different rooms in the same house, so we don’t have to change locations. They bring the guys in for different segments. The cameraman moves around to get all the angles so we don’t have to stop and keep setting up new shots. It happens pretty efficiently.”
“So Hanna was making thirty-six grand for a half month’s work?” said Wallis.
“Well, I would imagine it’s pretty grueling work,” said Pine.
“It definitely can be,” said Clemmons, giving her an appreciative smile.
“Right, right,” Wallis said uncomfortably. He cleared his throat. “Now when was the last time you saw Ms. Rebane?”
“Four days ago. We were planning to return in a week for more filming. We used to spend more time together here, but we’ve sort of gone our separate ways of late. I mean, we’re still friends and all. And we obviously still lived together.”
“How long have you lived together?” asked Pine.
“For about two years now. Most of it here. We bought this condo together.”
Wallis said, “So you last saw her four days ago? Where was this?”
“We had a late lunch together at a place about a mile from here. After that I went to my boyfriend’s place for the night. I got back the next afternoon.”
Wallis asked, “Do you know who her other friends were? Did she mention having a boyfriend, someone new in her life?”
“She didn’t have a boyfriend, at least that I knew of. She didn’t really have many friends.”
“But you said just now that the two of you have gone your separate ways, so you may not know about a boyfriend,” pointed out Blum.
“That’s true.”
“And was there a reason for the two of you going your separate ways?” asked Pine.
Clemmons looked uncomfortable and didn’t answer.
“Ms. Clemmons, if you know something that could help us…?” prompted Wallis.
“Just call me Beth, please.” She sighed and kneaded her thighs with her fists. “Hanna had gotten a little weird as of late.”
“Weird how, Beth?” asked Pine.
“She was withdrawn, secretive. She even told me she was thinking of getting out of the business altogether. She actually told me that at our lunch.”
“Did she say why, or what she was planning to do instead?” asked Wallis.
“Not really. But, well, it seemed that someone was influencing her.” She smiled in an embarrassed fashion. “She was beautiful and all, but it wasn’t like Hanna was any great thinker or anything. She lived day to day. She was only twenty-seven. She didn’t have her whole life mapped out. She was carefree, enjoying what she had.” She looked around the spacious, light-filled room. “She loved all of this. She grew up really poor overseas.”
“She was from Estonia,” said Pine.
“I didn’t know that, she never said. Only that she wasn’t born here. You could tell that by her accent. It was kind of thick. It was hard to understand her sometimes.”
“She had a lengthy criminal record,” said Wallis. “Solicitation, drugs.”
“That was years ago,” she said defensively. “She’d been clean for a long time. And we were making a lot more money from film than we ever did—” She caught herself and fell silent.
“The postmortem showed that she was still using drugs, Beth,” Pine said. “Coke, meth, it was pretty obvious. I can’t imagine you could live with her and not know this.”
Pine glanced at the woman’s bare arms. She had already noted they were free of needle tracks. But there was something.…
“Beth?” prompted Pine.
“We were both in rehab together,” she blurted out. “Okay? She was clean. For a while. Then she fell back into bad ways. I was all over her case about it, but I couldn’t get through to her. And she could still do the work, but…”
“Maybe someone came into her life to convince her to change what she was doing,” said Blum quietly, keeping her gaze on Clemmons. “Someone recent. Someone who got her to go down the bad path again?”
“Maybe someone did. But she never mentioned anyone like that to me.”
“Had she ever spoken of getting married?” asked Pine.
Clemmons’s large eyes widened. “Married? No, nothing like that. Why?”
“Just checking all the boxes. Did she ever show an interest in looking at wedding gowns or veils?”
“No, never.”
“Did you know that she had had a child?” asked Wallis.
Beth looked stunned by this statement. “What? Oh my God, are you serious?”
“The postmortem showed that as well.”
“She, no, never. I had no idea. Jesus, that is so.…” Her voice faltered and she started to bite at one of her cuticles.
“Does she have any relations that need to be notified?” asked Wallis.