Death of a Blue Movie Star

"I figuredThe Erotic Adventures oj Bunny Blue isn't an army training film," Rune said.

Today-after another phone call-Rune had found that Danny Traub was at home, entertaining some prospective actresses, if that verb worked with Traub. The woman who'd blown the whistle on the insurance policy had assured her that the producer would be busy for hours.

The Lame Duck receptionist marked her place and looked up from underneath a sheen of brown eye makeup.

Rune had decided she wasn't as content as Sam Healy was to forget about the other two suspects. So she was going to find more evidence-either for or against Danny Traub and Michael Schmidt.

The receptionist continued. "The thing is, the people they hire are a certain kind of person."

"Certain kind?"

"A little, well…"

"What?" Rune was frowning. The girl glanced at her chest.

"More…"

"Are you trying to tell me something?"

"… voluptuous, like."

Rune's eyes went wide. "Don't you know about the Constitution?"

The horror novel was a loss. The girl folded it over without marking her place. "Like the ship? That was a ship in the Civil War? What's that got to do with-"

Rune said, "You can't discriminate against anyone just because they aren't Dolly Parton."

"Dolly Parton?"

"All I want to do is audition. If you don't want me because I can't act, okay. But you can't deny me a chance to try out because I don't have big boobs. That's, like, a federal lawsuit."

"Federal?"

There was a pause. The woman debated within herself, rifling pages of the paperback.

Rune asked, "Can I have an application?"

"They don't have applications. All they do is, like, they look at a reel you bring in of yourself. Or else you go into the studio here and, you know, do it. They tape it and if they like it, they call you back. Let me see if there's anybody around."

The girl stood up and walked into the back part of the office, swaying her independently connected hips. "Wait here."

She returned a minute later. "Go on back, the second office on the right." She looked at her novel with disappointment, realizing she'd have to find her place again.

The rooms were divided off with the same clumsily cut Sheetrock rectangles that she remembered from Nicole's so-called dressing room. The walls had been recently painted but the surfaces were already scuffed and dirty. The posters and shades were from discount import stores, the sort where newlyweds and NYU students buy wicker, bamboo and plastic to furnish first apartments. There was no carpet.

The Second Office on the Right contained more or less what she'd been expecting. A fat, bearded man in a T-shirt and black baggy slacks.

He looked up and smiled in a curious way. It wasn't lecherous, wasn't provocative, wasn't friendly. The odd thing about this smile was that the face it was etched into didn't seem to understand he was looking at another human being.

"I'm Gutman. Ralph Gutman. You're who?"

"Uh, Dawn."

"Yah. Dawn what?"

"Dawn Felicidad."

"I like that. Are you, what? Hispanic or something? You don't look it. Well, doesn't matter. So you want a job. I'm a tough guy to work for. I'm a ballbuster. But I'm the best producer in the business."

"I think I may've heard of you."

His Second Office on the Right glance said, Well, ofcourse you've heard of me.

"Where you from?" Gutman asked. " Jersey, right?"

" Ohio."

"You're from Ohio? I don't think we've ever had any porn stars from Ohio. I like it. Ohio. Hey, lose theDawn. I likeAkron better. Akron Felicidad."

"But I-"

"Yah. The girls work for me get four hundred a day. Also, a discount from my supplier. We shoot on location two months a year. Used to be Europe but with the budgets and so on now it's usually Florida. I'm the one didTriangle Trap."

"No kidding. You did that?"

"Yah, sure did. I got nominated for a Golden Stallion. So, you want a job, huh?" He looked her over. "No tits but your face isn't too bad."

He's going to die and they'll never find all the pieces again.

"Nice ass. Why're you waiting to get your boobs done?"

"I like 'em just the way they are."

He shrugged. "Suit yourself. You look young. Maybe you could play somebody's teenage niece. Get it on with her aunt and uncle. Your typical incest."

"I could do that, sure."

"You have a reel?"

"All I know about reels is they go on fishing rods."

"Ha. Rods." He laughed, and it seemed that she'd made some kind of joke. Then he explained, "Samples of your work."

"I've never been in film before. But I do this little act. Kind of a strip. Do you have a place where I can change?"

"Change? You'll be taking your clothes off in front of twenty people every day you shoot. You want to go someplace and change?"

"No, I want you to get the full effect." She nodded toward her bag. "I've got this outfit. I think you'll like it. Just an office or something? It'll take five minutes."

Gutman was moderately interested. He looked her over again, then waved his arm. "Find an office, change. I'll be here."