet you. Do you understand me?”
“Sorry, no can do. What’s the matter? Strung out? Need a fix? It’s only a few hours. Hang tough. Yes, I’ll have the cash. Remember, no screw up or our little relationship will be terminated.”
Chapter 38
IT WAS HOT AND Tyler was in a foul mood. He hadn’t been able to convince Star it was time they leave Hollywood. He was almost glad when Roxy called the Twentynine Palms’ team together for a few tweaks to the video. She’d reserved a room in a Hollywood hotel. Star was going to the hospital to sit with Jenny Sue a few hours giving the Washingtons time to run some errands, or at least to take a rest, especially CeeCee. Jenny Sue was doing well but the doctors wanted to observe her for a few more days before releasing her.
<
br /> Tyler parked the van, strode to the hotel entrance and rode the elevator to the sixth floor, Room 603. The door was ajar and without breaking stride, he stepped in and shut the door.
Ben and Sam were watching television with a beer in hand. Roxy was sitting at a table glancing through the video on her laptop
“Yo, comrades, we meet again,” Tyler said.
“About time you got here, bro,” Ben said.
“We do have other things to do you know,” Sam said.
“Hmmm? Like what?” Tyler said looking over Roxy’s shoulder with a smile. “Tell me why the urgency to meet.”
“The head of the challenge likes what he’s seen of our submission. I showed him a teaser, only a few minutes. He thinks we have a chance. But—”
“There’s always a but, Rox. What is it this time?” Tyler said.
“A little more music, more drama, the last three minutes,” Roxy said.
“Let’s take a look. Rox, run the last ten minutes.”
Roxy sighed. “Okay. Here goes.”
She turned her laptop so the team could see it. Sam hit the off button on the TV remote.
“It’s good…very good. Sam, bring the music to a crescendo up to the last minute, then whisper soft. Whatcha think?” Tyler said.
“I think I like your suggestion.”
“Okay, Sam, it’s yours to solve,” Tyler said.
“I can do it. I’ll send you an edited clip in the morning, Rox,” Sam said.
“There’s another issue. I’d like to know if we agree about staying as a team,” Roxy said.
“I’m cool with that,” Ben said.
“Me too. I’m game,” Sam said.
“I’m in but not in Hollywood,” Tyler said.
“Tyler, Hollywood is where the action is,” Roxy said.
“The action, Roxy, is wherever we want it to be and I don’t want to stay in Hollywood and neither does Star.”
“Well, Star doesn’t get a say in what our team does,” Roxy snapped.
Ben and Sam jumped to their feet.
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