32
Continued from previous page…
JANE
Murder?!! What the hell
are you talking about?!
MR. SIEGENTHALER
I hate to say it, Miss Wiedlin..
but in my experience.. when
a person has been missing
this long.. there’s a ninety-five
percent chance that they’re dead…
And what’s more… there’s
usually foul play involved…
And I’m sure the police
can confirm those statistics.
JANE
Well, I sure as hell don’t know
anything about any murder…
Is that what you’re thinking? You
think I killed that guy? You think
Kathy killed that guy? How can you
think I’m capable of such a thing?
Do I look like a killer to you?
I’m just a…..
MR. SIEGENTHALER
Whoa, whoa, whoa, Miss Wiedlin,
slow down.. I’m not suggesting anything…
You certainly don’t look like a killer…
Far from it… But.. this man is
missing and he’s presumably dead.
Now.. I don’t know what that spells
out to you.. but one of your band
members hired this guy and you
didn’t know about it… Then you hired
me to investigate the matter…
You see what I’m getting at?
Jane is sweating bullets.
This guy is closing in.
JANE
I’m not sure…
MR. SIEGENTHALER
It means that your actions alone
suggest that you know more about
this case than you’re telling me. Is
there something that you want to
share with me, Jane?
JANE
I’m afraid I can’t tell you that.
MR. SIEGENTHALER
Why not?
JANE
(fabricating)
I’m sworn to band secrecy.
MR. SIEGENTHALER
(laughs)
You realize, of course.. by saying
that.. you’re only digging yourself
into a deeper hole all the time.
JANE
Sorry.. sworn to band secrecy.
MR. SIEGENTHALER
But, maybe I can help you.
JANE
Uh-uh.. sworn to band secrecy.
MR. SIEGENTHALER
What about your drummer?
JANE
Boy, you’re really not getting this
band secrecy thing, are you?
MR. SIEGENTHALER
Miss Wiedlin, one of your “band secrecy”
members might be involved in
something immoral or nefarious.
I would think that would concern you.
JANE
Hah!! You don’t know the Go-Go’s
very well.. Or me… Look, Mr. Siegenthaler,
whether or not someone in my band
has done something heinous or not,
is totally beside the point. We may not always
get along.. In fact, sometimes we want to
rip each other’s heads off… but those
are just because of creative differences..
All bands do that. It has no bearing
on how much we love each other.
Sometimes, Gina and I…
MR. SIEGENTHALER
You’re not getting to the point,
Miss Wiedlin!
JANE
Okay, I’m rambling a bit here…
The point is… the one thing
we would never do is rat on
each other… You got that?
We’re a sorority like no other.
MR. SIEGENTHALER
I can appreciate that. In fact,
I respect the hell out of it.
But, let’s hope this thing doesn’t
go any further… Let’s hope I don’t
get subpoenaed or something like that…
Then I would have to tell the truth.
JANE
That almost sounds like a threat.
MR. SIEGENTHALER
No.. just a fair warning. I’d hate to
see anything happen to you and
your friends. Prison can be a
mighty tough place.
JANE
So, you are threatening me.
MR. SIEGENTHALER
No, no.. Like I said, only a fair
warning to keep you on your toes…
I have no reason to threaten you, Jane..
I’d like us to be friends… Just be
mindful of those that surround you…
By the way, do you have my payment?
JANE
Yeah, sure, I have your payment.
Jane reaches into
the inside of her
coat and searches
for an envelope.
JANE
Ya’ know.. Mr. Siegenthaler..
Those last few words of yours
said an awful lot… You’re
not going to try and blackmail
me in the future, are you?
Mr. Siegenthaler doesn’t
say a word. He just
stares at her in a creepy
sort of way. Jane hands
him the envelope.
JANE
Here ya’ go.. Five thousand…
It’s all there.
You can count it if you like.
MR. SIEGENTHALER
Oh, I’m sure I don’t have to
count it… You wouldn’t want
to do anything to upset
me now, would you?
JANE
Not at all. Like you said, I’d
like us to be friends… I think
we can help each other down
the road.
MR. SIEGENTHALER
I think we can too… You know, Jane..
during the course of my investigation,
I came across a number of articles
about Charlotte Caffey in The Wall
Street Journal… You girls are quite
wealthy, aren’t you?
JANE
We do alright.
MR. SIEGENTHALER
Oh, c’mon, don’t be so modest…
Your own T.V. show…
Big time rock stars… There’s
a lot of money in the entertainment
industry, isn’t there? I understand
you guys even own some high-priced
real estate downtown… There was an
especially interesting article about Miss
Caffey and that loan officer over at
Fifth-Third… What was his name…?
Oh, well, it doesn’t matter… My, my,
you ladies sure do lead a treacherous
lifestyle once in a while, don’t you?
I hope there’s no repercussions from
that incident… Sounds like
Miss Caffey could get hurt.
JANE
That was a long time ago. I’m
sure it’s all over with by now.
MR. SIEGENTHALER
Well, let’s hope so… for her sake…
(inhales) Well.. I want to thank
you, Jane, for bringing this case to me.
It’s been extremely interesting… And
thank you for the prompt payment.
That always makes things go a lot smoother…
I hope the information that I gave you
will be helpful. I wish I could be a fly
on the wall when you confront Miss Valentine.
Sounds like an intriguing conversation.
JANE
Oh, it’ll be fun, alright. I can’t
wait to see how she explains
her way out of this one. This
goes a little bit further than the
innocent pranks she likes to pull.
MR. SIEGENTHALER
(shakes Jane’s hand)
Good luck, Miss Wiedlin…
Somehow, I get the feeling
we’ll be in touch again.
Mr. Siegenthaler starts
to walk away. Then he
stops and says one
more thing.
MR. SIEGENTHALER
Oh, and by the way.. I do
hope that Mr. Khudobin
shows up some day… That way,
he can explain to all of us
where he’s been this past year.
And, with that mysterious, final farewell, Mr. Siegenthaler
let’s out a cryptic sounding chuckle and disappears into the night.
That leaves our own— Little Fearless Jane, a.k.a. Secret Squirrel,
standing in the alley all by her lonesome, wondering how to
absorb all of this information. Wondering how much trouble
she has just caused herself and the rest of the band.
When, in fact, she knew exactly where Mr. Khudobin was.
He was buried in the ground….
And Jane was in deep shit….
Copyright 2020
by Clark Wright