112
Continued from previous page…
CHARLOTTE
Rocco would not kill someone…
He’s not a hit-man. Even if I
ordered him to do it, he wouldn’t
do it… And I wouldn’t… I don’t
run that kind of a business. My
God.. what kind of a person do
you think I am?
KATHY
Charlotte, I don’t want to
believe that.
CHARLOTTE
But you think it’s possible?
KATHY
No, I don’t… I…I…
I don’t know what to believe.
CHARLOTTE
(in anguish)
Omigod… Kathy.
KATHY
I’m sorry, Char… It’s just that
you’re so… secretive about a lot
of things… I don’t know what to
think sometimes. None of us do.
CHARLOTTE
Well, I run a legitimate business,
Kathy… Okay? You can tell everybody
in the world that.. alright? Just
because I keep some off-shore accounts
available.. and I don’t blab my mouth
about everything I do, doesn’t make
me a mobster.
KATHY
(apologetically)
I know, I know… But, ya gotta’
admit… Keeping a warehouse a
secret… That sounds pretty suspicious.
CHARLOTTE
It’s not a secret! I would tell you if
you asked! There’s nothing suspicious
about owning a warehouse. Where do
you think people store things?
KATHY
But why do we own one?
CHARLOTTE
Actually, we own two.
KATHY
Two?!
CHARLOTTE
Yeah, one on 15th Street and
one in Upland.
KATHY
Oh, my Lord… See? This is what
I’m talking about… Why in the world
do we own two warehouses?
CHARLOTTE
Because we own an aluminum siding
business and a construction company.
KATHY
(bewildered)
I can’t believe this… Charlotte, why
would a rock and roll band own an
aluminum siding company?
CHARLOTTE
(explaining)
Kathy… I never set out to get involved
in the financial world… It just
happened… And this is part of it…
Eventually, you start buying companies.
I didn’t even do it, one of our partners did…
I plan on scaling back, I really do…
(lowering her voice)
But we gotta’ get outta’ here first…
Let’s concentrate on that, okay?
KATHY
Fine, yes, I agree.
CHARLOTTE
Now… Tell me about this dead guy.
Is somebody really dead?
KATHY
Yes.
CHARLOTTE
Who?
KATHY
(hesitates)
My private detective.
CHARLOTTE
What? You mean, the guy you
were telling me about?
KATHY
Yes.
CHARLOTTE
But, how? Why?
KATHY
We don’t know… My assumption is..
he got hot on the trail of your
body-double and she had him whacked.
CHARLOTTE
(doesn’t know what to think)
But… that doesn’t make any sense…
Whacked how?
KATHY
Well.. that’s where Rocco comes
into it.
CHARLOTTE
I told you, Rocco would not kill
someone… He’s the head of my
security, he’s not a trained assassin.
KATHY
I know.. and I believe that now…
But, the guy’s dead, Charlotte.
CHARLOTTE
How? How do you know?
KATHY
(pauses)
Because we found him Belinda’s bed.
Dead. Dead in bed. And his name is Fred.
CHARLOTTE
Stop it.
KATHY
I’m serious, Char.
CHARLOTTE
(stunned)
In Belinda’s bed? I don’t get it.
Where? At her house in
Beverly Hills?
KATHY
No, in her room at the mansion.
CHARLOTTE
At the mansion? What was your
private detective doing at the mansion?
KATHY
I don’t know… Actually, I don’t
think he was ever there…
I think he was placed there.
CHARLOTTE
By the person who killed him.
KATHY
Now you’re getting it.
CHARLOTTE
Hmmm… And why do you think
they put him in Belinda’s bed?
KATHY
To frame her.. Well.. not to frame
her necessarily… To make it look
like an accident.
CHARLOTTE
I don’t get it.
KATHY
You see… We were all sitting around
the breakfast table the morning after
the party…
CHARLOTTE
The end-of-the-season party.
KATHY
Right.
CHARLOTTE
Okay?
KATHY
And everyone was there
except for Belinda.
CHARLOTTE
Belinda missed breakfast?
KATHY
I know.. I was as stunned as you are.
CHARLOTTE
Okay, go on.
KATHY
And so.. Walter comes in.. and says
to all of us.. that Belinda wants to see
us up in her bedroom.
CHARLOTTE
Yeah?
KATHY
So, we all go up there.. and Belinda lets
us into her room.. scared to death…
and when we get in there.. there’s a body
laying in her bed.
Charlotte says nothing.
Her mouth is hanging open.
KATHY
And.. at first.. we thought he was just
passed out.. ya know.. from partying.
CHARLOTTE
Yeah?
KATHY
Then, eventually.. you.. fake you..
went over to his body and confirmed
that he was.. dead… He was also naked.
CHARLOTTE
Naked?
KATHY
Yeah… I guess they wanted to make
it seem like he was partying with Belinda..
they had sex, and, he died from an overdose.
CHARLOTTE
An overdose?
KATHY
(hesitant)
Yeah… You’re not gonna like this, Charlotte…
But there was a pile of coke laying on
Belinda’s end-table next to her bed.