Page 56 of Full House

Detective Smith pulled out a notebook. “Before this last occasion, when was the last time you accessed the stairs leading to your trailer?”

“Um…” Victoria thought back. “Last Wednesday night.” The last day of filming and before leaving for the nightclub.

Smith nodded, jotting her answer in his notebook. Or she assumed it was her answer. He could be making a grocery list for all she knew.

“Have you been to the studio since last Wednesday?” Smith asked, looking up from his notepad.

Victoria shook her head. “No. Today was my first day back. We had a meeting this morning.”

“What about you Mr. Reed? When was the last time you’ve been to the studio?”

Victoria looked over at Nate. A frown marred his brow. “Same. Wednesday.”

Smith nodded and jotted again. Victoria was starting to feel a little peeved. She understood they were just doing their job, but it felt as if they were being interrogated.

“Notice anything suspicious lately?”

Victoria was confused. What did that have to do with her accident? “Suspicious?”

The young cop, Officer Davis, spoke up for the first time. “Any other strange events happen? Any unknown persons loitering around the area of your trailer?”

“No.” She turned to Nate. “What’s going on? Was it not an accident?”

Before Nate could reply, the older officer spoke again. “What about you, Mr. Reed. Anything out of the ordinary?”

“I’ve received two pieces of fan mail at my trailer.”

Davis interrupted Nate, “Isn’t that par for the course?”

She saw a hint of irritation enter Nate’s eyes, could feel the tension radiating off him and knew he was doing everything in his power to keep his response polite. As it was, his words came out clipped as he replied, “Getting fan mail, yes. Getting it delivered to my trailer, no.” Then he went on to explain. “I have only one public address that all fan mail should be delivered to. Not only that, the studio has high security. No one without clearance can enter. The fan mail I received had no postmark, so was hand delivered.”

Smith butted in. “Meaning, whoever delivered it had free access to the studio.”

Nate nodded. “Right. I wouldn’t have thought much of it, but with this latest event, the last package does seem suspicious.”

“What did it contain?” Smith asked before Victoria could.

“A magazine article I interviewed for. In it, I stated I was in a serious relationship. Someone clipped the article and slashed it with a knife.”

Smith did more jotting. “When did you receive it?”

Victoria looked over at Nate. A frown formed between his brows, and his jaw ticked. “Last Wednesday.”

“I’d like to see the article. Enter it as evidence.” Smith put his notebook back in his pocket.

“It’s back at my trailer. I can’t meet you there until Victoria’s cleared to go home.”

“I understand. Here’s my card. Call me, and we’ll set up a time that’s convenient for you.”

Victoria waited until the two officers left the room then let Nate have it. “Evidence? Nate, what the hell is going on?”

Nate tapped her legs, and she scooted them so he’d have room to sit. “The security guard called the police. When he was looking at the fallen railing, he thought it strange there was only one screw found at the scene, and I’d have to agree. Your trailer isn’t new, but it’s far from old. No way should so many screws be missing.”

Victoria thought before she spoke. “So, you think someone removed them hoping I’d fall?” She shook her head. That didn’t make sense. “To what end? It wasn’t a far enough drop to really hurt me.”

“I don’t know.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Maybe it’s just someone trying to scare us. A crazy fan trying to get you away from me.”

Victoria shook her head. “What? By trying to make me think you’re bad luck or something?” She tried to joke, though nothing about it was funny.

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