Chapter 26

"Old school," Adam told Mac waving the papers around.

"Excuse me?" Mac asked, getting a suspicion Adam meant more than just the papers in his hand. Then again Mac knew he was being ridiculous, and god help him, sensitive. His most recent hair cut revealed quite a bit more gray than had been there at the beginning of the year and he knew that his age was starting to show more than he cared for.

Apologetically Adam said, "Sorry. Need to explain. But … Emi you know?"

"Adam."

Rubbing his forehead Adam mumbled, "Boss, I need coffee."

Feeling the need himself he led Adam over to his office and pointed to the carafe set up on his credenza. Adam fell on it like a starving man. Once the caffeine craving was being satisfied Mack pointed to the chair in front of his desk to indicate Adam needed to sit and get down to explaining.

"Boss I really am sorry. Thanks for your patience." Months back Mac had become concerned at the amount of coffee that some of the lab personnel were consuming. He wondered if it was workload but it was Syd who explained that for some people with certain brain chemistry … ADD, hyper, OCD, etc. … caffeine actually produced the opposite effect that it did in most people. It was obvious that for Adam the caffeine was going to work as his previous agitation was under control.

"Don't worry about it but let's get down to business."

"Sure Boss, sure thing. Old school. This case has really … well, it's challenging me. For a lot of reasons. Coming straight back to work after the mess in Vegas. Introducing the Webber equipment. Emi's connection to it. The fact that some of the characters involved seem to rub me the wrong way for some reason." After a sigh he added, "And wanting to get it right not only for the sake of the victims but because I know you're giving me a chance to take it to the next level. I don't want to blow it and let you down."

"Don't worry about letting me down Adam, just focus on the case."

"Easy enough to say but …" Adam shrugged and then refocused. "Anyway, I was tired and frustrated last night and Emi and I were talking – not about case specifics but about generalities, like what did she do when she kept running into brick walls in her projects. She reminded me that she used to do everything long hand … without computers I mean. I mean real basics like hand graphing, math without a calculator, personality assessments, and tools like Venn diagrams. I wound up … geez I'd hate to live in a world without tech but I can see how some retro techniques can unclog the brain pipes. I started with the Venn … and found a lot more overlap than came out initially. I thought everything was leading back to the theater industry, then it narrowed to the Amster itself, but when I really started analyzing the commonalities it's actually this play that is really the most common and basic connection."

"Not the theater but the play? What makes you say that?"

"Because while the theater is the broad connection, the play itself is a more common overlap between those involved. Many of the actors are only at the theater for this particular play, their regular contracts are actually with other theaters … they're kinda being loaned out though I don't understand it all. The Amster hasn't completely rebuilt its paid staff since laying everyone off prior to the restoration project. This play is supposed to increase donations so that they can increase permanent staffing and that kind of jazz. There are only a few permanent employees on the payroll. Vic #2, the intern wasn't even one. His paycheck was actually paid as part of his grad studies scholarship through one of the Rockefeller endowments. The security staff are contract players though the company has a really good reputation … those guys aren't your typical mall cop types."

"I'm of the same opinion after speaking to them regarding your 'pac man' analogy which wound up not being as farfetched as I had initially credited it with being."

"Er … yeah … anyway … the actors are all contract players as well and for most of them it is a part time gig, not their primary source of income. Some of the support staff like the make up artists and costumers are actually in it to get college credit for their degree or to look good on a graduate application, yada, yada. Housekeeping and maintenance are all contracted out and it is rarely the same crew though the crew managers are pretty stable. The only two permanent, salaried employees of the theater are the Theater Manager and his assistant. And the Manager actually gets paid a percentage of performance revenue rather than straight salary. I'm pretty sure that's why the guy has been having hysterics. If the play doesn't go on he doesn't get paid. He'll get another percentage for writing the screen-play … or being one of the people that wrote the screen play … but again, only if the production takes place."

"Did we ever find out who the other writer was?"

Adam pulled up a picture on his phone and then handed to Mac. "Hawkes saw this in the prop room. Someone will roast if the manager finds out they just left that lying around. Because of the nature of the play everyone had to sign a very strict confidentiality clause, it was a condition of employment, and scripts only get pieced out and get locked up when not in use."

Mack looked at the script cover and then looked up at Adam. "Is this a pseudonym? Do we know who this Anna L. Pic is?"

"Boss, this is where things get weird."