Page 41

40

However fast Mason drove, she couldn’t control the relentlessness of time, and in the end they didn’t get back into LA until the wee hours of Thursday morning. Julia made the executive decision to go home, shower, change, do her hair, put on a full face of makeup and a new suit (mid-’80s Calvin Klein, big shoulders) and then felt justified when a crowd of paparazzi outside the hospital took her picture for a fat five minutes. Mason, who had showered and put on clean jeans, managed to stay out of the frame. It wasn’t even eight a.m., she’d only had one coffee, and she was barely functional.

She and Julia rode up in the elevator, silently, and Mason slumped against the wall.

“I’m forty-plus years older than you. How come I have so much more energy?” asked Julia, disdainfully.

“I don’t know,” replied Mason. “Vitriol has more calories than I thought?”

Maggie looked pale against the pillow, but Danny Agosti’s face was the color of blood. Presumably his own.

“I told you something like this was going to happen,” he spat at Julia as she and Mason came into the room. “I knew your poking around was going to cause trouble.”

“To be fair,” said Julia calmly, leaning down to kiss Maggie on the cheek, “you didn’t anticipate this precise outcome. You were worried about your reputation, not your physical safety.” She looked him up and down. “And you appear to be in fine fettle, so I’m not quite sure why you’re so bent out of shape.” She didn’t mention the crowd of reporters outside the hospital, but presumably he’d seen them, too.

He was curt. “Because Maggie could have been killed.”

“Don’t be so stupid,” said Maggie. “The guy didn’t want to kill me. He wanted the will, whatever will it was he thinks I have. Which I don’t.” Maggie was clearly furious. “It’s total bullshit, Julia. I was coming in the back, which I don’t always do, often I’ll come in the front, but today I went in the back and this guy…”

“You’re sure it was a guy?”

“Yes, I know the feeling of a man’s hands—let’s face it, and a woman’s—and this was a guy. Anyway, this guy steps out of fucking nowhere, puts his arm around my neck and says, Where is it? Where’s the will? ”

“The will?” Julia was frowning.

“Yes,” Maggie spluttered. “As if I know. The only recently dead person I know is Tony, and of course Sam, and if either of them gave me a will to hold on to, it’s fucking news to me.”

“It seems more likely Tony would have left you a will. Sam was kind of young to be estate planning, no?”

“I agree.” Maggie was still mad, but her eyes were gleaming. “But I didn’t see Tony in his last few days. I was out of town at a burlesque convention.”

“There are conventions?” Mason was incredulous.

Danny Agosti answered her. “Look, it’s not the movie industry, but it’s still a significant art form and a multimillion-dollar business.” He shrugged. “When a murder on the premises isn’t ruining things.”

Mason looked at him. “You’re really very money-focused, aren’t you?”

“I’m a businessman.”

Maggie was still steamed. “Plus, if he wanted to give me a will, he would have just called me. Why would he give me one anyway? He had a lawyer. Damn, he probably had more than one. And he left a will; it’s not like he died without one. It doesn’t make any sense. Which I told the guy.”

“You told him?” Julia’s mouth was twitching. “What did you say?”

“Well, once he’d taken his arm from around my neck, which was making it hard to breathe, let alone speak, I assured him I had no idea what he was talking about, had no will to offer him, mine or anyone else’s, and then told him that if he didn’t fuck off immediately I was going to call the bouncers and they would tear his nuts off.”

Mason grinned. “And did that work?”

Maggie smiled at her. “Yes, he seemed very taken aback. He ran off. I don’t think his heart was really in it. However, when he let me go, I stepped back, tripped over my own damn feet and fell against the wall. Gave myself a concussion. It’s a little bit embarrassing, but what can you do?” She looked at Danny. “It isn’t Julia’s fault at all. There’s no point getting mad at her.” She patted his hand. “Just relax. I’ll be back at work tomorrow.” She paused. “Who’s on tonight, anyway?”

“The Great Jacqueline and Barbra Thighsand.”

Maggie laughed. “Fantastic drag name, gets me every time. And Jackie will keep the masses entertained. Brian’s on the floor?”

Danny nodded. “It’s all in hand. Don’t even think about it.”

“Can we talk about the will some more?” asked Julia. “If someone thinks you have it, presumably someone thinks there’s another will. If you don’t have it, where is it, and more importantly, what’s in it? What might Tony have done differently?”

“Left everything to the museum, for a start,” said Mason. “That seemed to be something people were surprised by, something they thought he’d done.”

“Maybe he gave it to you, Julia?” Maggie said, carefully tilting her head to one side. “Ouch, that was a bad idea. Maybe he gave it to you the night he was killed and you just don’t remember?”

“He gave me that film and that was all.” Julia paused. “I think.” She frowned. “I vaguely remember a longish conversation, but I really…” She tailed off. “I remember him talking about Jonathan, but I don’t remember what he said.” She shrugged. “Sorry.”

“Where were you?” asked Danny Agosti. “I tried calling you but it just went to voicemail.”

“We were in Palm Springs.” Julia looked at Maggie. “Did you know Jack Simon?”

“Of course,” replied Maggie, “back in the day. Not so much lately. He and his boyfriend moved to the desert a million years ago.”

“You knew his boyfriend?”

“Robert? Yes, I knew everyone back then. He was an actor, too, but not as successful as Jack. Jack always came first.”

“He killed him.”

“Robert killed Jack?” Maggie looked shocked, but then made a face. “It’s surprising, but not as surprising as you might think. Being eclipsed gets old, and eventually gets enraging. Don’t you think?”

“I don’t know,” said Julia, airily. “No one’s ever come close.”