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Theodosia halted, one foot in midair as her fingers clawed for the security of the railing. She had a few bad moments where she couldn’t find it, and then, ah, there was solid wood.
She wondered if someone had turned out the lights on purpose—or if they were on a timer. In any case, she knew she’d better get out of there fast.
Feeling a tug on the leash, Theodosia allowed Earl Grey to lead her down the twisty staircase. Dogs have the ability to see in limited light, and after Earl Grey’s heroic performance earlier, she trusted him completely.
They hit the first floor, put the key back, fumbled their way to the back door, and made it out okay. A little frightened but none the worse for wear.
But all the way home Theodosia continued to look back over her shoulder.
15
Theodosia showed up at the movie set this Thursday morning armed with three pans of cinnamon coffee cake. Once she’d arranged all her goodies (and set aside a pan of coffee cake expressly for Joe Adler), she looked around for Sidney Gorsk. She spotted him over in a corner, jabbering away on his cell phone. Though Theodosia couldn’t hear what Gorsk was saying, his head was bobbing like mad and he was smiling broadly. It looked as if he was delighted to get his way with something.
Sidney Gorsk. Could he have been the one last night…?
Before Theodosia could even complete her thought, the cast and crew had descended upon her table, snatching up scones, grabbing pieces of banana bread, and fighting over corn muffins and chocolate-oatmeal cookies. Beth Ann arrived a few minutes later and hurriedly began pouring morning cups of tea.
“I can handle this if you want to take off,” Beth Ann said to Theodosia. “I know you’ve got an event tea today.”
“You’re okay being here for the rest of the day?”
Beth Ann gave a thumbs-up. “I got this.”
But Theodosia didn’t leave quite yet. Instead, she wandered down the long hallway, past the makeup room, and found herself in a large parlor, where cameras and lights were being set up. Furniture was also being carried in—two high-back chairs, a round table, and a tufted velvet fainting couch—that all had a distinct Victorian look and feel. One of the prop guys broke away from arranging furniture to flirt with the script girl and explain how they were about to film one of the movie’s few romantic scenes.
Craig Cole was also there, pencil and script in hand, half watching the action.
“Hey, tea lady,” Cole said in a nasty, singsong tone of voice when he caught sight of Theodosia. “A little bird told me you’re a natural-born crime solver. I guess I should have realized it was more than just a passing fancy when you dropped by to see me the other night.” He moved a few steps in her direction. “And here I thought you were drawn in by my irresistible charm.”
“I do find you charming,” Theodosia said, lying through her teeth. “But I also find Josh Morro’s murder morbid and absolutely fascinating—which is why I wanted to get your take on it.” And then to further diffuse the situation, she said, “The way Morro was killed reminds me of one of those Agatha Christie locked-room mysteries.”
Cole’s face lit up and he cocked a finger at her. “Yes! A whole raft of onlookers and any one of them could be a vicious killer.”
“Maybe you should write a modern-day screenplay based on that premise.”
“That’s not the worst idea I’ve heard,” Cole said. “A familiar premise with a brand-new twist always goes over big in Hollywood. You know, like E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial was kind of an updated version of The Wizard of Oz.”
“The theme being that the main character will do anything and everything in their power to get back home.”
“I’d have to say the ‘want to go home’ concept has to be one of the most powerful literary themes of all time,” Cole said.
“It sure worked in Homer’s Odyssey,” Theodosia said. “Now all you have to do is rework that theme, add in a murder, and give it an updated spin.”
Sidney Gorst wandered past them, still yacking on his phone.
Cole’s eyes followed Gorsk for a few moments, then he said, “I was just thinking. In an unpredictable twist of fate Sidney Gorsk ended up getting his way. Now that Joe Adler’s on board, Gorsk managed to sweet-talk him into shooting all of Andrea’s scenes first so she could leave the movie early and star in that reality show he set her up with.”
“Do you still think Andrea could have killed Morro?”
Cole shrugged. “Doesn’t matter what I think. The police don’t seem to regard Andrea as a viable suspect.”
“Well, if there’s no concrete evidence…”
“Yeah,” Cole said. “No evidence. Convenient, don’t you think?” He tapped his pencil annoyingly against his script.
But Theodosia’s attention was suddenly captured by Ted Juniper, who’d walked in and started adjusting a complicated arrangement of overhead lights.
“Whadya think?” Juniper asked one of his crew as he tinkered away. “This gonna do it? This gonna give Adler the moody look he asked for?”
