A Corpse in a Teacup (3 page)

Tuesday’s neck hairs pricked up. Was
Ariel a possible suspect for the threatening call? A girl who’d put pepper in a rival’s cup could be capable of anything. She made a mental note to check out Miss Cuthbert as Holley continued with her rundown of attendees at the audition.

“
Roger was there. Roger Brand, this photography guy. You know, to see if the camera loved me.” Holley batted her eyelashes. “I’ve always been told it does. He’s not really a cameraman. He’s an assistant or something. He has a thing for me, but on my end? Meh?”

Tuesday knew a lot of industry people, but hadn’t spent much time on sets. She had no reason to; her ambitio
ns were for success off screen. It wasn’t that she didn’t like movies, she was obsessed with them. She pegged people by their resemblance to her favorite actors or film characters, but her eyes glazed over at the specifics of an audition. “Let’s finish the rundown. Who else was there?”

“
Let’s see. Electra. The costume director. She does amazing things with duct tape and aluminum foil to make the costumes authentic.”

Tuesday grinned. “Authenti
c as in authentic made up aliens from outer space wear?”

“Absolutely. You get it
. And Harry, of course. The hairdresser? All the makeup and hair people were there working on getting the look right. Plus the director’s wife showed up. She’s amazing. They didn’t have a craft table for the auditions so she came in with a big pot of soup and home made bread. She joked that it wasn’t made in
her
home, though. She’s so nice and the soup was super delicious. I think the chef at the Mulberry Cat makes it. They have take out, you know.”

Tuesday did know. She worked there. As Holley well knew.

Holley proceeded, clearly enamored with Mrs. Vitale
. “Amazing the way she supports her husband. I’ve never seen a wife do that before. I mean a wife of a director. You know, some of the costumes are just short of malfunctioning if you know what I mean. Electra’s work isn’t like that. Well a little but not too much. Guys don’t like their wives to see what’s prancing around them all day. But she’s cool. I’m going to support my husband like that when I get married. I’ll stand by my man no matter what.”

Tuesday had
been out of town for a week and had a lot of catching up to do today. After a deep, calming breath, she tried to move things along. “Good for you, baby girl. I’m sure you’ll be a model of marital devotion . . . or something. Now, anybody else?”

Holley silently counted on her fingers.
“Nope. That’s pretty much it.”

“Did anything unusual happen at the reading? Anything out of the ordinary?”

Holley shook her head. “No, I read the part. Mr. Vitale gave me some direction and we did a few more takes. His assistant? The Zora person I mentioned?”

“Uh huh.”

“Well, I don’t really know their relationship, but it seemed to me she was butting in a lot. Not really being a director or anything, but telling me where to put my purse, that I was sitting in somebody else’s seat, that I was talking too loud. That kind of thing.”

“And the director allowed it?”

“He didn’t seem to notice, so maybe that’s the way they roll. She whispered in his ear a lot while I was doing my reading. Kind of made me nervous, but then I found my center and just read my lines.”

“Zora sounds like a charmer.”

“I didn’t get the feeling anyone on the set liked her. Well, it wasn’t really a set but a set of rooms where they held the auditions. I heard a rumor that one time? On another movie? Zora gave an order that Mr. Vitale’s wife was not allowed on the set.”

“And he stood for that?”

“Well, my friend, Harry? The hairdresser? Harry said Mrs. Vitale never came back after that. But she was there yesterday, so maybe they worked it out.”

“
Mrs. Vitale must be a force to be reckoned with.”

“I c
an tell you it was nice to see her friendly face show up. It can be hard to make friends on a movie. There’s a lot of jealousy. You know, everyone wants to be the star, even if they’re not. I get that a lot because my parts are so crucial to the narrative.”

Holley took a deep breath
, stretching her abundant frontal assets forward. Tuesday thought, that’s not all that’s crucial to the narrative. But she just said, “What happened next?”

Holley curled back into a comfortable position and continued. “
Then Mr. Vitale said he was really happy with my work and asked about my schedule and dates. Would I be available, did I have a passport? The usual stuff. He said he’d let me know. They were considering a few other people.”

“Do you
know who?” Tuesday inwardly groaned. Holley could spew out endless, mindless detail but skip over important facts.

“I don’t know
. My agent heard it was just between me and Ariel at first. But she was going to try to find out if there was anyone else. You know, so I could audition to my strengths? And show up their weaknesses? She heard Alicia Wayne was a possibility, but then she got dropped. She’s the one who posts her rivals’ bad reviews on Facebook. Not a nice person.”

Tuesday made a note to check into Alicia, but right now she needed Holley to move on.

“But honestly? I think Ariel Cuthbert is my only big competition. She did the Vampires from Another Planet franchise. She’s an awesome actress and all? But she doesn’t have my depth. That’s what Mr. Vitale told me.”

“Before or after the reading?”

“After.”

C
learly, Holley was too gullible to come up with a suspect. Trust was a big part of Tuesday’s spiritual path, but some situations called for a healthy dose of suspicion. If Holley wasn’t going to be her own sleuth, she’d have to be one for her.

“Tell me about Ariel. We know she isn’t trustworthy. What’s your relationship with her?”

“We’re cool.”

“But it sounds like she’s not above pulling a stunt to scare you away from a part she wanted.”

“Gee, I never thought of that.”

No, you wouldn’t, mused Tuesday. No creepdar on our girl Holley. The downside of innocence. Sometimes Holley was so sweet she just wanted to hug her. But at this moment she thought she might have to lock her up in a gilded birdcage to protect her. “So what happened after the director talked about your depth?”

“Then he walked me out to my car. He wouldn’t do that if he wasn’t happy with me and going to give me the part, so I was really excited on the way home. Then my phone rang. This guy just said don’t take that part or else, and he hung up. It was a blocked number so I couldn’t call him back.”

Tuesday was doing her own hair-twirllng trying to channel Detective Richards, the guy who solved O
livia’s case in Darling Valley. What would Detective Dreamy do right now? Probably say something insulting, but that wasn’t Tuesday’s style. Not that she had a style. Darling Valley was the only other crime case she had ever been involved with, but she wasn’t the insulting type. Impatient maybe, when Holley couldn’t seem to get to the point.

“Holley, could it have been a crank call
? Do you have a friend who knew about the reading and was just yanking your chain?”

Holley returned an exasperated eye roll.
“Oh Miss Tuesday, I don’t have friends like that. I’m in a spiritual circle and we visualize positive manifestations for ourselves and each other.”

“I’m sure you do, sweetie, but
what about somebody that you don’t know very well. Someone not into positive vibes?”

“Well,” Holley looked up at the ceiling again to see if the beams were manifesting an answer
. “I certainly know types like that. But no one who knew about the audition. It came up at the last minute. I had no time to let my circle know so we could visualize me getting the part.”

Tuesday was trying to put the pieces together
. She was forbidden by her contract with the Café to read Holley’s leaves in her apartment, and she didn’t have Tarot cards with her. Not that she was any good at reading them. She never really liked doing puzzles. She preferred clear-cut answers. Give her a cup with squiggly lines made from stems and leaves any day. She could never understand why her clients couldn’t see the anchors and windstorms that were so obvious to her. This crime thing was a stretch, though, bringing her into a world reeling with negativity, something she worked hard at exorcizing from her life. Yet, the Darling Valley murders helped her understand the pressure and urgency of figuring out life and death puzzles. She pushed her brain to find the right questions.

She leaned forward,
trying to recall Detective Richards’ interrogation tricks. She reminded herself that Holley hadn’t done anything wrong, so she shouldn’t harrass her just because she wanted to get the show on the road. Urgent but calm, she told herself. “So who
did
know about the audition?”

“Just my agent and the people at the reading
. My agent called me about it the night before.”

“And your
agent wouldn’t try to spook you?” Tuesday slumped back, reconsidering her question. “But then, why would she? If she scared you away from the part, she’d be shooting herself in the foot, right?”

Holley sat up
right in one fast, effortless move. “That’s right.”

Tuesday couldn’t help herself. “So those abs are no accident?”

Holley pointed to her midriff smiling and mimicking a QVC presenter. “The Thousands. Every day.”

The T
housands was a new fitness craze. Doing the Pilates hundreds ten times a day. Tuesday tried it once and made it to three sets and decided
The Thousands win
. Her abs were flat enough. Who needs to rock a bikini anyway?

She applauded
Holley’s fitness. “You da man, girlfriend. Now, back to work.” She caught a glimpse of a Betty Boop clock in the kitchen. Yikes. Where was the time going? She asked quickly, “What about this Dark Star?”

“Gray Star. No she, or maybe she’s a he, doesn’t have the l
ook. It’s definitely not a part for an ambidextroid. Gotta have a feminine vibe or it won’t work.”

“Okay. Scratch Gray Star.
So that leaves Ariel. She’s not made of pink cotton candy, but do you think she’s capable of something really dark like a death threat? After, all, you were both up for the same part.”

Tuesday
anticipated Holley’s answer. She couldn’t believe anyone was capable of running a stop sign.

True to form, Holley said
, “I can’t imagine anyone doing something like that. Scaring a person half to death just to get a role. If you work hard at your craft and trust your talent like I do, you don’t have to resort to those tactics.”

“Holley, girl. Look at the movies you’re in. Those violent plots have to c
ome from somewhere. Read the headlines. Lots of bad actors out there.”

Holley turned thoughtful. “Yeah, but if they’d take some
drama lessons . . . .”

Tuesday pulled her phone out of her tote and did an Internet search for
Ariel Cuthbert. She had her choice of PR sites that said nothing personal about her. From the photos posted, she could be any blond with enhanced body parts. She could be the blond at the airport who had aced her out of a spot on the airport shuttle. Next, Tuesday scrolled through the back pages, the websites people never bother to check. Most people give up their search if they don’t find what they want on the first page. But Tuesday knew there could be choice pickings buried on those low ranking sites. She kept going.

On page seven she held up her phone and said, “Bingo!”

Tuesday did a happy dance in her chair. “Queue the music, Holley-o. I’ve found something. Something important.”

Holley clapped her hands.

“
Yeah me for finding this! Ariel is our culprit. This website has a piece on an arrest a couple of years ago. Our girl Ariel got into a fracas with a co-star that got nasty. But charges were dropped. And another time she was picked up on suspicion of dealing, but that charge was also dismissed as well. Ariel has a dark side. And important friends who can pull strings for her.”

Holley slapped her forehead and fell back on her couch
. “Oh no. I’ve been manifesting positive vibes like crazy. How did she slip through the net? I think I need to do a spiritual cleanse.”

Tuesday ignored that piece of drama
. She was as much into spiritual cleanses as the next person. But time and place, people. She had a job to get to later in the morning. “Who else have you told about the phone call?”

“Nobody
. Only you. I thought you might give me an answer at the reading. And then when he called back, I was worried that I had even told you.”

“What do you mean he called back?”
This bit of news put Tuesday on high alert.

“Late last night
. Said if I told anyone about his calling me, especially the police, he’d for sure kill me.”

Holley started crying and Tuesday moved over to the couch to comfort her
. “It’s okay, sweetie. I’m here with you. You’re going to be all right. Now did he actually use those words? He was going to kill you?”

“Yes. I w
as so scared I couldn’t sleep. Look at me. I’m a mess.”

Tuesday scanned the huge
doe eyes, a perfect watery green from crying, rimmed with thick eyelashes and mascara that didn’t smear, the Madonna-like oval face and brilliant teeth. The Virgin Madonna, not the rock star. No wonder she was turning up on directors’ lists. She could utter any drivel, and she did in B film after B film, and audiences would love her. Who could wish that face dead? And then there was the killer body, the other side of the Madonna complex to seal the deal. A mess? If only Tuesday could look like such a mess just once in her life.

She
smoothed Holley’s hair back and slipped her arm around her. She rocked her, reassured her in a maternal embrace. “Holley, I know this sounds like such a trite question, but do you know anyone who wants to harm you? Who has a grudge against you?”

“
I don’t have any enemies. Why would anyone want to harm me?”

Tuesday stood up and offered her hand to Holley
. “Come with me. That’s what we’re going to find out. Time for a reading.”