Chapter Twenty
I was still standing, looking to see if anyone would return from that hallway, when the stage lights grew bright.
The monitor stopped its commercial countdown, and the image that followed it—and was presumably being broadcast live—was that of an empty podium.
Bobby Brandon hustled behind it a second later, looking more than a bit discomfited that nobody had cued him.
And something blurry was blocking the image of the bottom of the podium, which, to my horror, I realized was the top of my head, so I quickly dropped into my seat.
“And welcome back to Pub Trivia Live,” Bobby said.
“It’s been an exciting week, hasn’t it? I hope those playing on the app at home have entered their final answers and you’re ready to see how you—and all our teams—have done.
Remember, today’s results will be added to yesterday’s scores, and the team with the highest two-day total will be crowned our first ever Pub Trivia Live champions and go home with one hundred thousand dollars!
Will it be the Sagebrush Sages, the Bakersfield Brainiacs, or Mainely Brilliant? Let’s find out!”
The coffee, plus the adrenaline flowing from what had just transpired, combined to create a powerful stimulant, and I could barely concentrate on the answer sheet over the pounding of my own pulse in my ears.
Thanks mostly to Seth and Mort, we aced the first aid category.
The Bard On and Off Broadway proved equally successful, and Mort beamed when Return to the Forbidden Planet was the correct answer to the last question. We’d aced the first two rounds.
All that was left was the aliens category, and I noticed Maureen grab Mort’s hand and squeeze it so tightly his fingers began turning white.
I checked the answers as Bobby read them off and then stared at our completed answer sheet. Our team had managed to come up with the correct answers to every question. I smiled at Maureen, who was now so jumpy she was having a hard time sitting still.
“Let me remind you of yesterday’s scores,” Bobby said.
“The Sagebrush Sages came into today with twenty-six points, while the Bakersfield Brainiacs and Mainely Brilliant had each earned an impressive twenty-nine points.” And then, speaking rapidly, he added.
“It’s time to crown our first champion…right after this. ”
The countdown for the commercial break had just appeared on the screen when Bobby blurted out, “Thanks for my cue, guys.” Sarcasm dripped from his voice. “Where’s Evelyn?”
“Sorry, Bobby,” Marty said from offstage. “Evelyn’s not here.”
“She just walked off the job?” Bobby asked.
“I know,” came Marty’s agitated voice. “Unprofessional, isn’t it?”
“Do we have the name of the app winner to announce at the end?” Bobby asked. “The list of prizes?”
“I’ve been told we need to vet the results,” Marty said. “So just tell them that the winner will be notified and their name announced at the beginning of next week’s program.
“Do we at least have the names and photos of the upcoming teams for next week?”
“Sorry,” Marty said. “Jenny seems to be…unavailable too.”
“What am I going to fill the rest of the time with?” Bobby asked. “Show tunes?”
“You’re a professional,” Marty said. “You figure it out.”
“Thirty seconds,” the assistant director called out.
Bobby worked to restore his friendly, professional face. As the show went live again, he gave a lengthy welcome, then started the tally at a meager twenty questions, probably his best attempt to fill the air time, and of course, we all had at least that many.
“Twenty-one…” he drawled, “twenty-two…twenty-three.”
To my surprise, the new scribe for the Sagebrush Sages lowered his hand.
“Oh, Sages,” Bobby said in mock sadness. “Yesterday’s score of twenty-six plus today’s score of twenty-two gives you a grand total of fifty-eight points. Sorry, you are not our champions.”
And with that one announcement, we simultaneously learned that the Sages had desperately needed Julie Clifford to be competitive and that Bobby Brandon was terrible at arithmetic.
“Bakersfield Brainiacs and Mainely Brilliant, our last two teams remaining…who has twenty-four questions right?”
Our hands stayed up through a drawn-out “Twenty-five…twenty-six…twenty-seven,” by which time my arm was beginning to get tired.
“Twenty-eight…twenty-nine…”
Both our hands were still up.
“And thirty.” Both our hands remained up.
Bobby paused for a moment, seemingly unsure of what to do next, then one of the remaining writers sneaked an envelope onto his podium while the live camera was panning the teams.
“I have here our tie-breaking question from our distinguished panel of judges.” He cast a quick look in the direction of the timer counting down to the end of the program, and the rest of his instructions came at breakneck speed: “Once I read it, you’ll be given only thirty seconds to deliberate with your team and submit your final answer.
Write it on your answer sheets and bring it up to me. ”
“And here’s our tiebreaker: Which author, known as the grande dame of mystery writing, was found murdered at her own English estate? Your time starts…now.”
I felt as if I’d been sucker punched, and my breath wouldn’t come.
Marjorie Ainsworth had been one of my oldest and dearest friends.
I was actually at her estate at the time of her death, and I was even briefly considered a suspect in her murder.
My mind was swirling. Had someone chosen this question knowingly? Or was it some fluke of fate?
As aware as I was that the clock was ticking, I couldn’t focus on the page in front of me or will my hand to move.
“I’ve got it, Jess,” said Seth. He slid the answer sheet from under my hand, wrote on it, and then carried it up to Bobby.
Bobby looked at our response as Curt carried his answer sheet to the podium.
After a quick glance down at the Brainiacs’ answer, Bobby said, “And Mainely Brilliant, with the correct answer of Marjorie Ainsworth, you are the winners. Congratulations! Thank you to all our players, and thank you for watching—”
I’m not sure he got those last words in before the countdown reached zero, and then the stage lights were cut.
It took a moment for my eyes to adjust, and I scanned the offstage area.
Howard had returned to the alternates’ row, and although he looked a little disheveled, he gave me a thumbs-up.
Evelyn was gone. Gaelan and Jake were both gone.
Jenny was gone. The remaining crew looked around uncertainly, as if wondering when everybody had disappeared.
Nobody called a wrap or made any announcements.
Caceras stood next to Marty Wardell in intense conversation, and I wondered if he’d be leading him away—and maybe Bobby as well.
“That last question was so awful,” Maureen said to me.
“I’m not sure they could have known.” I wiped away a tear I hadn’t noticed until then.
“Besides, that was such a pivotal period in my life. It’s also when I met my dear friend George Sutherland, when he led the investigation into Marjorie’s death for Scotland Yard.
” I also realized I really wanted to talk to him at that moment.
I wondered if he’d been able to catch the broadcast.
“Thank you,” I said, turning to Seth and squeezing his hand.
“I guess we won the money,” Maureen said. “I thought I’d be more excited, but given everything that’s happened this week, I’m not sure I even want it.”
“We have time to figure that out,” Mort said. “What I’d really like to do is get out of here. Do you think Caceras needs to see us?”
“I should probably clue him in on where to find the murder weapon,” I said.
“Oh, I did that,” Howard said. “He was kind of wondering why I tackled Jenny in the hallway, so I took him back to find it. It’s already in an evidence bag awaiting fingerprinting.”
“Good man.” Mort clapped him on the shoulder.
I pulled off my microphone and dropped it onto the table. “Then I’d be up for a pleasant meal followed by a nice long nap. If Lieutenant Caceras needs to speak to us, he knows how to reach us.”
“Let’s skedaddle then,” Seth said.
We saw the Brainiacs in the green room and they offered their congratulations. We shook their hands and complimented their gameplay, with half-hearted promises to keep in touch. The Sages had slunk off early.
As we rolled out of the parking garage and back into the California sun, I felt myself relax. I sank back into the plush seat as Mort and Maureen held hands and relived our win while Seth nearly dozed in his seat.
We really did make a good team, in more ways than one.