CHAPTER TWENTY

Mac promised to text her the contact information for Harvey, Avi, and Barry, but she didn't sound happy about it. She considered Logan a friend and her reluctance spoke volumes about her opinion of Veronica's plan to do this without involving him. Maybe I shouldn't have involved Mac either. All three men were the trustees of Logan's trust and she could've just gone through the files at home for their phone numbers. Veronica frowned. She wasn't hiding anything from him; there just wasn't anything to tell him yet and as soon as she knew, she would share. Then why do I feel guilty?

She pushed away the thought and knocked on room seven fifteen. Lowell Whitworth was wearing almost the exact same thing he wore when she saw him fighting with Trina; sneakers, black jeans, and black tee shirt, sans ball cap. She introduced herself and added, "David Bartlitt, Trina's defense attorney, hired me to look into Julie's death." Misleading, but more official. She showed him her investigator's license and he barely glanced at it.

"Make this quick, I have a flight to catch." She looked past him at the interior of the room as a subtle suggestion that he should invite her inside, but the cue was lost on him; he leaned against the door frame and waited for her.

"Maybe we should go inside?"

He considered it for a beat and then shook his head, "I'm in a rush."

The lack of hospitality was going to seriously hamper her ability to finesse these questions. "You left the rigging above the pool setup overnight; did you check it again that morning?"

A head shake, "Max checked it and Kip was up there too readjusting the lights."

"Did you see anyone else up there?"

He made a face, "I didn't actually sit there and watch it, I was working."

"Had you ever worked with Julie before?" He nodded, but didn't volunteer anything further. "Were you friends?"

A snarled, "that girl didn't have any friends." No friends, but plenty of lovers.

"Were you sleeping with her?" That question earned her a bark of mirthless laughter. No, but he maybe wanted to? "Chad said he heard you and Julie fighting a couple of days before her death." His eyes moved to a point beyond her shoulder and he abandoned the relaxed leaning position. He's getting ready to lie. "Chad said you threatened her."

"I did not threaten her." Lowell scratched his nose.

"You told her she was fucking everything up and she hit you." He took an aggressive step toward her and Veronica held her ground. The defiant stance threw him and he hesitated. "What was she doing that made you mad enough to call her a cunt?"

His mouth twisted into a sneer, "I called her a stupid cunt; maybe you should get your facts straight. Go back to pretty boy and ask him, since he seems to have all the answers."

Thrust and parry. She backed off, "are you heading back to Los Angeles?"

The quick change of subject made him relax and he was more than happy to leave the discussion of his fight with Julie. "Yeah, I've got another job lined up."

Veronica nodded. "How long have you known Julie?"

A slight shrug, "we met a few years back; I worked on a project with her dad."

"Film editor, right?" An easy nod; his body was loose, the tension from the earlier questions, gone. Time to rile him up again. "So when you tried sleeping with Julie, did she turn you down because you weren't famous enough? Or because you weren't pretty enough?"

He was fast. Lowell grabbed her arm and squeezed, hard. "Julie was a lying bitch."

The pressure on her arm increased on the word bitch. He pulled her closer and really dug his fingers into her flesh. Tears gathered in the corners of her eyes and she blinked them away. "If the only requirement for being a bitch is not wanting to sleep with you, count me …" He shook her to make her shut up.

"Julie had a plan, we had a plan, and then she cut me out. I helped her and she stabbed me in the back." He shoved her away from him and released her arm. Veronica stumbled back against the half-wall separating the hall from the drop to the lobby floor. She gripped the top railing to steady herself as Lowell ducked back in his room and slammed the door. Fuck.

She rubbed her arm. It was already red and would probably turn into a nice hand-sized bruise by tomorrow. Explaining this to Logan is going to be a fun time. Since she didn't want to be standing outside Lowell's door when he left for the airport, she headed down the hall. Max was next on her list, but he was one floor down while Matt, the assistant director, who overheard Trina's threats was conveniently located right here. She glanced back at Lowell's door and returned to the elevator.

She was trying to not rush into things without thinking first. No more meeting people alone in their rooms Veronica. Instead of pushing the button for six, she hit the one for the lobby and used the courtesy phone to call up to Max's room. He answered on the second ring, "Max Weaver."

"Hi, this is Veronica Mars. I was hired by Trina's attorney to investigate her case and I was wondering if you had a few minutes to talk?"

"I guess so, sure."

"Great. I'm in the hotel lobby; can you meet me in the bar in say five minutes?"

"Make it ten and I'll be there. How will I know you?"

"Don't worry, I'll find you." She hung up the phone and crossed the lobby to the bar. The bar itself was not a separate room, but an open alcove. The frosted glass tabletops were supported by one tall, stainless steel pole in the center and surrounded by padded bar stools with high backs and swivel bases. There was a party of four at one of the tables in the back, a couple off to the side, and a man and woman sitting next to each other at the bar. They looked like they were there together, but they weren't talking and they were both staring straight ahead at their reflections in the bar mirror. Their body language said, fight. None of them were people associated with the movie.

Veronica ordered a club soda and carried it to a table with a view of both the inside of the bar and the lobby. She took the seat, which allowed her to keep her back to the wall. Lowell's we had a plan and I helped her were starting to put things into focus, but it didn't make any sense. He definitely had the temperament to kill Julie, Veronica rubbed her arm, but she didn't see him choosing such a passive means to do it. Strangling her with his bare hands in a fit of rage seemed more his thing.

Ten minutes was closer to fifteen and she was almost done with her drink when she saw Max exit the elevator. His brown, sun kissed hair, was cut in long layers and razored around the edges in a style known as "the shag." He loped across the lobby in a long, easy stride. As he got closer, she waved and he broke out into a big toothy grin like they were old friends.

"Hey, I'm Max." He held out a hand and she shook it. "Do you want another one?" He pointed at her glass.

"Club soda."

"Cool." As he crossed to the bar, he smiled at the couple off to the side and said hi to the fighting couple before ordering her drink and a beer for himself. While he waited for the bartender, he drummed his hands on the bar top. When he returned to the table he set the drinks down, spun the stool so the back was facing the table and straddled the seat. "So you're investigating Julie's murder? That's pretty cool. Do you like it?" Another easygoing smile, "duh, I mean, being a private investigator, do you like it? I bet it's nothing like in the movies, am I right?"

Veronica couldn't help but smile at him, "no, nothing like the movies."

"So whaddya want to know? I'm an open book. I know most people say that, they're usually lying, but me," he shrugged, "I don't give a fu…uh, what I mean is, you can ask me anything."

"What can you tell me about the pranks on the set?"

"They were hilarious. Okay not so much the pranks themselves, they were kinda dumb. Itching powder and laxatives, come on. But, man, the reactions were priceless. I shoulda filmed that shit and put it on You Tube." She bit her bottom lip to keep from laughing. "Hey it's kinda cute when you do that, are you married or something?"

"Or something." Attacked by one crew member and picked up by another; this is turning into an eventful day. "What was so funny about the reactions?"

"What wasn't funny? Picture it; a cast of drama queens who freak out if you get them like one egg instead of two or if it's scrambled instead of poached, then you put itching powder in their costumes. I totally lost it; Chad effin' Taylor, heartthrob, jumping around the edge of the pool, scratchin' his junk and cursing like a sailor. It was a beautiful thing man." His green eyes were practically glowing with delight.

"Was everybody on the set pranked?"

He started drumming against the back of the chair while he thought about it. "The wrong call times were really only for the crew, the actors not so much. I think the entire crew ate the dosed food and uh, Larkin too." Another grin while he reminisced about Conner and the laxatives. "Trina, man, she probably got it the worst right? Since she was the one paying for all the shit that went wrong," he shrugged.

"Who did you think was responsible?"

He took a long swallow of his beer, "Didn't really give it much thought. If I had to guess, I'd say someone who didn't like Trina very much. She's pretty cool, knows fuck-all about directing, but still cool. Totally don't believe she killed Julie, I woulda thought it the other way around, know what I mean?"

Veronica frowned, "that Julie would want to kill Trina?" At his nod, she asked, "why?"

"Julie hated her, big time, man. Always rubbing her nose in the fact that she was doing Conner, and telling her the movie sucked. A few times me and Kip had to step in and get Julie to leave her alone."

"That was nice of you."

Another shrug, "like I said, I like Trina and Julie was a royal bitch to her." This information was not going to help with Trina's case at all.

"Matt said that Trina threatened to kill Julie."

Max scoffed, "that's bullshit. I mean she said something like it, but it was more like shit you say when you're angry like I hate you or drop dead."

"Do you know what they were fighting about?"

"You know the scene where Conner smacks Trina around and then dives into the pool like it was no big deal?" Veronica nodded. "Julie figured out it was real. Called Trina out on it in front of the whole crew; told her she should deal with her personal issues on her own time."

"How did Trina respond?"

"She was livid pissed. Started railing on Julie about what a hypocrite she was wanting to film Blood Lilly, which was Trina's personal life, at the same time complaining about this scene."

She had a point. "Then what happened?"

"Julie shouted something like grow the fuck up, so your daddy was a killer and your brother," he took another long pull of his beer and Veronica wanted to grab it from his hand so he would finish the story.

She prompted, "and your brother?"

"That was it. Once she mentioned Trina's brother, Trina went after her and Julie took off running… man that was great. Do you want another one?"

Veronica shook her head, "and that's when Trina threatened her?"

"Yeah, but I don't think she said I could kill you, it was more like somebody should just kill you and put us out of our misery and she didn't actually scream it at Julie. It was like she muttered it to herself, you know what I mean?" He stood, "I'm gonna get another one, are you sure you don't want?"

"Okay, one more." He rewarded her with a wide grin and ambled back to the bar. She checked her phone. There were no missed calls so hopefully Logan was still asleep. There were also no text messages from Mac.

Max put their drinks down. "So your boyfriend he's cool with you being a detective?"

Answering that question could take all day. She just nodded. "I talked to Lowell Whitworth…"

"Douchebag." He jerked his head up to see if he'd offended her and Veronica smiled in agreement. "Him and Julie were always whispering and shit…totally think he wanted to get in her pants," a disgusted grunt, "dude is old enough to be her dad."

"He said you checked the lights that morning."

His beer was halfway to his mouth when it stopped; horror spread across his face replacing the affable expression and he set the bottle on the table with a loud thunk. "Oh, man, I thought Lowell," he looked crushed, "if I…Julie would…and Trina, shit."

Surprise, surprise Lowell lied to me. "It's not your fault."

He wasn't having any of her absolution. "I should've checked them myself."

"Was anyone near them?"

"Sure, Kip was up there when I first arrived on set. I think he was swapping a blonde for a Fresnel and adding CTBs. That's why I thought Lowell…" He shook his head, "oh man, I fucked up."

"Can you remember anyone else up there?"

His brow furrowed in concentration, "don't think so. Scott was working with Kip, but he was on the ground and Sam came over to discuss something…oh, and Trina was there talking about the scene change."

"Julie wanted to film the sex scene first."

"Yeah, that was a smart move." At Veronica's frown of disapproval, he corrected, "no, no, I didn't mean that sarcastically it really was a smart move. I told you Trina knew fuck-all about directing. That should've been the order in the first place, sex scene, fight, murder, 'cause of the light." Her lack of comprehension was obvious. "Early morning for the sex scene, fight in the middle of the afternoon, and then the murder at night; utilize the natural light."

"If Julie didn't change the order of filming would someone else?"

"Most definitely; Sam and Matt never really listened to Trina anyway. They were shooting the movie the way they wanted and Julie…she might've been a bitch, but she knew movies. Dad's a film editor, her mom's a costume designer, and her grandfather was an actor, she grew up on movie sets." Like Logan.

"You seem to know a lot about Julie."

"Cause she was always talking about herself. Man, she never missed a chance to remind us that she was the star, know what I mean?"

Veronica's cell phone chimed alerting her to a text message. She glanced at the screen; phone numbers for Harvey, Avi, and Barry. "Are you heading back to L.A.?"

"Tomorrow morning." He covered her hand with his, "have dinner with me tonight? You can show me around town, you know as friends." His mouth said friends, but his eyes said he wanted to be buying her breakfast in the morning.

Freeing her hand, she slipped off the bar stool and dropped her phone in her purse. "Boyfriend, remember? Have a nice flight." She left him sitting in the bar and sent Mac a text once she was in the elevator: check to see if Julie has any connection to Kip Williams and get me everything you can on him; your raise is imminent.

There were still no messages or missed calls from Logan. She scrolled through her contacts to Gayle Buckley at Truman-Mann. After getting the charges dropped against Logan for Carrie's murder, she'd called Gayle to apologize for the lack of return phone calls and the complete disregard for the job offer. Look at me learning not to burn bridges.

The receptionist asked her to hold, but it wasn't long before Gayle was on the line, "Veronica, have you finally come to your senses and decided to work for me?"

She grinned, "nope still crazy after all these years." Delighted laughter spilled across the line. "Still working your magic? Making frivolous lawsuits disappear with a wave of your wand?"

"A wave of my sword; I leave the wands to Chuck." She'd become an invaluable resource to Veronica when studying for the Bar exam; Gayle had an almost encyclopedic knowledge of the law and was always willing to share. Sometimes Veronica thought working for her wouldn't have been too bad. Boring and unfulfilling, but not bad. "How is the life of my favorite private investigator?"

"It's good. Actually I'm working on a case right now and I could use your help." Talking to Gayle would be better than reading a thick volume of Bankruptcy Law. Faster and less sleep-inducing too. "Refresh my memory on Chapter 7 bankruptcy for corporations not individuals."

"Do you want the short answer?"

"Please."

"A Chapter 7 doesn't discharge the liability of a corporation, instead the Court appoints a bankruptcy trustee to liquidate all the assets and pay the creditors according to priority."

"What if its only asset is intellectual property?"

"That can be more complicated since there's an inherent conflict between bankruptcy law and intellectual property law, but it has been done. Usually the trustee will sell it via auction in order to maximize the asset. Do you want me to send you some case law?"

"I don't think it's necessary, but thanks."

"Call me anytime Veronica." She thanked her again and disconnected the call.

The pranks were about bankrupting Trina, but not for revenge, it was for the script. Justin told them Trina offered me a lot of money, if I would let her buy it and sign over all my rights, but Trina wasn't the one who actually bought it. According to Mac, Trina formed Echo Films and used the company to purchase the script; Blood Lilly is literally the only asset held by the corporation, and Echo Films was in trouble, its list of debts is longer than your baby registry. In a personal bankruptcy there were certain assets that could be excluded, but not so for a corporation. In order to satisfy the growing debt of Echo Films, the script would have to be auctioned off to the highest bidder to pay the creditors.