Free Reel Stuff by Don Bruns

that’s the case. Anders flew in the day before the death—before the murder. Strange timing, since he hasn’t been here in three weeks, don’t you think?”
    â€œHe had to show up sometime. After all, it is his show.” Now Em was sticking up for him. “He was grateful Londell had agreed to do the guest shot. He thought it would boost ratings and he wanted to be here to thank Londell personally.” She foldedher hands and was silent for a moment. “I felt bad for him, Skip. The guy is taking it personally. He must have said it three times. If he hadn’t invited him out to do the guest spot, Londell would be alive right now.”
    Hard to dispute.
    â€œHe and Londell spent some time together the night before, and he said they talked about coming up through the ranks. It all sounded pretty heartfelt.”
    â€œAnd I heard the time spent together was playing poker with Randy Roberts and a couple of high rollers from South Beach,” James said. “Apparently, our Mr. Anders and Londell play for serious money. Rumored to be one reason Mr. Anders is having a little financial trouble.”
    I’d heard rumors about games on the set too, but James and I could barely afford to play for pennies. We weren’t likely to be asked to sit in.
    â€œEm, Greg Handler, or whoever the camera guy really is, used a company credit card to rent and insure the camera. Company credit card. How did Anders explain that? Or did he?” I asked.
    â€œStolen.”
    â€œConvenient.”
    â€œWhile I interviewed him, he called some finance lady. She apparently approves expenses. She told Anders that they did in fact hire an extra cameraman, and poker player Randy Roberts, the director whom you were next to when Londell died, was responsible for making it all happen. Apparently, Roberts thought everything was on the up-and-up and didn’t worry about it.”
    â€œWhat? That sounds very convoluted. Who put in a call for Greg Handler?”
    â€œRandy Roberts.”
    â€œDid he know him? Was he a friend?”
    â€œApparently, someone on the crew suggested Handler. Anders doesn’t know who and he made it very clear he doesn’t get involved in all the hands-on, day-to-day minutia.”
    I made a mental note to ask Roberts. The director had specifically told us that Scott Howell’s company had sent over the cameraman. Maybe I misunderstood the conversation.
    â€œDid he say anything at all about Ashley Amber? She said she spent that night with Londell.”
    And now we were hearing he spent the night playing poker.
    â€œI asked him about Ashley and her sister. He said even though the show is struggling, Ashley’s acting was helping with ratings.” Em rolled her eyes as she does, not believing for a minute that the ratings had anything to do with the lady’s acting skills. “But he said since Juliana Londell was out of the picture with Jason, since they’d split up, he hadn’t really seen or heard much of her. I think he blamed the breakup of Jason and Juliana on Juliana. I just didn’t get the feeling he had that much to share about the girl. And he was uncomfortable talking about her. My take, anyway.”
    â€œNothing about Ashley Amber spending the night with Londell?”
    â€œLondell and Anders talked into the night. That’s all he shared.”
    The three of us studied our drinks at the small, round table, listening to the din of conversation around us. I even heard two people at the bar talking about the “suicide jump.” We considered Anders’s involvement.
    Sipping my gin and tonic, I spoke to Em’s interview with Anders.
    Every time we get involved in a case, I look at everyone as a suspect. I just get into that mode. No matter what I think about this person or that person, they could be guilty. “So you sayAnders gets in the day before Londell leaps off the scaffolding, and immediately I’m