A Knife to Remember

“Pretty thin,' Jane said.

“It was the best I could do on the spur of the moment,' Shelley said, looking impatiently at the burbling coffeemaker. Shelley firmly believed she couldn't think without regular infusions of coffee.

“Okay, I'll go along with it provisionally. So Jake, if it was Jake, wanted this 'A' person to intervene with the director. They talked about Roberto. 'A' said he and Roberto were hardly on speaking terms and he couldn't and wouldn't help. And then 'B' started talking about what I supposed were dirty movies.'

“So did 'A' agree to do whatever he was supposed to do?'

“No, I don't think so. That was the end of it. Jake must have moved away because 'A' just mumbled `son of a bitch' and I didn't hear any more.”

The coffeemaker had finally finished. Shelley got up and poured them both enormous mugs. 'Don't worry. It's decaf,' she said, handing one to Jane. 'Okay. That's all we've got to work with. You think they were men's voices. Both of them?'

“I think so. But I can't be positive. And you heard me telling Mel that there was nothing unusual about their word choices or accents or anything.'

“So, we have to assume this 'A' person was probably an actor rather than a technical person, right?'

“I think so,' Jane said, blowing on her coffee. 'I guess making porn films could reflect badly on a director, but probably not on anybody else.'

“And we know it wasn't Roberto because 'A' had no accent and they were talking about him.'

“Uh-huh. And it was probably an important actor, rather than somebody with a bit part.''How do you figure that?' Shelley asked.

“Only because somebody in a minor part wouldn't be expected to have any influence on the director. Although, 'A' said he and Roberto couldn't stand each other.'

“All this sounds to me like it must be George Abington.'

“Yes, I'm afraid so.'

“Why 'afraid so'?' Shelley asked.

“Because he's nice. He was the only one at the lunch who was polite to me. The only one who even acknowledged that I was there at all.'

“How did he act toward Jake?”

Jane shrugged. 'Nothing. No animosity, no friendliness. Nothing.'

“He ignored Jake?'

“Not aggressively ignored. They just didn't happen to speak to each other. Well, nobody got to speak much because Roberto Cavagnari was holding forth.'

“That seems strange. If somebody had tried to blackmail you and threatened to ruin your career, could you sit down with them an hour or so later and show no signs of anger?'

“Not unless I were a very good actor,' Jane said.

Katie came into the kitchen. 'Boys are so dumb,' she said, as if it were a revolutionary discovery. 'I'm going home, Mom. Thanks for a great dinner, Mrs. Nowack.'

“Homework?' Jane asked.

Katie rolled her eyes. 'Jeez, Mom. Like you have to remind me?'

“No phoning until it's done,' Jane said.

From Shelley's side door she could see into her own kitchen. The police officer was still at the table, shuffling paperwork, so she felt it was all right to let Katie go home without escort. When Katie had gone, Jane went into the living room to question Todd about homework. When he admitted he had a few math problems to do, she sent him home as well.

When she rejoined Shelley, her friend was deep in thought. 'Jane, suppose you turn this around.' 'How?'

“Well, suppose Jake was the one being blackmailed instead of doing the blackmailing?' 'I don't follow you.'

“Well, if somebody tried to blackmail Jake, and he thought about it and went back to the person later and said, 'I'm not doing what you want, and what's more, I'm going to 'fess up publicly to the porn movies and tell everybody what a slimeball you are—?' '

“Hmmmm. Seems a stretch to me,' Jane said. 'Maybe. But the blackmailer was talking about awards and how they don't give awards and honors to people who have been in skin flicks.'

“But there are awards for technical things, not just acting,' Shelley said. 'And we don't know that Jake never acted. Or let us say 'performed' in naughty movies. I don't know that it requires any acting skill. He was certainly good-looking enough to be in front of a camera.'

“So you're saying an intended blackmail victim might turn the tables and become the murder vic? tim? Would that apply to George Abington? I'm getting confused. What would anybody want Jake to do for them?'

“Any number of things, I'd guess. Jake was highly respected in the business, it seems. He might have influenced the director to change a scene and feature somebody else since the girl who was supposed to be in it had gotten sick. For all we know, somebody is furiously rewriting the script right now to feature George or practically anybody else.'

“So it could have been somebody really minor, too. Another bit player who wanted a shot at stardom?'

“It's possible,' Shelley said. 'Here's another possibility. And you won't like it. What if Butch wanted something of Jake? Like a better credit at the end of the movie, or more control of the props decisions or something. He might try blackmailing Jake and Jake could have come back and said, `I'm not going along with this and, what's more, you're fired and I'm going to ruin your name in the business.' That would make him a threat worth killing, wouldn't it?”

Jane was shaking her head. 'This is too baroque for me. I don't even know who 'A' and 'B' are anymore. And there's yet another possibility that we haven't considered.'

“What's that?' Shelley asked brightly.

“That the blackmailing attempt I heard had nothing to do with the murder. With that many egotistical, ambitious people around, there are probably half a dozen nasty things going on at any given moment.”

Shelley was only momentarily discouraged. 'Then we have a lot of snooping to do to find out what the other nasty things were, don't we? Set your alarm for six, Jane. We've got a busy day ahead of us.'

12

“So are you going to marry Mel?' Katie asked as she stood at the window watching for her car pool the next morning.

“Marry?' Jane gasped, nearly choking on her orange juice. 'I don't know. I guess Mike told you about my plans.'

“Yeah, he said you didn't want to talk to me about it.'

“It's not that I didn't want to. I just didn't know how.'

“What do you think I am, some kind of… of prude?'

“There are worse things to be,' Jane said, wondering how she could get control of this conversation. 'So you don't mind if I go?'

“Mind? No. It seems kinda silly. I mean, you're almost forty years old, Mom. Isn't that pretty old for — you know? There's Jenny's mom. Gotta go!' she said, flying out the door.

Jane went to the living room and glanced out the window. Eight o'clock and the movie people were in full swing. She'd heard trucks arriving shortly before six, but contrary to Shelley's instructions, 97 hadn't gone out to snoop. Now that the kids were all off to school, she still wasn't in any hurry. She sat down and turned on the television, letting the morning news wash over her while she smoked a cigarette. She was down to six a day now and had pretty much given up trying to quit entirely. Still, six a day was better than the pack and a half she'd gotten up to in the weeks after Steve's death.

The conversation with Katie had shaken her. She never felt fully in control as a mother, but in this situation she'd been put in the position of supplicant, wanting, if not approval, at least permission from her children to lead