Trouble in Paradise - [10]
“What…?” The woman appeared more puzzled than scared. Then she looked past Bailey as though expecting to see someone else.
I stepped forward and flashed my badge. “Your name, ma’am?”
She jerked her head toward the front window. “It’s right there on the sign.”
“Right there on what sign?”
“Excuse me,” she said as she leaned out the door to look at the window. “Oh, yeah, I forgot. I took it down so I could get some rest. My name’s Babu Maduro, I’m a-”
“Fortune-teller,” I said.
“Right.”
For the record, Babu the fortune-teller had a surprisingly American accent.
She reluctantly stood aside, and we entered. Erica let out a yelp and grabbed my arm. There, on a table to my left, was a red-and-pink scarf. The next thing I knew, Erica was running past us toward sliding glass doors that opened onto the backyard.
The backyard. Where a little blonde girl in cutoffs and a blue T-shirt was playing with two kids who bore a strong resemblance to our host, Babu Maduro.
I pointed. “Tammy Susie, I presume?”
Babu gave me a “no duh” look.
“How did she wind up here, Ms. Maduro?” Toni asked, her voice stern.
Babu was indignant. “Someone brought her here, of course. How else?” With an irritated expression, she said, “Excuse me, will you? I’ve got to make a call.”
She wasn’t acting like a kidnapper. And, based on the happy abandon with which Tammy Susie was currently jumping rope, the child was not acting like someone who’d been kidnapped. I let Babu make her call and went out to see Erica, who was squeezing the little girl so tightly I thought her head might pop off. But Tammy Susie endured the embrace stoically, the way kids do.
“Hey, Erica,” I said. “Do you happen to recognize that woman in there?”
Erica finally pried herself off Tammy Susie. “No. Why would I?”
Because I had a hunch. “What about the name Babu Maduro?”
Erica mouthed the name to herself a few times. “It does sound familiar.”
“Might that be the name of the fortune-teller who was going to be in the next episode?”
Erica’s features opened with the realization. “Oh, yeah! It might be.” Her brow furrowed, and she looked up at me. “How did Tammy Susie get here?”
“Why don’t you ask her?”
Erica did. “Mikey’s friend Sasha brought me here,” Tammy Susie said. “She told me we were playing hide-and-go-seek with you. You found me.” She didn’t look terribly pleased about it.
“Who’s Mikey?” I asked Erica.
“Mike Borden. One of the producers,” she explained.
Uh-huh. “One of the producers who’s been texting you about Tammy Susie all day?”
“Yeah. Him and Sasha. Sasha’s his new assistant.” Erica stood up, still holding Tammy Susie by the hand.
I gestured for Bailey to come over and take charge of Tammy Susie and pulled Erica aside.
“Is there bad blood between you? Any chance he might see you as a threat, want to get you fired?”
“No way. I’m just a PA. In fact, there’re rumors Mike’s going to get promoted to co-executive producer next season. And Sasha’s sleeping with him, so she’s good.” She paused, looking perplexed. “And I’ve never had any problems with either of them. So…”
I left Erica with Tammy Susie and went to bring Bailey and Toni up to speed. I’d just finished when Babu came in.
“Do you mind my asking who you just called?” I said.
“Yes, I mind,” Babu said. “What is this, Nazi Germany?” She jerked her head toward Erica. “That Erica Garber?”
I wondered what was with the sudden attitude. “Yes-”
“They want her to bring Tammy Susie back to the hotel, pronto.”
“Who told you that?”
“Someone who works on the show. Obviously.” Babu folded her arms across her impressive bosom. “And that’s all I’m going to tell you.”
There was no point in trying to pry any more answers out of Babu, so we called a cab and headed out. On the ride back to the hotel, new suspicions began to run through my mind. Erica and Tammy were in the front seat with the window rolled down. I leaned forward and spoke into Erica’s ear so Tammy Susie couldn’t hear. “How come Tammy Susie’s parents never called to ask about her?”
She shrugged and whispered, “Probably busy taping their own segments.”
I told Bailey what Erica had said, and Bailey shrugged. “I guess they wouldn’t have any reason to worry if that producer guy, Mike, didn’t say anything to them.”
“But why didn’t Mike say anything to them? Know what I mean?”
Bailey looked at me. “Shit.”
I leaned forward and spoke to the driver. “Could you let us out here, please?”
He nodded and pulled over. Erica turned back to us. “What are you doing?”
“Yeah, what are we doing?” Toni said.
“Just checking something out,” Bailey said. “Erica, we’ll see you back at the hotel.”
One hour later, with Erica in tow, we marched into the suite of Randall Kraft, executive producer-top dog of Tammy Susie and Company. Toni, Bailey, and I made it a point to start by simultaneously flashing our badges. Kraft’s stricken look was gratifying.
“This morning, about five minutes into our vacation, your PA, Erica Garber, came to us, panicked by the disappearance of Tammy Susie,” I said.
“What?” Kraft said. “Tammy Susie was missing?” He turned to look around at the other producers. “Did any of you know about this?”
In Marcia Clark's most electrifying thriller yet, Los Angeles District Attorney Rachel Knight investigates a horrifying high school massacre.A Columbine-style shooting at a high school in the San Fernando Valley has left a community shaken to its core. Two students are identified as the killers. Both are dead, believed to have committed a mutual suicide.In the aftermath of the shooting, LA Special Trials prosecutor Rachel Knight teams up with her best girlfriend, LAPD detective Bailey Keller. As Rachel and Bailey interview students at the high school, they realize that the facts don't add up.
When the daughter of a billionaire Hollywood director is found murdered after what appears to be a kidnapping gone wrong, Los Angeles Special Trials prosecutor Rachel Knight and Detective Bailey Keller find themselves at the epicenter of a combustible and high-profile court case.Then a prime suspect is revealed to be one of Hollywood's most popular and powerful talent managers-and best friend to the victim's father.With the director vouching for the manager's innocence, the Hollywood media machine commences an all-out war designed to discredit both Rachel and her case.KILLER AMBITION is at once a thrilling ride through the darker side of Tinseltown and a stunning courtroom drama with the brilliant insider's perspective that Marcia Clark is uniquely qualified to give.
Without a Doubt is not just a book about a trial. It's a book about a woman. Marcia Clark takes us inside her head and her heart. Her voice is raw, incisive, disarming, unmistakable. Her story is both sweeping and deeply personal. It is the story of a woman who, when caught up in an event that galvanized an entire country, rose to that occasion with singular integrity, drive, honesty and grace.In a case that tore America apart, and that continues to haunt us as few events of history have, Marcia Clark emerged as the only true heroine, because she stood for justice, fought the good fight, and fought it well.
First in a new series from bestselling author and famed O. J. Simpson trial prosecutor Marcia Clark, a "terrific writer and storyteller" (James Patterson).Samantha Brinkman, an ambitious, hard-charging Los Angeles criminal defense attorney, is struggling to make a name for herself and to drag her fledgling practice into the big leagues. Sam lands a high-profile double-murder case in which one of the victims is a beloved TV star – and the defendant is a decorated veteran LAPD detective. It promises to be exactly the kind of media sensation that would establish her as a heavy hitter in the world of criminal law.Though Sam has doubts about his innocence, she and her two associates (her closest childhood friend and a brilliant ex-con) take the case.
Someone has been watching D.A. Rachel Knight-someone who's Rachel's equal in brains, but with more malicious intentions. It began when a near-impossible case fell into Rachel's lap, the suspectless homicide of a homeless man. In the face of courthouse backbiting and a gauzy web of clues, Rachel is determined to deliver justice. She's got back-up: tough-as-nails Detective Bailey Keller. As Rachel and Bailey stir things up, they're shocked to uncover a connection with the vicious murder of an LAPD cop a year earlier.
Писательница Агата Кристи принимает предложение Секретной разведывательной службы и отправляется на остров Тенерифе, чтобы расследовать обстоятельства гибели специального агента, – есть основания полагать, что он стал жертвой магического ритуала. Во время морского путешествия происходит до странности театральное самоубийство одной из пассажирок, а вскоре после прибытия на остров убивают другого попутчика писательницы, причем оставляют улику, бьющую на эффект. Саму же Агату Кристи арестовывают по ложному обвинению.
Без аннотации Вашему вниманию предлагается сборник зарубежных детективов.
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