Page 34 of Once Broken
“How dreadful,” Diane murmured, her hand fluttering to her throat.“But no, the name means nothing to me.Like I said, I rarely leave this place.My world has grown smaller over the years—by choice, I might add.”Her gaze drifted toward the window again, then back to her visitors.“Why would this man matter?”
Riley noted how quickly Diane had dismissed the topic of Malcolm Hartley.Either she truly didn’t know him, or she was an exceptional actress—which, given her background, remained a possibility.
Ann Marie leaned forward slightly, her expression softening.“Ms.Kingsley, could you tell us more about your friendship with Roberta?You mentioned she was your mentor.”
The question transformed Diane.Her posture straightened, her eyes brightened, and a genuine smile replaced the anxious expression she’d worn moments before.
“Roberta was...”She paused, searching for the right words.“She was extraordinary.Not just as an actress—though heaven knows she was brilliant on screen—but as a human being.We met on the set ofAutumn Shadowsin 1971.I was twenty-three, just a wardrobe assistant with delusions of becoming an actress someday.”
Diane rose and moved to a small cabinet in the corner.She opened it to reveal dozens of photo albums, carefully labeled and arranged by year.She selected one and brought it back to her seat.
“Here,” she said, opening the album to reveal photographs of a much younger Diane standing beside Roberta Rimes on what appeared to be a film set.“Roberta took me under her wing.She insisted I read for small parts, coached me through auditions, and introduced me to directors and producers.”
Riley examined the photographs as Diane turned the pages.In each image, the younger Diane looked at Roberta with undisguised adoration.
“I had some success—nothing like Roberta’s, of course, but enough to keep working.Until 1983.”Diane’s voice dropped.“My...breakdown.”
Riley waited, sensing that Diane needed time to continue at her own pace.
“It was a perfect storm,” Diane finally said.“A role I desperately wanted went to someone else.My mother died suddenly.My marriage fell apart.I couldn’t sleep, couldn’t eat.Eventually, I couldn’t even leave my house without panic consuming me.”
She closed the album gently.“The industry isn’t kind to ‘difficult’ actresses, especially ones who aren’t major stars to begin with.My career was over almost overnight.”
“That must have been devastating,” Ann Marie said softly.
Diane nodded.“It would have destroyed me completely if not for Roberta.She found me the doctors I needed.Paid for my treatment when the insurance ran out.And when I was ready to leave Los Angeles—when I couldn’t bear to be in that town another day—she helped me set up this shop here in Atlanta, close enough that she could visit regularly after she retired.”
The story painted a picture of Roberta Rimes that contrasted sharply with the woman who had testified against colleagues to save herself.Riley wondered which version was more authentic—the loyal friend Diane described, or the frightened actress who had named names during the McCarthy era.
“Ms.Kingsley,” Riley said, “we need to understand more about Roberta’s testimony before HUAC.What exactly did she tell you about it?”
The change in topic dimmed the light in Diane’s eyes.She set the photo album aside and folded her hands in her lap, suddenly looking every one of her years.
“Roberta didn’t speak of it often,” she began.“The first time was after too much wine, during a weekend visit in the early eighties.She said it was the great shame of her life—something she could never atone for, no matter how much good she tried to do afterward.”
Diane rose again, moving to a small bar cart in the corner.Without commenting or offering the two agents anything, she poured herself a finger of amber liquid—whiskey, Riley guessed—and took a sip before continuing.
“Roberta was very young when it happened.About 25, I think.It was 1955, andThe Night Walkerhad just made her famous.”Diane’s voice took on a storyteller’s cadence, as if she’d mentally rehearsed this narrative.“Like many young, idealistic people in Hollywood at that time, she attended a few meetings of the American Peace Mobilization.She wasn’t political, really—she went because a friend invited her, because it seemed like the right thing to do.”
“The American Peace Mobilization was considered a Communist front organization,” Riley noted.
Diane nodded.“Yes, though Roberta didn’t realize the full implications at the time.It was a youthful mistake—naive, perhaps, but hardly sinister.But HUAC was looking for any connection, any association they could use.”
She took another sip of her drink.“When Roberta received a subpoena to testify, she was terrified.This was at the height of the blacklist—careers, lives were being destroyed daily.”
“So she testified,” Ann Marie prompted gently.
“Behind closed doors,” Diane confirmed.“A clandestine session, not public like the hearings we’ve all seen footage of.The committee offered her a deal—name others who had attended those meetings, and her own participation would be kept confidential.”
Riley felt a chill despite the apartment’s warmth.“And she accepted.”
“She was young, ambitious, and terrified,” Diane said, not quite an answer but clearly a kind of defense.“The studio had made it clear: cooperate or be blacklisted.”
“So she named names,” Riley said, keeping her tone neutral.
Diane turned to stare out the window at the deepening dusk.“Yes.She gave them what they wanted—names of others who had attended those meetings.I think maybe some were already known to the committee, while others weren’t.”
“Did she ever tell you who specifically she named?”Riley asked.
