Nursery Crimes Read Free Page B

God.”
    The screen switched back to the news anchor in the newsroom.
    “Police are asking that anyone with any information about this incident please call the number on the bottom of your screen.”
    A commercial began, and I switched off the set. I had this strange, nauseated feeling in the pit of my stomach.
    “Oh, my God. I just can’t believe it. We saw her today.
Today.
” I felt tears rising up in my eyes. Peter sat down on the bed and pulled me to his chest. I started to cry.
    “I know, honey, I know,” he murmured, stroking my hair with his hand.
    “I don’t know why I’m crying,” I said, sobbing. “I didn’t even like her.”
    “I know, honey.”
    I stopped my tears. I had the hiccups. “I’m okay. Really. You can go back to work.”
    “You sure?”
    “Yeah, it’s okay. I’m going to call Stacy.” Stacy was an old friend from college, whose six-year-old son was a graduate of Heart’s Song. Peter went back to his office and I dialed the phone.
    “Hello?” Stacy’s voice sounded groggy.
    “It’s me. Sorry to wake you, but have you heard?”
    “What?”
    “Somebody killed Abigail Hathaway.”
    “What?” She perked up. “Are you serious? What happened?”
    “I was just lying here watching the news. We didn’t get in, by the way. And they come on with this story about how somebody mowed her down with their car. I couldn’t believe it. I started crying.”
    “What do you mean, you didn’t get in? She didn’t give you an application?”
    “No. Anyway, are you listening to me? The woman is
dead
!”
    “Jeez. Wow. It was a car accident?”
    “Yes. I mean, no. She was on the street outside of the school and some car hit her and then took off.”
    “Outside of the
school
?” Stacy sounded horrified. “Outside of Heart’s Song?”
    “Right on the corner. A car hit her and knocked her into a mailbox. At least I think that’s what happened. Anyway, she’s dead.”
    We talked for a while longer, speculating that the driver must have been drunk. I told Stacy about the interview and described the scene between the angry father and Ms. Hathaway.
    Suddenly something occurred to me. “Oh, my God, Stace. Maybe he killed her! Maybe he freaked after not getting into the school! Maybe he snapped!”
    “Oh, for Pete’s sake, Juliet. He did not kill her. BruceLeCrone is a studio executive. He’s the president of Parnassus Studios. And he used to work at ICA. He’s not a murderer.”
    Stacy is an agent at International Creative Artists, one of the most prestigious talent agencies in town. She knows everybody in Hollywood.
    “How do you know what he’s capable of?” I said. “You didn’t see this guy. He was furious. Insanely furious.”
    “Juliet, Bruce LeCrone’s temper is legendary. That was just par for the course with him. You should hear how he treats his assistants.”
    “I still think there was something bizarre about how angry he got. I think I’m going to call the cops and let them know what happened.”
    “I really don’t think that’s such a hot idea. If you make trouble for LeCrone, and he finds out it was you, Peter will never sell a script to Parnassus. You don’t want to go throwing wrenches into your husband’s career just because you have some wacked-out theory.”
    That stopped me in my tracks. I certainly didn’t want to ruin Peter’s chances of doing a movie with one of the biggest studios in town.
    “I’ll talk to Peter about it before I do anything.”
    “You do that.”
    “So, what were you up to tonight?” I asked.
    “Nothing! What do you mean? What are you suggesting?”
    “Jeez, Stacy. Get a grip. I wasn’t suggesting anything. I just wanted to know what you were up to.”
    “Oh. Nothing. I worked late.”
    “Poor you.”
    “Yeah, poor me.”
    We said good night and I turned off the light. Shivering, I snuggled down into my bed, tucked my body pillowunder my heavy belly, and pulled the down comforter up to my chin. I couldn’t seem to get