“It looks like that’s where they shoot the TV series Courting Justice,” he said. “You know it?”
“I have honestly never heard of it before in my life.”
“That’s not a surprise. It’s brand new and doesn’t premiere until the fall. According to the studio description, it’s about the romantic and legal entanglements of a group of lawyers at a high-profile Manhattan firm. It stars Kendall Cox, Jolene Markinson, Teddy DeWitt, and Callie Hemphill.”
“It sounds like that old show L.A. Law, just set in New York,” Jessie said. “Should I know any of those actors?”
“You might recognize some of their faces. It’s a lot of up-and-comers mixed with never-quite-made-it types.”
“I think I’ll pass.”
“What a shocker,” Trembley said drily.
They were about to cross under the police tape when Jessie heard Trembley let out a small gasp.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
“Don’t look now,” he muttered under his breath, “but a couple of the actors are walking our way right now.”
Despite his instruction, she glanced casually in the direction he’d been looking. Coming toward them were two stunningly attractive people in business attire. One was a tall, broad-shouldered man with sun-dipped blond hair and teeth that were almost blindingly white. He looked like he’d just come from playing beach volleyball, poured himself into a suit, and ambled into their path.
The other was a woman about a head shorter than him, but no less stunning. She was slender and perfectly proportioned. Her brown hair was cut conservatively but there was nothing traditional about her looks. Her features were sharp, with sculpted cheekbones and a delicate mouth and nose. Her brown eyes were almost scarily piercing, as if she could melt someone just by staring at them hard enough. They were just passing by when Trembley, apparently unable to contain himself, blurted out, “Love your work.”
Jessie closed her eyes in the hope that it might allow her to transport anywhere else. But when she opened them again, she was still standing there. Both actors had stopped and were smiling skeptically.
“Whose work?” the guy asked.
“Both of you,” Trembley said, now slightly more restrained. “You were great as Professor Bodie in Relic Warriors. And Ms. Hemphill, I loved you as Detective Patterson in Detective Duty. I was bummed when it got cancelled.”
“Wow, Callie,” the blond guy said to his co-star. “It looks like we’ve got a real TV aficionado here.”
“Don’t be snide, Teddy,” the woman said before turning back to Trembley. “Thanks very much. I wish it hadn’t been cancelled too. But if it hadn’t been, then I wouldn’t be able to work on a new show with this charmer.”
“I am pretty charming,” the guy named Teddy conceded before adding, “Sorry, man. I didn’t mean to be a jerk.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Trembley said. “So when does the show premiere?”
The actors exchanged awkward glances.
“It was supposed to start airing in September,” the woman named Callie said.
“Is it delayed?” Trembley asked, sounding genuinely concerned.
Callie shrugged but Teddy was more forthcoming.
“There are issues,” he said, clearly not happy about them. “Even before the tragedy on the stage next to ours, we had to deal with productions delays, mostly due to that diva.”
“You mean Corinne Weatherly?” Jessie asked, suddenly interested.
“Yeah,” Teddy answered. “First she complained that our trailers were bigger than hers, so they got switched out. Then she claimed there was a smell coming from our stage that was making her ill. We had to shut down production for three days while they checked it out. They didn’t find anything. But we’re so far behind schedule that the network pushed our premiere to the spring and cut our episode order from thirteen to six. Now that she’s dead, who knows what’ll happen? Maybe they’ll shut us down for good out of respect for her loss.”
“Teddy, come on,” Callie said, obviously embarrassed. “A person died. Show a little sympathy.”
That seemed to snap the guy out of his tirade.
“You’re right,” he said. “I guess even a cancellation isn’t that big a deal in the grand scheme of things.”
“Were you guys here when it happened?” Jessie asked, trying to adopt the persona of a curious fan.
“No,” Callie said. “We had wrapped up shooting for the day, thank god. We only knew something was up when we came in this morning and saw police tape everywhere.”
“It’s a good thing I was at a panel discussion event last night or I’d probably be a suspect,” Teddy said before adding, “Listen, we only have a half hour for lunch so we’ve got to