Jackie frowned and made another note, then put an asterisk beside it.
"Then the male lead of another play here in Los Angeles fell down a set of stairs and broke his leg. I was still thinking it was just a run of bad luck," Vincent admitted with a grimace and shook his head. "Dan Henson, the actor, claimed someone had pushed him, but I didn't believe him until later."
"Why?" she asked.
"He was a drinker and drunk at the time." Vincent shrugged. "I thought it was just?
"An accident," Jackie finished for him dryly. "When did you start to realize these accidents might not be accidents?"
"When the cast of the New York play I was in started dropping out sick one right after the other with contagious anemia."
Jackie stared at him with disbelief. "Contagious anemia?"
"Yes." He gave a short laugh. "I think my family thought I'd fed myself out of a show."
"Did you?" Jackie asked.
Vincent stiffened, then turned a cold look her way. "No. I don't feed off my cast and crew. In fact, I don't feed off people I know or employees. Usually," he added dryly, as if he might be willing to make an exception in her case.
Jackie shrugged. She'd had to ask. "So, your cast started falling ill with anemia and you shut down the show and flew back here to California."
"I didn't have a choice. You need a cast to have a play." Vincent shrugged and then added with regret, "I hated to do it, though. It would have been a big hit."
Jackie stared at him doubtfully. "I believe Bastien said the play in New York was called Dracula, The Musical?"
"Yeah." He sighed. "It was good. The next Rocky Horror Picture Show."
"Right," Jackie didn't bother to hide her doubt. "What happened to make you close down all the plays? Was it just the combination of accidents?"
Vincent grimaced, then reluctantly admitted, "I'm ashamed to say it, but no. I've been in the business a long time, these things happen. Not usually one right after the other or anything, but I know how to deal with these sorts of events and we handled each emergency as it arose."
"Then what made you close them all down?"
Vincent frowned, and began to fiddle with the corner of her notepad. "The actors and actresses made me close them down. In each play at least one, or sometimes two, actors or actresses and their understudies have suddenly quit, or walked off stage. They've all been leads. We had to scramble to replace them and delay openings, or temporarily close shows to allow the replacements to learn their roles."
Jackie considered this briefly and then asked, "How many plays have been affected by actors or actresses walking off?"
"All of them. Two in New York. Two here in California. And two in Canada."
"Six," she said with a frown. "And the lead actor or actress has suddenly quit from each of them?"
"Yes."
"Are they under contract?"
"Yes."
Jackie's frown deepened. "I presume these contracts have some sort of legal provisos, or recourse, to prevent their just walking out?"
"Oh yes," he said with a harsh laugh. "I could sue every one of them into poverty for the rest of their lives, but none of them seems to care. Not that it matters, suing them doesn't help me get the plays up and running in the meantime."
"And now one of the replacements梐s well as her understudy梙ave walked as well?" Jackie murmured, thinking of the phone call he'd received earlier.
"Yes. It was one of the two here in California and was the first of the six that was scheduled to reopen. The replacement actress and her understudy quit this morning," he said grimly.
"Hmm... I don't suppose it could be a coincidence?"
"No," Vincent hissed the word through gritted teeth and then added, "I've been in the business for four hundred years. Having one play close down because an actor and understudy have walked out is rare enough, but having six at once?" He shook his head. "Definitely not a coincidence. Someone is out to ruin me."