Page 28 of Evidence of a Folktale

“No,” Bel said. “Rossa’s assistant was generous enough to include an answer to that accusation in her email. The show’s gaining popularity put Willow Moon firmly in the spotlight, and she was pregnant while shooting her last season. She hadn’t announced the news, though, so fans ridiculed her for the sudden weight gain. Moon realized that her fame would lead to constant scrutiny and criticism for her and her family, and she didn’t want that for her child. Her departure from the show was amicable, and according to Rossa’s assistant, she became heavily involved in the independent film scene after marrying her child’s father.”

“So our victim had no control over Willow Moon’s retirement, yet this Tony guy blames her? Seems stable.”

“Exactly,” Bel said. “He bought a ticket to this past weekend’s meet-and-greet but had to be escorted out after he harassed Gwen Rossa about the scripts’ direction.”

“He harassed her this weekend, and she ended up dead Monday morning?” Griffin repeated.

“Certainly doesn’t look good. I just called the local hotels and inns. He’s staying in a budget motel right off the highway. According to the front desk, he hasn’t checked out.”

“That they know of.”

“I’ll head over and see for myself,” Bel said. “Even if he fled, the motel believes he’s still in his room. Hopefully, housekeeping hasn’t cleaned yet, because a crime this bloody would leave evidence behind.”

“Sounds good, but take Gold with you,” Griffin said. “If Tony Royce killed Gwen Rossa, he’s capable of unthinkable violence, and I don’t want you alone with him.”

“Therefore,ruining the romantic character arc by giving the audience a flat and unauthentic resolution to the questions posed in season one,” Tony said, and Bel gasped for breath. The man’s long-winded and run-on sentence analysis of the show’s multi-season plot and literary failings convinced her that if she didn’t breathe for him, all three of them would choke to death.

She and Olivia had driven out to the motel to confirm that Tony Royce was still checked in, but unlike their normal outings, her partner had opted to drive herself, refusing Bel the chance to discuss their situation. Arriving at the lackluster lodgings, they’d knocked on Tony’s room, not expecting to find him, so it surprised them both when a five-foot-seven man opened the door with a bag of chips in his hands. He had no muscles to speak of, save maybe in his jaw from talking so rapidly, and Bel knew the minute he’d answered their knock that he wasn’t the killer. People were often surprisingly capable of the unexpected… except for Tony Royce. She felt guilty for judging him by his cover, but it was as plain as the empty soda bottles strewn about the dressers and floor to keep the discarded episode drafts company that he hadn’t chased a woman through the snow and slaughtered her. Bel could probably bench press him in her sleep, but in favor of doing their due diligence, they asked him the questions they would ask any other suspect… which had resulted in an exhausting analysis of Aesop’s Files post-Willow Moon.

“So, you see, I had to talk to her this weekend,” Tony said, completely unaware that both of Bajka’s homicide detectives weren’t here to listen to his writing lecture. “Miss Rossa is sending the show down a path she can’t recoverfrom, and I needed her to read my episodes.If I canjustreason with her, she’ll see I’ve fixed the rest of the seasons.That’s what I was doing here.” He gestured to the crumpled papers littering the room. “She turned me away at the meet-and-greet. My drafts weren’t good enough, so I’ve been reworking them for hours.” He snatched a full bottle of soda off the table, and Bel had to fight the urge to steal it from him. If he didn’t stop drinking, he might give himself a heart attack. “I haven’t slept,” he continued. “I was up all night. My draft needs to be perfect so she realizes Willow must come back.”

“Youdo know thatWillow Moon left the show of her own free will?” Olivia said, finally finding a pause in his speech. “Gwen Rossa didn’t write her out of Aesop’s Files. Miss Moon had a baby.”

“What?” Tony asked as if he didn’t realize he had company.

“Did you leave the motel last night?” Bel changed the subject.

“No, but I left my room to find the vending machine. I needed caffeine to stay awake, but I never left the premises,” he said, shaking the soda for emphasis. “It was snowing hard, and I wanted to finish my script before the next event. This time Gwen Rossa has to acknowledge I’m right.”

“Mr. Royce.” Bel softened her tone to counter the man’s caffeine jitters. “Miss Rossa was killed last night.”

“What?” Tony took a breath forwhat seemed likethe first time since the detectives’ arrival.

“Gwen Rossa was murdered last night,” she repeated.

“What… Murdered?” The lanky man sank into the motel’s provided office chair. “How?”

“That’s what we’re trying to figure out. You wereone ofthe last people to have an issue with her.”

“I had an issue with her writing, not her,” Tony said. “Besides, I was here all night. I told you that.”

“You did,” Bel agreed. “And we’ll confirm that with hotel security.”

“Good, because I’d never kill her. I’m a writer. Not a killer… although, maybe the show will finally hire someonewho canfix its problems.”

Bel and Olivia exchanged raised eyebrows, and for a fraction of a second, they were back to normal. Just two detectivesmarvelingat the oddities people verbalized when faced with murder.

“Did you notice anything odd at the meet-and-greet this weekend?” Bel asked. She doubted it since he was the one escorted from the property for harassment, but sometimes smoking guns came from the unlikeliest of shooters. “Did anyone strike you as dangerous?”

“No. All I saw were fans too brainwashed to realize that writing Willow Moon out of the show has destroyed it.”

“Gwen Rossa didn’t write Willow Moon out of Aesop’s Files,” Olivia repeated, her voice tinged with frustration. “The actress left of her own volition.”

“Well, except for thatoneguy,” Tony said, oblivious to Olivia’s comments.

“What guy?” Bel leaned forward at his words. Now they were getting somewhere.

“Thatreallytall man. Blond hair,scary. He must have been wearing contacts because he had black eyes. Not dark. Black… like the devil.”

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