Page 63 of Script Swap
A woman who reinvented herself and went on to have a moderately successful career in the limelight.
The renovations at The Foxworthy.
“She tried to kill him,” Fox was saying, their voice high and compressed with outrage.“That’s what this means, isn’t it?She tried to kill my father.”
I nodded slowly.“And she killed Kyson.And I’m pretty sure she killed her husband.”I got back, the chair legs scraping the floor, and reached for my phone to call Bobby.“And I think I know how to prove it.”
Chapter 15
Several sheriff’s office cruisers were parked in front of The Foxworthy when Fox and I got there.
We hurried inside.The lobby was empty.The faded carpet swallowed the sound of our steps, and the overhead lights were off, leaving only the glow from the marquee bulbs around the concession stand.Our reflections moved like selkies in the glass counter.Someone had abandoned the restocking supplies, and a long, white tail of single-ply napkins fell to the ground, and the oil in the popcorn popper needed to be changed, to judge by the smell.
Voices came from the house.
I reached the doors first, but it was a close thing, and Fox grabbed a handle at the same time I did.Displaced air whispered as we swung the doors open.
The house lights were off, leaving only the work lights over the stage.Nora stood there, along with Pippi and Sheriff Acosta and Bobby.They were facing Jonni; this early, before costume and makeup, she wore her usual motley sweats, with an elastic headband holding back her curls.It made her smaller.And older.With the curtain up and the sets exposed, the scene had the feeling of something out of a postmodern burlesque.
“Ms.Day,” the sheriff was saying, “you called me here because you said you had something to show me.I don’t think this approach is helping—”
“And I will show you, Sheriff,” Nora said.She sounded like she had inWomen and Friends—cool, in control.As one of the other characters in the movie said,A woman not to be trifled with.“But first, I’m going to give her a chance to confess.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jonni said.“And this is a waste of my time.I’ve got stuff to do.”
When she took a step, though, Nora said, “No, Jonni.Stay right where you are.You’ve been running from this long enough.”
At that moment, Pippi spotted us and called, “Dash, hurry.Nora and I are about to solve the murder!”
“I don’t think so,” Sheriff Acosta said.“I think I’m going to have a conversation with Ms.Day—”
“It happened almost forty years ago,” Nora said.“It’s hard to believe it’s been so long.Aren’t you tired of running, Jonni?Aren’t you ready to tell the truth?You’ll feel better once it’s off your chest.You’ll be able to rest, finally.”
“I said I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jonni snapped.“And I’m tired of you wasting my time.Some of us are professionals.Some of us are going to make sure this show happens.”
Jonni turned toward the exit, and Fox shifted like they might try to intercept her, but once again, Nora spoke.“You killed Ray and made it look like a robbery.”
Jonni stopped.For a moment, her poise or control or—or self-image, or whatever it was, shattered.Her shoulders stooped.Her hands hung at her sides.Then she turned around and called Nora a word that once got Elizabeth Taylor thrown in the pokey.
(I made that up.Also, is it called a pokey?In the poke!)
“He was a dead weight,” Nora said.“You wanted to go to Hollywood.You were going to be a star.And Ray was dragging you down.”
“Ray was a thief,” Jonni said.When she turned back toward us, her face was red.“He ripped off the box office, and he ran, and he left me with nothing.Not a cent to my name.No job.No friends, not after what he’d done.And no husband either.Do you know what that’s like?I hadnothing!”
“He didn’t run away,” Pippi said.“You killed him!”In a slightly less confident tone, she asked Nora, “Didn’t she?”
“That’s enough,” the sheriff said.“Deputy Mai—”
“Ray didn’t run away,” Nora said.“Ray never even left this theater.”
“Are you out of your mind?”Jonni waved a hand.“I don’t even want to know.I’m done talking to you.”
“That’s why you had to get rid of Kyson.Kyson figured it out.He made the mistake of trying to blackmail you, and you killed him, too.”
Jonni’s laugh was barely more than a breath.“You’re insane.Everybody knew you were bonkers; that’s why you can’t get cast anymore.But this is legitimately insane.”To the sheriff, Jonni said, “You need to get her some help.And get her away from me.”
“Your mistake was the dressing room,” Nora said, the words casual, almost conversational.
