Trouble in Paradise - [11]
They all shook their heads. Nos and no ways filled the room. I knew that at least one of them was lying. I turned to him now. “You want to rethink that answer, Mr. Borden?”
He reddened and began to clear his throat. I held up my hand. “Whatever you’re about to say, save it. It’s my vacation. I don’t have to listen to lies.” I turned back to Kraft. “If we hadn’t landed in Madam Junaida’s lap, we’d never have figured it out.”
After finding Tammy Susie, we’d gone back to Madam Junaida. I knew she couldn’t have “divined” as much specific information as she had. It was one thing for her to figure out that we were law enforcement. Anyone could make a lucky guess like that. But “divining” the exact house Tammy Susie was in? No way. After some prodding, Junaida (who turned out to have had a long-standing beef with Babu for stealing one of Junaida’s best-make that richest and most gullible-clients) finally spilled the beans.
“Figured what out?” Kraft said, now agitated.
“I lost a whole day of my vacation running around this island because of your ‘missing’ star. You can hang on for another five minutes.” What few shreds of patience I’d had were gone. “It turns out your pal, Babu, has a big mouth. She bragged to her fortune-teller buddies about some producer who was going to make her a star. He set it up to look like Tammy Susie had been kidnapped, and then Babu, using her ‘special powers,’ was going to provide the information that would help authorities find her. Apparently Babu was going to rake in some heavy coin for it all-”
“Lucky for us, Madam Junaida decided to get even with Babu,” Toni said. “She helped us find Tammy Susie, which ruined Babu and your producer Mike’s little scam.”
Toni made it sound a lot easier than it had been. Junaida, who’d heard about Babu’s scam through the fortune-teller grapevine, was reluctant to tell “outsiders” about it, despite their long-standing feud. It violated some kind of fortune-teller code. So when we’d first shown up with Erica, Junaida hadn’t intended to tell us anything. But she couldn’t help herself. She was dying to get even. So she wound up compromising by giving us the minimum: the house with green shutters. It wasn’t until Toni and Bailey and I went back the second time and voiced our suspicions-and used every interrogation trick in the book on her-that she finally cracked and gave up the whole story. I’ll say this much for Junaida: she’d be a real asset to the CIA.
Bailey jumped in. “Your bun boy over there, Mike Borden, knew who we were because he was in the lobby when we got in this morning. And he knew Erica had teamed up with us because he was watching her the whole time so he could push her buttons, make her panic and call the police-”
“The jerk deliberately tortured her all day,” Toni said, fuming. “He kept texting her, asking, ‘What’s going on with Tammy Susie?’ And when that didn’t work, he ordered her to bring Tammy Susie back to the hotel immediately.”
I folded my arms and stared hard at Borden. “That little stunt of yours nearly gave Erica a nervous breakdown. And you’re just damn lucky Tammy Susie was okay.”
Borden tried for a look of defiance, but the effort was undermined by his fearful sidelong glances at Kraft.
After several long moments of silence, Kraft turned to Erica. “What if Tammy Susie really had been kidnapped?” He looked at her sternly. “I don’t know whether to keep you on the show or not, but I definitely can’t afford to have you wrangle Tammy Susie anymore.” Erica looked miserable, but she just nodded and said nothing. Then he turned to Borden.
I prepared to enjoy the spectacle of seeing Borden get fired on the spot. He needed a good, hard ass-kicking.
“Mike.” He shook his head. “That was friggin’ brilliant, man! Jeopardy, drama, you had it all. That would’ve scored us the highest ratings of the season!” Kraft held up a hand for a high five.
Borden, taken by surprise, squeaked out a laugh and slapped his hand. “That was the plan!”
“How’d you get Tammy Susie out of the dressing room?” Kraft asked. The admiration in his voice made me want to gag.
“I met the store owner’s nephew before he took off for college. He told me about the hidden door because he thought it was funny. But when I came up with the plan, I remembered what he said. All I had to do was send Sasha-”
“Are you out of your minds?” I said. “What if something had happened to Tammy Susie?”
“Nothing was going to happen to Tammy,” Borden scoffed. “I knew Babu was totally safe because I vetted her. If you guys hadn’t gotten in the way, our ratings would’ve gone through the roof, and a fourth-season pickup would’ve been a done deal.”
I looked from Borden to Kraft. “I’d call you pond scum, but it’d be an insult to pond scum.” And on that note, we walked out. We all fumed in silence as we headed for our suite. Were Tammy Susie’s parents in on the fake kidnapping? I couldn’t prove it, but I suspected they were. And I was half hoping to run into them now, so I could confront them.
Fortunately for all of us, that didn’t happen.
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.
В книге рассказывается история главного героя, который сталкивается с различными проблемами и препятствиями на протяжении всего своего путешествия. По пути он встречает множество второстепенных персонажей, которые играют важные роли в истории. Благодаря опыту главного героя книга исследует такие темы, как любовь, потеря, надежда и стойкость. По мере того, как главный герой преодолевает свои трудности, он усваивает ценные уроки жизни и растет как личность.
Документальный детектив — даже более увлекательный, чем самый изощренный вымысел.История, которая потрясла всю Европу и легла в основу книги Томаса Харриса о Ганнибале Лектере.Таинственный и жестокий маньяк по прозвищу Флорентийский Монстр, несколько десятилетий успешно скрывался от полиции. По обвинению в совершенных им зверских убийствах было арестовано множество ни в чем не повинных людей, одним из которых оказался знаменитый криминальный журналист Марио Специ, — единственный, кому удалось выйти на след настоящего убийцы…
Софья Ноготкофф была счастлива – ей предложили престижную должность куратора выставки великокняжеских драгоценностей в маленькой южноамериканской стране. С подготовкой торжественного мероприятия девушка справилась прекрасно, но все в одночасье рухнуло: музей ограбили. Теперь карьере Софьи конец! Могла ли она подумать, что потеряет не только должность, но и свободу, ведь обвинили в преступлении... куратора выставки! Скорым и неправым судом Софью приговорили к пожизненному заключению. Только в тюрьме девушка догадалась – она стала жертвой изощренной интриги, а настоящие преступники остались на свободе, наслаждаются жизнью и большими деньгами.
У Артура Конан Дойла порой трудно определить, где заканчивается детектив и начинается фантастика. Грань между историческим повествованием и, так сказать, "альтернативной историей" весьма условна. Внимание писателя к каждому из "затерянных миров" в высшей степени органично. Ранее не переводившиеся рассказы А.Конан Дойла, посвященные странному и невероятному, будто бы созданы хорошо знакомой нам рукой доктора Ватсона, вдруг решившего описать не очередное приключение Великого Сыщика, а путешествие в таинственный мир.
Расследование гибели владельца медиахолдинга Владимира Стаховского, которое его жена Кристина поручила журналистке Светлане Ухтоминой, добавило много черных красок старательно созданному образу честного бизнесмена и примерного семьянина. Оказалось, у Стаховского имеются любовница и незаконнорожденный сын, которым досталась немалая доля наследства, а в юности он был замешан в преступлении. Сына, которого Стаховский никогда не видел, ищет детективное агентство, а любовница погибает, не успев рассказать Светлане нечто важное.
«Никлас Монсаррат родился в Ливерпуле в 1910 г. Окончил Тринити колледж Кембриджского университета. Его первая значительная книга «Это — школьный класс» вышла в 1939 г. Во время второй мировой войны служил в военно-морском флоте Великобритании. Морская служба послужила источником сюжетов многих из его последующих книг. В 1956 г. он возглавил информационный центр Великобритании в Йоханнесбурге, а потом в Оттаве. Наибольшей популярностью пользовалась его книга «Жестокое море», вышедшая в 1951 г., по которой был снят одноименный фильм.