Acting Up

by A. A. Albright

  After that, the interviews went on much the same. But no matter how much we pressed, no one would elaborate when it came to Mandy. Each and every person swore blind that she was a delight. And each and every person was full of crap.

  ‘It’s days like this I wish truth spells were legal in interrogations,’ Finn grumbled. ‘I mean, can’t you at least talk to your mother about it?’

  ‘Oh, sure. I should try to use my relationship with the Minister for Magical Law to make my job a bit easier. Because nepotism always works out well. Anyway, we both know why truth spells are inadmissible. There are a million ways to fudge the results.’

  ‘I know,’ he groaned. ‘But we’re not going to get anywhere if everyone keeps saying the same lines.’ He looked down at our list. ‘That’s what it feels like, isn’t it? Like they’re all sticking to exactly the same script.’

  I had to agree with him. This many people couldn’t possibly like Mandy Parker. Could they?

  ‘I want to talk to the staff who weren’t in today,’ Finn said. ‘Just because they were off doesn’t mean they don’t know anything. But we can do them tomorrow. For today, we’ve only got three more people left. Oh, and of course they’re the stars of the show. Dashell Berry, Aidan Flynn and Gillian White.’

  ‘Not Gillian.’ I shook my head, looking at my notes. ‘Apparently she collapsed when she heard the news. Bruno told half the cast and crew before he even called us, so she got out before we locked the set down. She’s off at some private healing clinic as we speak, but no one has the details of where that clinic is. Convenient much?’ I sighed. ‘Anyway, let’s get Dashell in.’

  ≈

  He was a handsome guy, with dirty-blond hair not unlike Will’s. He even had dimples in his cheeks. But he didn’t have the same sea-green eyes that I wanted to lose myself in, and he definitely didn’t have the charisma.

  According to him, he was having coffee with two of his co-stars at the time of Mandy’s death.

  ‘Bruno popped in and saw us in the canteen before he went to meet Mandy,’ he said defensively. ‘Ask him. Ask the others, too. This had nothing to do with me.’

  ‘We’ll do that,’ I said. ‘You and Mandy are in the same coven, aren’t you? You must get to spend a lot of time together, then. Both on the set and off.’

  Dashell examined one of his many expensive rings. ‘Not particularly. My father and my brothers run the coven wineries, so I prefer to spend my free time there, soaking up some sun and chugging down some vino.’ He let out a horsey laugh, and I did my best not to shudder.

  Of all the people from the cast, he was the one who most resembled his character. He played Gary, the boss of Baron (the husband in the show). Gary was a slimy man who cared about expensive brooms, attractive women, and the company’s bottom line, in that order. His character also loathed humans.

  ‘Mandy and I aren’t close in the slightest,’ he continued. ‘And I barely know Felix, either, before you ask. Although I do often wonder what he’s doing here.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ Finn pressed.

  ‘Well, it was hardly up to his usual standards, was it? This show might be popular, but at the end of the day it’s just a tacky little sitcom. Felix Kline was a stage actor before he became Mandy’s body double.’ Dashell quivered. ‘It was bad enough having one Mandy wandering about. But a lookalike as well?’

  ‘Oh?’ I looked carefully at him. ‘Sounds like you weren’t a big fan of Mandy’s.’

  As he pulled at his collar, I noted that his cuff links were just as expensive as his rings. Also – cuff links? Most of the cast had changed into their own clothing by now. Maybe these were Dashell’s own clothes. I’d noticed that quite a lot of the higher-ups in the Berry coven favoured the formal look. ‘Well, I … I mean, it was just a little joke. Didn’t mean anything by it. Of course I was a major Mandy fan. Why wouldn’t I be? Mandy was … lovely.’

  ‘Mm hmm,’ I drawled. ‘So everyone keeps telling us. Can I get a look at those cuff links, Dashell?’

  Dashell’s face turned puce. ‘I … well … they’re rather expensive.’

  ‘I’m sure they are,’ said Finn with a face that brooked no argument – even from a rich and entitled Berry like Dashell. ‘But they’re still going to be searched – just like every single item belonging to everyone on set. We’ll provide clothing for you to go home in, and we’ll return your personal items when we’re done.’

  ≈

  Aidan Flynn, who played Mandy’s husband Baron in the show, was apparently too upset to cope with walking across set.

  Finn and I trudged our way to his dressing room. It was about half the size of Mandy’s, and smelled strongly of eucalyptus. It also looked like he did more than sip champagne and order people about in there. He had books littered everywhere, as well as scripts. He was shutting down a laptop when we arrived, a sheepish expression on his face. I’d caught what looked like a screenplay before he switched off.

  ‘Excuse me,’ he said, standing up and shaking my hand. ‘I always find escaping into my writing helps when I’m feeling a bit shell-shocked or what have you.’ He nodded towards his coffee pot. ‘Can I get you two a drink? And don’t worry – your people have already turned my dressing room over in their search for Blue.’

  ‘Word’s gotten out then,’ Finn muttered to me. ‘Why is that not a surprise?’ He sat down on Aidan’s couch and casually crossed his legs. ‘No to the coffee, thanks.’

  ‘Fine, fine,’ he said amiably. ‘Now before we start I just want to get my alibi out of the way. I was with Dashell Berry and Gillian White, having coffee this morning. So it couldn’t have been me. They’ll all confirm it. Bruno too. He popped in on his way to his meeting with Mandy.’

  ‘Oh?’ I gave him a level stare. ‘I wasn’t aware we’d asked you for your alibi yet, Aidan. I also wasn’t aware we’d told you the time of death.’

  ‘Yes, but … it was this morning, wasn’t it? I mean, that’s what everyone’s saying. Felix was supposed to meet with Mandy but she was late. She also hadn’t told anyone else about the meeting with Felix, so when Will Berry came to Mandy’s dressing room to kill her, he thought Felix was Mandy, and murdered him by mistake.’

  Finn whistled. ‘Well, thank you Aidan. You’ve saved us the work of doing an investigation.’

  Aidan pushed his chest out. ‘Well, I like to be helpful where and when I can.’

  I’m not sure how, but somehow Finn managed not to call Aidan a delusional little prat. Instead, he pasted an even expression on his face and changed the subject. ‘So what do you write then? I can hardly imagine a man like you needs to escape into fiction. Your life is already the stuff of dreams. The lead man in a popular television show. All the money and fame you could want.’

  Aidan gave a faux-humble shrug. ‘Some might see it that way, I suppose. But not me. We should always strive to be more. I spend most of my free time studying screen writing and creative writing in California.’ He let out a wheezy laugh. ‘I’ve even started to spell like an American.’

  His laughter trailed off. ‘This show … well … it’s not exactly as I envisioned when I signed on. And even if it were, I won’t be able to play the leading man forever. My handsome looks will fade, as everything must. When that happens, I hope I can write and direct some truly meaningful movies. Films about the magical condition. Films that make witches think. Make them strive to be the truest, most authentic witches they can be.’

  I was growing ever more impressed with Finn’s composure. For my own part, I was struggling. It wasn’t the pretentiousness that was standing out. It was the subtext. ‘What do you think makes an authentic witch, then?’

  His eyes lit up in a way that made me feel vaguely nauseous – the glint he held there made him look like he was about to invite me to join his cult. ‘I’m so glad you’re interested. An authentic witch is a witch who knows that to be a witch is everything. In many ways, Mandy is such a witch. She knows she’s above the other supernaturals. She’s asked
me to join the Berry coven, as a matter of fact, and I’m seriously thinking of taking her up on the offer.’

  ‘And there was me thinking the sióga were the most powerful supernaturals,’ said Finn. ‘So you and Mandy sound like real bosom buddies, then.’

  Aidan laughed even more wheezily than before. ‘Oh, not like that. I would never step on Will Berry’s toes. He used to be a bit of a hero of mine, as it happens. The youngest ever leader of the Berry coven. The man lucky enough to bag Mandy Parker, to boot.’

  ‘You said Will used to be your hero,’ Finn pointed out. ‘Care to elaborate?’

  His laughter trailed off. ‘Well, I hate to talk out of class but … I often wondered if the idiot knew just how good he had it. A woman like Mandy is a gift from the goddess. And yet Will was constantly arguing with her, whenever he thought they were alone.’ He blew his nose, and then wiped his eyes with the same tissue. Lovely. ‘I know I said writing usually helps me through the bad times, but in this case I’m not sure it’ll do the trick. I mean … Mandy. I can hardly believe I almost lost her. She’s a ray of light, as far as I’m concerned.’

  I’d heard a lot of people gushing over Mandy today, but this guy took the prize. ‘And what about Felix? Was he a ray of light?’

  ‘Well, he and I didn’t really see much of each other, so I can’t comment. But I hear he was a well-liked sort of chap. An excellent body double, as well. When I had scenes with him, I really couldn’t tell the difference between he and Mandy, so I’m not surprised that the killer mixed them up.’ He walked over to an essential-oil burner and took a deep sniff. ‘Trying to clear the old airways with the eucalyptus. Hay fever clogs me right up. Isn’t a magical cure to beat these essential oils, not for me anyway.’ He blew his nose again. ‘But let’s get back to the subject at hand. Do I think someone would have had a grudge against Felix? Not in a million years. As for Mandy … there’s only one person I could think of who had a grudge against her, and that’s her fiancé. Will Berry.’

  4. Sweet Sixteen …

  Finn and I sat in our brand new headquarters, at his fancy new desk, sucking on cool pops. A cool pop, in case you’re wondering, is mushed up ice with flavouring, sold in a long plastic tube from which you suck it out. Finn’s flavouring was cola, and mine was raspberry. Yes, cool pops are just about as glamorous as the paddling pool we used to have in our back garden. They’re also just as much fun.

  As fun as our snack was, I think we were both perfectly aware that we weren’t just cooling off before our interview with Will. We were also stalling. Paul was making something or other – he hadn’t told me anything about it, yet – that would help us gauge Will’s real reaction to our questions. We were also waiting on Shane to finish up the autopsy.

  ‘Why are you wearing your uniform today?’ Finn asked, turning his desk fan up. ‘You and Gretel are always wearing the things even though I keep telling you Major Crimes can wear plain clothes.’

  I felt a small swell of sadness at the sound of Gretel’s name. Yeah, she was still part of Major Crimes, but she was spending most of her time heading up the Vlad’s Boys task force these days. I missed her goofy sense of humour and her clumsiness, but this was a big promotion for her, one she’d long deserved. If I wasn’t heading to college in the autumn, I’d love to be working with her.

  I swept my sad moment aside and answered Finn’s question. ‘Because my own clothes don’t come with inbuilt air conditioning. Or a magically expanding waistband.’ I glanced down at my notes. ‘So we’ve gone through most of the cast and crew now. And everyone has an alibi.’ I sighed. ‘Of course they do. I checked out the canteen, and there’s no camera in there, so we’ve no way of confirming if Dashell, Aidan and Gillian were in there this morning. Bruno corroborated what they said, but … I dunno. Something’s not right about it all. There is a camera outside Mandy’s dressing room though, so Paul is looking at that.’

  ‘Good,’ said Finn. ‘And we’ve searched all their personal items. No poison. But a whole lot of other substances. No wonder Dashell Berry panicked when you asked for his cuff links.’ He was trying very hard to suppress a grin. ‘Ronnie’s just told me that they were filled with Up.’

  I bit back a grin of my own. Up was completely legal and readily available in any apothecary. It was a substance that might make a man seem like he has far more stamina in the bedroom than he actually does. Even though it wasn’t illegal, the fact that Dashell hid his stash showed that he was rather embarrassed to need it.

  ‘No Blue, though,’ I said. ‘And let’s face it – it’s the Blue that we needed. Are you going to hinge this interview on the theory that everyone else is pushing? Will Berry came in and killed Felix thinking he was Mandy?’

  Finn frowned. I couldn’t blame him. To have so many people point the finger at the head of the Berry coven was disturbing. And to have so many people who all happened to be one hundred percent positive of where their fellow cast and crew members were at the time of the murder was even more disturbing. We now had a time of death – around seven thirty a.m. – and we were waiting on more results from Shane, but it was extremely strange to have to interview people who seemed to know not only the time of death, but also the substance used in the murder, before we made it public.

  I knew that gossip travelled quickly in small communities – and the Be My Witch studio was a sort of community in its own right. But there was something off about this whole thing. Not least the fact that the dizzy feeling I experienced upon seeing the body had yet to go away.

  ‘Maybe,’ Finn said eventually. ‘Although we can’t rule out that Felix could have been the intended victim. All I know is there’s an angry Berry lawyer in there with Will, and I’d rather be anywhere but here. I mean, why has Will even agreed to come in for questioning? And why did he wait in there all day while we dealt with the Mandy Parker Fan Club? He could have walked out any time he liked. Or fobbed us off completely. He’s not an official suspect.’

  He moved even closer to his fan and rested his chin on his arms, looking at me. ‘You’ve had quite a few run-ins with Will in the past, Wanda. What does your gut tell you on this one?’

  I took another slurp of my cool pop, putting off the answer for as long as possible. My gut wasn’t just telling me calmly that Will hadn’t killed Felix. It was screaming at the top of its voice, making the rest of my organs vibrate in protest.

  ‘I think he’s come in to prove himself,’ I said, honestly. ‘There’s no way he killed Felix. Mandy is his fiancée. He’d be able to tell the difference between her and Felix from a mile off, body double or not.’

  Finn grunted his agreement. ‘Yeah. I think you’re right. He might be a Berry, but I’ve always liked Will.’ He looked at his watch. ‘Shane should be done with the autopsy by now. I wonder what he’s found.’

  ‘Speak of the god of the morgue and he shall appear.’ Shane sidled up to our desks. ‘Ooh, cool pops.’

  Finn opened up his desk-top freezer and tossed one Shane’s way. ‘Raspberry flavour is all I’ve got left. Hope you like it.’

  Shane pulled open the treat and smiled as he sucked. ‘Oh, that’s good. It’s so hot today that even my morgue doesn’t feel cold enough.’

  You might be wondering, around about now, why all of us magical people weren’t, oh I dunno, using magic to keep ourselves cool in the heatwave. Well, we’d started off that way. And then the heatwave kept going on, and on, and on and, frankly, it’s kind of exhausting to keep cooling spells going on your body all day long. Spells to change the weather were strictly controlled, too, because of the whole everything is connected to everything else concern. Sure, we could give ourselves a much more pleasant temperature, but someone else might just suffer.

  And only tourist destinations and mega-rich witches had the means to erect invisible, weather-controlled domes around their hotels and mansions. It wasn’t an option for every single enclave in Ireland.

  We did have better equipped water reservoirs than the human areas
in Ireland though, so one up for the witches on that score.

  ‘Why do they call this flavour raspberry anyway?’ Shane wondered as he slurped the last of the icy goodness from the tube. ‘Last time I checked, raspberries were red. This is blue.’ He threw the empty tube into the bin. ‘And speaking of blue, I know it’s what we were leading with, thanks to Ronnie’s tests, but we’re now one hundred percent certain that it’s what killed Felix.’

  ‘Well, that’s good,’ said Finn. ‘Aidan Flynn will be happy to know his own investigative powers are spot on.’

  Shane looked confused, so I explained. ‘Everyone on the cast and crew seems to have this case figured out already. They knew it was Blue before we did, and they’ve even picked out the culprit, too.’

  ‘Oh,’ said Shane with a dry laugh. ‘That was nice of them, wasn’t it? Although I wish I’d known beforehand. One of them could have done the autopsy instead of me. Anyway, Ronnie’s confirmed that the poison wasn’t just in the orange juice. It was also in the fresh, low fat doughnuts that Mandy gets delivered to her dressing room every morning. Felix ate some doughnuts, and quite a lot of Witch Chips, too. Can’t be certain just yet, but seeing as how he stank of paprika, I’m going to guess that it was the Smokey Sweet flavour. My own personal favourite – or at least it was up until about half an hour ago.’

  He pulled over a chair and cooled himself by the fan. ‘So who do all of these crime-solving experts from the set have pegged for the murder, then? I heard the director or writer or whatever he was accuse Will Berry. That can’t be right, can it?’

  Finn let out a sound almost like a growl. ‘It’s what they all seem to think. What’s your take on him?’

  ‘Honestly?’ replied Shane. ‘He might be the newest leader of the Berry coven, but he seems like a decent guy to me.’

  ‘Really?’ I felt my forehead scrunch up. There seemed no end of people who liked Will. And yet Will himself was constantly telling me that he was only out for himself. If that was the case, then he was doing a good job of fooling the rest of the world.