Chapter 4
"He’s right there," Hunter said, pointing to the man standing next to Melissa. "He might be getting a little suspicious. I know if my wife looked like that, I would never let her leave the house."
"Who has access to the dressing room and the firearm?" I asked.
He gave me the same list of suspects that Benjamin had. In a whisper, he asked, “You think Melissa’s husband swapped the bullets?”
I shrugged. “Like you said, he was getting suspicious.”
A grim look tugged his face as he considered it.
I gave him a card and told him I would be in touch.
"What's going to happen to Ben?”
"He'll be taken down to the station, interrogated once again, and processed. It's up to the state’s attorney, but he could be charged with manslaughter or negligent homicide.”
Hunter frowned. "So I'm definitely going to have to find two replacements for tomorrow night’s show?”
We both gave him a look.
"Yes, you'll need to recast two actors," I said in a slow, deliberate voice.
The necessity to recast was obvious. I'm sure the owner of the boat wanted the show to go on.
The killing might even bring more publicity and guests to the show.
It certainly would be the talk of the town.
Paris Delaney and her crew had already arrived and had made their way to the aft deck.
Her cameraman soaked up the footage, and she interviewed passengers.
JD and I weaved through the dining area to find Melissa. She and several of the other actors watched the chaos as Brenda and her crew transferred Jonathan's remains to a gurney. Zipped in a body bag, they wheeled him through the dining compartment.
I flashed my badge to Melissa and made introductions.
She looked flustered. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying, but she tried to hold it all together.
"We need to ask you a few questions,” I said.
She swallowed and nodded, her eyes round like she'd guzzled a pot of coffee. Sweat slicked her skin. With all the commotion and people in the compartment, it was a little stuffy.
Her husband was about 6’1” with medium-length light-brown hair, a square jaw, and deep blue eyes. Melissa gave him a concerned look.
He said, “I’d like to be present for any questioning.”
“What, are you her attorney?“ I asked, half joking.
“No. I’m her husband.”
“Don’t worry. We’ll have questions for you, too.”
Melissa gave him a reassuring look. “It will be okay.”
We escorted her out of the main dining area into a passageway.
"Were you on stage at the time of the incident?" I asked.
Melissa nodded.
"Can you tell me what happened?"
She ran through the same details as everyone else. So far, everyone had given me the same story.
"Did you have access to the firearm?”
"What do you mean by access?"
"Well, you all share the same dressing room. Benjamin keeps the weapon in a box on a vanity. So, you had access.”
"I don't pick up the weapon at any time during the show. I have no reason to ever touch it. Benjamin is the only one who handles the weapon. So, yes, I had access, but I never touched the weapon.”
"Have you handled it at any time during the production or rehearsals?”
She shook her head, and her raven hair swayed.
"Can you think of any reason why Ben may have wanted to kill Jonathan?”
Her plump lips tightened, and she thought about it for a moment.
Then shook her head again. "I really can't think of anything.
I know he wanted the part. He auditioned for it.
There's been a little tension between the two.
But I think that's natural. Their characters don't necessarily like each other. I think that manifested off stage.”
“In what way?
“I just think they have a general dislike for one another. I guess I should say had.”
"Did you ever date Benjamin?”
She looked at me like the notion was absurd. "No. My God, no! I’m a married woman. I don't date anyone but my husband.”
I glanced at JD. We knew better.
"Did you ever hear Benjamin express a desire to harm Jonathan?”
"No. Not really."
“Not really?“
She thought for a moment. "I mean, I heard him say derogatory things about Jonathan.”
"Like what?”
Melissa shrugged. "You know. The usual. That he wasn't a good actor. That he wasn't that good-looking. That he had no personality. That he was an asshole."
"Was any of that true?”
Her face tightened, and she grew defensive. "Jonathan was very good-looking. Very successful. I thought he was rather charming.”
It was clear she was fond of him. Didn’t mean they were sleeping together, but she had affection for him. It was in her eyes.
“I know it's all subjective, but if you ask me, I thought he was a great actor,” she continued. “I believed his performance. Every word of it.”
"In the play, your character has an affair with Jonathan, yes?”
She nodded. "Strictly on stage.”
"Was there ever any romantic involvement offstage?”
She looked offended again. "No! I told you. I'm a married woman.”
"Right," I said, trying not to sound too skeptical. "Did Ben ever make advances toward you?”
"Well, he tried. He asked me out for drinks once. I told him no. I’m—”
"A married woman," I said before she could.
Her eyes narrowed at me. "I don't know what you've heard, but there was nothing going on between Jonathan and me.
This cast likes to let their imagination run wild.
I can assure you, gentlemen, I am very much in love with my husband.
" Then she added, "I am very emotional right now because I bonded with Jonathan in the way that actors do.
We became close in a platonic way on set. He became my friend, my confidant."
"Of course.”
"It's not unusual for actors to grow close while portraying such intense emotions. I read something about heightened stress creating attachments. It’s like people who survive trauma together. They bond. Like people who survive a plane crash. They’re more likely to get married, even if they weren’t a couple before.
Or people who survive a hostage situation.
It’s the same thing. You could say that as an actor, we go through trauma every night on stage. ”
"How did your husband feel about your… closeness… with Jonathan?”
She stood tall and lifted her nose, slightly offended at the implication. "My husband trusts me. He knows I am faithful. And he also knows how passionate I am about this craft. He gives me the freedom to explore my emotions on stage.”
"Do you have a scene where you kiss Jonathan?”
"Well, yes. I am playing his mistress after all.”
"How does your husband feel about that?”
"It's just acting," she said in a dismissive voice.
"I understand he watched the show last night as well.”
"Yes.”
“It doesn't bother him at all to watch you up there kissing another man?” I kept pressing the issue.
She grew frustrated. "As I told you, it's acting. Nothing more.”
"Did he visit you backstage in the dressing room?”
"Yes, he did," she said with a smile. "He got me a dozen roses. He's romantic like that. He’s done that every night of the show. That's why I love him.”
"So he had access to the prop pistol?”
Her face went long. “No.”
“If he was in the dressing room, he had access,” I said dryly.
Melissa exhaled, growing frustrated. "I know what you're suggesting. That somehow my husband, out of jealousy, loaded the prop gun with real ammunition, hoping Ben would shoot Jonathan."
A guilty shrug tugged my shoulders. "The thought had crossed my mind.”
She dismissed it. "That's not possible. My husband wouldn’t do something like that. He's also not that insecure.”
"You’d be surprised at what people are capable of when jealousy is involved. Why did he come to the show tonight?"
“Because he loves me and wanted to see me perform.”
“How often does he come to the shows?”
“He came opening night, last night, and tonight. As I mentioned, he has flowers delivered every night.”
“Kind of a coincidence, don’t you think?”
“No. I think what happened tonight was a terrible accident that had nothing to do with my husband.” She frowned.
"If your husband didn't swap out the bullets, who did?"
"I'm not a detective. I don't know."
"Can you think of any reason why Benjamin would want to kill Jonathan? I mean, it seems like a pretty weak alibi. To shoot someone in cold blood, then play it off like somebody swapped the bullets. It's possible. But it's a pretty dumb plan. Opens him up to negligence."
"I like Benjamin, but I don't think he is quite playing with a full deck.”
"How so?"
"Well, we’re all actors. So we’re all a little off.”
I changed tactics. “You spent a lot of time with Jonathan, running lines, rehearsing."
"Yes.”
"You mentioned he became your confidant.”
"Yes. I was able to talk to him about anything and everything.”
"Did he talk to you about anything troubling? Was anything bothering him? Was he concerned about anything?”
Her face scrunched as she thought about it. Then she frowned. "I guess he was acting a little strange lately. Tense. He wasn’t paranoid, but something was bothering him. Sure."
"Did he ever tell you what that something was?”