“I didn’t think that would be a problem for you,” said Casey.
“Oh, I don’t mind selling as much as I can; it offends me if the stones aren’t set off artfully and with taste. The gaudy things some people want are repulsive.” Arthur shook his head in disgust.
“I want to talk to you about something, Arthur.”
“Shoot.”
“Privately.”
“Don’t mind me,” said the electroplate technician. “I’m going to lunch.”
“Have a seat, Casey,” said Arthur, waving to a couple of metal chairs.
“I’ll get right to the point,” said Casey as he sat. “I could use a hundred thousand.”
“Dollars?” asked Arthur. “So could I.”
“I mean it, Arthur. The wedding is coming up and I need the money.”
“I’m not in a position to take it out of the business accounts right now,” Arthur said seriously. “Times are tight, Casey.”
“I thought you just told me that all your nouveau riche customers are buying up a storm.” Outwardly calm, Casey stared at the shelves on the wall. Inside, he was seething. “Let’s get it out in the open, Arthur,” he said. “You don’t want me to marry Glenna. You don’t even like her.”
“That’s ridiculous,” said Arthur. “Of course I like her. Why else do you think I’d go to the trouble of packing up a case of diamonds for her?”
Casey was puzzled. “I don’t get it. What are you talking about?”
“I got a call this morning from the guy who runs Glenna’s soap opera.”
“Quent Raynor?”
“Yes. He asked if Walden’s would lend him diamonds for a special finale scene they’re doing for Glenna before she leaves the show. I agreed to have the diamonds there on Friday,” said Arthur. “Believe me, I wouldn’t go to the trouble if it wasn’t for Glenna.”
“Thank you,” said Casey, slightly mollified. “But I still need that hundred grand.”
“May I ask why?”
“Not that it’s any of your business, but Glenna has her heart set on having Martha Killeen photograph our wedding. I want to make that happen. Actually, I should be asking for more. I’m going to have more expenses when I’m married and I have no intention of being a kept man.”
Arthur sighed deeply. “All right,” he said. “But you have to promise me that’s it for a while.”
Casey shook his head. “I’m not going to promise anything of the kind, Arthur. All these years, I’ve only taken that small stipend from the business when I was entitled to much more. That was fine with me then, but it’s not now. Going forward, I have to get what’s mine.”
Chapter 33
Word spread that there was no chance the dream sequence would be shot that day. Quent was said to be making arrangements to add something to the scene. There would, however, be some dry blocking after lunch.
The free hours were fine with Piper. She used them to catch up with colleagues. She learned who had moved, what great vacations people had taken, and that there were three new babies born to crew members since the last time she had been on the show. But most of the conversations began and ended with expressions of disbelief that Travis York had been murdered and agreement that missing his funeral, scheduled for the next day, would be unthinkable.
Mid-morning, Piper knocked on the door of Glenna’s dressing room.
“Come on in.”
Piper opened the door and gasped. Glenna stood in the middle of the room, wearing the most beautiful dress that Piper had ever seen. It was a floor-length gown made of ivory embroidered-silk satin organza. The off-the-shoulder, pleated V-neck bodice led to Glenna’s tiny waist, and below that was a flowing skirt of cascading petal ruffles. The effect almost made it seem as if Glenna was standing in the clouds.
“What do you think?” asked Glenna, holding her arms out.
“I think you should never take that off,” said Piper. “You look absolutely gorgeous! Like a fairy princess, a fantasy.”
“Or a soon-to-be-dead soap opera character,” Glenna said. “How nice to be wearing a Monique Lhuillier gown on your deathbed.” She smiled as she looked at her reflection in the full-length mirror. “You got to give it to Quent. He’s pulling out all the stops on this one. My last bow is going to be a memorable one.”
While Glenna changed out of the dress, Piper brought up the subject of the wedding cake.
“I know it’s crazy to talk about this with everything that’s going on, Glenna, but I have some questions to ask you before finalizing the design.”
“I thought you wanted to talk to Casey and me together.”
“I did,” said Piper. “But, if it’s all right with you, we’d better go ahead and do it now. The wedding is rapidly approaching. We can call Casey if there’s anything he really needs to be consulted on.”
“You’re right,” said Glenna. “And anyway, Casey couldn’t care less about the wedding cake. He just wants me to be satisfied. So, go ahead. Shoot.”
“Great,” said Piper, taking a small spiral notebook out of her robe pocket. “First of all, how many guests?”
“It looks like there will be about a hundred,” answered Glenna. “No more than that.”
“Perfect,” said Piper. I’ll be able to handle it, she thought.
“Okay. Let’s talk about the part that everybody sees on the outside. Do you have any preferences on the color of the icing?”
“I don’t know.” Glenna shrugged. “White?”
“Sure. We could do that if you want,” said Piper. “Are you wearing a white dress?”
“Actually, I thought I’d be wearing an ice-blue silk suit I bought, since this is my second marriage.” Glenna nodded toward the gown she had just taken off. “But now, I’m thinking I might buy that dress.”
“That would be amazing!”
“It wouldn’t be too much? It wouldn’t be inappropriate for somebody my age, with my track record?”
“Um, no!” said Piper. “It’s your day. Wear what you want to wear. And it’s not bright, bright white. It’s ivory.”
“And that makes it less young and virginal?” asked Glenna.
“Totally,” said Piper. “What about a bridal party?”
“Only Susannah and Arthur,” said Glenna. “Although the way it’s going between Casey and his brother, who knows if Arthur will even show up.”
“Ah, family dynamics,” observed Piper. “Always fun.”
“It’s amazing how ugly things can get when money is concerned,” said Glenna. “Quent was in here a while ago, asking me what I thought of seeing if Walden’s would provide diamond jewelry to glam up the dream sequence. I told him it was a great idea. But, when he asked me if I would want to call Arthur and make the request, I had to tell Quent he’d stand a better chance of getting a positive response if he himself called Arthur. It was embarrassing to acknowledge that I’m not exactly my future brother-in-law’s favorite.”
A thought flashed across Piper’s mind. Would Arthur Walden be upset enough about his brother’s upcoming wedding to actually try to prevent it from happening? What if the target of the cyanide had really been Glenna?
“Don’t worry, Piper,” said Glenna. “I already thought of it myself. And no, I don’t think Arthur would be capable of that.”
Piper looked at her friend with surprise. “What? You’re a mind-reader now?”
“The expression on your face gave you away. You forget, I know how that mind of yours works.”
“Maybe you should let the police know about the situation anyway?” asked Piper. “Just to be safe?”
“Yeah, right. And the police talk to Arthur about it? What kind of relationship do you think we all could ever have after that? I’m hoping that things between Casey and Arthur eventually work themselves out. I
f I make Arthur a suspect in a murder, I doubt there would be any chance of us ever coming together as a family.” Glenna shook her head, dismissing the suggestion and moving on. “Keep going, Piper. Next question.”
Fifteen minutes later, Piper knew that while Glenna preferred fudgy chocolate cake, Casey was a plain-vanilla kind of guy. Piper asked Glenna about the flowers she would be carrying and whether or not she wanted something Christmas-related included in the decoration. Still, Piper had no idea about what she was going to do. She wanted to make the cake special, but there was nothing so far that seemed unique to Glenna and Casey.
“I’m looking for something with some romance to it, something that would be symbolic to both of you,” said Piper. “Tell me about the way Casey proposed.”
“That was romantic,” said Glenna, smiling as she remembered. “We went to the last show of the day at the Hayden Planetarium. I didn’t think anything of it, because Casey is such an astronomy geek. I figured he just wanted to see the show. You actually feel as though you’re sitting among the stars, Piper. It’s incredibly beautiful and, honestly, powerful.”
“I’ve got to go someday,” said Piper.
“You really do. Anyway, when the show was over and everyone else had left, Casey told me to make a wish upon a star.” Glenna closed her eyes for a moment before continuing. “Then he said that I would make his wish come true by marrying him. He said that it seemed fitting to ask me there, because I was his star.”
“Ahhh,” Piper said with satisfaction. “That’s it. That’s the essence of your wedding cake.”
Piper was about to leave when Glenna got a call from security. Phillip Brooks was in the lobby.
“Send him up, I guess.”
Hanging up, Glenna groaned and turned to Piper. “Don’t go. Phillip is here and I really don’t want to be alone with him.”
“I don’t understand,” said Piper. “Why are you even letting him in?”
Glenna breathed a deep sigh. “He’s still Susannah’s father, Piper. What am I supposed to do?”
“Set boundaries,” said Piper. “Tell him he just can’t come here. It’s totally inappropriate. You have to see him when he picks up Susannah and when he drops her off, but coming to your place of work should be off-limits.”
“You’re right,” said Glenna. “Of course, you’re right. But at least I feel safe here, with everyone around. Phillip might make a scene, but he’s not going to physically hurt me.”
Piper stopped to consider her friend’s remark. She knew Phillip had a horrible temper, but Glenna had never mentioned anything about it getting physically abusive.
“Has Phillip ever hit you, Glenna?”
“Not really.”
“Uh, what does that mean?”
“When we were married, he grabbed my arm a couple of times and pushed me around, but he never really struck me. He does scare me, though, sometimes. He can’t control his jealousy. And since he heard I was remarrying, I can tell that it’s eating away at him. He’s like a time bomb.”
There was a forceful knock on the door.
“Want me to answer it?” asked Piper, getting up.
“No. I’ll get it.”
Glenna twisted the knob and let Phillip enter. His frame was imposing, emphasized further by Glenna’s diminutive stature. Piper watched as Glenna seemed to shrink back from him.
“Hello, Phillip,” Glenna said, her tone cool. “What are you doing here?”
“I wanted to see how you were doing . . . like always.” Phillip leaned down to give his former wife a kiss on the cheek. Glenna closed her eyes, girding herself to endure it.
Phillip acknowledged Piper with a nod. Then, he thrust out toward Glenna the bouquet of flowers he was carrying. “I know how upset you must be about Travis,” he said. “I hope these will make you feel a little better.”
“Thank you,” said Glenna with no enthusiasm. She didn’t reach out to take the flowers.
“I can go find a vase,” Piper offered.
“No, Piper. Don’t leave.” Glenna put her hand up.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” asked Phillip, clearly insulted. “You don’t want to be left alone with me?”
“Can you blame me?”
Phillip’s face reddened. “You know, Glenna, I don’t know why I even try to be nice to you,” he shouted. “You are spoiled, self-centered, and ungrateful and that pathetic excuse for a fiancé of yours doesn’t have any idea what he’s in for. How long do you think it will take for you to tire of him like you did of me and go catting around for a replacement?”
“I’m not even going to dignify that with an answer, Phillip,” Glenna said softly. “Please go.”
“I’ll go when I’m good and ready, and not a minute before,” he shouted again.
Glenna turned to Piper. “Call security, will you?”
Piper already had her hand on the phone. Phillip pulled the receiver away.
“This is none of your business,” he snarled. “Stay out of it.”
Piper stood her ground. “You heard Glenna. Back off, Phillip,” she said.
As she looked directly into Phillip’s eyes, Piper was fully aware that in terms of physical strength, she had little chance. He was intimidating. But there was something about the way he used his size to bully Glenna that didn’t scare Piper. In fact, it disgusted her.
“Phillip, if I were you, I’d go,” said Piper evenly. “I’d go now. These walls are like paper and, at this point, somebody has surely heard you yelling. It’s a good bet security is already on the way.”
“Screw you,” Phillip said disdainfully.
“No thanks, tough guy,” said Piper. Even as she said it, Piper knew she had made a mistake.
Phillip reached out, grabbed her arm, and squeezed. She tried to pull away, but he held on to her too tightly, his strong fingers pressing deep into her flesh. Piper felt tears come to her eyes.
Glenna was trying to pull Phillip away from Piper but making no progress when Roosevelt arrived. The security guard grabbed Phillip from behind, wrapping one arm around Phillip’s neck while pulling his arm down and around his back. Roosevelt pushed sharply up on the arm, causing Phillip to holler in agony.
Phillip was escorted away, passing through the small crowd that had gathered at the sound of the commotion. His angry voice carried through the halls.
“You can’t keep me out of here!”
Piper rubbed her upper arm. “Wow. He’s out of his mind.”
Glenna was distraught. “Oh, Piper. I’m so sorry. Are you all right?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. But I hope this doesn’t bruise.” She cracked a crooked smile. “My dream-sequence dress is sleeveless.”
Glenna went to the little refrigerator. Taking out some ice, she wrapped the cubes in a face towel and placed it gingerly on Piper’s upper arm. “Do you think Phillip could be angry enough to have killed Travis?” she asked.
“I’m wondering if he’d be angry enough to kill you, Glenna,” said Piper.
“Well, somebody’s angry.” Glenna reached for her purse. “I got another letter.” She took out an envelope wrapped in a Ziploc bag.
“I’m being careful this time,” she said, extracting the letter from inside the envelope and holding it by the edges. She began to read aloud.
“You didn’t drink the potion.
Here’s what I’ll have to do:
The wedding’s still in motion
But it cannot be for you.
So call it off, don’t doubt:
The mighty Casey will strike out!”
“This time, you have to go to the police, Glenna,” said Piper urgently.
Glenna nodded in agreement. “I’ve already called them. Somebody is really desperate that my wedding doesn’t happen.”
Or worse, thought Piper.
Chapter 34
As she observed the actors rehearsing, Martha Killeen seethed. She had better things to do with her time than to spend her afternoon dragging herself all the way uptown only to find out that Quent Raynor wasn’t ready for his shoot. The nerve of the guy.
When he called the morning after the auction, Quent barely even mentioned the awful events of the night before. He had been all about begging for the photo session today. He claimed he was desperate for her to fulfill her auction obligation right away. A Little Rain Must Fall only had a few days left in the New York studio. He wanted the photos as a print finale. He had big plans for them.
Martha had shuffled around her appointments to accommodate him. Now, though, Quent wanted his actresses dripping with diamonds. He didn’t want the pictures taken until Friday, when the jewelry would be available.
It wasn’t that she didn’t understand. She did. Viewing the all-white set on which the dream sequence would be shot, she could visualize how the sparkling diamonds would add to the images. But what really steamed Martha was that Quent hadn’t called to let her know he was canceling for today. She’d only learned when she arrived at the studio.
Basically, she was doing this shoot for free, since all the money went to the Metropolitan School, but didn’t Quent think of the value of anyone else’s time? She almost wanted to tell him that everything was off. But she didn’t want to stir things up, creating more problems for herself. Martha already had enough of those.
The press was notorious for getting things wrong, and she didn’t need the word to get out that she was a prima donna or dishonorable. If she told Quent that she wasn’t going to do the shoot, he could put the word out she had reneged on her obligation. Quent could conveniently omit the fact that he had canceled without warning. It was insulting.
She had overextended herself financially and had made some disastrous business choices. Her home had three mortgages on it and she had lost so much money in the stock market that she doubted she could ever recapture her investments. Her most valuable remaining asset was her genius with photography. That was what could pull her out of the economic hole she had dug for herself. Her reputation was her treasure and the last thing Martha needed was any bad press.
To Have and to Kill Page 9