Countess Dracula (23 page)
‘You shot a man.’
‘Only by accident – how many times do I have to tell you? Elizabeth was killing that poor boy and I was trying to save him.’
‘But you missed and shot your manager smack in the head. Yeah …’
‘You still don’t believe me?’
‘Of course I don’t. It’s bullshit and any sensible jury would smell it a mile off.’
Nayland fixed him with a blank stare. ‘We’ll see. You may get the climax you want after all.’
Harrison shook his head. ‘Nah … they’ll let you get away with it because you’re you. You’re the man they know from the silver screen, the hero, the man they think they know just because they’ve paid a few dollars to see you over the years.’
‘All I ever did was try to entertain.’
‘No. You’re a professional liar and as far as I’m concerned you’ve never stopped.’
Nayland shrugged and looked away. ‘Believe what you like.’
Harrison got up and walked out, unable to spend a moment longer with the man.
Outside, finally able to breathe fresh air, he unclenched his fists and leaned against his car, trying to get his anger under control. The man was guilty, guilty of far more than being a lousy shot and a weak-willed idiot who helped to cover up a murder committed by his wife. But there was no way he was going to be able to prove as much so what choice did he have but to let it go?
He looked up to see a billboard looming over him. It was advertising a new movie,
Crime Without Passion
.
‘No such thing,’ he told it. Then he got in his car and drove away.
CODA
‘YOU’RE SHITTING ME!’
laughed Tony Riggers. ‘You’re telling me he got away with it? Your story needs work, my friend.’
He walked off, laughing and shaking his head. Leo stared at the old man, still standing in front of the broken patio doors, half silhouetted against the bright sky beyond.
‘It does seem a bit far-fetched,’ Leo said, feeling that he ought to offer some opinion as he was still, at least nominally, the man in charge here.
‘I liked it!’ said Cheryl, holding her friend’s arm tight, kids sitting beside the campfire listening to scary stories.
‘Well, I thought it was disgusting,’ announced Margaret Riggers, ‘and certainly not the sort of thing I paid my money to listen to. You can rest assured that I will be asking for a refund.’
Good luck with that
, thought Leo but said nothing as she marched back outside to join her husband.
‘I can’t help the facts,’ the old man said. ‘They are what they are.’
‘Hang on, though,’ said Vonda. ‘So you’re saying the police only ever found out about Georgina, the maid? All the other women they killed, all those prostitutes, that went undiscovered?’
Holdaway nodded. ‘They had no reason to look into it any further, did they? They’d never have believed that the blood had that effect on Elizabeth. The people at the party didn’t want to come forward and offer evidence of what she looked like at the end – they hid away and kept their secrets, just like Hollywood always does. The only other man who knew their secret was Fabio and he was dead. All the police had to go on was a missing maid and the dead bodies at the party.’
‘OK,’ Leo said. ‘I get that, but it still doesn’t make sense. As you say, there’s only three people who knew about it so … how come you do?’
Holdaway smiled at that and reached into his jacket pocket. ‘Because my name’s not really Gary Holdaway,’ he admitted, pulling out a small handgun. ‘It’s Frank Nayland – and you’re all going to help me make a comeback.’
IMAGE: A NEWS CLIP SHOWING THE HANDSOME FACE OF A YOUNG MAN WAVING AT THE PREMIERE CROWDS.
THE TEXT READS:
Rising star and winner of the
Variety
‘One to Watch’ award this year, Gary Holdaway, wowed audiences last night at the premiere of his new star vehicle
Shatterstar
. ‘I’m just so glad to be given this opportunity,’ he told our reporter. ‘You have no idea how long I’ve dreamed of this moment.’
FADE TO BLACK
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Version 1.0
Epub ISBN 9781446492086
Published by Arrow Books in association with Hammer 2013
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Copyright © Guy Adams 2013
Guy Adams has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work
Based on the classic Hammer film,
Countess Dracula
, directed by Peter Sasdy and released in 1971
This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance between these fictional characters and actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
First published in Great Britain in 2013 by
Arrow Books in association with Hammer
A Random House Group company
Addresses for companies within The Random House Group Limited can be found at:
www.randomhouse.co.uk/offices.htm
The Random House Group Limited Reg. No. 954009
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 9780099553861