He paused as if he’d solved the case and was waiting for a pat on the back.
“I don’t know who that is,” Jessie said plainly.
Trembley looked at Detective Bray, who seemed equally surprised by her comment.
“Wow,” Trembley said in amazement. “You weren’t kidding when you said you missed some years, pop culture wise.”
“I’ve been kind of busy, Trembley. You want to spill or play coy all morning?”
“Sorry. Miller Boatwright is a Hollywood producer, one of the most successful in the industry. Think Jerry Bruckheimer or Brian Grazer, surely you’ve heard of them? He’s been associated with some of the biggest hits of the last twenty years.”
“Okay,” Jessie said. “So what does that mean? Is he a producer on this movie?”
“I don’t know about that. But he was a producer on Petals and Petulance, Corinne Weatherly’s breakout role. The stories about casting that movie are legendary. She beat out over two hundred actresses, including some pretty big names, for the female lead. Boatwright was the one who went to bat for her over higher profile actresses. The movie ended up being a massive hit. She was nominated for a Golden Globe award. That performance is what got her the lead in the original Marauder film, which I still think is one of the top five horror films ever made.”
“It is pretty good,” Bray agreed.
“What’s your point, Trembley?” Jessie asked, getting exasperated.
“My point is that in many ways, Corinne Weatherly owed her career to Miller Boatwright. And the fact that his name is written on the mirror in her makeup trailer where she was killed doesn’t seem like a coincidence. I don’t know if Weatherly wrote it or the killer did or if Boatwright should be a suspect, but I think we should probably have a chat with the guy, especially since his office is on this very studio lot.”
“How do you know that?” Jessie asked.
“I thought we’d established that I’m a film buff,” he told her as if it was obvious.
“I can think of another word for what you are,” she countered.
“Be that as it may, I still think we should talk to him.”
“Fine,” Jessie agreed before turning back to Bray. “You said you could show us why there was no footage of Weatherly being taken from here.”
“Right,” Bray said, nodding. “This is how.”
She moved to the back of the trailer and knelt in front of the foot of the large bed. It was only then that Jessie noticed a rectangular indentation on the floor.
“This is the fire door,” Bray said. “Every trailer is equipped with one in case the main door is inaccessible. It can only be opened from the inside. Don’t worry. We’ve already checked for prints and DNA.”
She pressed a nearly invisible button underneath the bed and the door latch released, popping up. Bray removed it and motioned for them to look down. Jessie leaned in and immediately understood what had happened.
Underneath the trailer was a women’s shoe that she gathered would be a match to a shoe found on the body. There were bits of material—seemingly torn clothing—on the underside of the trailer, where strands must have been torn off as she was dragged along the ground below.
“So she was killed here,” Jessie said, “then dragged under the trailer to the soundstage, which we don’t actually have footage of, correct?”
“That seems to be the case,” Bray confirmed.
“Why not just leave her here?” Jessie wondered. “Why risk the elaborate procedure of moving her to a spot where they might be seen or having some kind of unforeseen hiccup?”
“I don’t know the answer to that. But when you see the body, I think you’ll find that whatever the reason, it was important to the killer that Weatherly be found where she was, in the state she was.”
Jessie and Trembley exchanged curious looks.
“Lead the way, Detective,” Trembley said more calmly than Jessie would have thought possible.
CHAPTER EIGHT
They stood over the body of Corinne Weatherly.
In death, she was just another person. Whatever aura of celebrity she’d had in life had been wiped away, replaced by cold skin and empty eyes. The body she’d clearly spent so much effort trying to keep tight had started to dissipate. Her skin had lost its elasticity and her limbs were rigid.
Jessie tried to get her bearings in the cavernous space of the prop room. There was something weird about finding a