"Falling Stars"

Chapter 2 – The Mother

Lilly and Scotty reach the parking lot at Police Headquarter and claim their car in silence. They're both still digesting the meeting they just had with the new DA. A new DA had been expected for a couple of months. The last one, DA Dean Cassidy, had just retired after 15 years on the job, thus leaving big expectations about his replacement. This new guy might be too enthusiastic for their comfort. Not that the Police didn't enjoy change and new ideas, but the DA's office loved sticking their nose into their work, and the past had showed dangerous sparks can ignite from these situations.

"So, what do you make of this new DA?" Scotty asks, as they start driving away.

Lilly shrugs. "He's new, so he's full of new ideas. He'll get disillusioned soon," she says, looking out the window.

"Don't you think he'll bring us problems?" Scotty insists, not buying Lilly being so cool about the possibility of someone intruding.

"He might send his pupil to pry into our work, but it probably won't last," Lilly answers, figuring it better to keep Stillman's concerns to herself for now. She turns her gaze back to Scotty. "Don't worry, Scotty."

"Oh, I'm not worried." Scotty says. "At least not about myself, I don't have a history with the DA's office," He adds, with a smirk.

"So, that's what this is all about." Lilly rolls her eyes. "You know, I can keep my business life and my personal life apart."

"Really?" Scotty half-asks, gazing at Lilly as he drives, and she can't tell whether he's being ironic or not.

"Let's focus on the case, OK?" Lilly says, hoping to drop the subject.

"We're almost there," Scotty says, realizing he's crossed the line of their new found peace. He wasn't going to insist, but he wasn't about to spare her, either. "Here it is. Arden Theatre."

"Alice's rehearsing her new play here," Lilly comments as they exit the car.

"Yeah, the new play is all over the Philly newspapers," Scotty says, watching the huge and imponent building. "Well, it's great she kept working, her work is excellent."

Lilly looks at Scotty incredulously. "Scotty, I never took you for a theatre expert," she mocks.

Scotty smiles, opening the front door for her. "Well, I wouldn't call myself an expert, but I'm certainly deeper than I give away."

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Lilly and Scotty reach the stage. There's a rehearsal going on. Three actors – two female and one male – work their way through a scene that talks about love and betrayal. Down in the seats, there's a man and a woman walking from one side to the other, firing heated instructions to the actors.

"That should be Alice Hannigan," Lilly says, pointing to a woman in her mid-sixties, whose face resembled Jill's, only with lighter hair and a much more tired and sad expression.

"Alice Hannigan?" Lilly asks, approaching the woman, who's now in deep discussion with the man.

"Yes." Alice greets them, "You must be the detectives who called earlier."

Lilly nods. "Rush and Valens," she says as she and Scotty flip their badges.

"Excuse me, Charlie," Alice says to the man she'd been talking to; a tall, elegant man, slightly older than Alice, with dark green eyes and dirty blond hair.

"Is this about Jill again?" Charlie asks Alice. He lowers his voice but Lilly and Scotty can still hear him clearly. "We're in the middle of a rehearsal." The actors have finished their scene and patiently await new instructions.

"Detectives, this is Charlie Vaughn, my director," Alice says, ignoring this remark. "Charlie, these are Detectives Rush and Valens." Charlie gives them a hint of a smile. Lilly and Scotty just nod in a way of greeting.

"Now, I'm going to talk to them about Jill. You'll be fine without me, Charlie," Alice replies. From their tone of voice and expressions you can tell those two have known each other long enough to go straight to the point, without fear of stepping on each other's toes. "You're always complaining about how the writer shouldn't be butting into direction, aren't you?" she finishes, half-kiddingly. Then, turning her gaze to Lilly and Scotty, "Please, let's go somewhere private," she says, leading them away.

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Alice takes them into an office, where they sit on a couch, Alice facing Lilly and Scotty. Lilly begins, "As we talked, Ms. Hannigan, the murder weapon's been recovered, so we're reopening the investigation."

Alice smiles. "People always felt sorry for me, but I knew there was hope for justice."

Lilly smiles back and asks, "Ms. Hannigan, what can you tell us about Jill's last days?"

Alice's eyes shine with sadness and pride at the same time. "The play was doing incredibly well. Jill was finally getting her break. She was happier than ever."

"How was Jill's relationship with her husband?" Scotty asks.

"As far I knew, perfect," Alice answers. "I never saw those two fighting. And Jill would tell everyone how happy and fulfilled she felt."

"And you, Ms. Hannigan?" Lilly asks, paying attention to Alice's every reaction. "What was your opinion of Peter?"

Alice seems somehow offended. "I think Peter is a great man. He could have never hurt my daughter, if that's what you're getting at," she answers, a bit angrily.

"We're not pointing fingers at anyone, Ms. Hannigan," Lilly replies sharply. "But we're not sparing anyone either." Alice doesn't say anything.

"With all this success, it's possible Jill pissed off some people," Scotty says, thinking it's better to take this cue and send the conversation some other direction. "Is there anyone who could have had something against Jill?"

Alice thinks for a moment. "Well, there were lots of girls who were jealous of her working on the same play. But murder... I don't think so," she explains, the shine in her eyes completely gone by now.

"Of all those jealous girls, which ones were closer to Jill?" Scotty insists, feeling there's something else in this.

Alice sits back on the couch. "I'm not sure this is of any relevance..."

"Anything can be relevant, Ms. Hannigan," Lilly states.

"Paris McDonald," Alice answers, without even thinking. "She had a supporting role in the play."

"What happened between her and Jill?" Scotty asks. He and Lilly are fully concentrated, knowing they've reached a great spot.

"Like I said, I don't know if this is relevant," Alice repeats. She sighs, and goes on, "A couple of weeks before Jill's murder, I overheard a conversation between them."

Flashback to 1992

Alice is walking down a corridor backstage. As she goes by one of the dressing rooms, she hears loud voices. Recognizing one of them as Jill's, she stops to listen at the half-open door.

Inside the dressing room, two girls are talking. One of them is Jill – long and loosely curled brown hair, dark eyes, medium height and an angelic face. The other, a taller and sexier blue-eyed blonde with long straight hair down to her waist.

"Knock it off, will you, Paris? I know you don't have anything against me," Jill says calmly, combing her hair.

"Oh, yeah," Paris says, sitting on a chair next to Jill. She goes on, in an ironic tone of voice, "Saint Jill can do no wrong."

"I'm no saint," Jill retorts seriously. "I've screwed up quite a bit, but there's nothing everyone hasn't already heard about."

"I'll give you some time, Jill," Paris replies, with a fake, plastic smile. "Think your life through."

"This isn't high school anymore, Paris." Jill raises her voice, getting up. "You're not the most popular, you're not the most successful, you can't have any guy you want." She pauses, and goes on in a lower voice. "Quit playing these games."

Outside the room Alice is listening closely, even if her face doesn't show too much concern. She's suddenly caught by another young woman, apparently the same age as Jill and Paris, standing in front of her.

"You need something, Ms. Hannigan?" a sweet voice asks. There's nothing sweet about the girl's looks, though – natural blonde hair filled with red locks framing a baby face that sported both a nose and an eyebrow piercing.

"No, thank you, Kelly," Alice answers, searching for an excuse for her presence there. "I was just… just remembering I left my glasses in my car." Kelly smiles, and Alice quickly adds, "Excuse me." Alice leaves, and Kelly enters the dressing room.

Back to 2005

"At the time, I figured Paris and Jill were just reliving their high school days," Alice explains. "I felt they never got over that period anyway."

"Was there a lot of rivalry between them in high school?" Lilly asks.

Alice laughs. "Oh, plenty. But just the usual things you see in every school. Popularity battles, fights over boys... nothing serious, as far as I know."

Scotty glances up from his notepad. "What about that girl that ran into you? Who was she?" he asks.

"Kelly Simpson," Alice answers. "Lovely girl. She went to high school with Jill, too. She was our make-up artist."

"Was she close to Jill?" Lilly asks.

"Oh, yeah. Inseparable," Alice answers. "If you want to find out anything about Jill, you should ask her," she adds, with a smile. "Actually, I'd like to know where she is, too. Haven't seen her in nearly ten years."

Lilly and Scotty glance at each other, knowing they won't get much more from that conversation. "Thank you, Ms. Hannigan," Lilly says, getting up. "Don't hesitate to call us if you remember anything else." They shake hands.

As Alice takes Scotty and Lilly back, they find Charlie still rehearsing with the actors. "Sorry about Charlie's behavior earlier. He's completely anti-social, but a great director, that's why I keep him around. And he gets upset by the memories of Jill's death," Alice says.

"He was director in the play Jill was doing, wasn't he?" Scotty asks.

"Oh, yes," Alice answers. "Besides that, Charlie and I have known each other for almost forty years. He saw Jill grow up."

"Well, we'd like to talk to him, too," Lilly says. Immediately after this, they hear Charlie yelling at one of the actors, and not using the most polite vocabulary available.

Alice smiles embarrassedly. "I don't think this is the best time, Detectives." She starts leading Scotty and Lilly outside. "But he'll talk to you. I'll make sure of that."

"OK. Thanks." Scotty says. "Have a nice day, Ms. Hannigan," he adds as they head towards the exit.

XXXXX

"So, when do you want to come back for Charlie?" Scotty asks Lilly, once they're out.

"I think we should go to Kelly Simpson first," Lilly says, thoughtful. "She could give us closer insight into Jill, it seems."

"Unless…" Scotty starts, with a smirk. "Charlie seems pretty close to the family."

Lilly laughs incredulously. "No, Scotty. Alice Hannigan didn't strike me as the kind of woman who'd stand having a relationship with such an obnoxious man."

Scotty shakes his head, still smiling. "I don't know, Lil. There were some weird vibes in there."

Lilly rolls her eyes, still laughing as her cell phone rings. "Rush." As she listens to the person on the other side, her smile slowly fades away. Her face is fully serious when she says to Scotty, "Scotty, let me drive now, please."

Scotty tosses her the car keys. "Sure, Lil."

"I need to stop somewhere," she says, opening the car door. "Is that OK with you?"

"Of course. Something wrong?" he asks, worried.

"I'll explain on the way," she says, as they get into the car and take off at full speed.

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To be continued...

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Thanks: to my beta-reader, Joutsensydn; and to my reviewers Shy9, Snow Ivy and Queen Bess.