It wasn't unusual for Lonnie to come in to work during the weekend, as up to now he hadn't had much of a personal life to take up his time. Come to think, he did look rather tattered around the edges, so I said, "I reckon you're the one who's had a night on the town."
"I did tie one on," he said, clearly pleased with himself. "In fact, I've hardly had any sleep at all. Out on Friday until the wee small hours, and last night Pauline took me to an event to launch a new perfume-Moonlight Reconnaissance. Everyone who's anyone was there."
He started to reel off names. I interrupted with, "Moonlight Reconnaissance is the name of a perfume?"
"Not exactly a perfume-a male fragrance. 'Moonlight' has connotations of romance and 'Reconnaissance' conjures up the raw, masculine element."
He shoved his face near mine. "Take a sniff. I'm wearing the Moonlight Reconnaissance aftershave splash and skin invigorator. What do you think?"
I sniffed. "Crikey," I said, "you're telling me a true blue bloke would wear that?"
He grinned at me. "It is a bit on the strong side, isn't it? But Pauline likes it." A calculating look crossed his face. "About Pauline-now that there's so much publicity about the Collie Coalition and the threat to harm Darleen, it's even more important that Pauline-"
"Don't ask, Lonnie. I've already told her there is no way, even without her poodles, I could get her onto the Darleen Come Home soundstage. She even suggested hiding in the boot of my car, but I pointed out security was checking every vehicle and she'd be sprung before she got through the gates."
"Pauline will find a way," Lonnie said, his admiration obvious. "She's implacable, relentless."
"Ruthless, even?"
"That too, but in a nice sense," Lonnie assured me. "And speaking of ruthless, what I've discovered so far about Norris Blainey is very interesting."
Dramatic pause. He waggled his eyebrows at me. Obediently I asked, "What was very interesting?"
"What happened to Louie and Louise Thorburn."
"They came to no good?"
"You could say that. They're both dead."
My skin prickled. "Murdered?"
"Hit and run. The vehicle was never found and no one was ever charged." Lonnie unwrapped his first Egg McMuffin and took a healthy bite. He chewed, swallowed, then sighed with satisfaction. "This is such good stuff. You should try it."
"I have. I prefer porridge. Now tell me about Norris Blainey."
Lonnie demolished the rest of the McMuffin, then said, "Blarney's always had a keen interest in show business, which isn't unusual. You'll find many entrepreneurs are lured by the glamour of Tinseltown, and this guy was no exception. He put money into a few projects, and finally linked up with a husband-and-wife team, Louie and Louise Thorburn, who'd previously produced TV programs. As three equal partners, they formed a production company called Zurial Entertainment. Blainey provided the funding, the Thorburns the expertise."
While Lonnie attacked his second McMuffin, I poured my tea. Fortified, he continued, "Initially Zurial Entertainment had some modest success packaging programs for cable, and then things took a turn for the better business-wise, but not at the personal level. Zurial seemed bound for the big time when one of the networks expressed keen interest in the pilot episode of a proposed sitcom. Sprong & Sprang was about two undercover cops, one neat and one messy, who are forced to work together."
"One neat and one messy? It doesn't sound very original."
"Nothing much is original in the biz," Lonnie said with a cynical smile. "It's recycle, recycle, recycle. If it worked once before, it'll work again."
I'd never heard of this particular show, but perhaps it was one never telecast in Australia. "Was Sprong & Sprang a hit?"
"It made it as a series, tanked, and was canceled after four episodes, but initially test audiences loved it, so the show looked set to be a big success. The promise of substantial money put Blainey and the Thorburns at each other's throats. Blainey bitterly resented that their original business arrangement split profits three ways. He demanded that either the split be amended to fifty-fifty or the Thorburns allow him to buy them out."
"I guess they didn't agree with him."
"The whole thing was headed to court when Louie and Louise conveniently died. Under the terms of the agreement, their shares of Zurial automatically went to Blainey."
"You really believe he had them killed?"
"I've no proof, but I'm sure of it," Lonnie said. "And Kylie, you need to know something more. Norris Blainey has a substantial financial interest in Darleen Come Home!'
Twelve
I didn't see Ariana again until Monday morning. On Sunday she called me when she awoke to thank me for staying over. We had a short, friendly conversation. Neither of us mentioned the possibility of me seeing her later that day. I'd decided, after mulling over what Janette had said, that I wouldn't push it, but wait for Ariana to come to me. I did my best to ignore the grim thought that this might never happen.
I was due at Bellina Studios for a session with a voice coach at eleven, and after that I had a plethora of people to see about makeup and costumes and other esoteric things that would make perfect sense to someone like Melodie, but were pretty well a mystery to me.
Thinking that I'd be out of the office most of the day, I tidied up my in-tray, which contained mostly bills. I dutifully wrote out many checks-Lonnie's alarming stories of identity theft had frightened me away from paying through the Internet-and trotted up to the front desk to put my envelopes in the outgoing-mail basket.
As I approached, I heard Melodie say to Harriet, "We had a wonderful weekend. On Friday night we even got into that hot new nightspot, Total Ennui."
Quite unashamedly, I stopped to listen.
"How did you manage that?" Harriet asked. "Bribe the guy on the door?"
"Didn't need to. Pauline was just arriving with, would you believe, Lonnie-he looked so out of place-and when she saw us, she gave the word and we were in."
"Wow," said Harriet, clearly impressed.
"Like, it was just awesome and Bruce had the best time. Pauline took a fancy to him and said if he could sharpen up a bit she might have a party motivator job for him. She said Aussie guys were in demand."
"I can't see Bruce as eye candy," said Harriet, "although he is good-looking."
Melodie propped her elbows on her desk and leaned forward confidentially. "Harriet, can I tell you something? Bruce is my idea of a perfect man. Brave yet sensitive." A frown darkened her brow. "Lexus thinks so too."
"A lot of heartache in these international affairs," said Harriet knowledgably. "It's not just the clash of cultures, it's the difficulty for a foreigner to live long-term in the States. Green cards are hard to get."
This was not welcome news for Melodie. "You mean Bruce can't stay?"
Harriet shook her head. "As an Australian, Bruce is officially an alien. He'll have entered the country on a tourist visa, good for a few months. He can't legally get a job and has to leave as soon as his visa runs out."
A ray of light appeared on my inner horizon. For some reason I hadn't thought of Brucie's status as a visitor to America. Brucie's plan to join Kendall & Creeling was effectively thwarted.
"What about Kylie?" Melodie asked. "Why is it OK for her to work here, when she's Australian?"
"She was born in Los Angeles. Even though she left when still a baby, she's still an American citizen."
From her expression, Melodie was brooding over the unfairness of it all. After a moment she said, "Rats! Bruce could be my one great love." Apparently the drama of the situation occurred to her, because she suddenly clasped her hands and said poignantly, "United by abiding love, yet cruelly parted by pitiless fate."