Page 91 of Script Swap
That, more than anything else she’d said, told me who the real Nora Day was.“Has Betty been in love with you this whole time?”I asked.“At a bare minimum, you needed her to turn a blind eye while you used the catwalks, but she went above and beyond and alibied you.I should have seen it earlier—how she wasn’t shy about arguing with Terrence or yelling at Jonni for messing with the set, but she never raised her voice to you.”
“The world was different when Betty and I were young,” Nora said.“She would have been happier if she’d taken my advice and moved to LA.”
“No one swapped the scripts, did they?Kyson changed that line all by himself after he caught Terrence stealing equipment from the theater.”
“God, you can’t imagine what it was like.When he said all that business about knowing what you did, I almost passed out.My head went completely blank; I don’t even remember what I said.Fortunately, I’m good at staying in character.”
“Very good,” I said.“But not perfect.Because Kyson—”
“He noticed something.”Nora shook her head.“I have no idea what.He was a little worm, did you know that?Very much like you, as a matter of fact.Always sneaking around.Always snooping.Sticking his nose where it didn’t belong.”
“And he confronted you.”
“He thought he could blackmail me.”Nora’s laugh carried an echo of her disbelief.“I mean, he didn’t even know what I’d done, but that didn’t stop him.He walked right into my dressing room—didn’t even bother to knock—and said he’d meant what he’d said on stage, and if I didn’t pay up, everybody was going to find out.My God, in that moment, my heart—” She put the hand not holding the gun over her heart.It was a pretty pose, and I wondered if she’d used it inJust Justice.“But I had enough sense to try to figure out what he knew.I thought he might only suspect.Jonni had spent so much time hounding him, and I always wondered if she had—had entertained the possibility.He was like a shark; he smelled blood in the water, and he kept pressing and pressing, getting more and more aggressive.Do you know the number of men like that I’ve had to deal with in my life?They think that because they have something between their legs, it gives them the right to act like complete and total jerks.”(Uh, not exactly the word she used.) “I told him I wanted him to leave, and eventually he did.”
She stopped.She swallowed.The skin of her neck wobbled with the movement.
“And you followed him.”
Nora blinked her eyes clear, and in a strange moment, I thought maybethis—out of everything—might not be acting.She cleared her throat.“Yes.Well.I was so angry.”
Tinny let out a whimper, and the noise made Nora’s eyes refocus.
“You killed him,” I said.“With the trophy.And then you wiped it clean and hid it with Ray’s body.You put him in the bathroom, and you closed the door, and you went home.”
“I think we’ve talked enough, Mr.Dane.”
“Do you know what I couldn’t understand?Why you’d let Jonni have the dressing room.I thought for sure you’d want it for yourself.I mean, Ray’s body was right there.I thought you’d want to keep everyone as far away from him as possible.The leak upstairs, the damaged ceiling—your secret was about to come out.I didn’t consider the possibility that youwantedhim to be found.That it was part of your plan, so that you could ‘solve’ the mystery.Nora Day, rising from the ashes.”
She didn’t say anything.And even though guns—real guns—are heavier than most people expect, the pistol never wavered.
“You’re not going to get away with it,” I said.
“Why don’t you let me worry about that?”
“And the sheriff doesn’t believe that story you cooked up about Jonni, either.She’s smart, the sheriff.She’ll figure it out.”
“There’s nothing to figure out, Mr.Dane.Every thread is tied up.Every loose end neatly snipped.Except two, I suppose.And in all fairness, we wouldn’t be here if your friend hadn’t followed you on your run the other night—I really can’t believe your luck.”
“You did a good job,” I said.“But you’ve had time to learn, haven’t you?As you said, all those roles you had?The parts you studied?You’re always so committed; you become the character.”
A fresh wariness surfaced in Nora’s expression.
“On the other hand,” I said, “you were a girl when you had to get rid of Ray.”
Caution dissolved into laughter.“That was forty years ago.Everything has changed, Mr.Dane.The world has moved on.What are they going to do?Use a time machine?”
(Side note: that would be an awesome premise for a detective novel.Although maybe it’s already been done?But what if the people solving the crimes in the time machine were two aging actresses—would Meryl Streep sign off on me using her as a character?Teamed up with—who was that old British lady that turned into a cat?)
(No time for that now, but file it away under Genius.)
“You’re right,” I said.“That happened a long time ago.So long ago, in fact, that the sheriff’s department uses the case as an example on their detective’s exam.”I raised my voice slightly.“Tinny, show Nora your hands.”Behind me, the disposable gloves rustled.“You were young.You were scared.It was your first time.”The sharp edge of horror turned in Nora’s face.“This was long before they were using computers to match fingerprints.What are the odds that somewhere in the sheriff’s office, they still have the prints they recovered from that safe?What do you think, Nora?If they print you, will they get a match?”
Nora’s breathing changed: higher, tighter.In a brittle voice, she said, “That doesn’t mean anything.”
I shrugged.
“There could be a hundred explanations for those prints.”
