“I sent you the invoices this morning, Detective,” Anita said.
He could hear the strain in her voice. She was one of the more bubbly type personalities who was suffering right now from the loss of Elena. “Yes, thank you,” he said. “We don’t have very much information from that. Nobody’s answering the phone on that order for Elena’s last installation. Of course, it’s early on in my investigation, but the company name isn’t showing up.”
“He’s a private collector,” she said, “and he’s been fascinated with Cayce’s work for a long time. They’ve talked about him doing something multiple times, but this is the first time it’s come to pass.”
“What’s his name?”
“Hallmark,” she said. “John Hallmark.”
He wrote that down. “Do you know if Cayce and Elena have any history together?”
When she answered, her voice was stiff. “If you’re asking if they had a relationship, outside of being friends and business associates, the answer is no.”
“That’s not what I’m asking,” he said. “I’m truly asking about whether something more than just working together was involved. Like, were they friends a long time ago, or did they both get their start together, or how did they meet? Was it just as a model and an artist?”
“I believe they were childhood friends,” she said. “Then they lost track of each other before reconnecting as adults.”
He nodded. “That makes more sense.”
“Well, if you think it does, maybe it does,” she said, “but I don’t see how.” Her tone was filled with doubt. “You have to understand that, even if they were the best of friends, if she didn’t fit the installation, no way Cayce would have put her in there.”
“Right,” he said. “So it just happened to be that a lot of the installations were perfect for Elena?”
“Well, you must understand one critical thing,” Anita said. “Elena knew what her place was in all this.”
At that, Richard straightened. “What do you mean by her place?”
“The model isn’t supposed to be the object of the art,” she said, as if instructing somebody who didn’t understand how art worked. “She’s supposed to be an element to temporarily enhance the actual piece, but isn’t the actual piece itself.”
His mind took a moment to sort through it and said, “So she was not the art piece itself?”
“No, not every time. But at this last show, because Cayce had body-painted all of her—her back as well—when she separated from the actual installation, she became an art piece on her own. Cayce doesn’t do it for the other models.”
“Why is that?”
“She would tell you that it’s because the others don’t have the same panache or the same ability to step out of the actual piece and become something on their own.”
“And yet, say, this other model, Naomi, when she steps out, is she not an art piece?”
“She isn’t in the sense that she isn’t part of the piece, then separated as a unique art piece on her own,” Anita said. “Besides, Naomi is far too brash to allow herself to be part of the installation. She wants to be the art.”
“So then why does Cayce use her?”
“It depends on who’s paying for the installation. Sometimes they determine the artist,” she said.
“Ah, and so Naomi is getting requested for some recent ones?”
“Yes.” But Anita’s tone was disapproving, as if Naomi wasn’t the model Cayce wanted.
“And what does a model have to do in order to become somebody who’s requested for these types of jobs?”
“Just do what people have been doing since forever. You either rise to fame because you fit and work the art world or because you have a way of getting people in power to request you.” At that, her tone turned businesslike. “I have no intention of gossiping about any of the models,” she said. “So, unless you have any direct questions, I need to get back to work.”
As she started to hang up, he said, “Wait.”
“What?”
He sighed and said, “Can you tell me if anybody had specifically requested that Elena be at that installation on the last night she modeled?”
“Yes,” she said, “because that collector, that artist who has helped us with many installations, was a big fan of Elena’s work. He preferred that Cayce use her whenever she could.”
“So, she was requested to be there that night?”
“Yes, but that’s not uncommon,” she said. “It’s happened many times.”
“And it would be the same company who requested her?”
“Well, that’s one of his businesses,” she said. “The philanthropist who ultimately pays us is John Hallmark. We call him R. John because he’s—” And then she stopped and said, “I guess that’s a fairly inappropriate joke. But it was a joke between us because he was always helping us. You know? Intentionally trying to help Elena and Cayce make their mark in the world.”
“And what was the prior relationship between them, between Elena and Cayce?”
“I don’t know what it was,” she said, her tone turning flat. “Detective, I’m not happy answering these questions. If you have more, please direct them to Cayce.” With that, she hung up.
When he put down his phone, Andy looked at him. “Uncooperative suspect?”
Richard gave a laugh. “That was Cayce’s assistant,” he said, “and she is fairly open and responsive, yet defensive at the same time.”
“She’s probably protecting Cayce, isn’t she?”
“Yes, but I don’t think it’s about protecting her because she’s done something criminal, just protecting her employer and a friend,” he said. “You can’t fault her for that.”
“It depends whether she knows something else is going on or not.”
Chapter 7
Cayce straightened, just barely holding back the groan as she felt her back creaking. She would have to find a better way to work when she was on these installations. Maybe having the models up on a higher pedestal or something, but she knew that would just make Naomi way too happy.
“I need a bathroom break,” Naomi said suddenly.
Cayce stepped back and said, “Not a problem. I’m done with the bottom half anyway.”
“Finally,” Naomi said with a note of disgust. She turned and walked
