"Some kids run away to join the circus. I ran away to make movies. I stayed with Elise and Jacques for two years. It worked for me. Eventually, I did get to be an actress. Except when we were making a movie, they left me alone. I had a place to live, enough food to eat, books to read. Nobody bothered me."
"You made more than one movie? How many?"
Tanya shook her head. "I don't know. Ten maybe? But if Fraymore recognized Martin Shore, then he has the very first one."
"Why? How do you know?"
"Because that's the only one where Jacques didn't wear a mask. I guess he was afraid someone might recognize him."
"No wonder," I put in. "He was a cop."
"A cop?" Tanya echoed, her eyes widening. "Really?"
"He got drummed off the force in Yakima when they found out he was distributing pornography. I don't think anyone ever realized he was making the flicks and starring in them as well."
Suddenly, surprisingly, Tanya Dunseth started to giggle. Within moments she dissolved into semi-hysterical laughter.
"What's the matter?" I asked when she was finally able to talk again. "What's so funny?"
"You mean all that time he was really a cop?" she asked, wiping tears from her eyes and gasping for breath.
"Yes," I answered. "Why does that make you laugh?"
"Whenever we were doing it, I always pretended I was making it with the Lone Ranger," Tanya answered. "I don't know why that made me feel better. Maybe I was crazy. Maybe I am."
"You were a survivor," Ralph cut in. "Playing games like that with your tormentor is a well known survival technique. Don't ever fault yourself for it. It's what they teach POWs to do in order to maintain their sanity. You stayed with them for two years?"
Tanya nodded. "One day they gave me five thousand dollars and told me to leave town. I don't know why. Maybe they were about to be raided. I bought a bus ticket and came here."
"To Ashland? Why?"
"I always read about Ashland, even when I was little. I knew they did plays here. It seemed like the place to go if I wanted to be an actress. I gave myself a brand-new name-Tanya O'Brien, came here, got my GED, and started taking drama classes at Southern Oregon State College. And I started trying to work my way into the Festival. I did everything-sold tickets, mopped floors, worked the concession stands, sewed costumes. It took a while, but finally I started getting parts."
"That's when you met your former husband?"
"I didn't realize it at the time, but Bob was just like my father-mean. He had a bachelor of fine arts. I didn't. When I started getting parts, it made him crazy and meaner. When I got my first speaking part, he beat me up the night before the opening. I went onstage the next night wearing a pound of makeup. Then, when he found out I was pregnant, he beat me up again and left town. At first, I felt deserted, but when I had time to think about it, I was relieved he was gone. It was the best thing that could have happened for me or for Amber."
Ralph stopped pacing. "Have you ever told anyone else about this?" he asked quietly.
"No."
"Not a roommate or a friend? Not even your ex-husband?"
"No. No one."
"Do you have any enemies?"
"Other than my father and my ex-husband? No."
"And you don't know of anyone else here in Ashland, maybe someone else here at the Festival, who might share your…" Ames stumbled. "…your, uh…unfortunate background…someone else who may have her own grudge against these two and who is systematically trying to shift the blame to you?"
Tanya shook her head. "No. I get along great with everybody. Ask anyone. No one here ever gave me any trouble."
It wasn't difficult to understand Ames' line of questioning. The idea of Shore having another victim inside the Festival had already crossed my mind. I added my own twist. "By the way, where is your ex?" I asked.
"He jumped off the 1–5 route. He burned out and isn't doing West Coast theaters anymore. For a long time now, I haven't heard anything about him, and I don't want to know."
"He doesn't pay child support?"
"Are you kidding?"
I'll admit, with someone like Robert Dunseth, asking about child support was strictly a rhetorical question.
Ralph shook his head. "I don't think it would be him, anyway, Beau. It has to be someone with a grudge against all three-Tanya, Daphne, and Martin Shore. Did Martin Shore try to contact you once he got to town?"
Tanya shook her head. "Not that I know of. I never received any messages, either at work or here at home."
"What about Daphne?"
"No. I never saw her until the party."
"Where did you go after you left the Members' Lounge?" I asked.
"Detective Fraymore wanted to know the same thing."
"I'm sure he did. What did you tell him?"
"I went home."
"How?"
"I walked."
"All the way to the farm? It's a long way-several miles."
"Not that far. Besides, I was upset. I needed to think."
"Did anybody see you?"
She shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe."
"So you don't have any kind of alibi for when Martin Shore was killed?"
"I guess not."
"Did Gordon Fraymore ask you about that?" She nodded. "Did he ask the same question about any other time period?"
Since I couldn't very well come out and ask Fraymore the question directly, I was trying, in a roundabout fashion, to establish an approximate time of death for Daphne Lewis.
Tanya shook her head. "He only asked me about Saturday night. And I told him the same thing I just told you."
Out front, Sunshine resumed her hoarse barking. A car engine switched off, but I didn't pay much attention, until the back screen door slammed open. An agitated James Renthrow appeared in the doorway.
"There you are, Tanya. They're coming. I heard them talking about it on the police scanner on my way over."
"Who's coming?" Tanya asked.
"The cops," Renthrow answered breathlessly. "Detective Fraymore and the rest. They're coming to Live Oak Farm right now. It sounds like they've got a warrant for your arrest."
The other shoe had fallen. It was only because of James Renthrow's electronic eavesdropping that we had even a moment's advance warning.
With a stricken expression on her face, Tanya turned to Ralph. "Are you really my attorney, Mr. Ames? You're right. I do think I need one. What am I supposed to do now? Will you come with me?"
Ralph nodded. "I'll come to the station, but not in the same car. When Detective Fraymore shows up, go with him quietly, without any protest or fuss. They'll read you your rights. Whatever you do, answer no questions. After they book you, you'll be allowed one phone call."
As he spoke, Ames pulled a scrap of paper from his wallet and scribbled something on it. "Here's the number of Beau's car phone. Memorize it. When they allow you that one call, dial that number. I'll be waiting outside. Again, I'm your attorney. You're not to answer any questions without my being present, understand?"
Tanya nodded. "What about Amber?"
"Don't worry," Ralph said. "We'll take care of her. If nothing else, Beau can pack up her things and take her back to Oak Hill for the time being. Someone there will know what to do. Beau probably does himself. He's just rusty."
But Tanya Dunseth wasn't looking for temporary measures. "I'm not talking about just tonight," she said urgently, clutching desperately at Ralph's arm. "Promise me one thing."
"What's that?"
"If I go to jail or prison, you won't let my parents get Amber. No matter what. I'd rather she were dead."
"Believe me," Ralph Ames declared. "I'll see to it." He turned to me. "Give me the keys to the 928, Beau. Tanya and I will go down the road and head off your friend Fraymore before he has a chance to come into the yard."