Page 49 of Evidence of a Folktale

“Of course, it could just be a rumor,” Bel continued. “Or he could be stalking the show. It would be best to shut down production until we find him.”

“That’s out of the question,” Alistair said. “And if our former employee is in town, it’s your job to arrest him for breaking parole. He’s no longer our responsibility.”

“And you’re sure nothing happened that day that would drive Mr. Chayce to seek revenge?”

“We’ve told you all we can,” Evelyn stood, signaling Bel had struck more than one nerve. “Now, if you’ll excuse us, we need to get back to work. If you have any further questions, please direct them to our assistants.”

“You saw that, right?” Bel asked when the door to the producers’ trailer shut behind them.

“There’s something about that day they don’t want anyone figuring out,” Griffin said.

“I doubt Orion Chayce caused that accident,” Bel said. “I think something else happened. Something bad, and he’s who they chose to take the fall.”

“That would explain why he’s killing crew members… if he’s the murderer,” Griffin said. “But it still doesn’t make sense why Gwen Rossa was his first victim. How is a writer connected to a prop malfunction? And Ellery Roja? She was the one who alerted us to him.”

“He’s going after anyone from the show he can gain access to?” Bel said. “Or Roja warned us in the hopes we would catch him before he came for her? Or the accident was far more involved than we realize, and the entire crew is guilty? Take your pick.”

“I realize we’re hung up on the idea that Chayce is the guilty party, but I don’t want this consuming us. We’ll miss something,” Griffin said. “I’ll head back to the station and dig into Chayce’s life and known associates. He’s our best suspect, but I don’t need to tell you how focusing on the obvious often turns investigations into cold cases.”

“I know. I won’t miss anything.”

“You rarely do.”

“It just frustrates me that two women died horribly, yet they refuse to so much as pause filming. Can’t we force the issue?” she asked.

“If the murders took place on set, yes,” he said. “But they were killed on the Reale Estate. It has nothing to do with the show’s production, and the producers argue that what their employees do overnight when not at work is their own business. They aren’t responsible for the crew’s personal time or Stone’s private property. We have no cause to shut filming down because it’s not the problem. If anything, Stone is the one in trouble since both deaths occurred on his land.”

Bel raised her eyebrows at her boss.

“Don’t worry, I don’t consider him a suspect… yet. The studio might go after him, but somehow, I doubt that would end well for them. What concerns me is that we found both women on his property. Was that on purpose or by accident? Rossa was killed close to a filming location, but Roja wasn’t.”

“She was attacked closer to the trails Ewan and morning exercisers frequent, though,” Bel said. “She was bound to be discovered quickly.”

“So, are we looking for someone familiar with Bajka?” Griffin asked.

“Another reason we shouldn’t solely focus on Chayce.”

“It would stop us from asking these questions… but why would a Bajka resident be hunting these women?”

“It might not be someone who lives here,” Bel said. “Shows have location scouts. It’s how they found our town. Maybe they wrote up a detailed report along with photos when pitching Bajka to the director and producers, and the killer is using that data.”

“And we’ve circled back to Chayce,” Griffin said. “As a former crew member, he could’ve gotten his hands on that information.”

“Maybe,” Bel said as The Espresso Shot came into view. “I’m going to stop for coffee and then drive to the bed-and-breakfast. Hopefully, someone saw Roja—or Rossa—leave the nights of their murders.”

“Sounds good.” Griffin angled toward where he’d parked his truck. Bajka’s largest hotel was located off the highway, but the cast and crew had rented out the entire bed-and-breakfast so fans couldn’t search the halls and harass the actors’ accommodations in the middle of the night. The hotel hosted the meet-and-greets, and the attendees were staying in the surrounding motels and rooms for rent, but the bed-and-breakfast was smack dab in the center of town. Someone had to have seen something.

Bel pulled out her phone as she waited in the almost too-long line for her coffee and asked Olivia to meet her. She also asked if her partner wanted a drink, but Olivia ignored the question, only responding to confirm she’d be there in fifteen minutes.

“Detective,” David’s voice interrupted her self-pity, and she looked up to find The Espresso Shot’s owner carrying a large to-go cup. “Here.” He handed it to her, and she instantly smelled the vanilla. “You shouldn’t have to wait in line.”

“You didn’t have to, but thanks,” Bel said. “What do I owe you?”

“On the house.”

“I can’t just take your coffee,” she protested.

“Leave a big tip next time.” He leaned closer so he could lower his voice. “Officer Rollo mentioned you found another body. I don’t want to waste your time by making you stand in line.” He nodded to the corner where Rollo and Violet were chatting… or flirting, depending on how well you knew them, and Bel knew Violet pretty well.

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