Eleventh Hour

When it was over, she shook her head. “I’m sorry, I can’t be sure. But you know, if the San Francisco police can catch Stuckey, maybe he’ll identify DeLoach’s voice.”

“Good idea,” Dane said, and jotted it down in his small notebook. “Could you give us a copy of the tape?”

Franken nodded, said, “No problem. You’re really hoping that Weldon DeLoach is the madman who’s copying the scripts for The Consultant, aren’t you?”

“Fact is,” Delion said, sitting forward, “when we find him, we really want to sit down with him and have a nice cozy chat. We’ll see.”

“It’s not Weldon,” Jon Franken said again.

“Now, Mr. Franken,” Flynn said, “you said the first two episodes of The Consultant were Mr. DeLoach’s scripts, almost exactly, right?” Dane noticed that Flynn’s left hand always moved slightly up and down when he concentrated, as if he were dribbling a basketball.

“Yes,” Franken said, “DeLoach was really excited about the series.” His cell phone rang and he excused himself. When he came back, he said, “That was my assistant. She said one of Weldon’s friends just told her that Weldon was going up to Bear Lake to spend time with his dad. Said he was going to take at least three weeks and he wanted to do some fishing, too. His father’s in a home up there, Lakeview Home for Retired Police Officers.”

Delion said, “You mean DeLoach’s father is a retired cop?”

Franken said, “Yeah, I guess so. I do know his dad’s been there a long time. Once Weldon told me that his father was confused most of the time.”

Flynn said, “We already knew Weldon didn’t ask the people here at the studio or anyone else to make him any airline reservations. If he did fly somewhere, we would have found a record, what with all the security.”

“Bear Lake,” Delion said thoughtfully. “That’s up in the Los Padres National Forest, isn’t it? In Ventura County?”

“That’s right,” Flynn said. “Just an hour north on I-5, over the Tejon Pass. Well, maybe more, what with our godawful traffic.”

“And that means, of course, that DeLoach could have easily driven up to San Francisco anytime he wanted. And Pasadena,” Nick said.

“Yeah, that’s right,” Flynn said.

“Thank you, Mr. Franken,” Delion said, rising. “Detective Flynn’s people have interviewed all the other writers and employees of The Consultant. Everyone checks out, at least on the first pass, which is admittedly shallow. Oh yes, Mr. Franken, where were you last week?”

Jon Franken was gently swinging his foot with its Italian loafer tassel falling to one side, then to the other. He raised an eyebrow, but answered readily enough, and with good humor, “I was right here, Inspector Delion. I’m working on Buffy the Vampire Slayer at present. Very long days.”

Delion nodded, then turned away, saying over his shoulder, “Oh yes, what’s the name of Mr. Frank Pauley’s wife? You know, the one who plays the girlfriend on The Consultant?”

“Belinda Gates.”

“We’d like to speak to her. And the star of the show, Joe Kleypas.”

“Of course. Watch it with him, Inspector. Joe isn’t always mellow, particularly when he drinks. He’s got quite a temper, actually. If you accuse him of being a murderer, his smile might just drop off his face.” He looked Savich and Dane up and down, smiled to himself, and said, “Of course, it would be interesting to see what would happen if he went at it with you guys.”

Jon Franken took Savich and Sherlock to the commissary for lunch. “Belinda’s working a soap this week,” he said as he chewed slowly on a single french fry. “A guest slot. There were some problems, so I know they were shooting today. Maybe she’ll be here. If she doesn’t show, I’ll take you to her trailer. It’s pretty rare that the bigger stars come in here. They hang out in their trailers most of the time. You probably noticed trailers scattered all over the lot.” He shook his head. “What a life, not much glamour sitting in a trailer.”

Sherlock said, looking around the big rectangular room, “I guess I expected a big buffet, cafeteria-style. I do like all those 1930s murals on the walls.”

“I like all the ape characters from the new Planet of the Apes you’ve got set around this big room,” Savich said. “They’re really lifelike.”

“This is Hollywood,” Jon said. “We never stop advertising or patting ourselves on the back. Actually, though, this commissary doesn’t compare to the one over at Universal. You can catch some really big stars over there because the place is so opulent.”