Hollywood Murder by M. Z. Kelly Page B

lessened, until I pulled into the station parking lot and saw the camera crew unloading their equipment. I saw Shelia Woods waving to me from the sidewalk and my headache blossomed in all its former glory.
    I glanced at Bernie in the rearview mirror as I pulled into a parking space and said, “Do you think it’s too late to call in sick, tell Oz that I was held hostage by Dirty Harriett last night?”
    Bernie just licked the air, which I decided was his way of telling me, “Sorry, Kate. You play, you pay.”
    I exchanged greetings with the reporter when we got to the building. As usual, Woods was wearing a designer outfit and looked like she’d just walked off the cover of Vogue. The star of Hollywood Detective was around thirty, with shoulder length blonde hair and perfect features. Her skin and makeup were flawless. The whole package made me feel like the ugly stepsister in need of a fairy godmother. Instead, I had Harriett pistol-whipping my brain.
    “I see you’ve changed your hair,” Woods said, her blue eyes taking in my new do.
    “Yes. I wanted something that was a little more manageable.”
    “Interesting.” She turned and called over to the camera crew, telling them that I was one of the detectives on their show.
    Interesting? What the hell does that mean? I smiled when she looked back at me and said, “If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to make sure my dressing room has my name and a star on the door. See you in a few.”
    I found Leo was already at his desk. He glanced up at me, probably realizing I’d encountered the reporter. “I guess you’ve seen the army setting up in the parking lot.” He took in my new hairdo. “I like the new look.”
    “Thanks. And, yes, I just ran into General Woods in the parking lot. She was setting up the heavy artillery.”
    Leo smiled and changed the subject. “I got ahold of Vince Marsh a little while ago. He was less than thrilled about it, but agreed to meet with us this afternoon.”
    “Any word from his father-in-law or on the phone tap?”
    Leo shook his head. “Nothing. Maybe we’ve got this kidnapping angle all wrong.”
    “Or maybe there’s something else going on that we’re not aware of.”
    “As in?”
    “Not sure, but I was thinking on the way into work that we should talk to Oz, maybe have Henry Montreal followed like we thought about before. He could put Darby and Mel on it.”
    “Let’s stop by and see what he says on the way to the set.”
    I smiled. “I can tell by your terminology that show business has already gone to your head.”
    The lieutenant was headed downtown to meet with Captain Dembowski, but he agreed to our proposal, telling us that he’d make the arrangements for Darby and Mel to tail Montreal. Leo and I then took seats in his extended office with Selfie and Molly, who had already introduced themselves to Woods. Even though the bat cave was large, with Shelia Woods, the camera crew, their equipment, and Bernie, it felt cluttered and hot.
    As the camera crew took their places, I made a suggestion as to how we could proceed. “Our crime analyst and secretary can go over the general facts of the case, if you agree. It will give your viewers a chance to see some of the Section One equipment and get some background on the investigation. We can then talk about specifics of working the case.”
    “That’s fine, once the preliminaries are out of the way, I want to dig into the heart of things.”
    I wasn’t sure what that meant, but Leo and I agreed to her proposal.
    Selfie began with the summary, using the overhead monitors to show pictures of the crime scene. Several of the shots were graphic, but Woods assured us they would be blurred out during the editing process.
    “The victims were Walter and Maggie Potter,” Selfie said. Our crime analyst had worn a blue dress for the TV shoot and had removed her piercings. It was the first time I’d ever seen her in a dress and without the metal. “Walter was self-employed as an