Page 30 of Reckless Chance
“Detective, come in and have a seat. I’m surprised to see you. How can I help you today?”
“Mr. Cartwright, thank you for meeting with me. I’m sorry to bother you unannounced, but our investigators have been looking into Mr. Brentwood’s death. They’ve asked me to take over.”
“What exactly does that mean?”
“As you know, his death may not have been an accident.”
“That’s not what I was hoping to hear,” I say.
“The evidence requires further investigation. You see, there’s a latch that locks the hatch door in the tree platform in place, but the latch failed.
“That sounds like an accident to me.”
“The problem is that all four screws securing the latch fell out at the same time. We found them lying on the floor of the tree. That’s suspicious. It may be nothing, but we’re looking into it.”
“Were the holes for the screws stripped, or were the screws too small? Or was Mr. Brentwood too heavy for the platform?”
“We don’t think it was any of those issues. The holes for the screws were fine. In fact, when they put the screws back in, they held. The investigators even had an officer much larger than Mr. Brentwood stand directly on top of the platform’s hatch. No problem. The hatch held his weight.”
“Then why did the hatch drop open during the performance?”
“We’ve come up with two theories. Someone may have forgotten to put the screws in the latch to begin with or didn’t tighten them enough. The hatch door fit snuggly in the opening. If no one stood on it, the door would stay in place regardless of whether the screws were securely in place. The other theory is that someone purposefully removed the screws. If that happened, we could be looking at carelessness or murder, depending on why the screws were removed.”
“It’s still probable that it was an accident, don’t you agree?” I blow out a sigh of relief.
“Yes, but we’re concerned that so many people on the show have been injured. We wouldn’t expect that many accidents.”
“Accidents? I’m not aware of any except for the performer who sprained his ankle.”
“Yes, we interviewed that guy. His name is Reese. He complained about the production being unsafe. He said his ankle and the death were part of a lengthy list of accidents.”
“What the hell? Why haven’t I heard about them.”
“Prior to the death, the accidents were likely minor and didn’t merit your attention.”
“Recurring problems should always be brought to my attention,” I say, turning my head to stare out the window as my fists clench.
What is wrong with my employees? They never would have let down Dad like this. I may be young, but I’m not merely a trust-fund figurehead. I’ve worked a rotation in every damn department in this business. Dad made sure I learned the ropes firsthand to be ready to take over. Will our staff ever show me the respect and loyalty they showed Dad?
I’m not merely frustrated. I’m furious. If the production isn’t safe, I should have been informed, and the show should never have opened. I can’t believe my trusted stage manager would put people at risk. Not securing the hatch door with screws is beyond careless. On the other hand, if someone intentionally removed the screws to work on the hatch, did they forget to put them back? Or was it malicious?
One way or another, I’ll find out what happened.
As I’m about to ask a question, my head of security, Daniel, pops his head into my doorway. “Mr. Cartwright, do you have a minute? Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know the detective was here. Do you need my help with anything?” he asks Detective Fielder.
“Not now. I was updating Mr. Cartwright on the investigation into Mr. Brentwood’s death. If you run across any new evidence though, be sure to contact me.”
“Will do.”
“Daniel, are you here to give me an update on your side of the investigation?”
“No. I wanted to let you know that the guys who were monitoring security footage caught something unusual on one of the video screens. I can come back later if you prefer.”
“That’s okay. Let’s deal with it now. What did they see?”
“A couple of the Rossi family’s guys were talking to an Athena employee outside a back entrance near the parking garage. It didn’t look like a friendly conversation.”
“How do you know it was an employee?”
