Exposed Negative: A Small Town Cozy Mystery (Shot & Framed Book 2)

by Nancy McGovern

  Dani patted her hand. “I’m sorry.”

  “It’s alright,” Linda said. “Well, like I was saying, I was very much in love with Hof, and Marshall was in love with Juliet.” A shadow seemed to cross over Linda’s face. “Juliet was my best friend. A truly fine girl.”

  “And Marshall? Was he a good man?”

  “He was good to her and he was good for her. He left town soon after the fire.” Linda nodded. “But, oh, we were so young, and time can change people. I wonder what he’s doing these days.”

  Dani looked at her sharply. Could Linda still not know, or was she pretending? “Marshall Mushens became an actor after he left Innocence,” Dani said. “He changed his name. He started calling himself Arthur Chamberlain.”

  Linda gave her a blank, uncomprehending look. For a second, she sat still, and then she jumped. “No!” she exclaimed. “No! No! It’s not possible!”

  “Linda, are you really telling me that you didn’t know who Arthur was?”

  “How would I? It’s been twenty…no…thirty years, and he’s…no! I just can’t believe it!”

  “You didn’t recognize him.” Dani believed her.

  “Why would he come back here?” Linda asked, almost to herself. “Why would he come back here after all these years? It couldn’t be-”

  “Linda...” Dani cleared her throat. “This is a very delicate question. I don’t know how to ask it.”

  Linda looked up at her and blinked.

  “Is it possible that…that your husband, Harry, might have gotten jealous of Arthur?”

  “Of course not,” Linda said. “Why would he?”

  “Did Arthur come back because Dante was his son?” Dani asked, point blank.

  Linda laughed. “Are you joking, Dani? No. I didn’t have Dante until years after Marshall had left town. For better or worse, Hof is Dante’s father.”

  “I was just… wondering.” Dani felt her cheeks flame up. “I wouldn’t blame you for being angry at me.”

  “I want to get angry at you but all of this is so ridiculous. I can’t feel anything but shock.” Linda shook her head. “My God. Years and years since I’ve thought of Juliet and Marshall. I always wondered...”

  “Do you…” Dani cleared her throat. “Do you have any photos of yourself from back then? Preferably of all four of you?”

  “Of course, I do.” Linda got up, and walked over to a walnut chest of drawers. She rummaged through a stack of albums, then paused, surprised.

  “What is it?” Dani asked, knowing in her heart what Linda’s next words would be.

  “It’s the weirdest thing!” Linda exclaimed. “The entire album seems to be missing! All my old photos are gone!”

  *****

  Chapter 15

  An Innocent Lie

  Dani’s head was stuffed with theories and empty of facts. That was the problem, she told herself. There were conjectures she could make and there were motives she could assume but none of it seemed to lead her any closer to the truth. The truth of who Arthur was, for example. Or why he had chosen to revisit Innocence. The more she thought about it, the more convinced she became that Arthur had a reason for coming here, out of all the places he could have gone. It wasn’t sentiment, either, that had led him back. So what was it?

  The one theory she had was that he’d come back into town in order to revisit the place where Juliet Francis had died. Yes, this was a theory she could believe. Juliet had influenced Arthur. She had opened him up to becoming an actor and changed his life completely. What’s more, he had loved her with all the passion only first love can evoke. And, until the day he died, she had a special place in his heart. Could it be that he had come back to Innocence in order to investigate Juliet’s death? It seemed unlikely. Why would he, after all? But then again, it also made sense.

  Too much sense.

  Dani knocked on the door to what had been Arthur’s room. It was opened by a grumpy looking Margaret, her hot pink hair in disarray.

  “It’s early,” Margaret grumbled. She had on a pair of satin pajamas with an illustrated dog sewn on the shirt pocket. The curtains were drawn so that her room was still dark.

  “It’s noon,” Dani said.

  “Well… I sleep in on weekends,” Margaret retorted. “Is this important?”

  “Yes,” Dani replied. “I want to know why you lied to the police.”

  Margaret was suddenly wide awake and the door was wide open. She dragged Dani in without a word and slammed the door shut behind her. Dani, smiling to herself, walked over to the desk and sat down on the folding deck chair placed next to it.

  “Who told you I lied?” Margaret exclaimed.

  Dani shrugged. “It was a stupid lie, really.”

  Margaret wrung her hands together. “Was it Dante? It was Dante, wasn’t it? That little rat!”

  “You acted like you didn’t know him at all,” Dani said. “You acted like you’d just driven into town the night you knocked on our door. But the truth is, you were here on the day of the party!”

  “Yes, I was,” Margaret groaned. “I know I need to talk to the sheriff about it, too.”

  “So why didn’t you?”

  “I don’t know!” Margaret said. “It’s lame and it’s stupid but I didn’t mean to lie. The sheriff…and all of you…just assumed that I wasn’t at the party. So I just didn’t want to mention it, that’s all.”

  “What were you doing here?” Dani asked.

  Margaret sighed. “I suppose it has to come out now. The cat’s out of the bag.”

  “Yes. So you might as well talk.”

  “Arthur...” Margaret groaned. “This is all my brother’s fault. He dragged me into a world of trouble, as usual. I’m always burying myself in trying to bury his secrets!”

  “Tell me all about him,” Dani said. “For one, why did he leave New York?”

  “He got hit with those nasty, untrue allegations, for one,” Margaret said. “Do you know about that?”

  “Something about it.” Dani was uncertain.

  “Arthur was crazy about Radiance Mahone,” Margaret said. “They were very close when they were younger. But then Radiance hit the big time and Arthur remained in the little leagues. It didn’t make him jealous, but it made her lose interest. At one point, I actually thought they were going to be married, you know. There was talk of a baby. But then…” Margaret sighed and shrugged. “Arthur moved to LA after the baby died in childbirth. He was heartbroken. Not Radiance, though. She just kept getting more and more famous! One hit after another. Not that fame brought her happiness. Whatever it was that she wanted, she was still hunting for it when she overdosed. Nasty, self-obsessed woman she was.”

  “Was he at the party when she died?”

  “Yes,” Margaret said. “That’s why there was a lot of talk. But it’s ridiculous. My Arthur wasn’t the type to do drugs. Even though half of Hollywood does, he stayed clean. Every time we thought that the case was closed, they’d bring it up again. This time, there was a revival of one of Radiance’s plays and, of course, a renewed interest in the case came with it. Suddenly the police were asking Arthur questions about her death and implying he’d done it.”

  Dani bit her lip.

  “All for publicity, I’m telling you. The press had a field day initially. You know how the paparazzi hounded him when he first moved in here, right?”

  “Right,” Dani nodded, remembering her father’s plants.

  “But Arthur wasn’t important enough to hold their attention for too long,” Margaret said. “So, he laid low in Innocence while he waited for the heat to die down, hoping to refresh himself. But there was something else. There was a reason he chose Innocence.”

  “What was it?”

  “I don’t know,” Margaret said, frustrated. “He never shared that with me! I just knew my brother was plotting something.”

  “So what happened?”

  “He went mad, for some reason!” Margaret exclaimed. “He called me one day and his voice so
unded as though he had just drunk an entire bottle of whiskey. He told me that he’d decided to join a play. I told him it was a bad idea, that joining an amateur group like this always is,” Margaret said. “But Arthur said that it might well be the best decision he had ever made.”

  “Why did you come down the day of the party?”

  “Well, by then, the allegations had died down and I thought it would be safe for him to come out of his self-imposed hiding. I came down that day to talk sense into him,” Margaret said. “I had other offers on the table, roles that would actually pay him good money. A small independent film wanted him to play the ghost in a dark comedy. No need to show his face in the film, just voice-over work mostly. And it was being shot in Iowa. Perfect for someone who wants to lay low. Plus they were offering him $60,000 and a small share of the profit. Not bad at all.”

  “It does sound good.”

  “Exactly, except he’d have to back out of Othello,” Margaret said. “Which seemed like a no-brainer to me, considering they weren’t paying him anything!”

  “But Dante didn’t like that?”

  “Dante was furious at me,” Margaret said. “When I came to talk to him about it, he asked me if I thought Arthur and I were the only ones that mattered. He said that Arthur had made a commitment and ought to stick to it.”

  “Did Arthur agree?”

  “Arthur agreed,” Margaret said. “He told Dante there was no way he was leaving Innocence.”

  “Oh.” Dani was taken aback. “So Arthur agreed with Dante.”

  “Yes, that’s what I just said.” Margaret sounded irritated. “God only knows what was going on in my brother’s head! He told me to clear out and clear out I did. I was in a pretty bad mood, let me tell you. I was cursing him all the way back home.”

  “Where is home, exactly?”

  “Six hours away,” Margaret said. “LA.”

  “When did the sheriff call you?”

  “The next afternoon,” Margaret said. “I was so shocked to hear about Arthur’s death, I drove all the way back. I felt so guilty, too. I thought it was a heart attack when I first heard the news. I wondered if I had caused it by increasing his blood pressure! I know how it looks. I’m sure you think I’m heartless and money-grabbing. But I did love my brother. I was in such a state that the first thing I thought of was that he’d like me to gather his belongings and make arrangements for his funeral. So I came to your home.”

  “And that’s when you found out he was murdered,” Dani nodded.

  Margaret buried her head in her hands and began sobbing. “I loved my brother! I did! Please believe me! I didn’t mean to mislead you or the sheriff. I didn’t lie. I just didn’t think to tell anyone that I’d been here before. Or, rather, I didn’t want to become a suspect!”

  Dani didn’t say anything but she wondered if Margaret knew just how bad it looked. According to Margaret, she’d driven six hours one-way from LA just to convince Arthur to take a different role. Then, when he had refused, she’d just…driven back? No, Dani couldn’t quite take it in. She supposed stranger things could happen. But this was the weakest alibi she’d ever heard.

  Then again, Dani doubted that Margaret was the killer. After all, the killer had probably heard Dante talk about saving the case of beer for his Othello. Margaret, who had arrived in Innocence that evening, would not have heard this. Had she wanted to murder Arthur, she would have chosen some other method.

  Dani sighed. So, it seemed like Margaret was probably telling the truth after all. She’d just panicked. As for Dante, Margaret’s testimony seemed to clear him completely. Dante had no problem with Arthur. Arthur had been eager to do the play. Between that and Linda’s statement that Dante had been in the hospital the night of the break-in at Dani’s house, Dani instinctively felt that the sheriff had arrested the wrong man.

  But if it wasn’t Dante, who was it? Who could have hated Arthur enough to kill him, and why?

  *****

  Chapter 16

  What Maisie Overheard

  Rehearsals the next day were a strained affair. Dante’s lawyer had managed to get him out of jail but everybody kept giving him sideways looks and whispering to each other as he passed. Dani felt rather sorry for him. Dante himself was trying hard to act nonchalant, although the bags under his eyes and the way his hands shook slightly were plain for everybody to see.

  While some people took that as a sign of a guilty conscience, others, like Allie, felt nothing but loyalty to him. When everyone else had left for their lunch break, Dani wandered over to the basement to talk to Dante herself, only to find Allie already there.

  “The sheriff’s mad if he’s trying to pin this on you,” Allie was saying. “You’ll get out of this, Dante, don’t worry about it.”

  “I don’t want to worry about it,” Dante said. “I don’t even want to think about it, to be honest. I get a panic attack every time I do.”

  Allie gave him a hug, “You’ll be alright.”

  “Thank you,” Dante said. “You know, you’re like a rock to me, Allie. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

  Uncomfortably, Dani wondered whether she should leave the two alone. The door was open just wide enough that she could see them and it reminded her of the last time she’d been sneaking around the basement, when she’d overheard Allie talk to someone on the phone.

  Dante, blissfully unaware of being observed, had a hand around Allie’s waist and was looking deep into her eyes. “I just wish I could tell you how much you mean to me,” he was saying. “I’m always so sarcastic, I forget to be nice sometimes. I forget to tell the people who matter that-”

  “Dante-” Allie gave him a gentle push. “Don’t. Please. We’ve had this conversation before.” She looked unhappy, her mouth twisted into a scowl.

  “I wish I understood why, though,” Dante said. “We’d make a great couple, you know.” For a moment, his eyes flicked to her lips and he bent as though he were going to kiss her. When Allie pushed him again, he sighed and stepped away.

  “I only see you as a friend,” Allie said. “Dante, you know that!”

  “I know.” He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “I guess after everything that’s happened, I just got emotional. When the sheriff arrested me, my entire life flashed before my eyes. I was a mess, Allie, and you were the one light in my darkness.”

  “I still can’t believe they think they’ve got enough evidence to charge you!” Allie exclaimed.

  “Well, unless we find the real killer soon, I might just have to write my next script from inside prison.” Dante gave her his crooked smile again. “What do you think about that?”

  “I won’t let it happen,” Allie said, her mouth set in a determined line.

  “What’s it to you, anyway?” Dante gave her a playful nudge. “Are you saying you have a soft corner for me, Allie?”

  “I’m not saying…” Allie paused and scowled. “You want to join us, Dani?”

  Dani, who had been so engrossed that she’d leaned against the door, jumped back and sent her crutch clattering down to the floor. Dante looked at her in some confusion while Allie strode up to the door and yanked her inside.

  “Dani’s second job seems to be that of a spy,” Allie said. “Or maybe leaning against the basement door just has some secret charm I can’t comprehend.”

  “Look, Allie, I’m sorry.”

  “No. Apologies only mean something if you mean them,” Allie said. “You’ll be sneaking up on us again any time you get the chance! What will I find next, a microphone in my car?”

  “It’s not what you’re thinking...” Dani said.

  “Well, what is it, then? Why are you going around eavesdropping? Didn’t your mother ever teach you any manners?”

  Dante gasped, putting his hands to his mouth, while Dani tried to blink through the red haze that seemed to block her vision. Her throat had suddenly developed a lump in it that stabbed the sides when she tried to swallow or speak.

  Alli
e, realizing what she’d said, backed down. “Ok, I think I got a little too rude there. I didn’t mean to go on about mothers-”

  Dani’s jaw was gritted and she shook Allie’s hand off her shoulder.

  “Look, I’m sorry,” Allie continued. “It’s just that I hate my privacy being intruded upon. You have to admit you’ve been really rude!”

  Without a word, Dani pushed past her and clumped up the stairs. She heard Dante say something to Allie but didn’t bother to wait and see what it was. She wasn’t sure what her plan was, exactly, except that she knew she had to calm herself down. Now that she was away, her frozen brain had thawed and was brimming with witty, cutting replies she should have made to Allie.

  But the farther she walked, the more she wondered if Allie wasn’t right. After all, she had been eavesdropping. Quite shamelessly, too. Allie had a right to lose her temper. But she shouldn’t have been so harsh…

  “Hey, watch it!”

  Dani raised her head just in time to see a pile of clothes two inches away from her nose. The girl carrying them was completely hidden behind the pile, with only a pair of leggings and sneakers visible underneath. Dani tried to turn, forgetting her crutch, and her ankle instantly sent up a little firework of pain.

  “Ooof!” She bumped into the clothes and both she and the girl who had been carrying them fell down. The girl gave a frustrated groan and jumped back up, picking up the scattered clothes.

  “Laundry day today,” she said, looking back at Dani, who was struggling to her feet. Realizing that Dani had a cast, the girl dumped the clothes back on the floor and sprinted to help her up.

  “Sorry!” she exclaimed. “I didn’t hurt you, did I? I know I shouldn’t have piled them so high, but I can’t help it. I hate making two trips to the machines!”

  “It’s alright,” Dani smiled. “Everyone makes mistakes, right?”

  “Right. Only I make them all the time! Now if only others were as nice about it as you.” The girl smiled. She ran a hand through her pixie-cut neon hair and gave Dani a friendly smile.

  Dani stuck out her hand. “I don’t believe we’ve met? I’m Dani.”