Page 79 of Bright Dark Curses

“What does it mean?” Key asked, panting as if we’d ran a marathon rather than an awkward fast-walking sprint. “The death.”

“It means either Lee had worse health than she thought, that she messed up her latest attempt at sabotage, or the real UNSUB planned her death as some sort of big finale.”

Because what could be a bigger finisher for a curse than murder? Even Bagley hadn’t come up with anything better.

“That’s a lot of options,” Key said, worrying her lower lip.

“Unfortunately.”

My phone vibrated with another incoming call from Dru.

“They’re shutting down production for today,” she said.

“Let’s meet up,” I said, thinking fast. We agreed on a spot and a time, and I relayed the plan to Key.

Twenty minutes later, we sat at a fast-food restaurant and secured enough space for everyone. The workers gave us the evil eye, but nobody bothered us. About forty minutes after that, Shane, Dru, and Ethan made their appearance.

“So,” I began, “this is awkward.”

“It wasn’t me,” Ethan said. He looked near tears.

“Mm-hmm,” I said.

“It wasn’t!” He pointed at Dru. “I was near her all evening.”

Dru nodded reluctantly. “He was.”

And from the sounds of it, a bit of a pest. I studied Ethan, but his obvious nerves could be attributed to the anxiety of getting caught as much as the fear of being blamed.

“Did anyone have eyes on the trailer?” I asked.

They all shook their heads. “The trailers are set up away from the houses we were using for the scenes.”

Ah, yes, the great chase scene where Lily discovered the murder victim’s business associate was actually part of an occult cult that had been planning on sacrificing victims for their spells.

Fiction and reality, not so different sometimes.

“Who found her?” Key asked.

“I think her assistant?” Shane scratched the back of his head, then repositioned his eye patch. “We didn’t realize until there was a commotion and they called for the paramedics.”

“What about our remaining main suspects? Sanders and Curtis? Where were they?”

Shane scrunched his nose with displeasure. “They were overseeing the crew getting the scene ready for filming.”

It was, indeed, quite sad when suspects refused to be caught standing with a knife over the bodies. At least Hannah had had the grace to be found next to Crane’s corpse.

“If they used a potion in her drink or food, they wouldn’t have to be nearby for it to work,” I said. “Perfect alibi.”

“Maybe it really was just a heart attack,” Ethan said, hopeful. “Maybe it has nothing to do with the sabotage.”

Dru let out a sound of disbelief. “And pigs fly.”

“It’s true,” Ethan insisted. “Coincidences do happen!”

“It fits the pattern, though,” I said. “First some small incidents”—I pierced him with a stern glare—“which were your doing. Then it escalated into harming the crew.”

“It wasn’t?—”

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