Death of a Blue Movie Star

"I didn't bleedin' fire her. She's going on to a better opportunity."

"Unemployment?"

"Ha. Tell you what, we'll give you forty more a week and all you 'ave to do is 'elp out a little in the office. When you feel like it. Let the files stack up, you want."

"Larry…"

"Look, we just won the bid for this big advertising job. That company we were going after. House O' Leather. You 'ave to 'elp us out. You'll be first production assistant. We'll let you shoot some footage."

"Advertising? You shouldn't do that crap, Larry. What about your documentaries? They're honest."

"Honesty 'as its place, luv, but what it is, this agency's paying us a two 'undred thousand fee plus fifteen percent markup on production. Please… Just 'elp us out for a bit."

She waited a moment while she muscled up some coyness. "Larry," she said. "You know I'm working on this documentary. About the bombing-but not about the bombing."

"Yeah, right." His mouth curled a portion of a millimeter.

"Maybe, when it's finished, you could talk to some of the programming people you know. Put in a good word for me."

"Rune, you think you're gonna send a tape to PBS and they're gonna bleedin' show it? Just like that?"

"Pretty much."

"Lemme see it first. Maybe, you got some good footage, we could go in and work with it."

"Not it, me. Work with me."

"Sure, you's what I meant to say."

"You can introduce me to some distributors?"

"Yeah. Might 'appen."

"All right, fair enough. You want an administrator, I'll do it."

Larry hugged her. " 'ey, way to go, luv."

Rune finished coiling the wires. She made sure the coils were even but not too tight. That was one thing they'd taught her at L amp;R, and she appreciated it-how to take care of your equipment.

Larry asked, " 'ey, what kinda hook d'you come up with for that film on the bombing? A bio of that girl got killed?"

"That's what it was going to be about, but not anymore."

"What's it's about now?"

"It's going to be about finding a murderer."

*****

Rune sat on Nicole D'Orleans's couch, sinking so far into the luxurious leather that her feet were off the ground.

"This is very embryonic, you know. They oughta sell these to therapists. Get right back, you know, to the womb, sitting here."

Nicole wore a purple minidress with a scooped neck showing six inches of taut cleavage, purple glittery stockings, white high-heel shoes. When she walked she loped forward awkwardly. Her concession to mourning was a huge black bow in her hair. She'd just come back from a memorial service for Shelly, an informal event that the people at Lame Duck had arranged. "I've never seen so many people crying at one time. Everybody loved her."

That brought back the tears but this time she was able to control the sobbing. Rune watched her wander through the living room. Nicole had started-obsessively, it seemed-to pack up Shelly's belongings. But since the actress had no close family she didn't know what to do with them. Moving cartons lay half-filled in the bedroom.

Sunlight streamed through the open-weave drapes and fell in bright patterns on the carpet. Rune squinted against it as she waited for Nicole to finish aligning the boxes, folding the lids over. Finally Nicole sighed and sat down.

And that was when Rune said to her: "I think Shelly was murdered."

Nicole gazed blankly for a minute. "Well, yeah. The Sword of Christ."

"Sword of Jesus."

"Whatever."

"Except that it's fake," Rune said. "It doesn't exist."

"But they left these notes about angels destroying the earth and everything."

"It's a cover-up."

"But I read it inNewsweek. Ithas to be true."

Rune looked at the centerpiece on the table, hungry and wondering if the apples were too ripe; she hated mushy apples. But if she started to eat one she couldn't very well put it back. She said, "Nobody's every heard of them. And I can't find any reference to the group anywhere. And think about it-you want to kill someone, okay? You make it look like a terrorist thing. It's a pretty good cover."

"But why would somebody want to kill Shelly?"

"That's what I'm going to find out. That's what my movie's going to be about. I'm going to find the killer."

Nicole asked, "What do the police think?"

"They don't. First of all, they don't care she was killed. They said… Well, they don't think much of people in your line of work. Second, I haven't told them my theory. And I'm not going to. If I do, and it's true, then every-bbdy'll get the story. I want it for me. An exclusive…"

"Murder?"

"What do you think, Nicole? Was there anybody that would've wanted Shelly dead?"

Rune could sense the gears turning beneath the teased, sprayed hair that glittered with tiny silver flecks, a living Hallmark decoration.

Nicole shook her head.

"Was she going out with anybody?"