Lights Out Tonight (27 page)

Caroline and Annabelle were discussing the elements they already had for the
Evening Headlines
piece when Caroline’s cell phone sounded. It was Meg. She quickly relayed the tale of her stolen computer.

“Now I’m trying to remember what I’d already written for the memorial service, and I know I’m forgetting things,” Meg whined.

“Just write from your heart, Meg. Keep it simple, and don’t make it too long. It’s usually better to keep it short.”

“I wish you could help me with it, Caroline.”

It was the first time Meg had ever asked her stepmother to do anything with her, the first time she had ever asked for any sort of help. Caroline didn’t want to refuse Meg, yet she felt the pressure of knowing she had to use the next hours to work on the
Evening Headlines
piece.

“Tell you what,” she said. “You keep writing and I’ll try to go over it with you before the memorial service.”

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The KEY News team left Curtains Up and headed for the Warrenstown Inn. In the coffee shop, they ordered sandwiches and iced tea and put their heads together on what needed to be done for the
Evening Headlines
piece.

“It’s absolutely fabulous that Caroline got that video of the marijuana in Remington’s cellar,” said Annabelle. “Even if the other networks show up here this afternoon, none of them will have that.”

“What you did, Caroline, was pretty damned ballsy,” said Boomer with grudging admiration.

Lamar winked at Caroline. “Yeah, Boom, not bad for a
little lady,
huh?”

“And let’s not forget, we also have an exclusive on Remington’s latest portrait of Belinda,” said Caroline. “It’s disturbing stuff.”

“I’d like to see that,” said Annabelle.

Caroline handed the camcorder to Lamar, who looked at the tiny viewing screen, scrolling the video back until he came to the pictures of the portrait. He handed the camera over to Annabelle.

“This’ll shake our audience up,” said Annabelle as she viewed the images. “From the looks of this, our artist isn’t so fond of Belinda Winthrop after all. He’s made her look like a monster.”

“And she’s supposed to be the character in
Devil in the Details
in this painting, right?” Lamar said. “Why don’t we get the copy of the tape the theater’s audiovisual department recorded on opening night? We could show the difference between the artist’s interpretation and reality.”

“Good idea,” said Annabelle. “Let’s do that right after lunch.”

Caroline sipped her tea and thought about the elements to be covered in the script she’d be writing later. There was the search at Curtains Up this morning, the police going into Gus Oberon’s garage and Remington’s carriage house, Remington being taken into custody after the police search. And she had the interview she’d done with Belinda in her dressing room right after the opening. That was almost certainly the last video in which Belinda appeared. Though the
Evening Headlines
may have used a clip of it last night, the interview definitely belonged in tonight’s piece.

“We should find out what’s going on with Remington,” said Caroline. “How long will they be able to hold him? What are the charges going to be? Does he have an attorney yet? Do the police think he’s guilty of more than stashing marijuana in his cellar? Do they think he has something to do with Belinda’s disappearance?”

“You’re right, Caroline.” Annabelle reached out and put her hand on her colleague’s forearm. “We’ll have to get to all of that in the piece tonight, but all in good time, my dear.”

“Better watch out, Annabelle,” Lamar said, smiling. “Caroline is thinking of all the things
you’re
supposed to think of.”

“I’ve been noticing that, Lamar,” answered Annabelle. “I think Caroline’s coming over to the dark side.”

As they were waiting for the server to bring the check, Annabelle’s cell phone sounded. All three of her companions could hear Linus Nazareth’s voice barking into Annabelle’s ear.

“I don’t have to tell you, do I, how annoyed I am that all this great stuff I hear you’ve gotten is going to appear first on
Evening Headlines? KEY to America
sent you up there, Annabelle. Did you forget that?”

“Of course I didn’t forget, Linus,” said Annabelle. “But most of the material we have was shot
after
our show this morning.
Evening Headlines
is the next broadcast up.”

“Save it,” said Linus. “By tomorrow morning all the other networks will be up there and the KEY News exclusive footage will have already aired on
Evening Headlines.
My show will be out of luck. I don’t like being out of luck, Annabelle.”

“I know you don’t, Linus.”

“Well, I’m sending Constance Young to host from there tomorrow morning. She’s not too happy about working on the weekend.”

“All right,” said Annabelle. “If that’s what you want.”

“Yeah, that’s what I want. So tell Caroline that Constance will be taking over on this story. If Caroline has decided to play ‘girl reporter,’ tell her to get used to this. She’s being bigfooted.”

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In a conference room at the Warrenstown Police Station, Remington sat, with his head in his hands, across the table from his attorney.

“First of all, the search will be determined to be illegal,” said the lawyer.

“I don’t know,” said Remington. “The carriage house is Belinda’s property, not mine.”

“Yeah, but you’re living there. It’s your domain. They had no right to go in there and snoop around without a warrant.”

“I have no idea how that marijuana got there,” said Remington.

The attorney looked skeptically at his client.

“I
don’t,”
Remington insisted.

“Of course you don’t,” said the attorney as he got up. “You’re an upstanding member of the community. Now I’m going to see about getting you released, either on bail or on your own recognizance.”

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“We’ll need some reaction from townspeople for the piece,” said Annabelle as they walked out of the Warrenstown Inn. “Why don’t we go to the memorial service for those kids? We can get general shots of the population in mourning and grab a few interviews.”

“Oh, I almost forgot,” said Caroline. “I told Meg I would look over her speech.”

Annabelle didn’t say anything, but Caroline got the feeling the producer didn’t appreciate the thought of her being distracted from the task at hand.

“It won’t take long,” she said. “I promise. I’ll meet you at the theater at two o’clock.”

“Thanks for coming, Caroline.” Meg’s face brightened as she opened the door of her dorm room.

“I said I would, didn’t I?”

“I know you did, but I still wasn’t sure you’d be able to make it.”

“How’re you doing on your speech?” Caroline asked.

“Better than I thought I would,” said Meg. “But it’s a pain having to write in longhand. I hope I’ll be able to read my own writing.”

“Want me to take a look?” asked Caroline.

“Better yet, why don’t I read it to you?”

Caroline pushed the button on the timer portion of her watch and listened for the next six minutes as Meg talked about Amy and how their friendship had developed over their weeks as apprentices. She explained the bond the two had instantly felt when they learned they’d each lost their mothers. She listed Amy’s qualities and talents, and spoke of Amy’s happiness over her budding relationship with Tommy. She described the pleasure of receiving the e-mails from Amy that documented the fun the young couple had had on the last day of their lives.

“Except for one that wasn’t worth using, I’ve had all the e-mail photos printed on leaflets that will be distributed at the memorial service,” explained Meg. “Everyone will be able to see what Amy and Tommy were doing right before they died.”

“All right, Meg. Good luck and relax. I know you’ll do a wonderful job.” Impulsively, Caroline leaned over to kiss her stepdaughter on the cheek. To her surprise, Meg didn’t pull away.

“What are you going to do about your computer?” asked Caroline.

“Well, it was a couple of years old, and I was going to ask Dad for a new laptop for my birthday anyway. Until then, I can use the ones in the computer lab when I go back to school in the fall,” said Meg as she picked up some pages from her desk. “But I wish I’d been printing out my journal entries all along. It’s going to be a big pain trying to re-create those so I can get credit for this apprenticeship.”

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There wasn’t an empty seat in the theater, and people stood crowded at the rear and a third of the way down the side aisles. All of the Warrenstown Summer Playhouse community and many of the local citizenry came to pay their respects to the deceased apprentices. Each mourner had received a leaflet printed with photographs of Amy and Tommy.

The killer had a seat toward the back and watched as, one by one, people came to the podium to deliver their memories of the young couple. When Meg McGregor began to talk, the killer stiffened, knowing what was going to have to be done when the memorial service was over.

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As people filed into the theater, Meg spotted Caroline with the KEY News crew. She went over to her stepmother and held out her tote bag. “Would you mind holding this for me, Caroline, until after the service?”

But after the memorial, Caroline and her colleagues stationed themselves in a corner of the lobby. Lamar and Boomer recorded B-roll of the mourners and the interviews that Caroline was able to conduct with people willing to talk about Belinda Winthrop’s disappearance. Most had heard nothing about Remington Peters’s arrest for marijuana possession and were shocked at the news.

Spotting Keith, Langley, and Victoria talking near the doors, Caroline approached. The director, actress, and playwright all seemed tense.

“It was a moving service, didn’t you think?” asked Caroline.

“Yes,” said Victoria. “I thought Meg, in particular, did a lovely job.”

“That’s nice of you to say, Victoria,” said Caroline. “Meg has been very upset about all this.”

“That’s understandable,” Langley interjected. “I used to see Meg and Amy hanging out together all the time.”

“Let’s hope we don’t find ourselves having to plan a memorial service for Belinda,” said Keith. “Victoria just told me that the police came to her with a shoe found in the woods. Victoria identified it as Belinda’s. Has anybody heard what’s going on with Remington, by the way?”

Caroline nodded. “He’s been released on bail. Actually, I’m hoping one of you can help me. We’re working on a story for tonight’s
Evening Headlines.
We checked with the audiovisual department to get a copy of the tape of the opening night performance of
Devil in the Details
and were told that they can’t find the only copy they made.”

“That’s because I have it,” said Victoria. “I wanted to look at it, but I’d be glad to hand it over to you—or better yet, I should give it back to the AV department to make some copies.”