The Colors of Hate – 10

By mid-afternoon Reid and Kirby had interviewed everyone who had gone to Red Moon the previous evening. They learned nothing more than they already knew. Everyone agreed Angela was her usual self, flirting with men, occasionally getting one or another of them to dance with her then moving on. Most of them had, however, been surprised when she seemed to have hooked up with someone not in the company. Four different people said she had left with the man; two others weren’t quite as certain but thought she had.

“Now the question is, who was this mysterious man? I hope John’s come up with someone from the club who might have noticed and know.” Reid stretched then said, “One more to go and we can call it a day, at least here.”

“Mr Nester. I’ll go get him.”

Kirby returned minutes later with Frank Nester, who was not a happy camper.

“I don’t know why you feel you need to talk to me. I know nothing about last night. I was at home with my wife soon after we finished up here.”

“We just have a few questions. I understand you’ve hired Ms Westcott.”

“Of course. I’ve hired the majority of the people who work here—the crew heads and all the actors. It is my company after all.”

Reid nodded. “Was she hard to work with?”

“No more than any actress. She was as good as she could be when she put her mind to it.”

“In other words there were times when she didn’t?”

Frank sighed. “She could be very… volatile, moody, at times. All right, since you have probably been told this by everyone you’ve talked to, she was man-hungry. When she had one she was happy and easy to work with. When she was between men she could be a real bitch. That sounds bad, but it’s the truth.”

“Apparently she was between men last night.”

“She was. I don’t know if you talked to Dean, since he didn’t go out with the others to the club, but she seemed to be after him and he wasn’t in the least bit interested.”

“So he said. This had been going on for a while?”

Frank frowned before saying, “About two weeks I think. She’d broken up with one of the crew members she’d been going out with.” He snorted. “I think she was running out of men to try to get her hooks into, so she went after Dean.”

“He’s a good looking man. I’m surprised she waited so long.”

“He’s also fairly reclusive compared to most of the rest of them. He does his job, and very well I might add, but when the day’s over he leaves and goes home. Okay, I presume he goes home, I’ve never really asked. All I know is he doesn’t hang out with anyone but his sister and Jim, her boyfriend.”

“What about Mr Leads?” Kirby asked.

“I’ve never seen the two of them together.”

Kirby shook his head. “I meant what about Leads and Ms Westcott. Were they ever a couple?”

“No. For some reason she never seemed the least bit interested in him. They worked well together on stage, but off stage…” Frank shrugged.

“Some of the people said he seemed more than interested in her, at least from his reaction to her dancing with man at the club.”

“You couldn’t prove it by me. Sorry.” Frank looked between the two detectives. “If you don’t have any more questions for me I have to get back to work. We’re going to be here all night as it is, thanks to this and the fact that I have to get Angela’s understudy up to speed now.”

“Go ahead, and thank you for your help.”

Frank was already half way out the door as he replied, “You’re welcome.”