Lights, Camera . . . Read online

  “With a cast of beginners and amateurs,” Luther added, “scripted—”

  “By an unknown writer,” Althea cut in.

  “So what earthly motive would anyone have for shutting it down?” Bess concluded.

  “Nancy, I believe that’s your cue,” Luther said. All three gazed at me with expectant looks.

  “Ummmm, I’ll get back to you on that,” I told them. “Looks like it’s time to kick this investigation into high gear.”

  When Bess and I left, Luther and Althea were head-to-head over the latest script revision.

  Wednesday morning most of the cast and crew were back after the two-day hiatus. The food poisoning outbreak had taken its toll emotionally as well as physically. Morale seemed to be at a new low, in spite of Bess’s and George’s victories on the mechanical and electronic fronts, and the superior quality of Mrs. Fayne’s food service.

  I reported to the soundstage, where Morris had planned to shoot some trial footage of one of the cabin interior scenes. This included not only the bird scene I’d rehearsed the day before with Ben, but also the next scene, in which Luke arrives after hearing about the shipment of money.

  This was the first time I’d seen Morris since our exchange after his fight with Jack Halloran. He still seemed rattled and preoccupied, although he was his usual friendly self to the actors and crew.

  The first part of the scene went pretty well. We rehearsed a couple of times, and then he shot a half dozen takes. Next was the scene where Muriel, the canary, sits on my finger while I hand-feed it.

  “Let’s go straight to camera,” Morris said. “No rehearsal. We don’t want the bird to be stuffed by the time we shoot.” Everyone chuckled, and that helped me lose some of my nervousness.

  “Okay, quiet everyone. I want absolute silence—we don’t want to startle Muriel. If you can’t keep quiet, leave the set.” He waited a few minutes to allow anyone to leave that wanted to.

  “All right,” he said in a low voice. “This will be Take One. Nancy, are you ready?” I nodded. “Lee?” Morris checked with his cinematographer. “All right, then, Nancy. . . . Action!”

  I walked to the corner of the “room.” The birdcage hung from a high stand and was covered in a pale muslin. Carefully I pulled the cage cover open. I was suddenly engulfed in an attack of nerves. I could feel everyone in the room watching me. I fought to keep my breathing normal, although I felt like panting in order to get enough air.

  I pulled the cloth away to show the canary sitting on its swing. I couldn’t seem to stop my hand from trembling, and my thumb bumped the cage. That started a chain reaction. The cage began to jiggle, and then the swing jostled.

  Muriel keeled over backward and landed on the floor of the cage with a soft thud.

  Over-the-Shoulder Shot

  Cut!” Morris yelled.

  At first I didn’t move. Seeing Muriel fall stiff onto the cage floor was such a shock, I felt bolted to my spot. Then a communal gasp from the dozen or so spectators jolted me out of my stupor. I realized I’d been holding my breath, and took in a huge gulp.

  Suddenly I realized that all was not what it seemed. First of all the cage door was hanging open. Secondly the heap on the cage floor didn’t look like the bird I’d been rehearsing with in Donnalee’s trailer.

  Cautiously I reached into the cage and touched the lifeless bird. Then I pulled it out and held it up for everyone to see.

  “It’s a fake,” I told them, “a toy bird. It’s not Muriel.”

  Several people rushed over to confirm what I’d discovered. “Well, where is she?” Rita asked Jake when I deposited the artificial bird in her palm. “Where’s Muriel?”

  “I don’t know,” Jake said. “She was in there when I covered up the cage. Rita, you checked the cage when we put it in the corner. You saw her.”

  “I saw her then,” Rita said. “But I’m not seeing her now. She’s gone!”

  “Gone!” Morris repeated. “Where?”

  “How would I know?” Rita answered. She sounded frustrated and hassled. “Where does any bird go when it flies the coop? Up in a tree somewhere, I imagine.” She looked into the woods that bordered the bluff. Without powerful binoculars, there was no way any of us was going to spot that small yellow bird in that thick stand of trees.

  “Jake!” Morris yelled. “Where’s Jake?”

  “Right here.” Jake Brigham strode across the set. His face was crinkled into a mass of worry wrinkles.

  To anyone who didn’t know much about moviemaking, it would have seemed like this was no big deal. It was just a bird in a very short scene—and all it had to do was eat. But it really was a big deal. I found that out in the coaching session. Muriel was not just any yellow bird—she was a trained canary. She’d been taught not to be distracted by sudden noises and bright lights, for example, and not to be startled by people walking around and shouting instructions.

  “So, where is she?” Morris asked. “Where’s my Muriel?”

  “I’ll find her,” Jake said. “I’m sure she’ll fly back on her own soon. Something spooked her, or she’d never have left. Someone must have released her, and chased her off.”

  “And tell me again how that could have happened?” Morris said. He wasn’t yelling anymore, so I inched closer. I didn’t want to miss anything. “How could someone have even gotten into the animal area?” Morris demanded. “Where were you? Where were your assistants?”

  “Look, I understand why you’re upset,” Jake said. He’d lowered his voice too. They were both trying to have this totally private conversation in the middle of a large group of people. “I’m telling you, I’ll get her back,” Jake insisted. His face was getting really red. Morris had asked some good questions. Nothing should be more secure than the animal wrangler’s area. If someone could break into that, there wasn’t one area of the entire location that was safe from troublemakers.

  “What are they saying?” I heard George’s familiar whisper from behind. “Does Jake have a clue about what’s going on?”

  “Nope,” I murmured. I told her what the two men had said.

  “But how could anyone break into the wrangler’s area?” George asked, echoing my thoughts. “It’s supposed to be totally off limits.”

  “And really secure,” I pointed out. “I doubt that it was an accident.”

  “I assume you’ve got a backup for me,” Morris said to Jake. “A stand-in canary.” His lips were drawn tight across his teeth as he talked, and he looked like a volcano about to erupt. George stepped up next to me—we were riveted to the action in front of us. It was almost like watching a movie.

  “Yes, but you know as well as I do that it’s going to take a little time to get this bird up to speed,” Jake told Morris. “I’ll need to work with Nancy—the stand-in canary has to get used to her. I’ll do some run-throughs with the two of them.”

  “How long?” Rita asked. “How long before we’re ready to shoot?”

  “A couple of hours, I guess,” Jake answered.

  “More lost time,” Morris said. “We’ve already lost days of shooting. Now the actors are ready, the lights, the cinematographers. The whole crew is keyed into this one scene. And you’re telling me we all just stand around for two hours and wait?”

  “Look,” Rita said to Morris. “We can’t lose any more time. It’ll take us hours just to scrap this shoot and set up for another one. Nancy and the boys are here, and they’re ready to go. Let’s just skip the bird bit and shoot without it.”

  “No.” Althea Waters hurried up. “You can’t leave out the bird. We talked about this,” she said to Morris. “Remember what Luther said. The bird is really important to Esther’s story line.”

  Morris shook his head at Althea. For a moment it looked like he was going to agree with Rita.

  “I’m sure you’ve already spent a ton of money just getting those birds all the way out here in the first place.” Althea kept talking, her words rushing out as she pleaded her case. “And you’re pa
ying Luther for his expertise. You might as well get your money’s worth from all of them.”

  “And Nancy’s really good. I’m sure she’ll be able to switch to the new canary without any trouble,” Jake added.

  “All right, all right,” Morris said with a huge sigh. “Break, everyone—but stand by. When Rita calls, I want you all back here in seconds!”

  “Nancy, I haven’t totally been on board with your idea of sabotage up until now,” George said. “But I’m beginning to be a believer. There’s no way we could have this much bad luck.”

  “Exactly,” I agreed. “And I’m beginning to narrow the field of suspects—”

  “Come on, Nancy, let’s go.” Jake was motioning to me to get to work.

  “Tell Bess what’s happened,” I told George as I headed toward Jake. “Let’s get together later. I want to run some ideas by you two.”

  As I walked with Jake to the menagerie, I was in sort of a daze. I could hear Jake rattling on beside me as he told me about the new stand-in canary, but I couldn’t stop thinking about the problems plaguing this small production.

  The new canary was as well trained as the original one—and I was well trained by then too. My rehearsals with the new bird went quickly, and Jake and I reported back to the set with the new Muriel in an hour and a half.

  We shot half a dozen takes before Morris announced lunch. Bess, George, the Alvarez brothers, and I found a table for six and tore into plates of Mrs. Fayne’s excellent lasagna. About halfway through the meal, I heard a familiar voice.

  “Might I join you all?” Harold Safer asked.

  “Sure, Mr. Safer, have a seat,” Bess urged. She introduced him to Ben and Luke. “This lasagna is so good because Aunt Louise uses Mr. Safer’s mozzarella and Italian sausage,” she said warmly. Bess is wonderful at putting everyone at ease.

  “So how did the shoot go this morning?” Mr. Safer asked me. “I hear you were working on one of the cabin interior scenes.”

  “That’s right,” I said. I wasn’t at all surprised to hear that he knew the specifics. As much as he loved the theater, being on the set of a film in production must have been heaven for him—and he was probably hanging on every word he heard.

  “And you’re going down to the cabin itself on location this afternoon, is that right?” he asked.

  “Right,” Ben answered. “That’s when Nancy and I take a ride on the bucking buckboard. I tell you, I’d rather ride a bronco without a saddle—its back is bound to be softer than that wooden seat!” I nodded an agreement as I sipped some water.

  “So is Mr. Houseman on the grounds?” Harold asked me. He tried to make his tone casual, but I could see he was extremely interested in my answer.

  “As a matter of fact, I think I see him over there. Come on, Mr. Safer.”

  “Really? Are you sure it will be all right?”

  “Of course, come on.”

  We both wiped marinara sauce from the corners of our mouths. Mr. Safer took a huge gulp of cranberry juice, and I led him across the room.

  I stopped at a table with a RESERVED card perched in the middle. Around it sat Morris, Rita, Lee Chang, Donnalee Collins, Althea, Luther, and Herman Houseman.

  “I’d like you all to meet my friend Harold Safer,” I said, pushing him forward just a little. He’s a River Heights merchant and is supplying the cheese and sausages for Mrs. Fayne’s food service—including the ingredients for your lasagna today,” I added, taking a page from Bess’s etiquette book.

  I went around the table, introducing each of them. Everyone greeted Harold warmly, and a few made special comments about his delicious contribution to the meal.

  “And this is—,” I began, as I got to the person I’d saved for last.

  “No introduction is needed, Nancy,” Harold said. “Mr. Houseman, you’re my biggest fan. I mean, I’m your biggest fan. I’ve seen every Broadway and off-Broadway production you’ve done in the last twenty years, including your most recent Long Day’s Journey. Masterful, absolutely masterful.”

  Mr. Houseman wiped his hands on his napkin with a few large swipes, then stood almost at attention, facing Harold. “My dear Mr. Safer, you honor me with your words. It is always a special pleasure to meet someone with a genuine love of great theater.” He held out his hand.

  Harold wiped his own palm against his trousers and clasped Mr. Houseman’s in a firm handshake.

  “I hadn’t realized this before,” Luther said. “Harold, you could be Herman’s stand-in. You’re both the same height and build; you have the same profile and hair.”

  “I told him the same thing,” I said.

  “I’m very honored by the comparison,” Mr. Safer said, stepping back a few inches.

  “If we didn’t already have an understudy, I’d hire you,” Morris added. “Nancy’s spontaneous employment agency has already bailed us out of several jams so far!”

  “Well, we won’t keep you any longer,” Mr. Safer said, backing away a little more. “Please continue your meals. It was lovely meeting you all.”

  “Oh, Nancy, that was wonderful,” Mr. Safer said in a soft voice as we returned to our table. “If I can ever do you a favor, you only need to ask.”

  After lunch the Alvarez brothers and I joined the crew and Morris on location at the abandoned cabin in Humphrey’s Woods. I didn’t have any dialogue in this scene. According to the script, the Rackham brothers were returning to their home. They get off their horses and have a long conversation about their intentions and don’t realize I’m in the garden beside the cabin, hearing every word.

  Morris spent hours setting the scene and shooting dozens of takes. Then—just when I thought we were through—he set up the cameras for the reverses. Reverses show the same scene, only from the opposite angle. In this scene, that meant we first had to shoot the whole thing dozens of times from Ross Rack-ham’s point of view.

  Next all the lights and cameras were repositioned so we could shoot the scene dozens of times from John Rackham’s point of view. Later, in the editing room, Morris and his editor would cut and splice the scene the exact way they wanted, switching the points of view to make it realistic.

  Finally we heard Morris call out the magic words: “Okay, everyone, that’s a wrap for today.” If we all hadn’t been so tired, we would have cheered. Instead, we just started filing to the shuttles that would take us back up to the compound.

  We had walked only a few yards when we heard Morris shout again. “What?” he yelled. “How could that happen! Hold it, everybody. Come on back!”

  We dragged ourselves back to the cabin. “We’ve got a problem,” he announced. “As you know, while we changed the camera positions and lighting to shoot the reverses, we took the horses away for a water break. Unfortunately Rita just noticed that the horses were put back in the wrong order for the reverses. We have to shoot the reverses again.”

  “Morris, it’s almost dark,” Lee Chang pointed out. “There’s no point in shooting them now. The light will be all wrong.”

  “I don’t care—we’re reshooting the reverses. Now.” Morris was adamant.

  “But it doesn’t make sense,” Rita told him.

  “We’re shooting, and that’s that,” he said. “Come on, come on, let’s go.” He sounded a little frantic.

  By the time we got back to the compound, it was dark. Most of the people involved in the shoot had disappeared into their trailers or headed back to town. I had driven my own car in that morning, but I wanted to see if Bess needed a ride. I knew George would be riding with her mom.

  The carpentry shop was closed, and there was no sign of Bess. The whole compound seemed nearly deserted. It was great to see the security lamps on, but they were tuned to the lowest power. Clouds snuck across the moon, and the shadows came and went across my path.

  The catering tent had been folded while we’d been at the cabin, and Mrs. Fayne’s operation had moved into the original mess hall building. There was no one there but the all-night-coffee-bar guy. He
told me that Bess had gone home with George and Mrs. Fayne.

  As I circled back toward the parking lot, I was surprised to see Mr. Houseman standing near a large sycamore. I decided to take a minute to thank him for making Mr. Safer’s day. I thought that might encourage him to talk to Mr. Safer when he saw him hanging around the compound.

  As I approached the tree, I realized Mr. Houseman wasn’t aware of me at all. He was deep in conversation with someone who was standing in the shadows and hidden by the tree trunk.

  I decided not to interrupt him, but I didn’t want him to think I was eavesdropping. So I figured my best move was to just back away quietly.

  Step by step I retraced my path, placing each foot carefully onto the ground. I gazed steadily at him as I backed up, but I didn’t need to worry about being discovered. He was way too interested in the person in front of him to notice me.

  As I watched, he leaned forward to kiss the person in the shadows.

  Danger in the Dark

  I watched the couple for a few minutes. Mr. Houseman’s large frame pretty well blocked out the woman he was kissing—I couldn’t see her face at all. And it was too dark to identify her by her clothing. They stayed locked in a heavy embrace while I backed away.

  I was really careful about not making any noise and revealing myself, and I managed to get out of the area without Mr. Houseman or the mystery woman hearing me. I went to my car and headed for town. The closer I got to home as I drove along the old road, the more I realized how tired I was.

  The minute I got home, I called Bess and George and set up a breakfast meeting. George promised that she had news from her data recovery work. I felt like I was falling asleep almost at the same moment I crawled under the covers. I closed my eyes, pushed my pillow into the perfect shape, and barely budged until morning.

  I had decided on Susie’s Read & Feed café for Thursday breakfast because I wanted privacy while we talked. I especially didn’t want anyone from the production company hearing our conversation. And I love Susie’s coffee and muffins.