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don’t even remember what we were talking about anymore.”
    Estelle smiled. “You were asking about the last time I saw Ms. Stockdale. And I told you I’d brought her breakfast yesterday.”
    â€œDid you see her again after that?” Mort asked.
    Estelle shook her head. “She sent me into town to get a charger for her iPad. There was a film she wanted to watch and she’d forgotten to bring her charger from home.”
    â€œDo you know the name of the film?”
    â€œWhat a strange question,” Estelle said. “No. I’ve no idea what film she wanted to watch.”
    â€œDid you find a charger for her?” I asked.
    â€œYes, at a place called Charles Department Store. You know it?”
    â€œGo on. What happened after that?” Mort said.
    â€œI came back. She wasn’t in her trailer, so I left the charger on the counter. But she wasn’t there later when I knocked after dinner.”
    â€œWhat time was that?”
    â€œAround nine. I didn’t think anything of it. But when she missed her fitting today, I began to fear something was wrong and started to look for her. And you know the rest.”
    I looked at Mort as he tucked his pad into his breast pocket. “We’d like to talk to you again, Ms. Fancy, so I’ll ask you not to leave town.”
    â€œWe’re supposed to be here for the duration of the movie.”
    â€œIf they don’t cancel it,” I said. “They’ve just lost your employer, the leading lady.”
    â€œOh, dear,” she said. “I hope they don’t cancel. I have a contract.”
    â€œI hope so, too,” I said.
    â€œMiss Fancy, I’m sorry to ask you this, but it’s vitally important that you don’t talk about Ms. Stockdale’s death with anyone,” Mort said. “We want to keep details of the circumstances confidential so we don’t tip off the killer about what we know. Understand?”
    â€œOf course.”
    Estelle rose when Mort put his hand on the doorknob. She glanced over her shoulder at Cecil. “Oh, look, he’s eaten all the hamburger,” she said.
    Cecil barked at her.
    â€œI think he’s asking for more.”
    When we left, Estelle was cooing to Cecil, who was growling again despite having been fed.
    â€œSeems to me,” Mort said when we were outside, “that if she was really able to predict the future, she would have seen this coming.”
    â€œFrom what I understand, astrologers don’t exactly predict the future,” I said. “They simply determine when the alignment of the moon, planets, and stars create a receptive environment for decisions or actions.”
    â€œSo what does that mean?”
    â€œIt means,” I said, “that if the stars were in proper alignment, someone had a receptive environment for murder.”

ChapterSix
    â€œ D ead! What do you mean she’s dead? I saw her only . . . I saw her . . .” Terrence Chattergee sputtered to a stop. “When did this happen?”
    â€œWe just found her body,” Mort said, trying to keep his voice soothing.
    â€œI don’t believe it. I want to see her,” Chattergee said, reaching for his jacket, which he’d slung over a chair.
    â€œHold on,” Mort said, grabbing his arm. “We will want you to identify the body, but not right now. My team is bringing her to the hospital morgue.”
    Chattergee collapsed onto a brown leather sofa, his tan face gone ashen. “This is awful,” he managed to say, his voice raspy. “She wouldn’t talk to me for years. I finally found a role for her, and she was so excited about this film. What am I going to do? What am I going to tell my daughter?”
    Mort and I were going down the list he’d gotten from Elovitz. Mort wanted to be able to inform certain individuals himself to control how the news of the murder was communicated. And also, I