Rock Star Down (The Psychic Registry) (16 page)

"Yeah, that would
be bad," Laurel said.

"Okay, point
taken," Archer relented. "So, crisis averted?"

"I think subconsciously,
Jaqui knew about Rock and her sister. Part of her even approves, at least in
theory," Nathan said. "But theory and practice are two different
things."

"So she knows,
but can't face it right now? And poor Vanessa is preggers and bottling up all
her grief… Good Lord, we've got to wrap up this case, people!" Laurel
exclaimed.

The comment had
brought a smile to Archer, but she cut it off, "How are the Franklins?"
she asked Nathan.

Nathan shrugged, "The
Franklins are resilient. They're a big family, got people all around. They'll
move on with their lives. But Rock was the baby, and everybody's favorite. So,
you know how they are."

Archer nodded; she
knew much of murder, even if she'd never met the Franklin's.

Laurel asked, "And
what about Jaqui?"

"They'll reach
out to her. They don't much
like
her. But they'll reach out. They're
good people."

Before they left, they talked for a
couple of minutes with the family that ran the coffee shop about the day that
Rock Franklin was murdered. They remembered Harold Dean, as theirs wasn't the
type of place where customers tended to hang out for an entire afternoon. And
of course they remembered Rock. He was a rock star and nice guy, after all. But
no one there knew Jaqui, Vanessa, or Natalie, or paid any attention to the
comings and goings at the studio that day. Still, Archer noted it all in her
book, and left her card with the owners in case they remembered anything else
worth knowing. After that, they pushed off.

Did that ever happen,
Laurel wondered? Did people remember important details later and bother to call
her back?

"One time, I
interview this man about a dead guy. His name came up, but he says him and the
wife don't know the guy well,
just acquaintances.
Next day, I'm
following up with the man's wife and she mentions – in the most off-handed way
– that they were swingers and only knew the dead guy from having sex with him!
So yeah, people sometimes leave out important details," Archer said.

"So who killed
him?" Laurel asked.

Archer thought about
it for a second, "Oh,
another
swinger. Some other wife was
cheating
with the dead guy and her husband took offense."

Laurel was baffled, "If
they're
swingers
, how was it cheating?"

"Somebody got
left out," Nathan replied.

Nathan parked directly in front of Jaqui's
house as the circus from the previous day had packed up and moved on.

Before they got out of
the car he said to Laurel and Archer, "I want you two to give the
impression that we're running on fumes. That we're here to prep them for the
eventuality that Rock's murder won't get solved."

"I know the
speech," Archer said, with a hint of bitterness.

Nathan caught her tone
and nodded, "Yeah, well—
Under promise, over deliver
."

"And me?"
Laurel asked him.

"You're out for
you.
Blond ambition
and all that."

Laurel made a face and
poked her tongue at Nathan, "
Ha, ha.
I won't even have to act."

"Exactly,"
Nathan smirked. And he was out of the car before she could offer a comeback.

Carlota let them into the house and
showed them to the dining room where a meeting was in progress. Jaqui was
holding court with Silverman, Natalie, Rachel and Vanessa.

It was immediately
obvious to Nathan that they'd walked into the middle of an argument between
Jaqui and Vanessa.

"He was
tired
of the show, Jaqui. Can't you just let him rest," Vanessa said.

Jaqui replied, "But
everyone loved him! Are we supposed to just skip it? Like it didn't happen?"

Vanessa threw her
hands in the air and made a strangling gesture. But Jaqui was unfazed and she
looked to Nathan and asked, "What do you think, Detective?"

"Speaking of
Mister Franklin?" Nathan replied.

"They want to put
the
funeral
in the show," Vanessa sulked.

Nathan nodded and took
an empty seat next to Vanessa who had been alone at one end of the table. He
looked at her and said, "His family loved him the most. But the fans loved
him, too. Maybe they deserve a chance to say goodbye as well?"

Vanessa nodded and stifled
her tears, much to Nathan's relief.

"
Unobtrusive
,
is the watch word," Silverman added. "
A somber tribute
."

"Of course,
Aaron. But Rock's parents… They've never been keen on the show. I'm not even
sure how to approach it," Jaqui sighed.

"Perhaps you hold
two services? A private one, no cameras, just family and close friends. Then a
public memorial for the fans," Nathan offered.

Jaqui perked up at the
suggestion. She looked to Silverman who was mulling it over and he nodded in
approval.

"Vanessa?"
Jaqui asked.

"
Everybody
loved Rock
," she replied, "Let the world come. And we can all say
goodbye."

Jaqui mustered a faint
smile, "So you'll come with me, to see his parents?"

Vanessa nodded,
returning a weary smile of her own.

Jaqui let a flash of
relief show, then she turned pensive as she faced Nathan, "What news,
Detective?"

Nathan met her gaze,
but held his tongue in wait for Archer or Laurel.

Archer spoke up, "We're
exploring every possible avenue, Missus Scott."

"Which means you've
got nothing," Silverman scoffed.

"We
have
leads that we're pursuing. Nonetheless, you should prepare yourselves for the
possibility that the case goes unresolved—"

Someone else jumped
into the conversation – Vanessa, perhaps – but Nathan wasn't paying much
attention. Instead he was reaching out, searching for Natalie's thoughts. It
was a difficult task as most everyone in the room was thinking about the same
thing:
would Rock's killer be caught?
Nathan's task was simplified
somewhat by virtue of his familiarity with all of the subjects in the room save
for his target, Natalie.

But what made it
ultimately
easy
to locate her frequency was the unusual nature of her
thoughts. Like Nathan, Natalie wasn't really following the conversation. Sure,
she was hearing them talk, but she wasn't thinking about what they were saying.
Instead, she was occupying her thoughts with rote information.

… J, K, L, M, N, O,
P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z. Two times one is two. Two times two is four.
Two times three is six. Two times four is eight…

Natalie was attempting
to hide her thoughts from him by focusing upon a stream of unrelated,
nonspecific memories. Nathan called it
tap dancing.
It was an amateur's
technique. But where it lacked in subtlety, it made up in effectiveness. Still,
it told Nathan that Natalie
really
didn't want him reading her thoughts,
especially while the topic of conversation was murder.

Nathan kept his read
on Natalie, but lowered the intensity to a 3 in order to follow the ongoing
talk.

"I don't think
that's a good idea in a case like this," Archer said, "There's
already a ton of publicity on the murder. A reward offer would just get us
inundated with bad tips."

"Alright,"
Jaqui said, "But isn't there something more you could do, Detective
Miller? What about the funeral?"

… Mary had a little
lamb. Its fleece was white as snow…

Nathan perked up, "What
would you suggest?"

"Couldn't you
read the people at the funeral, in case the killer shows up?" Jaqui asked.

He shook his head, "That
would far exceed my talents, Missus Scott."

"I see,"
Jaqui said, "But what about your company? I have the means if you can acquire
the talent?"

Nathan held up a hand
for her to stop, "We can discuss additional resources if we determine a
course of action where that applies."

Jaqui frowned, "So
you're saying there's nothing to be done about it right now."

"See to your
affairs," he told her, "See to your husband, to your family. We'll
deal with the murderer."

Vanessa interjected, "And
what if you don't?"

Archer replied, "Sometimes
the bad guys get away."

Nathan took Vanessa's
hand and gave it a hopeful squeeze.

… The quick brown
fox jumps over the lazy dog…

But not this time, he
thought.

Nathan gave up on his
read of Natalie. He looked to Silverman and asked, "Aaron, we need to
discuss Miss Comfort's appearance, make sure we don't compromise the case. You
got time?"

Silverman gave it a
quick thought, "Yeah, I got time," he replied. Then he looked to
Natalie, "Take Big Ed and Donnie. But I doubt the Franklin's are up for it
today, so you just hang back, okay? Get a few long shots and cutaways."

"We'll get you
something
to work with, Aaron" Natalie said and left the table to make preparations.

Nathan rose from the table
as well.

"Detective?"
Jaqui called to Nathan.

He paused to meet her
gaze. And her eyes held him fast in a plea to stay. But Nathan resisted, "You
have family to see to. And we have a case to work. Please excuse us."

She nodded and looked
to Vanessa, "Help me get ready?"

The group broke up, with Nathan, Laurel,
and Archer adjourning to the back patio followed by Silverman.

Laurel and Archer both
looked expectantly at Nathan but he just shook them off. He took a seat on the
bench – in Jaqui's favorite spot – and motioned for Silverman to join him.

"Big Ed and
Donnie?" Nathan asked.

"Ed's a camera
operator. Donnie runs a boom and mixer. They're good guys," Silverman
replied as he sat next to Nathan. "But you're not really interested in
them, are you, Miller?"

Nathan shook his head,
"How long have you known Natalie?"

Silverman sighed and
slumped forward, resting his elbows upon his knees, "Long enough to know
that she's
a little off
."

"She have a thing
for Rock?"

Silverman shook his
head adamantly, "She was a bit star struck. But I never witnessed anything
untoward."

"But she's
a
little off
?" Nathan said.

"Lot of colorful
people in this business. Long as they get the work done and they play nice with
others, no one cares."

"Does she know
her way around the studio?"

"Yeah, as good as
anybody," Silverman said, "How serious are you looking at her?"

"If she didn't do
it, then she's real close to it," Nathan said.

"It's terrible,"
Silverman whispered. "One of my own people."

"Hey, what's done
is done. But we're going to need your help going forward," Nathan told
him.

"Why don't you
just sit her down and do your thing?"

Nathan shook his head,
"It's not that simple, for several reasons. But foremost is the fact that
she's on her guard around me."

"How's that?"
Archer interjected.

"She's using some
very simple, but very obvious methods to keep from thinking about anything useful
to the case. She probably found some stuff online when she heard I was coming
onboard."

"Like the ham?"
Laurel ventured.

Nathan smiled, "But
nowhere near as subtle. With the ham, I think, this person is hungry, hence the
ham. Natalie is thinking about multiplication tables, nursery rhymes— It works,
but it's an obvious smoke screen."

Silverman grew
hopeful, "So you don't know that she did it. I told you she's a little
off. Maybe it's just some weird mental tic?"

Nathan shook his head,
"It's not organic. Not some unconscious habit. I could feel her working at
it. And I'm acquainted with the technique."

"We have more,
Mister Silverman. That's why we're looking at her so closely," Archer
added.

"Okay, okay,"
he relented. "So if you can't sit down with her, what are you going to do?"

"We need a
confession. But that's not likely if Archer or I have a go at her. She might be
a little off – hell,
maybe a lot
– but she's covered her tracks thus far."
Nathan took a moment to think about it, then he looked at Laurel, who was
seated on the opposite bench with Archer.

"Me?" Laurel
asked. "I'm not an interrogator, Nathan."

"
You
won't
be doing the interview," Nathan said. "Natalie will be the one
interviewing
you
."

"You mean for the
show?" Archer asked. "That gets it on tape, so that's good. But how
do you get a read on Natalie, let alone a confession?"

"She can't know I'm
there. If she thinks I'm gone, she drops her guard. Then I can get a read on
her, figure out how to push her around," Nathan said.

"What are you
going to do, hide in the closet? How's Laurel going to know what to do?"
Archer asked.

Nathan smiled.
Laurel
will know.

Laurel shot Nathan a
nervous look, "
Oh, Nathan
. I don't know. Can't we use the cell
phones? Or I could wear a wire? Susan could get us one, right?"

Nathan shook his head,
"Maybe if you had more experience that would work. But having me talking
in your ear would be too distracting, plus Natalie or the camera crew would
probably catch it. No, it's easier and more discrete if I just feed you
directly."

Laurel sighed, "I
know. It's just— Can we do a warm up or something?"

Archer was looking
back and forth between them and her mouth was hanging open just a little, "
What
the fuck
are you two gonna do?"

Silverman spoke up, "Sounds
like Miller here is going to do a conference call of sorts?"

Nathan shrugged, "Not
quite. I'll be reading Natalie and I'll be
selectively
feeding Laurel."

"Feeding
your
thoughts or
Natalie's
?" Silverman asked.

"Both, I suppose,"
Nathan admitted.

"But I won't be
able to tell the difference, will I?" Laurel asked.

"Not so easily."
"Oh, Nathan— What if she's really crazy, like
Andre
crazy? I don't
know if I can handle that."

"It'll be
alright, Laurel. I promise."

"Okay," she
nodded, but she still looked a bit unsure.

"Alright,
supposing we
actually
do this?" Archer said. "Where are we all
going to hide? I need to be close by in case Natalie makes a break for it."

Silverman added, "Yeah.
And I want to be there, too. Somebody has to look out for my people— Natalie
included."

"Oh! I know,"
Laurel perked up.

And they all looked
expectantly at Laurel.

She flashed a little
grin, "We return to the scene of the crime."