A Baked Ham (16 page)

“I thought you had a doctor’s
appointment this morning,” I asked.

“I cancelled it.
 
That can wait.
 
This can’t.”

“Are you sure about that?” I
asked him.

“Stop worrying about me,
Victoria.
 
I’m fine.”

I was going to have to take his
word for it.
 
“Is Martha with you?”

“She’s in the kitchen talking to
your mother.
 
Why?”

“I’d just rather not get into it
right here right now,” I said.
 
“It can
wait until we’re in the truck.
 
We’re
still digging into Benny’s murder, aren’t we?”

“You bet we are,” he said.
 
“Let me just tell them we’re going, and we’ll
be on our way.
 
Would you like to wait
for me in the truck?”

“Sure, why not?” I asked.
 
I walked outside, got into the passenger side
of Moose’s truck, and then I waited for him.
 
I wish I hadn’t looked around to see if Marcus were somewhere nearby,
but if I said that I didn’t, I’d be lying.
 
It was with more than a hint of relief for me when Moose walked out and
got in on the driver’s side.

“I’m not starting this thing
until you tell me what happened,” Moose said.

After I brought him up to date on
what Marcus had told me, my grandfather asked, “Do you believe him?”

“Which part, the threat, or what
he said about his relationship with Sandra Hall?”

“Both, I guess.”

“Yes and no,” I said.
 
“Marcus may believe that he’s okay with
Sandra’s behavior, but I doubt that he is.
 
It killed him to tell me about it, and the only reason he did was to get
us to leave his girlfriend alone.”

“How about the threat he made?”
Moose asked.

“Oh yes, I had no trouble
believing that was real.
 
We need to talk
to her first thing.”

“You’re not afraid of Marcus?” my
grandfather asked.

“Of course I am.
 
I’m not an idiot.
 
But think about it.
 
There’s a good chance that Marcus isn’t
working right now if he had time to come by the diner.
 
That means that if Sandra is at the gym, he’s
probably not going to be around to interfere.”

“You’re intrepid, if nothing
else,” Moose told me.

“Thanks.
 
I think,” I said.

“There’s nothing wrong with being
brave, Victoria,” he said.
 
“Just be sure
that you can deal with the consequences.”

“I’m as sure as I’ll ever be,” I
said.

“Good enough.
 
Let’s go see Sandra, then.”

“I just hope she’s in.”

Chapter 10

We got lucky with our
investigation, which happens every now and then, but not nearly enough, at
least in my opinion.
 
Sandra was working
at the gym despite what Marcus had told us the day before, and what’s more, she
was just finishing up with a customer when Moose and I walked in.

“I wanted to come by and
apologize for the mix-up in your dressing room last night.
 
You were wonderful last night,” I said.

“Really,” she said calmly.
 
“I appreciate your kind words, but I’m not so
sure that I was.
 
I thought
Benny
was a hack, but he looked like
Olivier compared to Fred Hitchings.”

“Aren’t you two close now that
you’re acting together?” I asked.
 
I
wanted to see if what Marcus had told us was true.
 
If it was, it meant that Sandra was already
having a fling with her new costar.

“No,” she said, the disgust
evident on her face.
 
“I’m afraid that
he’s ruined some of my most valuable acting techniques for me forever.”

I had to wonder if that meant that
she was no longer getting intimate with her costars, but for the life of me, I
couldn’t find a way to ask her without embarrassing myself.

Moose clearly had no such
compunction.
 
“Does that mean that you’re
not favoring him with any
special
attention?”

“What do you mean by that?” she
asked, daring him to elaborate.

That was a dangerous road she was
about to embark on, knowing my grandfather as I did.
 
It was time to step in before he had a chance
to answer the question.
 
“It’s not
important.
 
We understand that you were
in the restroom when Benny was killed.
 
Did you have a touch of food poisoning?”

“No, I won’t pretend that my
nerves weren’t on edge, especially since it was clear from the beginning that
it was going to be up to me to carry the play.
 
It’s not at all unusual for great actors to have nerves before a
performance, especially opening night.”

“Was anyone there with you the
entire time?” I asked her.

“No, other actresses were in and
out, and it wouldn’t surprise me if half of them didn’t even know that I was
there.
 
I kept to myself, and I didn’t
invite anyone’s sympathy or understanding.
 
I do what I must do.
 
Why are you
really here, Victoria?
 
Are you
interested in a membership?”

“Not as interested as we are in
asking you some questions,” I said.

Sandra frowned.
 
“Marcus warned me that you might be by, but
he told me not ten minutes ago that he’d dealt with you both once and for all.”

“I’m afraid that might have been
wishful thinking on his part,” I said.
 
“He told me about your arrangement, but I can’t believe that he wasn’t
more jealous than he was.”

“Jealousy is for the commoners,”
she said almost regally.
 
“Marcus
understands my process, and he accepts me as I am.”

“You shouldn’t treat him like
he’s disposable,” I said, letting my personal feelings interfere with our
investigation for a second.
 
I wasn’t a
big fan of Marcus by any means, but that didn’t mean that I thought he deserved
the bad treatment he was getting.
 
“People deserve better than that.”

She laughed at my statement.
 
“My, I never dreamed that Marcus could count
on you as one of his defenders.
 
It is
what it is, and he knows that he’s free to look for someone else whenever he
pleases.
 
I can’t change my ways.”

“Can’t, or won’t?” Moose asked.

“I’m bored with this.
 
If you’re not interested in starting a
membership, I have work to do.”

“One more thing,” I said.
 
“You didn’t happen to be the one who left a
note at my house last night, were you?
 
If you did, you forgot to sign it.”

“I have nothing to say to you in person,
so why would I ever leave you a note?
 
Now, you both need to leave.”

I put on my brightest plastic
smile.
 
“Sandra, that’s no way to treat a
potential customer, is it?
 
I’m sure your
manager would be pleased to get my input about your attitude, unless you’re
acting
with him, too.”
 
I knew that I shouldn’t have said it the
second the words left my lips, but I hadn’t been able to help myself.
 

She stared at me icily as she
said, “What I do with whom I choose is no one’s business but mine.
 
If you’re looking for who killed Benny,
you’re talking to the wrong woman.
 
I was
about to be finished with him once and for all after our final performance, but
there’s another woman who actually felt a loss when Benny stopped seeing
her.
 
If you want to know who was angry
enough to hit Benny from behind with his pitiful little acting award, you don’t
have to look any further than Amanda Lark.
 
Do you even know who she is?”

I laughed with little
conviction.
 
“Oh, we know all about
her.
 
Funny, she told us that you were
the one who probably killed Benny.”

It was Sandra’s turn to
laugh.
 
“What woman wouldn’t try to
transfer the blame to someone else in an effort to save face?
 
Amanda was at the theater that night.
 
Did you know that?”

“She told us that she was busy
elsewhere,” Moose said.

“And you believed her?” Sandra
asked.

“Why should we believe you?” I
asked her.

“Because I wasn’t the only one
who saw her here.
 
Ask Garret if you
don’t believe me.
 
She was so rowdy that
he had to throw her out.
 
The woman was
drunk, plain and simple, and I’d be surprised if she even remembered killing
Benny the next day when she came out of her stupor.”
 
She looked up, and my gaze followed
hers.
 
A man in a sleek warm-up suit
approached us.
 
“That’s my boss.
 
Now get out right now, before I sic Marcus on
you both.
 
He’s very loyal to me, and
he’s not afraid to get his hands dirty.”

“We’re not afraid of him,” Moose
said.

“No?
 
Maybe you should be.”

“Come on,” I said as I tugged at
my grandfather’s arm.
 
“We’re finished
here, at least for now.”

“I’d say for good,” Sandra said.

“You might, but I wouldn’t,” I
said as Moose and I left the gym.

“May I help you?” the manager
asked as we approached him.

“We’re still thinking about
joining, but we’re just not sure,” I said.
 
“My grandfather and I never make up our minds on the spur of the
moment.
 
Don’t worry.
 
We’ll be back.”

“I hope so,” he said.

After we were in the parking lot
heading for the truck, I said, “At least we have a personal invitation from the
manager to come back now.”

“Yes, but I don’t think Sandra or
Marcus will be too happy with us if we take him up on it, do you?”

“Maybe not, but that’s going to
be too bad.
 
Do you believe her?”

“Are you referring to Sandra’s
attitude?”

“It’s pretty bad, but that wasn’t
what I was talking about,” I said.
 
“I’m
wondering if we should believe her claim that Amanda Lark was at the theater
when Benny was murdered, despite what she told us about being busy somewhere
else.”

“There’s only one way to find
out,” Moose said.

“Do you mean come right out and
ask her?” I asked.

“I was thinking we should speak
with Garret,” my grandfather said.
 
“I’d
like a little proof before I tackle Amanda again.”

“She doesn’t intimidate you, does
she?” I asked him with a grin.

“No, but I’ve never been all that
fond of going after a bear with a BB gun.
 
We need something bigger than Sandra’s word.”

“You’re right.
 
It might be prudent to find out if it’s true
before we ask Amanda about it directly.
 
Is there any chance that Garret will tell us the truth?”

“There’s little doubt in my mind
that he will,” Moose said.
 
“After all,
what’s he got to gain by lying to us?
 
It’s not like Amanda’s one of his actors.”

“You’ve got a point.
 
He seems to treat them all like delicate
flowers, doesn’t he?”

“Too much so, for my taste,”
Moose said.

“To be fair, though, you were
never a great fan of live theater.”

“No, I’ll leave that for you,” he
said.
 
“Why don’t we go pay a visit to
Garret at his jewelry store?
 
I doubt
that he’ll be willing to make a scene there, especially if there are any
customers shopping on the scene.”

“If there aren’t, maybe I can
drum one up to help us out,” I said as I reached for my cell phone.

“Who are you going to call?”
Moose asked.

“I thought I’d ask my favorite
attorney if she’d like to do a little shopping on our behalf,” I said as I
called Rebecca Davis.

My best friend picked up on the
second ring.
 
“Hey, are you busy right
now?”

“Victoria!
 
I happen to have an hour free.
 
Why, what did you have in mind?”