Reel Stuff by Don Bruns Read Free Book Online

girl, Ashley Amber. Your partner is right. I’ve got a feeling there’s more to Jason Londell’s death than a jump off the scaffolding.”

CHAPTER NINE
    Ten minutes later the e-mail arrived. Eagerly, Em opened the video and expanded it to full screen.
    There was no sound. Nothing had been miked. All sound effects would have been added later. And the camera was stable, a fixed focus, as it was mounted and there was no movement. The handheld camera upstairs was to be more fluid, to give the leap more urgency.
    â€œWas this a death jump?”
    Em raised her eyebrows. “What?”
    â€œNo, no. Did the
show
call for him to die? Was it in the script?”
    â€œYou know,” I looked at James, “I really never read the script. I have no clue. Did you?”
    â€œNo, but he was only in this episode. And they’re still filming, so it could have been his last scene. God, I hope they don’t use the real splat scene in the show.”
    â€œThat’s not going to happen, James,” Emily recoiled. “Sometimes you can be so gross.”
    If it was the last scene, they could show the jump, then moveon. With Londell’s death, ratings would be through the roof. Maybe the entire show could be revived from an almost certain cancellation at the end of the year. But then they seldom shoot scenes in order, so there was a strong possibility that they didn’t have all of Jason Londell’s shots in the can and they might have to scrap his part in the show and recast.
    â€œLet’s see what’s on the film.” I held my breath, not wanting to relive the episode.
    Ground camera, as it was called, started a few seconds before Randy Roberts said action. Jason Londell stood still for maybe two seconds, then started running the grid. Three seconds into the run, he leaped, and I watched in horror as he plummeted toward the ground. The camera never picked up the final crash as the trajectory should have been to the inflated air bag. The falling body disappeared in the shot maybe ten feet before he would have landed. Thank God, we didn’t have to see it.
    â€œThat’s it?” James seemed disappointed.
    â€œYou wanted to see the body explode on the ground?”
    â€œNo. I expected something to happen on the walkway.”
    â€œI told you—”
    â€œRun it again.”
    Em hit replay, and we watched the same scene. Again and again and again. There seemed to be nothing left to see.
    â€œCan we stop it at any point?” James asked.
    â€œSure,” Em started it again, hitting the stop button, freezing Londell in mid-stride. “Just tell me where.”
    â€œA tenth of a second before he jumps.”
    She didn’t get it exactly, but we watched, anticipating the leap.
    â€œStop it.”
    She did.
    â€œRight there. Watch his reaction. Run it again and let it go.”
    She played the short scene again, and I concentrated. A tenthof a second before he jumped I saw it too. A slight jerk of his body. His head went up, he seemed to tense up, but, then again, it was probably in anticipation of his final fall.
    â€œI don’t think you’ve got anything, James. It was probably a natural reaction.” I was as disappointed as he was.
    â€œWe’ve got a cameraman who disappeared along with his film. That’s a start, don’t you think?”
    Em had agreed. It was probably enough to take the investigation a step further.
    â€œHow are we going to handle this?” I asked.
    â€œI’d suggest five hundred a day plus expenses. One of you may have to fly out to L.A. And I might have to go along to assist,” she said, smiling at me.
    â€œFive hundred dollars a day. Not bad. We give it two weeks and see if we can find this camera guy and locate Londell’s wife. We check to see if she’d taken out a big insurance claim recently, see if Juliana Londell is on the up-and-up, and we make ourselves—” James was