The Colors of Hate – 7

Mr Eckert,” Reid stressed the ‘Mister’, “please have a seat. I take it you’re one of the actors.”

“What was the first clue? The costume?” Jim said as he sat.

Reid smiled slightly. “Yep. So, on to the obvious questions to start with, did you see Ms Westcott last night at the club and how well do you know her?”

“I saw her. She was, well to be honest flirting with every male there, almost.”

“Including you?”

Jim nodded, his mouth tightening. “She and I had a history, and when Carrie took off for the ladies room Ange decided to try and, hell I don’t know, regenerate it?”

“Carrie?”

“Carrie Travers. My girl friend. She’s one of the actresses in the company.”

Kirby looked up from his note taking. “Did Ms Travers see this happen?”

“Yes. But if she hadn’t I’d have told her about it. Ange and I were dating when Carrie joined the company.” Jim smiled then. “She’d only been here for a week and I realized she was something else, something special. So… I broke it off with Ange and it’s been me and Carrie ever since.”

“How did Ms Westcott react to the breakup?”

“She wasn’t happy, but it didn’t stop her from trying to find someone else. She was like that.”

“What was she like as a person?”

Jim thought about that. “She was a good actress but a prima donna. One on one, if she liked you and wasn’t ‘on show’ so to speak, she was nice enough. I honestly think she was somewhat insecure. Afraid she wasn’t good enough to really make it, so men became her security blanket. She could be very sweet, or a real bitch, depending on her mood.”

Reid chuckled. “So a normal female, at least in that respect.”

“I guess.”

“You said Ms Travers saw Ms Westcott and you together last night. Was she upset?”

Jim scrubbed a hand through his hair then shook his head. “Not really, no. Okay when she first came back she grabbed Ange’s hand off my arm and said something like ‘Keep your hands off my man’. I hugged Carrie while they exchanged a few… umm barbs… and then Ange stalked away.”

“That was the last you talked to her?”

“Yes, sir. We did see her again just before we left the club. She was dancing with some man we didn’t recognize.”

“Mr Leads mentioned that. He passed it off as just how she was.”  When Jim frowned briefly, Reid said, “What?”

“Okay, it’s probably not my place to say this because it sounds bad, but Mal was upset. Enough so that we insisted he join us for a late supper so he wouldn’t cause a scene.”

“And he did?”

“Join us? Yes. And he’d calmed down by the time we left the restaurant.”

“All right. Is there anything else you can think of that we should know about last night?”

After a minute Jim shook his head. Reid told him he was free to leave, after telling him if he did think of anything he should give them a call. “And if you would, please send in Ms Travers.”