October 2, 2016
10:36am
"So what do we know about this Lurmann character anyway?" Keith asked as he pulled the car into traffic.
"Let's see," replied Veronica from the shotgun seat, "according to this she's twenty-four, same age as Bennett. Two of them met back in college, U. Wisconsin-Madison, came out to Hollywood together afterwards to make it as actresses. They roomed together for their first year here; then Lurmann moved out."
"They have a falling out or something?"
"If they did, the police don't seem to have found out about it, or they didn't put it in the file. According to this, they were still close right up until Friday night."
"So what does she do now?"
"She's a waitress at Barefoot. You feel up for Sunday brunch?"
11:52am
"See, this is why I don't understand why you and Logan wanted to move to L.A. It's the middle of the day; how can the traffic possibly be this thick?"
"Is there some law that when you become a grandfather, you have to start complaining about things like that?"
"Yes, but curiously, only in forty-two states. If we lived in Georgia or Indiana, for instance, I wouldn't be required to complain at all."
"If we lived there, I'm not sure there'd be so much traffic to grumble about."
"There speaks a woman who's never been to Atlanta."
"I'll turn on the radio, maybe the traffic report'll have an easier route."
"—ould hurt Kane's campaign for the governor's mansion. As of last Wednesday, he had only a four-point lead in the polls, and—"
"No way, Terry. People will understand that he's standing by a friend, and they'll respect that. Besides, it's only another month until the election; the trial probably won't even have started by then, so—"
"Look Phil, it might be nice if people suspended judgment about guilt or innocence until after the tri—" Keith snapped off the radio.
"We're almost there anyway. We just need to find a place to park."
"Dad, they have valet," Veronica answered absent-mindedly as she stared out the window.
12:04pm
"Excuse me," Veronica said to the hostess, slipping her a one-hundred-dollar bill, "do you think you could seat us at one of Jodie Lurmann's tables?"
"Right this way."
"Are you going to wear those inside," Keith asked as they were led to their table, nodding toward Veronica's sunglasses and baseball cap.
"Necessary evil."
"Necessary evil?"
"They are necessary to prevent me from being recognized, which will prevent us from having to face a mob of evil paparazzi on the way out."
"Ah, the price of fame."
As they sat down, their waitress, a pretty blonde whose smile did not manage to disguise her melancholy, came up to their table and asked "are you guys ready, or do you need another minute?"
"I'd like the Healthy Joe's Scramble and the Granola Yogurt Parfait, oh, and a glass of orange juice, please," ordered Veronica.
Keith raised his eyebrows at his daughter's order and said "and I'd like the Eggs Benedict and a cup of coffee, black, please."
"Great, I'll be right back with your coffee and your o.j."
After Lurmann had left with their order, Veronica turned to her father and said "Eggs Benedict? Do you know how unhealthful that is?"
"'How unhealthful?'" Keith shot back. "And seriously, an egg-white omelet with spinach, turkey, onions, and mushrooms, plus non-fat yogurt with granola and fresh berries? It's like I don't even know you anymore."
"Hey," answered Veronica, patting her stomach, "I have to think of Jennifer here. She needs protein, calcium, iron, and folic acid. What neither she nor her grandfather needs is Canadian Bacon drenched in Hollandaise sauce."
"You're as bad as your stepmother. Once in a while is okay. Besides, Alicia has me going to the gym with her three times a week, so I get plenty of exercise."
"Well, good for her."
Just then Lurmann returned with their drinks. "Your food will be out in just another few minutes. Is there anything else I can get you?"
"Some answers would be nice," responded Veronica.
"I'm sorry, I don't—"
"We're private investigators working for the lawyers representing Logan Echolls," Keith explained. "We just want to ask you some questions, that's all."
"Well, I already told the police everything I know, so—"
"Great, so now you can tell us, too," cut in Veronica.
"Please understand," Keith went on, "everyone is legally entitled to a defense, and to confront the witnesses against him. Which doesn't mean that we're here to attack you. We just want to get to the truth."
"Well, alright, what do you want to know?"
"You phoned Caroline Bennett the night she was killed. What time was that?" asked Veronica.
"Around a quarter to eleven."
"That's just what the time-stamp on her voice-mail said," Keith added, nodding. "Tell me something though; the two of you went out to dinner together just before. Why didn't you just tell her in person what you thought of the affair? Why leave it on her answering machine?"
"It's kind of a long story…."
"We're patient," responded Veronica.
"You have to understand, Caroline and I, we met our second year in college, and we became, like, best friends right away. And we always talked about how we'd come out here, become big stars. And, I mean, she was always kind of wild, you know, but, I mean, you just felt more alive whenever she was around. I mean, I never would have had the guts to come out here, not without her, you know?"
"So what happened?" Veronica asked softly. "The two of you roomed together your first year in L.A., but then you moved out. Why?"
"Like I said, she was always kind of wild, and, well, she would have like, a different guy over every week. Man, I must make her sound like she was the biggest slut ever. She wasn't like that though, but, well, it could make her a little difficult to live with…sometimes."
"I know what you mean," Veronica answered with a small nod.
"Look, I need to go check on another table, but I'll be right back, okay?"
"Sure," responded Keith. After Lurmann had left, he turned to his daughter and asked "are you alright honey? You kind of lost the rhythm there."
"You were right Dad, it is harder to be bad cop." The two of them sat in silence until Lurmann returned, this time with their food.
"So," Veronica began, "did you and Caroline have a fight? Is that why you moved out?"
"No, it was nothing like that. I never told her how, you know, what I, why I wanted to leave. I just made up an excuse about this play I got a part in and needing a place closer to the theater. Maybe I should've told her, maybe things would have been different."
"When did you find out about this affair with Logan Echolls?" Veronica asked.
"Right from the beginning. She was so excited when she told me. I thought it was wrong, you know? I mean, he's married, with, like, three kids. They didn't deserve this. I kept wanting to tell her, you know, or at least tell her to stop giving me all the little details. I didn't want to hear about it, but I couldn't even begin to tell her to just shut up about it. I keep thinking I should've said something sooner."
Veronica was silent, her face pale. "Why didn't you?" Keith asked.
"I thought she'd be angry at me."
"You said you knew about it right from the beginning," Veronica cut in. "When did it start?"
"Right after their first day of shooting After the Storm. I remember being so excited when she told me she got this part, I made her promise to call me right after the first day, to tell me how it went. Well, it was like after 6:30 in the evening, and she had told me that the shoot was only scheduled to go through four o'clock, and then she finally calls me and tells me to guess where she was."
"And?"
"She told me that, well, that she had been in this hotel room for the past two hours, and that Logan Echolls had just left. She said that the two of them had been, you know, kind of flirty ever since they met during the auditions, and then, well, they decided to, you know, just get a room. She thought it was really cool, 'cause he was such a big celebrity and everything."
Veronica nodded, an unreadable expression on her face. "I see. Look, I'm sorry, I need to confer with my partner for a minute. Do you think you could get me another orange juice?"
"Of course."
After Lurmann had left, Keith leaned over the table and asked his daughter "are you alright honey?"
"I think I may be better than alright. Hang on one second," she finished as she fished her cell phone out of her purse. "Come on," she said to no one in particular after she had made a call, "pick up the phone Marty…."
"Who's Marty?"
"He's—Marty, yes hi….Thanks, I appreciate on the set, huh?...Everyone suspected?...Is that right?...Look, there's something I wanted to ask you, do you remember the first day of shooting?...No, in the Korean War, of course I mean the first day of shooting After the Storm….They both left right around four?...Right, but do you remember what the date was?...Would you check?...February 29? You're sure?...Thanks Marty, you're a live-saver."
"What was that all about? What are you doing now?" Keith asked as Veronica ended the call but continued fiddling with her cell-phone.
"That was Marty, Logan's assistant. Apparently there were rumors flying around the set about Logan and Caroline. I was just asking him about the first day of shooting, when this affair supposedly started."
"Look, Veronica, I know this must be difficult for you, but—"
"Ah-hah!" Veronica cried in triumph.
"What?"
"Dad, do you know why Logan ended shooting at four that day?"
"Why?"
"We were…having trouble conceiving Jennifer, and this specialist we saw put us on this schedule, and we never missed a…session. I was just checking my calendar," at this, she held up her phone, "and, sure enough, February 29th, 4:20pm. Logan could not possibly have been with this Bennett woman at that time, because he was with me!" Just then, Veronica's look of elation disappeared. "I'm sorry Dad. You probably didn't want to know all that, did you?"
"Veronica, I'm a grown man; I didn't think my grandchildren were being dropped off by the stork."
"Don't you see what this means though? If Bennett lied about the first time—"
"It stands to reason she lied about all the other times. But why?"
"Why would anyone lie about sleeping with a gorgeous celebrity?"
"You're right, stupid question."
"Dad, you always told me there were no stupid questions."
"That's just something parents are supposed to say. Seriously, though, I think this is great, but it doesn't really help us. They still have a witness who heard Logan and Caroline fighting. Even if it was just over the movie, that's enough of a motive. We still need to figure out who really did this."
"Well let's start from the beginning: who else might have had a motive?"
"That sort of depends. Was the killer angry at Bennett, and Logan was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, or was the killer trying to frame Logan, and Bennett was just a convenient way of doing that?"
"What if it was both?" Veronica said with a smile.
"What do you mean?"
"Think about it: what if the killer also 'found out' about this nonexistent affair, and was angry about it. Then he'd have a reason to hate both Logan and Caroline."
"A boyfriend."
Veronica snapped her fingers into a finger-gun, and then gestured Lurmann back over.
"Thanks," Veronica said when Lurmann brought her juice. "Do you think we could ask you just a few more questions?"
"Sure."
"Was Caroline seeing anyone, at all seriously, I mean, before she got involved with Logan Echolls?"
"Well, yeah, I mean, there was this guy she was going out with for a few months. He was this really skeevy creep, too. Said he was a producer; he'd make her a star. But she broke up with him right after she got the part in After the Storm."
Veronica's eyes lit up. "Did she give this guy a key to her apartment?"
"Yeah, but she made him give it back when they broke up."
"One last thing: you wouldn't happen to know this guy's name, would you?"
"I remember his last name, 'cause it was kind of unusual, it was, oh crap, it's on the tip of my tongue, it started with a 'g' I think. Like Gonen or somethi—"
Veronica's jaw dropped open. "Goran? Dylan Goran?" she asked.
"Yeah, that's it exactly! How'd you know?"
"Lucky guess. Would you bring us the check please?"
"Fine, but first tell me how you knew this guy's name."
"His name's come up already in our investigation, that's all. Now we know what his connection was, that's all."
"Oh, okay."
With that, Lurmann turned to get their bill. As she was walking away, Veronica called to her one more time: "Jodie, don't blame yourself. Trust me, there was nothing you could have said that would have made any difference."
After Lurmann was out of earshot, Keith hissed across the table "who is this Goran? How have you heard of him?"
"I'll explain in the car."
2:42pm
Dylan Goran groaned as his eyes fluttered open. He rolled over as if to go back to sleep, but when he saw the short, pretty, and visibly pregnant blonde woman sitting in the chair at the foot of his bed, he bolted upright.
"Wow, Dylan, you must have had some Saturday night, huh? I mean, here you are, still asleep at this hour?" Veronica asked as she twirled Dylan's keychain around her finger.
"What are you doing in here? How did you get in?"
"Wrong questions. See, I know what you did, and I know how you got into Caroline Bennett's apartment. You made a copy of her key before you gave it back to her, right? Is it one of these?"
"You've got all the answers, you tell me."
"That's a yes, I take it. So you found out that she dumped you for Logan Echolls. That must have pissed you off. I mean, first his sister borrows ten grand from you, doesn't pay it back, and she promises to get her father to star in your movie, but not only does he not do so, he beats you down pretty darn thoroughly, as I recall. That must have been bad enough, but you probably felt better when he went to prison. But then, all these years later, here you are, still a loser wannabe producer, and you find out that the psycho's son steals your girlfriend. I mean, it's not enough that he's got everything, he's got to take what's yours too? So, you go over to her apartment, let yourself in with the copy of the key you made, wait for her to come home. You wait around a while, hear the phone ring, hear someone leave a message. You were probably in the bathroom or something, so you didn't actually hear the message as it was being left, so you play it back. Then you hear her come in with Echolls, they're fighting, you hide in the back of the apartment, wait for him to leave, bash her over the head with the pepper grinder, then just leave. Did I leave anything out?"
"I know who you are. You of all people should be thanking me."
"I'm overcome with gratitude. So you admit you killed Caroline Bennett and framed Logan Echolls for it?"
"Sure, I admit it. Doesn't matter, no one'll believe you anyway."
"They'll believe you, moron. I've been taping this whole conversation."
"Bitch." Dylan sprung out of bed and started advancing toward her. "It still doesn't matter; nobody'll ever hear that tape."
Just then the bedroom door swung open and Keith stormed through, leveling a twelve-gauge pump-action shotgun at Goran's chest. "I know it's an old line, but please, make my day."
To be concluded….