J. B. Tilton/Page 10
TWELVE
"Doug had some interesting things to say," said Piper as they ate lunch.
"Doug?" Prue questioned.
"Oh, Doug Miles the private investigator Manning hired to spy on his wife," said Piper. "He's a real nice old man. And he remembers the case like it was yesterday."
"Well that's good," said Phoebe. "What was so interesting?"
"He suspected Mrs. Manning of having an affair with Manning's partner, Linscomb," said Piper. "He could never prove it but he was pretty sure that Parker wasn't involved with her."
"Well, we figure that Parker and Denmore must be the same person," said Phoebe. "We think he's probably a demon who committed the original murder and has come back now to keep the movie from being made so no one will discover what he did."
"It explains a lot of things," said Prue.
"Not some of what Doug told me," said Piper. "According to him, Linscomb's alibi for the night was a charity event he was involved with. Only the event was attended by hundreds of people. Supposedly he spent the entire evening at the event but he could easily have slipped out, murdered Manning, and then snuck back in without anyone noticing."
"Why?" Prue asked. "What did he have to gain with Manning's death?"
"Sole ownership of their business, that's what," said Piper. "According to Manning's will, his wife inherited all of his personal assets and Linscomb and Mrs. Manning shared ownership of the business. A business, I might add, that is doing very well."
"Well, that is a pretty good motive for murder," said Phoebe. "He kills the partner and gets both the business and the partner's wife. But how does Parker fit into it?"
"Maybe they were working together," suggested Prue. "It's possible that Linscomb knows that Parker is a demon. That's why Darryl couldn't find any information on Parker. If he's a demon he probably doesn't have a human cover story, just like Leo said."
"There's something else," said Piper. "According Doug, the police found that the safe had been opened and its contents was removed. Mrs. Manning said that her husband usually kept about twenty thousand dollars in the safe to buy antiques he found at garage sales, estate sales, that sort of thing. That's why they think that Denmore killed Manning and then stole the money from the safe."
"So?" Phoebe questioned. "We knew that all ready."
"No, the safe was opened, not broken into," said Piper. "According to Doug the police didn't find any evidence that it had been tampered with. Which means that whoever opened it had the combination."
"And it's unlikely that Manning would give the combination to his safe to a handyman," said Prue.
"No, he wouldn't," said Piper. "But his wife would almost certainly have had the combination. And Doug suspected that Linscomb also had the combination. Linscomb would often buy antiques as well and according to Mrs. Manning's statement to the police, Manning usually handled the finances of the business."
"So if they both had the combination," said Phoebe, "it would be an easy matter to kill Manning and then clean out the safe. Then Denmore simply goes back to the Underworld or wherever he goes and disappears. So the 'handyman' gets the blame for the murder and the robbery and the wife and partner are in the clear."
"Especially if they have alibis," said Piper. "Doug said that the cop who gave Mrs. Manning the ticket that day said she was very calm and collected. But according to her statement, she had stormed off after her fight with Manning. She said it was why she was driving so fast. Because she was still so furious with her husband. If she was so furious, why was she so calm when the policeman pulled her over for speeding?"
"Because she did it deliberately," said Prue. "To give herself an alibi."
"That's what Doug thought," said Piper. "Only he could never get enough evidence to prove it."
"But why burn down the house?" Prue questioned. "It couldn't be to cover up the murder. The fire wouldn't have been hot enough to destroy the body. A demon should have known that. So what purpose could setting fire to the house have served."
"Once we find out what Parker is doing here we might have the answer to that question," said Piper. "Presumably it's the same reason he's back now. To prevent anyone from finding out why he set the fire in the first place."
"Well," said Phoebe, looking at her watch, "lunch is just about over. They're supposed to be filming the basement scene this afternoon. We'd better be getting back to the set. There's not telling what Parker is going to pull next. Next time someone could get seriously injured."
"Let's go," said Prue. "If Parker tries anything I want to be there to catch him in the act."
"But we don't even know what type of demon he is," said Piper. "We don't have a vanquishing potion or spell or anything."
"We'll just have to wing it for now," said Prue. "If he doesn't try anything we can try to find out what kind of demon he is tonight. Leo might even have found out something by then."
"Okay," said Phoebe. "Let's get going. We don't want to be late."
The dress rehearsal for the scene went off without a hitch. The girls stood off to one side and watched as the actors went through the entire scene. When it came to setting the fire they only simulated setting the fire. Once the rehearsal was finished the director gave them a few minutes to get ready for the actual filming.
Darryl came in during the break. He had been going through the police records for the original murder and said he had found some interesting discrepancies. Since Linscomb was a technical advisor on the movie he decided he'd see if Linscomb could explain the discrepancies.
Linscomb had arrived earlier and had gone over the set for the filming. He said to the best of his recollection the basement was how Manning had described it to him. Of course, he said he couldn't speak from personal experience. He had never been in the basement so didn't know if it was what the basement actually looked like. But, as he said, in those days most basements looked pretty much like every other basement.
Darryl wouldn't have a chance to interview Linscomb before the filming started. The director, as usual, insisted that only those directly involved with the film be on set while they were filming. Naturally he made an exception for Darryl when Darryl insisted he was on official business. For some reason he all but ignored Piper and Paige.
Prue had looked for Parker but didn't find him anywhere. She wasn't sure he'd let an opportunity of an actual fire on set go by without causing some kind of problem. It was just too tempting for the demon to let go by. But so far she hadn't been able to find him.
Several stagehands stood around the set with fire extinguishers. Mac, the property manager, was also licensed for pyrotechnics and was personally handling the fire on the set. Everything had been carefully choreographed and rehearsed several times to minimize the chances of anything going wrong. Finally Mac said that everything was ready and they could proceed at any time.
"Have you seen Parker?" Piper whispered to Prue.
"No," Prue whispered back. "But I'm sure he's here somewhere. I can't believe he'd miss an opportunity like this. Actual fire on the set? It's just too tempting for him to pass up."
"There he is," said Phoebe pointing toward the ceiling.
Prue and Piper looked up and saw Parker standing on the catwalk that ran the entire length of the building. He seemed intent on the set and appeared not to notice Prue and her sisters.
"Piper, freeze him," Prue whispered.
"I can't," Piper whispered back. "He's too far away."
"You two wait here," Prue whispered. "I'm going after him."
"You can't," Phoebe whispered. "They're about to start filming. You can't start anything now. You might be seen."
"I have to stop whatever he's going to do," said Prue. "You two stay here in case he tries to get away. I'll just keep him busy until they're finished with the scene. With all the pyrotechnics Mac has set up someone is going to get seriously injured unless we stop him."
Before either sister could respond Prue turned and headed for he ladder that led up to the catwalk.