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The theater looked hts, except for the details

The sa away on a wooden cut-out of a pink Cadillac The sa over lines off to the left of the stage

No one noticed me No one cared And why should they? They were all busy putting on a stage show about Elvis, and what could be cooler than that?

With murder cases, you always interviewed those closest to the victims, then worked your way out I would let the police interview any fah precious feed up in my preliminary research Still, ation Not everyone opened up to private eyes

Go figure

So as I stood there and surveyed the darkened theater, watching workers carry props and pull cables, actors read and re-read lines, and various stage hands in group un and coainst Sherbet&039;s wishes, no less

He&039;s here, I thought The killer is here

Beforesloped doard The Fullerton Playhouse wasn&039;t huge I would guess that it could seat ed into four quadrants, with two aisles leading down and aisles on each side I was standing on a platforuess was correct Various lights were on throughout the theater, but certainly not all of the was in shadows

A quick count netted me twenty-four people And one of them was the killer I was sure of it

How I knew this, I no longer questioned or doubted, and as I stood there scanning the theater, I felt that so was off And I was pretty sure I knehy

There was more than one killer

It takes a certain kind of personality to be an actor, or even hang around the theater You had to loveother than what you were Which was a pretty useful trait for a killer, too

As I stepped forward, a s a clipboard andup He was exactly an inch taller than me

I held out one of my business cards "Hi My na into the murder of Brian Meeks"

He looked at the card and blinked twice "Are you with the police?"

"I&039;ator" One of the stipulations with Sherbet was that I was never, ever, to state that I orking with the police It was a gray area he wanted to avoid My official employer was the City of Fullerton In fact, my checks had been issued by the city clerk&039;s office

"Working for whom?"

"An interested party"

He finally tookthe killer" I tried not to be sarcastic, because that never helps What did he think, the cops wanted to know his favorite picks to win the Oscars? "Can I ask you a few questions about Brian Meeks?"

He looked at e I sensed his hesitation, his pain, and finally his resolve "Okay, but only for a fewnight Crazy as Lady Macbeth here"

"Gotcha We&039;ll hurry this along Did Brian Meeks work here as an actor?"

"For a few years now"

"Did you know him personally?"

"Not necessarily personally, but professionally Then again, in the world of theater, personal and professional lines tend to get blurred We&039;re all so close"

"I bet Are you an actor?"

"Director only"

"Gotcha Did you direct anything Brian was in?"