Not So Model Home - By David James Page 0,57
guys from the show approached you for that purpose?”
“All of them! Look, we all know these guys aren’t going to write a discourse on the meaning of the Arab Spring to Western democracies, but they know how to defend their turf and play dirty and fight back when they need to.”
“So let’s start. Jeremy and his little sycophant, what’s-his-name? How did you get to know him?”
“What do you mean, Amanda?”
“I mean that you obviously had to know him somehow. How did he come up with the idea for the show?”
Aurora thought for a moment. “I think he knew Ian somehow. Or maybe he went to Ian to get his hair styled. I can’t remember exactly. Do you want their entire history, or just how you think they might be involved in Keith’s murder?”
“Through the filter of your psychological insight.”
“This won’t go outside this room?”
“You have my word, Aurora.”
“Okay. Do I think Jeremy could have killed Keith? For ratings? Sure. He’s driven, maniacal. Plus, he’s a producer. They’re bloodthirsty people who are only as good as their last movie or series. The money is part of it, but it’s really the ego that has to be fed. They live in L.A., so they’re constantly surrounded by stars, agents, studio execs . . . all of whom they think are judging them. And, to be honest, they are being judged. In Hollywood, the reality is a big, paranoid, cultish, collective bunch that is so skewed from the rest of the planet. Jeremy’s is a slowly rising star. He’s had some real failures, so those are still chasing him. But he’s had a few mild successes, which no one remembers. But this show? Whew. He knows that Keith’s murder is going to shoot this show into the heavens. I mean, even before the murder, the premise was outrageous: A dying multimillionaire who’s going to give away a lot of his fortune to a guy based on a contest? It blows American Idol and America’s Got Talent completely away. Now we’ve got a murdered contestant. You’d have to be insane not to want to watch something like this. Plus, he has an assistant.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“It’s easier to carry out a murder if you don’t have to do it all by yourself. Two are easier than one.”
“Two are also more likely to leave clues. Twice as many mistakes to make.”
“Interesting observation, Amanda. Next?”
“Let’s go through the cast. Let’s start with Drake.”
“Okay. Drake’s smart. Reserved.”
“A leather dominant,” I said.
“Yes, he is. Ian likes to be dominated by him.”
“That’s so weird. Ian likes to dominate Drake during the day. But by night . . . ?”
“Amanda, sexual domination is a common thing.”
“It is?”
“I treat hundreds of powerful men who love it. Well, treat is not the right word. It’s a matter of getting people to accept it and use it to release inner desires. I get dozens of Hollywood execs who have to make huge decisions involving millions of dollars every day. Greenlighting movies, dealing with childish stars, producers, and writer prima donnas. At the end of the day, these men want nothing more than to have a big man or woman shove a ball gag into their mouth, hood them, and tell them to shut up. They get to give up being in control all the time. Same with Ian. Very common. Hey, that would be a good idea to try in therapy!” she said, taking out her smartphone and making a note of it.
“All I know is that Drake’s really strong.”
“You don’t have to be strong to poison someone, Amanda.”
“Good point, Aurora. But you do have to have some muscles to strangle a person.”
“Not if he’s on drugs.”
“Sure . . . And Aleksei blurted out that he and Drake have done autoerotic asphyxiation before.”
“And that means what, Amanda?”
“I. . . ,” I replied, stumbling. “It means that Aleksei thought they were doing a sexual thing and he let Drake do it willingly, not knowing it was going to be permanent. It would have been easy.”
“So what’s Drake’s psychological motivation for icing both Aleksei and Keith?”
“The same as all the others: increasing his chances of winning the competition.”
Aurora didn’t seem impressed with my theory.
I added more: “Anger. Rage.”
“At Ian?” she asked.
“It’s misplaced, indirect, but yes. Ian, because he could ruin everything by leaving the money to an undiscovered heir. Rage at Keith for clogging everything up.”
“But then every contestant could have killed Keith—and Aleksei—for the same reason: for getting in the way. Maybe