If Hooks Could Kill - By Betty Hechtman Page 0,115

When I got closer, I saw that the whole backyard was illuminated as well.

Nanci Silvers stood on the edge of her front lawn, watching. Autumn was in the front yard, too. I did a double take when I saw who Autumn was talking to. The gangly kid in the baggy pants with a baseball cap at a stupid angle was none other than one of the juvenile shoplifters.

We stopped next to Nanci and I was going to say something about her daughter’s choice of boyfriends, but Nanci spoke first. “I hope you ladies aren’t here to complain. I’ve rethought the whole situation and I see that the production is great for our local businesses.” She paused as though considering what she was going to say next. “I was afraid people might get the wrong idea, so I was keeping it a secret, but I’m Dan’s partner. I want to do more with my life than be the PTA president. The dollar-of-the-hour special is all me.” she said. “I have connections through my husband’s business to get fabulous deals on merchandise. At first I didn’t even tell my husband that I’d bought a share of the business with my nest egg.”

“Sounds good to me,” I said, looking at Autumn and her new boyfriend. “But is that who you want your daughter to spend time with instead of Jeffrey?”

“Who’s Jeffrey?” Nanci said and I pointed to the boy on the bike at the end of the block. I pulled Nanci aside and told her what I knew about her daughter’s new friend. Nanci’s expression made it clear she’d gotten the message.

Because of the investigation, the L.A. 911 team had never filmed the scene using Kelly’s yard and driveway—until now. I felt a twinge of sadness. Kelly should have been out here enjoying the moment with the rest of us.

Dan came out of his house and crossed the driveway. “Well, this is it,” Dan said as he joined the group standing on Nanci’s front lawn. We had a perfect view of the backyard and the driveway.

The tall jean-clad director walked out to the sidewalk and waved toward Jeffrey and the production assistant near him. Jeffrey had tried to sneak into the shot so many times, the director had finally given in and said Jeffrey could ride his bike through this, the last scene they were shooting.

There was some more preparation and then the director yelled for everyone to settle and that they were ready to shoot. After a moment, he called for action. An actor dressed in creepy looking clothes came over the fence into the Donahue yard. He paused for a beat and ran through the yard and up the driveway. A moment later North appeared over the top of the same portion of fence. Though after it was edited, it would appear that he vaulted over the fence and landed on his feet, in reality, they put a ladder next to the fence and he climbed down. I think he was embarrassed at having us all watch the fakery, so to jazz it up a little, he jumped off the ladder before he reached the last rung. His move backfired and the tall ladder fell toward the house, hitting the row of poplar trees that had been brought into block the view. As it did something popped out of one of the trees and hit the ground.

“Cut,” the director yelled, walking through the yard. We all inched closer to see what had fallen.

“Can’t you people use the trash cans,” he yelled.

Curious what was causing his irritation, I crept all the way into the yard. When I saw what they were looking at I yelled, “Step back. Don’t touch that, it’s evidence.”

CHAPTER 36

Detective Heather walked across the backyard while the film crew and actors watched. “I don’t understand,” the director said. “It’s a piece of garbage. A broken plastic bottle.”

“Do you want to explain or should I?” I said to Detective Heather.

“I’ll handle this,” she said stepping in front of me. “This piece of garbage proves that Stone Thomasville shot his sister. She pointed out the label, which though damaged still clearly showed that it was the coconut water energy drink, Stone was touting. “It wasn’t available for sale anywhere, so the only way the bottle could have gotten there was if he’d brought it.” She pointed to the missing bottom and explained he’d used the juice bottle to make a homemade silencer, which was why nobody heard the shot. It must