you release Tara Tanner from her confidentiality agreement so that she can confirm the misperception of your reputation?” she asked.
“What would you ask her?” he wondered.
“The same thing I’ll ask you: did you sleep with her?”
“That’s none of your business,” he answered, though without the venom she would have expected.
“Did you sleep with Corinne Weatherly?” she asked immediately.
Boatwright’s face suddenly got pink. He stood up.
“I’ve had just about enough of this,” he bellowed in a tone Jessie suspected he used often when police weren’t around. “You come in here making unfounded accusations, casting aspersions on my character. It’s disgraceful!”
She was unmoved by the display.
“We’re just asking questions, Mr. Boatwright,” she said innocently. “And I notice you didn’t answer mine.”
“Either arrest me or get the hell out of my office,” he demanded.
Before Jessie could respond, Detective Alan Trembley took a step forward. There was a forcefulness to his demeanor that she hadn’t seen before. He pulled his handcuffs off his belt and let them dangle from his finger as he spoke.
“Mr. Boatwright,” he said in a cool but steely voice, “you can either sit back down and answer our questions directly and without attitude. Or we will arrest you on suspicion of murder. I’ll cuff you, frog march you out of this office and onto the street outside where Corinne’s fans and multiple TV vans are waiting. You can untangle the complications down at the station with your high-priced attorney. Meanwhile your face will be splashed all over local and national news. The choice is yours.”
Linzie poked her head in the room.
“Everything okay in here?” she asked hesitantly.
“I don’t know,” Trembley said, staring at Boatwright. “Is it?”
The producer’s eyes darted back and forth between Jessie and Trembley, neither of whom blinked.
“It’s fine, Linzie,” he finally said. “Everything’s good here. Sorry to worry you.”
Linzie hurried off. Boatwright sat back down, trying to get comfortable in his chair. Trembley reattached his cuffs to his belt. Jessie looked over at the detective with newfound respect. It had taken a while for him to find his inner badass, but now that it had arrived, she hoped it would stick around.
“Did you sleep with Corinne Weatherly?” she repeated.
Boatwright looked down at his desk as if it might have the answer, then looked back up.
“Yes,” he said quietly. “But it was completely consensual. It happened before I was married. And it had nothing to do with her getting the role in Petals and Petulance.”
“That was just a coincidence?” Jessie poked.
“Our…interaction took place after she already had the part. I won’t deny that my attraction to her may have played a role in her getting it. But the same quality that drew me to her personally is what also made me sure she was the right actress to cast. She just had that star ‘thing.’”
“So why didn’t you ever work together again?” Jessie asked.
Boatwright sighed heavily.
“Corinne became a star but that didn’t do anything to smooth over her insecurities. If anything, it exacerbated them. She became—I don’t want to call it obsessive. But she wanted to continue our relationship. I…this doesn’t reflect very well on me, but I lost interest after the conquest. She was a lot of work and ultimately not worth it. Then I met my future wife. Corinne was jealous. She kept pursuing me.”
He noticed Jessie’s raised eyebrows and shrugged before continuing.
“I know I’m no matinee idol. But for whatever reason she thought we were right for each other. It started to get uncomfortable. So I just cut off contact. The studio wanted to do a Petals sequel but I refused. I was doing just fine without it and I didn’t want any excuse for us to be around each other. I thought that a clean break was the best way to help her move on.”
“How kind of you,” Jessie muttered.
“So you torpedoed her chance at a successful sequel because you didn’t want to be around her?” Trembley asked.
“Pretty much,” Boatwright conceded. “And she definitely resented it, especially once she hit a dry spell after the Marauder movies. I got some nasty voicemails, which I kept in case I needed evidence for a restraining order. It never reached that point. But there were bad feelings for years after. For her, I don’t think they ever really went away. I’d see her at events and we were cordial but there was always an edge. I never turned my back to her. I honestly thought she might stab me with a salad fork if she got the