I had to laugh at that. Then I noticed a sheaf of papers in his hand. “What have you got there?”
“Stuff from Lawton’s thumb drive.” Sean stepped forward into the room and pulled out a chair at the table. “Laura’s still resting, far as I know. So I decided to go ahead and have a look at the contents. I picked a few things to print.”
I took a seat to Sean’s left, and Diesel came to sit by me. “What kinds of things?”
“Mostly letters and e-mails.” Sean fanned the pages out on the table between us. “There’s more upstairs in my room, including the play he was working on. But I thought starting with his more recent correspondence might be a good plan.”
“Have you found anything of interest yet?” I glanced down at the pages in front of me. Ralph Johnston’s name leapt out at me from the page on top.
“Read that one.” Sean indicated the page I had noticed. His smug tone as he continued piqued my interest. “Wait till you see what’s in that letter.”
I scanned it quickly, and my eyes widened as the contents of the letter sank in. “If Ralph knew about this…” My voice trailed off.
Sean nodded. “He’d want to kill Lawton for sure.”
TWENTY-SEVEN
I read the letter again, this time more slowly, to absorb every detail. Addressed to the director of the American Academy of Drama, it offered Connor Lawton’s review of a play submitted in consideration for the Laurette Taylor Fellowship in Dramaturgy. Lawton was apparently a member of the judging panel for the fellowship.
The author of the play in question was Montana (aka Ralph) Johnston. Lawton’s comments savaged the man and his work. Phrases like tediously derivative and staggeringly boring made me wince on Ralph’s behalf. Lawton closed the letter with the complaint that he couldn’t understand why he was expected to waste his time on work that was so manifestly substandard.
I set the letter down and looked at Sean. “Connor made it plain he didn’t like Ralph’s play. But if he knew Lawton had written that, he would certainly be furious. I know I would.”
“A simple no would have been enough, I’d think.” Sean shook his head. “Looks to me like Lawton went out of his way to be a jerk about it. Even if the play was as bad as he says, he didn’t have to say it like that.”
“No, he didn’t, but in my experience some critics can’t resist the temptation to be as nasty as possible. I suppose it feeds their egos somehow to tear other people down so viciously.”
“Lawton had a colossal ego, from everything I’ve observed and things Laura told me.” Sean tapped the letter with his forefinger. “Deputy Berry will look into this, I’m sure, whenever she gets around to reading the letter. You think maybe you should talk to her, make sure she gets to it right away?”
“I doubt she’d thank me if I did.” I rubbed my forehead to ease the tension that was threatening to bring on a headache. “No, it’s better to let her assess this on her own. She already has enough on Ralph and Magda Johnston to consider them prime suspects.”
“Like what?” Sean leaned back in his chair and stretched his long legs farther under the table.
Diesel chose that moment to let me know he needed attention. I felt a large paw on my thigh and heard a couple of insistent meows. He stood on his hind legs, now with both front paws braced on my thigh, and his head was about level with mine. I put my hand on the back of his head and drew it nose to nose with mine.
“You are incorrigible and shameless, and you know it,” I told him. His response was to lick my chin, and I laughed and pulled away. I kept my hand on his head as he sat on his haunches and stared up at me. A few good rubs between his ears, and he was content to let me resume my conversation with my smirking son.
“Now I know what I have to do to get your attention.” Sean chuckled.
I chose to ignore that little sally. “Back to your question. I had an interesting chat with Helen Louise when I went to pick up some dessert for tonight.” I gave Sean a rundown of what I’d learned about Magda and Ralph, their marriage, and her propensity for having affairs.
Sean rolled his eyes three times while I talked, but he waited to comment until I finished. “Some advertisement for marriage, those two. They’re totally whacked.”
“Agreed,” I said. “If they’re that unstable, I can easily see one of them deciding to kill Lawton and take him out of the picture.”
“You think Magda Johnston attacked Laura?”
I pondered that for a moment. “It’s certainly possible, especially if she considered Laura a rival. But that would have made more sense before Lawton was killed. I can’t see her doing it after he was dead. Plus, there was the odd smell.”
“What are you talking about?” Sean looked puzzled. “What smell?”
“Sorry, I forgot you weren’t in the room when Laura told Kanesha about that.” I explained briefly. “I didn’t notice any smell like that with Magda in the room, so it must have been some other person. And before Magda found Laura. I think that probably clears her.”
“Maybe so.” Sean didn’t look convinced. “But she’s obviously a nutcase. I wouldn’t count her out just yet.”
“I’m not. She and Ralph are at the top of my list.” I glanced down at the papers on the table. “But I can’t stare at the forest and not look at the individual trees, so to speak. What more is there? Anything that might point a finger at someone else?”
Sean straightened in his chair and leaned forward, elbows on the table. “Heck, yeah. Damitra Vane. There are some e-mails that will make you blush.” He chuckled. “I know I did when I read them.”
I frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Exchanges between Lawton and different Hollywood guys, all about what Damitra Vane will do to get a part, and how good she is at certain activities.” He waggled his eyebrows.
“Sexual activities?”
Sean nodded. “Pretty disgusting, too. If she knows he talked about her like this—basically saying she’s nothing more than a prostitute and too dumb to realize it—I don’t think she’d be too happy with him.”
My head began to ache in earnest. Connor Lawton defiled everything he touched, or so I was beginning to feel. It made me sick to my stomach to think of my daughter involved with such a man. What was she thinking? Did she not know what he was really like?
If I found out she was aware of all this and still associated with Lawton despite it, I’d be hugely disappointed in her. She had been reared better than this.
Sean must have read at least some of my thoughts in my expression, because he looked increasingly disturbed.
“No, Dad, I know what you’re thinking. I’m sure Laura didn’t know about any of this. She’d never condone crap like this.”
“What are you talking about?” Laura’s sharp tone surprised both of us. “What wouldn’t I condone?”
I turned to see her standing in the kitchen doorway. She scowled at Sean and me as she advanced toward us. Diesel went to her, chirping a welcome. She paused several feet from me to pat Diesel’s head.
“Come sit down, sweetheart. How are you feeling?” I stood and pulled out a chair for her.
“I’m feeling better, thanks.” Laura sat and folded her arms across her chest. Her expression turned mulish. “What are you two talking about? Something to do with me, I know.”
I resumed my seat, and Sean and I exchanged glances. He shrugged, and I knew it was up to me to answer Laura.
“Sean printed some of the files from the thumb drive.” I indicated the papers on the table with a slight jerk of my head. “We’ve examined them, and they reveal some nasty aspects to Lawton’s personality.” I paused for a moment. “Aspects that I can’t believe you knew about, frankly, or you wouldn’t have remained a friend.”