Page 19 of The Girl Who Knew Too Much

He was a very well-paid nanny to a bunch of spoiled actors and actresses. He routinely saved prominent talents who went on drinking binges and got involved in hit-and-run incidents. He made morals charges against actors with a fondness for underage sex partners disappear. He paid off women who claimed a star had raped them or that they were pregnant with a star’s love child. He hushed up rumors of homosexuality. And so it went. He could fix just about any problem that came up.

“What’s done is done,” he said. “Nick Tremayne is very important to the studio, so obviously we will have to clean up this mess.”

“Yes, sir,” Maxine said.

She waited, pen poised above her notebook.

Ogden considered his options. He lived by three simple rules. Rule Number One: Identify the problem. Rule Number Two: Identify the source of the problem. Rule Number Three: Identify the pressure points and apply whatever pressure was required to make a problem disappear.

Most of the time, money was all that was needed. Money persuaded cops and judges to look the other way. Money persuaded women to cease making accusations of rape. Money kept blackmailers quiet.

But sometimes more forceful measures were required.

“The problem, Miss Ross, is that a gossip columnist has published completely false rumors about Nick Tremayne in a cheap Hollywood scandal sheet.”

“Yes, Mr. Ogden.”

“The source of the problem would appear to be the reporter who wrote the piece, Irene Glasson.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Get the editor ofWhisperson the phone for me. It’s time that Velma Lancaster and I had a little chat.”

“Yes, Mr. Ogden. Will that be all, sir?”

“No. Tremayne’s personal assistant called again this morning. She told me that Tremayne is very nervous. Nervous stars are always a problem. They become even more temperamental and unpredictable than they usually are.”

“Yes, sir.”

Ogden turned around. “Get ahold of Hollywood Mack, too. Tell him to stand by. I might have a job for him.”

“Yes, sir.”

Maxine rose, unfazed by the instructions to contact a man who consorted with shady characters and known criminals. She left, closing the door very quietly.

Ogden went back to the window and watched a familiar limousine pull up to the big gate. The driver flashed a badge at the guard and was waved through. It wasn’t that long ago that the arrival of Stanley Bancroft, the star ofSea of Shadows, would have created a buzz of excitement on the grounds of the studio. But today few people bothered to look at the big car. Bancroft was not yet box office poison, but everyone knew that his career was fading fast.

All glory is fleeting, my friend,Ogden thought. A few years earlier, at the dawn of talking movies, Bancroft had displaced another leading man who, as it turned out, had a high, grating voice. That hadn’t been aproblem during the heyday of the silents but it was a career-killer in the era of sound.

Ogden turned away from the window and sat down at his desk. He thought about the various steps he could take to control the damage that threatened one of the studio’s most important investments. After a while he came up with a plan.

This is why you get the big bucks and the corner office, pal.

But he knew that long ago it had ceased to be about the money. What he truly relished these days was the power that he wielded. It was more intoxicating than any drug.

Chapter 10

It was his job to protect the star.That’s what friends are for,Henry Oakes reminded himself.

He sat at the counter of the small café, hunched over a cup of coffee and a copy ofWhispers, and contemplated the task that he had set for himself.

The problem was that Nick Tremayne did not understand he was in danger. Henry wanted to warn him but he didn’t dare reveal himself. The time was not right.

It should have been the studio’s job to protect Nick Tremayne, but whoever was in charge of his security was obviously not paying attention. The studio had missed the threat that the firstWhispersreporter, Hackett, had presented. They had not dealt with the Gloria Maitland problem.

Henry had talked to both women. Tried to reason with them. But they had treated him as if he was crazy. Hackett had actually called him crazy to his face. It had reminded him of his mother’s words.You have to stop obsessing over movie stars, Henry. People will think you’re not right in the head.

One thing was certain—neither the Maitland woman nor the nosynewspaper reporter, Hackett, would call him crazy again. With them out of the picture, it had appeared that Nick Tremayne was safe, at least for a time.