Mama Sees Stars

“Are you thinking of him as a suspect?’’ Maddie’s eyes followed mine to Sam.

“Honestly, the guy’s barely said two words to me. I don’t know much about him, except he’s crazy about Kelly.’’

Maddie said, “Well, he’s a man, so that makes sense.’’

“I was just remembering last night; he was trying to pretend he didn’t care if Kelly was cuddling up to someone else at the bar. He was acting, just like I was.’’

As Sam disappeared into the trailer, some small scrap of information about him tried to surface in my mind. All I kept seeing, though, was our eyes meeting in the mirror behind the bar, two sorry-ass kindred souls.

“What about that guy?’’

Marty’s whisper forced me to refocus. Being lovelorn was distracting me from sleuthing. She pointed out the dapper assistant director, head bobbing as he talked into a cell phone.

“How much do we know about Joh

I knew quite a bit, at least about his sexuality. I didn’t share it with my sisters, though. Maybe I identified with the way the poor guy was being jerked around by Toby.

“Getting shot makes Joh

“Maybe he got shot because he was the aggressor,’’ Maddie said.

Joh

“I’ve got my eye on Toby,’’ Marty said. “That parking lot ‘accident’ seems fishy.’’

I raised my brows at my little sister, who rarely suspects anybody of anything.

“For one thing, the timing was too perfect,’’ she said. “For another, nobody else saw or heard a thing.’’

I recalled Toby looking artfully disheveled after the near-miss. The question was, how artful?

“Toby’s not the murderous type,’’ Maddie said with her usual certainty. “Remember that movie where he played a Cub Scout? He was as sweet as speckled pup.’’

“Acting, sister,’’ I said.

“Maybe.’’ Maddie nodded thoughtfully. “But a certain i

“He didn’t look so pure strutting out of Jesse’s trailer the first time I saw him,’’ I said.

“What about motive, though?’’ Maddie asked. “Greg Tilton might have wanted Norman and Toby both out of the way, so his role wouldn’t get cut. But what would Toby’s motive be? You said Norman liked him; and he’s clearly the apple of Barbara’s eye.’’

“Hmmm,’’ I said.

“What?’’ both sisters asked at once.

“About Norman …’’ I looked around, saw no one listening in. “Sava

Marty picked up my thread. “… and Toby hated him for it. Maybe he shot Joh

“Was it the same gun, Mace?’’ Maddie asked.

“How should I know? Carlos isn’t even talking to me. Even if he was, he wouldn’t share ballistics details.’’ I made my tone a little less peevish. “It’s a good theory, sisters. But Jesse and Toby made a big deal of letting everyone know they were ‘shagging’ all that morning that Norman was killed.’’

“So they said.’’ Marty looked pointedly toward the young pair.

They giggled and tussled together, as cute as a couple of kittens.

“They do look awfully chummy,’’ Maddie said.

Were they chummy enough to provide each other with alibis for murder?

“Rolling.’’ The camera operator was ready to film.

“Action.’’ Paul spoke in a normal tone of voice, and his command was relayed via headset to the assistant director, who repeated it to the scrum of cast and crew members surrounding Mama.

“I know what you did to my daughter.’’ Mama leaned close to the actor playing the drunken cowboy. Her eyes spit fire; her voice was low and threatening. In her flaming red wig, movie make-up, and dancehall-girl gown, she looked gorgeous. “Hurt her again, and I’ll kill you.’’

The actor playing the drunken cowboy backed up a step. His face registered shock and surprise.

“Cut.’’

Mama looked off the set of the pretend dancehall to where Paul sat in his director’s chair. He was studying the scene on a video monitor.

“Did I do something wrong?’’ she called.

Joh

I thought it was kind of him to reassure her. As the crew set up to repeat the shot, she glanced over to where Sal, my sisters and I were watching. I flashed a thumbs-up; Sal mouthed, Beautiful! Beaming with pride, Maddie blew a kiss. Marty clasped both hands over her heart.

As filming continued, more spectators drifted over to the dancehall set. Mama performed her lines over and over. I had to admit, she hit it right each time, energy never flagging.

“She’s really good,’’ Marty said, as the camera crew stopped to change positions for the second half of Mama’s Hollywood moment.

“You sound surprised.’’ I smiled at her.

Mama’s enthusiasm seemed contagious. Maybe it was just because it was getting close to the end of the last day of filming, but I did notice more smiles and fewer scowls on the set. Even Barbara nodded and poked me in the ribs after one of Mama’s takes.

“Can’t argue with Paul’s eye,’’ she said. “Your mother’s good as the dancehall girl, even if it will cause me problems with the union. Anybody from the Screen Actors Guild asks, your mother should say she’s weighing whether to join.’’

“Action,’’ Paul said, and Joh

Mama hauled off to slap the cowboy, and pulled her punch just before co

Maybe all that guff she’d read in those acting books about mining her emotional memories had worked.

“I guarantee you, Mama’s thinking of Husband No. 2 right there,’’ Maddie said after one fiery take. “Did you see the murder in her eyes when she glared at the cowboy?’’

Finally, the assistant director repeated Cut for the last time. Paul stepped out from the knot of people gathered with him around the monitor and strutted over to Mama.

“You were wonderful.’’ He put an arm around her shoulder and drew her close, but not too close. His tone was friendly, but not too friendly. “You were Ruby. That was a fine piece of acting, Rosalee.’’

Jesse started the applause, and it spread through the dancehall set. Even Barbara clapped her hands together once or twice.

“That’s my wife! Isn’t she something?’’ Sal circled the crowd, slapping at backs. When he got to Paul, he shook the hand of the man he’d fought with just a day before. “You really know your stuff, man.’’

“Well, thank you, Sal. I had excellent raw material to work with.’’

Paul gave Mama a chaste kiss on the cheek. She fluttered her fake eyelashes.

Greg Tilton snapped off a sharp salute. “Welcome to the club,’’ he said.

Sal slapped him on the back, too. “That’s my wife! That’s my movie star.’’

“Well, then you’re a lucky man.’’ Tilton said, returning Sal’s back slap. Just a couple of normal guys, bonding.