Read Online The Body in the Cast by Katherine Hall Page - Free Book Online

child. But nothing, I repeat nothing, has been decided.”
    â€œBullshit,” Caresse said, looking Max straight in the eye. “Bullshe-it.” She drew the word out and walked over to her mother. “Come on, Mom, we’re outta here. If he wants me, he can call my agent.”
    â€œMuch as I admire the exit, I can’t let you do it, Caresse.” Max approached Jacqueline and softened his tone, “Believe me, Mrs. Carroll, I don’t know how the rumor started and I will find out. Caresse is listed on tomorrow’s call sheet and I want her to rehearse with Marta after lunch. Please let’s not allow this misunderstanding to get out of control.”
    Caresse had continued to walk off after Max’s first words, and now she called back to her mother, “Mom! Are you coming or not?” Jacqueline gave Max an encouraging nod and murmured, “I think she’s a little overtired”—that time-honored apology of mothers everywhere.
    â€œYeah, like Nero’s ma said when he played with matches, ‘The child simply needs more sleep,’” whispered Niki to Faith, who thereupon had to walk away to recover her composure. She took the opportunity to make a visit to the “honey
wagon,” as the toilets were quaintly called. She passed Marta Haree, who had been watching the whole scene from a distance. There was no mistaking the sardonic amusement on her face, and Faith thought Marta was someone she’d like to get to know better. Certainly the woman was extraordinary-looking. Her fine red frizzled hair surrounded her head like a Pre-Raphaelite aureole. Her face was pale, with mostly delicate features—high cheekbones, a pointed chin, almond-shaped green eyes. The exception was her nose: large, slightly crooked, dominant. It was hard to tell whether she was heavy or the bulk was an illusion created by the many layers of clothing she affected—trailing gypsylike garments in bright colors. Surely Marta Haree was a stage name, but it suited her. There was something a bit secretive—and seductive—about her. She didn’t mix with the other actors, spending her time alone in her trailer or with the director. Like her weight, her age was difficult to calculate. In some of Reed’s movies, she played octogenarians; in others, ingenues. Faith put her somewhere in her late forties or fifties and decided there was more than a trace of Magyar in Marta.
    Returning to the catering tent to put the final touches on the black bean soup and other things on the menu for lunch, Faith passed Max and Evelyn, arm in arm, deep in conversation. They stopped when they saw Faith and Evelyn smiled engagingly. “Could you prepare a tray of something delicious for me to eat in my trailer, dear? I missed the morning break and I’m absolutely ravenous.” It was difficult to imagine calories put to better use, and Faith told her she’d see to the tray immediately.
    â€œThank you. One of those nice little PAs will be along to get it.” Evelyn bestowed yet another smile on Faith and then continued to stroll with Max. They picked up their conversation when Faith was almost out of earshot. His words were muffled, but Evelyn’s were piercingly clear. “I’m tired of telling you, Maxie. I don’t care what you want. Once and for all, I want her off the picture.”
    Back at the tent, Faith quickly put together a tray for Ms. O’Clair: a large, steaming bowl of black bean soup topped by
a dollop of sour cream and fresh chives (see recipe on page 271); some of the buckwheat walnut rolls with ham that she’d missed; a salad; and a ramekin of crème caramel, along with Evelyn’s drink of choice—Perrier mixed with diet Coke. As Faith worked, she thought about the fragment of the conversation she’d overheard. Caresse obviously was “her.” But why did Evelyn want her off the picture, especially at this stage of the