Final Curtain by R. T. Jordan Read Free Book Online

it,” Polly said. “What does Bambi or Barbie or Beebee have that you don’t?”
    Sharon stared at Polly as though she were an idiot. “She’s young, and Gerold’s not. Need I say more? I don’t know how my Emmy ended up with Karen’s blood all over it. I don’t ever want that thing back in my house. I could never look at it again without thinking of this horrible nightmare.”
    Polly looked as perplexed as Tim and Placenta. “How the hell did your Emmy find its way to the theater in the first place? I have a house full of those precious darlings and I won’t even let my own mother have one to display in her assisted living home, let alone take them out for show-and-tell.”
    “That’s exactly what it was doing at the theater,” Sharon said. “Charlotte Bunch coaxed me into bringing it in. You can ask her. On the first day of rehearsal, she said that she’d watched the Daytime Emmy Awards and was thrilled to know a winner. She said she’d never in a million years have one of her own, and asked if I’d bring mine in and let her hold it. I agreed. I wrapped it in a towel the night before and placed it on the hall table by the front door, next to my car keys so I wouldn’t forget it. On the way out to see Karen I grabbed the keys and the Emmy and off I went. Karen was interested in the Emmy too, so I let her hold it before wrapping it back up.”
    “More fingerprints,” Polly said.
    “After the argument I left the theater and forgot to take the award with me.”
    “You argued with Karen about being terminated?”
    “No, Gerold. That detestable SOB,” Sharon said. “Karen was just about to tell me that I was being let go when Gerold walked in with his jailbait, Mag Ryan—imagine that name! He asked what was I doing there. He’d apparently instructed Karen to take care of the ugly firing business the day before. When he figured things out he made fun of Karen for not being man enough to tell me that I’d been replaced. Naturally, I was shocked. That’s when I threw my cell phone at him. I was upset, but not enough to kill anyone. I swear it! I left the stage, went to the ladies’ room, and cried my eyes out. I didn’t want to run into any of the kids in the show, so I ran out of the theater and drove home. I sobbed all the way.”
    Polly cooed in understanding. “Charlotte and Hiroaki got the boot from Gerold this morning. They’re being replaced, just as you said.”
    “How did they take the news—for the second time?” Sharon asked.
    “No tantrums or disgruntled employee threats.”
    “I never thought that my neck would be on the chopping block,” Sharon said. “Guess none of us are indispensable. Except you, Polly.”
    “Trust me, dear. If Gerold could get rid of me, he would,” Polly said. “He’d love for me to quit. But I’m here for the run of the show. I’ve worked with some of the most angry men on the planet, like Jerry Robbins—who at least had talent. Gerold’s a mere pimple on the butt of life for me. And an amateur at that!”
    Polly sighed. “Who else had motive to clobber the director?”
    Sharon shrugged her shoulders. “She was too divine. I can’t imagine Karen having any enemies.”
    “Except Gerold Goss! There was no love lost between those two.”
    Sharon thought for a moment. “Gerold’s got a mean streak a mile long, but do you think he’d actually kill someone? People are more apt to want to kill him.”
    Polly shook her head in confusion. “I swear, if I live to be a thousand, I’ll never understand human nature. But don’t worry, sweetums, we won’t let you fry in the chair without a battle.”
    Sharon’s facial expression instantly changed from hope to fear.
    Placenta said, “Don’t scare the poor kid any more than she is already. This is a lethal injection state.”

Chapter 7
    “W hat’s wrong with this picture?” Polly said to Placenta as Tim drove the Rolls along Santa Monica Boulevard in Beverly Hills, heading home. “Who’s lying?