Trouble in Warp Space (14 page)

“He who lives by the cable, dies by the cable,” Joe said with a grin.

•  •  •  

Two days later the cast and crew of
Warp Space
gathered at Claudia Rajiv’s condo for a far happier party.

“Well,” Sandy O’Sullivan said, hanging up her cell phone, “it’s official. We’ve been saved from cancellation.”

The assembled crew gave a whoop of approval.

“I guess the network figured the publicity from all this would offset the production losses,” Bruce Reid said. “Good thing, too. I don’t think my career could have stood another flop.”

“What I don’t understand,” Claudia said to the Hardys, “is how you figured out it was Webb behind everything.”

“I thought it was suspicious,” Frank said, “that in
both Iola’s accident and Stiller’s, that Webb knew exactly what to do to cut the power. The evening we caught Webb, I remembered Millani saying that Webb had started in showbiz as a gaffer’s assistant.”

“Because gaffers work the lights and electrical equipment on a set,” Joe said, “Webb knew just how to sabotage the control panels and Chet’s ray gun, among other things. He also arranged the ‘accident’ that zapped Stiller and one that nearly hurt Iola. Stiller was behind what happened to Peck Wilson, though, as well as a lot of the other mischief around the sets. Webb secretly encouraged him, hoping to drive the show under.”

“Killing the show would have allowed Webb to move west and take on a new assignment for Monumental Broadcasting,” Frank said. “The number on the stolen pager was to a producer’s office. It seemed unlikely that a big dealmaker like David August would be calling anyone below the level of producer or director.”

“That narrowed it down to Webb or Sandy,” Joe said. “But Sandy had nothing to gain if the show went under, and everything to lose. That left Webb. We didn’t have proof, though, until he came to the set.”

“He’d wiped out Stiller’s computer, and anything else that might have led back to him,” Chet said.

“But he didn’t get the pager,” Iola said, “and that’s what nailed him.”

“I can’t get over how bad I felt for that creep Stiller!” Jerri Bell said.

“He got what he deserved,” Stan Pekar said, rubbing the back of his head where Stiller had hit him.

“In any case,” Frank said. “I’m sure that both Stiller and Webb will be locked up for a long time.”

“In the same cell, if there’s any justice,” Claudia Rajiv added.

Sandy O’Sullivan sighed. “I really don’t know how I can thank all of you,” she said. “If not for you four,
Warp Space
might have been space dust.”

“Just doing our job,” Joe said with a smile.

“Are you sure you won’t take some more bit parts on the show?” Sandy asked.

“No, thanks,” Iola said. “All that makeup was murder on my skin. No offense, Mr. Pekar.”

“None taken,” Stan Pekar replied.

Frank shook his head, too. “I think Joe and I have had our fifteen minutes of fame,” he said.

“What about you, Chet?” Sandy O’Sullivan asked.

Chet Morton looked at his watch. “I might give it another go,” he said. “If what they say is true about everybody getting fifteen minutes of fame, I figure I’ve got about fourteen minutes to go.”