Daisy McDare And The Deadly Directorial Affair (Cozy Mystery) (Daisy McDare Cozy Creek Mystery Book 3)

by K. M. Morgan

  Daisy saw a burning resentment in him, not only from being passed over for the mattress commercial job, but the fact that Hunter constantly brought it up. She was seeing a different side to Logan, one that hardly did him any favors considering he was a murder suspect.

  Logan tried to put a good face on. “I’m glad, because it’s not true.”

  Liar.

  Who did he think he was fooling? Certainly not Daisy. She decided to press on a little further.

  “But look, it worked out in the end. What, with you getting the directing job and Fiona getting the lead role.”

  Now he was really fuming. He looked ready to blow his top.

  “What are you getting at?” Logan barked.

  Wow. If Daisy was looking to rule Logan out as a suspect, there was no way of doing it now. At the same time, she knew she had to pull back a little. It was time to do some damage control.

  “Oh, just that I’m happy you and Fiona got a break. The way I figure it, you should have gotten the directing gig and Fiona the lead actress role in the first place,” Daisy said.

  Logan took Daisy’s statement to heart instead of just the damage control sham compliment it was.

  “In that case, thank you very much,” Logan replied.

  Phew. That was a close call. Daisy would have to be more careful questioning potential suspects next time. Things had almost gotten out of hand on this one.

  By that point, Logan seemed desperate to get out of the conversation. “Anyway, I need to get back to directing.”

  “Actually, before you go, I have something to ask you.”

  “What is it?”

  “Before Hunter was killed, he was having me change the sets to this strange surrealist theme. I was wondering if you want me to continue that,” Daisy said.

  “Wait a minute. Are you serious?”

  Daisy nodded.

  “No, no, no. Change it all back to the folksy set decoration you had before,” Logan insisted.

  “Are you sure? Great, thank you very much. I thought it was best that way too.” Daisy smiled.

  “There are going to be a lot of changes on this movie, but your set decoration isn’t one of them.” Logan then started moving back towards the rehearsal space.

  “Wait a minute. What else is going to change?” Daisy asked.

  But Logan was already walking away with no intention of stopping.

  Daisy meanwhile was left with a lot to think about. Luckily she had the last brownie bite to use as brain food.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  With Daisy having satiated her chocolate fix, she walked back to her department. There was plenty of work waiting for her. She had spent a whole day converting her folksy set to Hunter’s surrealist one. Now she had to convert it back to her original design per Logan’s orders.

  For once, she didn’t mind putting in the extra work. Daisy took pride in her decorating, and although she begrudgingly went along with Hunter’s odd theme, the folksy set design was a far better choice.

  Little did Daisy know she wouldn’t be alone. As she reached the set pieces, she saw lead actor Ethan Crabtree returning from a smoke break outside. He was checking e-mails on his phone as he walked back towards the rehearsal space when his ex-girlfriend Candy Caldwell stopped him.

  Candy was a safe enough distance away for her to assume no one could hear her, except Daisy had fantastic hearing. That would come in handy now.

  Daisy listened in on the conversation while pretending to move some pieces around on the set. She was fascinated to hear what would be said.

  Both Candy and Ethan had strong motives to kill Hunter. Candy was madly in love with Hunter. He was the only man she wanted to be with. Monogamy wasn’t one of Hunter’s strong suits. Candy thought she had him all to herself. But when Hunter’s fiancé Ainsley Adamson showed up on the set the other day, Candy realized she was nothing more than the other woman.

  A woman scorned was a very dangerous thing. There was no telling what a jilted woman might do—even commit murder.

  Ethan had his own motive to commit the crime. In the not so distant past, he and Candy were once a couple. After they broke up, Candy moved on. Ethan didn’t. He was still pining for her. He’d do anything to win her back.

  Only one thing was in his way—Hunter. Candy was crazy about her director boyfriend, so much so that she barely gave Ethan the time of day anymore.

  If Hunter was out of the way, maybe Ethan would have another shot with his former flame. Love was a powerful motivator. And when love was jilted, bad things could happen in a hurry.

  That’s why Daisy couldn’t wait to listen in on their conversation. Things didn’t go quite as she planned however.

  Candy was outraged as she addressed Ethan.

  “Why didn’t you defend me back there?” she asked.

  “Why would I?” he replied.

  Candy was shocked to hear those words from his mouth. This was a man who’d spent the entire rehearsal process trying to convince her to take him back. He kept talking about how they could fall in love all over again despite an earlier break up. But now he didn’t look like he wanted anything to do with her. So what was with the sudden about face?

  Candy couldn’t hide her befuddlement. “Where is this coming from? What happened to you going on about how we’re meant to be together?”

  “I’ll tell you what happened. You tried to get me fired,” Ethan declared.

  Candy’s face went as white as a blizzard. She played dumb, which was one of her specialties. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  Ethan knew her well enough to see right through that. “Who do you think you’re fooling? Hunter pulled me into his trailer and told me he was replacing me.”

  She feigned sympathy. “I’m so sorry about that.”

  “No you’re not, because it was your idea to get rid of me in the first place.”

  Candy went on the defensive. “That’s crazy.”

  “Is it? Where else would Hunter get the idea to replace me from? It isn’t because of I don’t have the acting chops to pull off this role. I am the best thespian in Cozy Creek Community College history after all. So it had to be because he felt threatened by my bulging biceps and irrepressible manhood. And you didn’t want me chasing after you anymore. The only way to stop all of it was to can me,” Ethan declared.

  Candy stared at him like he was from Pluto. “You’re delusional.”

  “Just keep telling yourself that. No one is going to put one over on Ethan K. Crabtree. Not even you.”

  “So that’s it then, you’ve completely written me off, even though you have no proof I did any of this?”

  “Sorry sweetheart. You’re on your own. Ethan K. Crabtree is taking his irrepressible manhood elsewhere.”

  Candy exhaled. “I can’t believe it. First I find out Hunter’s cheating on me, then Logan demotes to me second banana, and to top it all off—you’ve turned on me too. Men sure know how to screw me over lately.”

  “Oh no. You don’t get to play the victim here. If you’d just stuck with Team Crabtree, none of this would have happened,” Ethan said.

  Ethan then stormed off with gusto, leaving Candy by herself for a moment.

  Candy let out a huge groan, then returned to the set.

  Daisy meanwhile tried to process all the information she’d just received. What a bombshell about Hunter calling Ethan into his trailer to fire him. Maybe Ethan came back later that night to exact some revenge. If Ethan’s motive wasn’t strong enough before, that was icing on a potentially murderous cake.

  Candy was still very much under suspicion as well. She was still obviously jilted over being Hunter’s squeeze on the side, so much that she brought it up in this last conversation.

  Daisy still had plenty of digging to do, but first some decorating was in order—although she really could have gone for a cupcake at that moment.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  While Daisy started to return the set to its preferred fo
lksy state, there was unfinished business in the rehearsal space. Logan and the actors returned from their break with one question looming.

  The new director wanted to settle things once and for all. Logan looked to Candy for an answer.

  “So, what’s your decision? Are you going to accept your new supporting role, or am I going to have to find someone to replace you?” Logan asked.

  Candy sighed and reluctantly accepted her demotion. “I’ll take the role.”

  “Good. With that settled, let’s move on. Now, I’d like to go over some changes I’ve made in the script,” Logan said.

  That announcement was enough to make the screenwriter Isabel Foster drop her snack mid-bite. What a waste of a perfectly delicious red velvet cupcake too.

  Isabel went from cupcake craving to full meltdown raving in a flash.

  “What?” Isabel said, outraged.

  Isabel’s sister Fiona rolled her eyes.

  “Oh dear, here we go again,” Fiona snarked.

  Logan tried to nip things in the bud before he had a dejavu disaster on his hands. “Look, I know you’re very possessive about your words.”

  “That’s because they’re awesome,” Isabel insisted.

  “I agree, but I have a few tweaks to make them even more awesome. Now if you just listen for a second, you’ll see they really aren’t a big deal,” Logan explained.

  Isabel played the contrarian. “If they aren’t a big deal then why are you making them?”

  “Come on Isabel, are you really going to have another meltdown? Your words aren’t precious snowflakes like you think they are,” Fiona said.

  Isabel turned to her sister. “This was your idea, wasn’t it?”

  “Why don’t you just listen to Logan and me? You have a good script, we’re just trying to make it better. It’s not like we’re trying to turn it into some noir movie like Hunter was,” Fiona explained.

  Logan tried a soft glove approach. He quickly flipped through his script. There was a few red marks and scribbles here and there—nothing major. “Look, this is all I want to change. You can see it’s not that much.”

  “Why can’t you directors just leave well enough alone? I don’t try to tweak your work, so why do you insist on tweaking mine?” Isabel asked.

  “I’m not the enemy here. I’m not like Hunter. I’m open to advice. Do you have any input on how I can do my job better?”

  “You can start by leaving my script alone.”

  “Other than that?” Logan said.

  “Well…no,” Isabel replied.

  “Alright. Well here’s the thing, I’m going to make these little tweaks. Trust me, it’ll make the movie all that much better,” Logan insisted.

  Isabel glared at Logan and at Fiona.

  She then groaned and huffed off. “I’m not done with this yet!”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Logan decided it was best to carry on with rehearsals without Isabel. He’d already decided to make changes to Isabel’s script anyway. It didn’t really matter what she thought. Besides, maybe giving Isabel some time to herself would let her cool off.

  Isabel felt like she could have plowed through all the food at the catering table. She was a woman who prided herself on not being as emotionally unstable as the drama queens in the acting world, but she had a flair for the theatrical to her as well. The difference was she just wasn’t willing to admit she had a little prima donna in her.

  While the rest of the cast and crew couldn’t wait to get on with rehearsals, Daisy decided to seize the opportunity of talking to Isabel alone. Granted Isabel was in an emotionally fragile state, but maybe that was a good thing in Daisy’s case. When people had things on their mind, they had a way of letting other things slip by accident.

  Isabel certainly wasn’t without a motive. She had a short temper when it came to her words, and no one wanted to change them more dramatically than Hunter. While Logan and Fiona only wanted to tweak what Isabel had written, Hunter had plans to overhaul the entire script and turn it into a noir film.

  In Isabel’s eyes, that was an abomination. Completely unacceptable. Daisy could only imagine Isabel’s reaction if she walked in on Hunter overhauling her script in his trailer. Things might have gotten rather noir in real life that night.

  The question became, could Isabel ever get angry enough about her words being changed to commit murder? Daisy approached her at the catering table with eyes on finding out.

  “It’s just one of those days, huh?” Daisy asked.

  “Tell me about it,” Isabel replied.

  “I have to admit I’ve had at least a couple of mornings where I’ve wanted to eat a whole tray of cream puffs.”

  “Don’t give me any ideas.”

  “Now granted I’m only a set decorator, but I love your script just the way it is. If I was the director, I wouldn’t change a word,” Daisy said.

  Isabel’s fragile writer ego needed that compliment. She lapped it right up.

  “Really?” Isabel asked.

  Daisy nodded. “I wish I could write like you.”

  “I really poured my heart and soul into this script,” Isabel revealed.

  “It shows. That’s why it’s such a shame that people keep wanting to change your words.”

  Isabel couldn’t agree more. “I know, right?”

  “I’d be beside myself if someone wanted to overhaul my script. And to change it to a noir movie--sheesh. You must have gone nuclear when you found out what Hunter was doing to your little work of art,” Daisy said.

  She’d laid out the bait, now she had to see if Isabel would bite on it.

  The whole complexion of Isabel’s face changed all of a sudden. The emotions all started rushing back to her. She grit her teeth. It was clear she wanted to blow her top, but she wasn’t about to do that in front of Daisy.

  “That was not a good day,” Isabel replied.

  Isabel could be as understated as she wanted with her answers, but she wasn’t fooling Daisy. It was clear that Isabel didn’t realize her eyes were giving away far more information than her words. Daisy was happy to keep it that way.

  Daisy decided to press further, really stirring the pot. “I’ll bet. They say ‘hell hath no fury like a woman scorned’, and if Hunter tried to pull anything like that with me, he’d see just how scorned I can be. Do you know what I’m saying?”

  Isabel tensed up. She was clearly uncomfortable talking about Hunter’s untimely demise. Then again, so was everyone around here. They had no problem badmouthing the man when he was alive. Of course now that he was dead, they were all under suspicion.

  Given Isabel’s vague answers and the general awkward tension she gave off, she was far from being exonerated from guilt either.

  “I’m sorry, did I make you feel uncomfortable?” Daisy followed up.

  “It’s just that I’m not sure it’s a good idea to be speaking so vocally about hating a man who was just murdered a few days ago,” Isabel answered.

  “You’re right. Anyway, don’t let the situation with Logan get you down. He’s definitely not out to destroy your script. He’s a much different man than Hunter.”

  Isabel couldn’t wait to change subjects. “I thought we weren’t going to talk about Hunter anymore.”

  “Of course, my mistake. Actually, there’s something else I wanted to talk to you about,” Daisy said.

  Isabel had no idea where Daisy was going next. She clammed up a little.

  “Ok,” Isabel replied.

  “I was wondering what you’re working on now,” Daisy said.

  Isabel looked puzzled. “What do you mean?”

  “It’s just that I heard you say the night Hunter was killed that you were at home writing. So what are you working on?”

  Isabel went as stiff as a corpse at that question.

  As Daisy looked into her eyes, it was clear Isabel was fumbling for an answer. On the outside however, Isabel tried to stay as calm as possible.

  “Oh—right. I’m kind
of working on a couple different ideas. I haven’t found the one I really want to focus on.”

  “That’s a shame. I like your writing so much, it would be great to read something else you’ve written,” Daisy said.

  “That’s nice, but like I said, I’m kind of between writing projects right now. Besides, I don’t let people read my work until I’m done with it,” Isabel explained.

  Even though it was clear Isabel was itching to get out of the conversation, Daisy wasn’t done with her quite yet. She tried to reel her back in.

  “Hey, what are some of the ideas you’re bouncing around? Maybe I can help you pick a good one?”

  “Actually, I should get back to the rehearsal. I want to see what changes Logan is really making to my script.”

  Isabel then moved to walk away.

  “Just one more thing,” Daisy said.

  Isabel reluctantly turned around. “What is it?”

  Daisy pointed to the pastry tray on the catering table. “Cream puff for the road?”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Daisy grabbed a cream puff of her own before returning to work. She needed all the sugar she could get to try and piece together this case. So far she wasn’t able to eliminate anyone on the cast or crew as a potential suspect.

  She decided to beat feet on restoring the set decorating back to its former folksy glory while letting her various theories about the murder marinate in her mind.

  Daisy was only back to work a few hours before she got an unexpected visit.

  “Daisy.”

  When Daisy heard Fiona Foster’s voice behind her, she was startled. Daisy was used to being the one to sneak up on people. She had become so engrossed in the set decorating that she didn’t even see Fiona coming.

  Daisy clutched her chest as she turned around.

  “Wow, you scared me. You shouldn’t sneak up on people like that,” Daisy replied.

  “I could say the same for you,” Fiona insisted.

  Daisy was puzzled. “What are you talking about?”