The Magic Of Halloween Night

Chapter 10

Friday

The next few days had flown by. I’d settled into somewhat of a routine at the movie set. I now knew to arrive early and to plan to knock off around four o’clock. While I still wasn’t off early enough to pick Paisley up from school, as I would have preferred, I was home early enough to help her with her homework and offer a presence in her life.

Paisley was staying with Anna again this weekend, and I was going to be off early enough this evening to do the play session with Cass and the dogs, which thrilled me to no end. I’d missed Tuesday’s session since I’d hung around the movie set a lot longer than I’d really needed to, wondering if the filming would continue into the evening, but apparently, the schedule provided for an early start and a wrap well before the evening meal. I’d planned to work through the weekend, but there was a huge storm blowing in, so the director decided to break until it passed since all they had left to shoot were exterior shots.

I hadn’t seen Cass since Monday and really missed him. We’d spoken on the phone a few times, but he’d been busy with his investigation into the cause of the auto accident that had killed Bill Fuller and hadn’t had a lot of time to chat. I did find out that the official cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head, which was consistent with an auto accident. Cass also informed me that he’d spoken to Jennifer about the conversation she’d had with Bill before his death, and she told him that although she and Bill were separated and had been since before he left LA, they had never filed the official divorce paperwork. She’d been trying to get Bill to sign the paperwork that their attorneys had already worked out, but he’d been dragging his feet. She’d seen the dinner between Bill and Robert as a good opportunity to get in front of him and had taken it.

As far as where Bill had gone after they’d spoken Thursday evening, Jennifer had no idea. Cass decided to pull Bill’s phone and bank records. The last call he’d made from his cell was to Robert at four o’clock Thursday afternoon. Robert verified that Bill had called him around then with the time of their dinner reservation. As for Bill’s bank records, Cass couldn’t find anything suspicious or out of line. I knew that Cass was still working on the case despite the fact he still had no hard-hitting reason to suspect that the crash that killed Bill was anything more than a terrible accident.

As for me, I’d been busy with my assignment. Not only did I spend each day watching the filming, talking to people, and snapping photos I hoped to get permission to use, but when I got home in the evenings, I had to write something up for Dex, who, by the way, I was still worried about, but hadn’t had time to speak to further. I had spoken to Gabby almost every day, and she said it seemed like Dex might be doing better. We both hoped that his forgetfulness had been a temporary thing.

Gracie had talked to Ethel yesterday, and she was thrilled that I was willing to take over as Paisley’s guardian in the event she was no longer able to continue in that capacity. She had a friend who happened to be an attorney whom she planned to speak to in order to ensure that everything was set in motion to progress smoothly when it was time. Paisley still hoped that her grandmother would get better and come home, but after I’d told Paisley about the plan Gracie and I were working on with Ethel to ensure she could stay with us if her grandmother was unable to care for her, she began to relax and settle into her new routine.

Paisley’s play was on Thursday of next week. I was pretty sure the film crew would be done filming by that point, and I wouldn’t have a conflict, but whether they were done or not, I planned to be there to cheer her on. She’d been working so hard to learn her lines, and it seemed like she was ready for opening night, even though they still had another week of rehearsal.

I hadn’t had the chance to talk to Gracie about the curse again. I’d planned to talk to her Monday evening, but by the time Cass and I had returned from our walk, she’d been playing cards with Tom, and I didn’t want to disturb them. I’d gone upstairs to help Paisley with her homework, and then the two of us had run lines until it was time for her to go to bed. Once she’d settled, I’d gone up to the attic and began putting together an outline of the articles I hoped to write that week.

“You’re up early,” I said to Gracie after I’d quietly snuck down the stairs on my way out. Now that I knew the group from the movie studio started work early, I’d been getting up while it was still dark so I could arrive at the set by the time filming got underway.

“I wanted to catch you and ask about your schedule for the weekend. Paisley is going home with Anna after school today and plans to stay the whole weekend. I spoke to Anna’s mother, and she indicated that she would take both girls to school Monday. I’ll plan to pick Paisley up after school Monday. That gives us three free days between now and then, so Tom and I thought we might take a little trip out of town to see the trees, but I wanted to make sure you didn’t have anything going on I needed to be here for.”

“I think a trip to see the trees is a wonderful idea,” I answered. “And you shouldn’t ever feel you need to be here for me.” I smiled as I poured a cup of coffee. “I know it might not seem like it, but I really am able to take care of myself.”

Gracie smiled back. “I know that, but I guess I’m just used to making sure you’re all set before I go off somewhere.”

“I’m set,” I promised. “I get off at four today and plan to head over to the shelter for my training session and playtime with Cass and the dogs. When I spoke to him on the phone last night, he mentioned that we might go to dinner after the play session. There’s a storm rolling in, so the film crew and cast are taking a break. I shouldn’t have to go back to the set until Monday morning, so I’m going to hang out and work on my articles.”

“How are they going?”

“Really well. The experience has been fun but demanding. I’m ready for it to be over. It’s been a busy week, but it looks like the filming should be finished by midweek next week. Paisley’s play is Thursday, and I thought we could go to the pumpkin farm and pick some pumpkins to carve on Friday. Pumpkins and chili is a family tradition.”

Gracie grinned. “I’d love that. Next weekend will be busy as well with the Halloween Festival, but I agree that we need to be sure to do at least a few things for just us.”

I hugged Gracie. “Traditions are important, and I want us to have a bunch. You, me, Tom, and Paisley.”

“And Cass?” Gracie asked.

Cass? What was I going to do about Cass? I still hadn’t figured it all out, but one way or another, I was certain I wanted him to be part of the family as well.

******

When I arrived at the resort, I found a lot of people milling around, but no one seemed to be working. I wasn’t sure what was going on, but I noticed Lola speaking to a young woman with short red hair, so I headed in that direction.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“Harrison is supposed to shoot a scene with Amy and me, but he hasn’t shown up. They sent someone to fetch him, but he isn’t in his room. I guess there are folks looking for him. In the meantime, Amy and I have been told to wait.”

I turned toward the woman I assumed must be Amy. She had features similar to Jennifer’s, but there were differences as well. Still, I imagined that if there weren’t any close-ups involved, she could easily double for the supporting actress. “I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Callie.”

“Oh, I’m sorry I didn’t introduce you,” Lola said. “I guess I figured you’d already met.”

Amy and I greeted each other, and then I settled in to wait with them.

“Does this happen often?” I asked. I was sure that if an actor or actress was habitually late, they’d find themselves out of work at some point, but it didn’t seem unreasonable to me that actors and actresses would sleep late and fail to show up for work on time just like many others I’d worked with in the past.

“Harrison is usually pretty reliable,” Lola said. “I’ve worked bit parts in at least half a dozen movies he’s worked on, and I can’t ever remember him being late before. There’s no nightlife up here, and I haven’t noticed him, or anyone else for that matter, taking the time to go into town, which doesn’t seem to have much nightlife either. I can’t imagine where he might have gone off to, but one of the grips said that one of the assistants told him that Harrison’s bed hadn’t been slept in, so maybe he simply hooked up with someone and forgot to set his alarm.”

“Maybe,” I agreed.

“Has anyone asked Jennifer if she’s seen him?” Amy asked. “I saw them talking after dinner. They were out near the patio area where they serve food and beverages during the day.”

“I’m not sure,” Lola said. She looked off into the distance. “Here comes Rene. Maybe she knows something.”

As it turned out, Rene was as clueless as everyone else was as to where Harrison might be. She did know that Logan’s assistant, Stacy, had taken the time to knock on the door of every occupied room and ask whoever might be around if they’d seen the missing actor, but no one had. Jennifer told Stacy that she’d spoken to Harrison the previous evening about a mutual friend, but she’d left him alone on the patio around seven o’clock and hadn’t seen him since. One of the other film crew members had verified that she’d seen Jennifer enter her suite around eight-fifteen. She’d been alone at the time.

Another hour passed, and Harrison hadn’t been heard from, so they made a decision to skip his scene and move on to the next one they’d planned to film that didn’t include him. At least Harrison wasn’t the main star of the movie. In fact, he had a fairly minor part compared to some of the others, so at least for now, it was easy to work around him. Based on the scowl on the director’s face, however, I was willing to bet that Harrison was going to be in a heap of trouble when he finally showed up.

“I’m not in this scene,” Lola said. “I’m going to head over and grab something to eat.” She looked at me. “Do you want to come along?”

“I’d like that,” I said, realizing that the chance to talk to Lola, who seemed to know what was going on with almost everyone on set, would probably be time well spent. “So how does this movie set compare to others you’ve worked on?”

“It’s pretty isolated, and there is absolutely nothing to do, but we are getting a lot of work done, which means that until Harrison pulled his disappearing act, we’ve been able to stay ahead of schedule. I even heard talk of a wrap as early as Monday or Tuesday, which would be awesome. There are still scenes that will be filmed at the studio, but I’ll be happy to wrap here and get home to LA. For one thing, I’m missing my cat.”

“I can understand that. Do you hire a pet sitter when you’re away from home?”

“My roommate is home this week, so she’s keeping an eye on her. If we’re both out of town at the same time, I take her over to my parents’.”

After we settled in with fruit bowls, Lola, Amy, and I chatted about other movies they’d worked and other actors, actresses, and directors they’d worked with. It was interesting to get an insider’s perspective. I’d managed to land interviews with many of the actors and actresses on the set, but so far, I’d been unable to speak to either Logan Underwood or Dirk Coven. I thought I’d have more time, but if the movie wrapped early, I supposed I’d have to turn my final story in without direct input from either the director or the star.

“I need to track Penny down to see if she can arrange a couple interviews I’m still lacking,” I said after we ate. “I’ll catch you later.”

Luckily, Penny was working in the same office where I’d found her on my first day on the set. I explained who I still needed to speak to, and she assured me she’d do what she could. She couldn’t guarantee anything, but I supposed that if I couldn’t get the interviews I hoped to get, I’d make do with what I had.

Except for the slow start to the day, it seemed to have been a productive day. Harrison still hadn’t shown up by the time the film crew wrapped. I found it odd that the guy would simply disappear and hoped that nothing had happened to him. Based on comments made by others I’d come into contact with, there were more folks who were angry that Harrison had missed his scheduled set time than there were people who were worried, so perhaps I was worried for nothing.

One thing I did know was that I was really looking forward to spending time with Cass. It had been a fun and rewarding week, but a very long one as well, and I really missed the two of us having time to unwind and compare notes.