Page 17 of Her Last Secret

"Help? Look, I wasn’t exactly friends with either of them…and none of their friends, either. But I still hear some things from time to time.”

“Have you completely removed yourself from the theater scene?” Jack asked.

“Basically. I do some freelance pieces from time to time.” She gestured to the fabrics on the coffee table, cigarette perched between her fingers. “But I stay away from the drama and egotistical bullshit of it all.”

The air seemed to grow heavier as they sat in silence. Rachel could feel the undercurrents of resentment emanating from Juliette, as tangible as the dogs that were still sniffing around her feet.

"Everyone's quick to judge," Juliette continued, her voice laced with scorn. "Quick to point fingers at the easy target. But those girls weren't saints either. They played their parts on and off the stage."

"Did they have enemies that you know of?” Rachel asked. “Anyone who might have wished them harm?"

"Enemies?" Juliette paused, her lips twisting into a ghost of a smile. "In this business, darling, everyone's your enemy. And again…as I said, I didn’t know either of them like that."

“But you worked with them on a few occasions?”

“I did.”

“Did you ever hear them complain about anyone in particular?” Jack asked.

"Complain?" Juliette's voice cracked like a whip. She took a drag of her cigarette and puffed the smoke out in a long ribbon. "That's all they ever did. Whine about the fit of a dress, or how I played favorites." She spat out the words as if they were bitter seeds.

It occurred to Rachel that Juliette may be too jaded and bitter. She didn’t think they were going to get helpful answers out of her. She was too self-involved, the first person they’d spoken to who had shown no remorse.

The sour stench of cigarette smoke seemed to cling to every word that filled the cramped space of the apartment. "Did anything happen to Emily or Sarah that was out of the ordinary when you worked with them? Any incidents where they might have been in danger?"

Juliette scoffed, tossing her head back, the lines etched on her face deepening. "Danger? These girls thought a broken nail was a tragedy. But there was this one guy..."

The way Juliette’s eyes narrowed sent a chill down Rachel’s spine, as if she was peering into a memory laced with darkness. "He was always there, lurking at the late shows. You could feel his eyes, hungry, watching them like he was crafting some sort of masturbatory fantasy."

"Did he ever try to approach them?" Rachel pressed, her voice low and urgent.

"Approach? He practically lived by the stage door when those shows were over, waiting for the final applause to fade so he could try to slither in," Juliette said, a sneer curling her lip.

Rachel exchanged a glance with Jack, who sat rigid, his jaw clenched. This was the first they'd heard of someone taking an unhealthy interest in the actresses outside the usual fanfare. It was a lead worth following, she supposed. And soon, hopefully. Between the cigarette smoke and the absolute self-importance emanating from Juliette, Rachel was ready to get out of there. Plus, the stupid dogs were still sniffing around her feet.

Rachel stepped back a bit, trying to get away from the annoying little dogs. "Did you ever actually see this man confront Emily or Sarah…or any of the other actresses for that matter?"

Juliette shook her head slowly, her gaze fixed on some unseen point in the cluttered room. "No, but there were whispers, you know? Talk of him making lewd comments, gestures that really got under the girls’ skin. The sort of thing that doesn't sit right with you."

"Anything more concrete?" Rachel pressed, aware that hearsay wouldn't stand up under scrutiny. They needed hard evidence, something definitive.

"Once, I heard he got pretty nasty," Juliette admitted, her eyes flickering with the memory. "The girls were spooked, said he wouldn't take no for an answer when he wanted to come backstage after a show. One of the directors stepped in and sort of pushed him around a bit. They had to call the cops to drag him out. He was shouting about being wronged, about them not understanding his devotion."

"Did you hear about this incident involving the police yourself?" Jack interjected, the timbre of his voice indicating that he, too, was a little reluctant to take Juliette at her word.

"Sure did. It was the talk of backstage for days." Juliette's tone took on a note of certainty. "Couldn't miss it. The girls were shaken, and no one wanted to be alone by the stage door for a while after that."

“How long ago was this?”

She took another long drag from her cigarette as she considered. “I’d say maybe a little less than two years ago.”

“And for the sake of the record,” Rachel said, “we’d like to know where you were on the nights Sarah and Emily were murdered. That would be last night, and then four nights ago.”

“Are you serious?” Juliette asked, anger snapping up like a snake about to strike.

“Yes. We need alibis.”

Juliette looked absolutely livid, but Rachel thought the woman understood the gravity of the situation. With her entire face a stone slate, she answered in a severe tone that had gone sharp and sour.

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