Doppelgangster - Laura Resnick [53]
I said, “Thack, the reason I’ve been trying to reach you—”
“I’m sorry, Geraldo wants something. Hang on a second, Esther.”
“Hey,” Lucky said, “this ‘bilocation’ stuff? I think we’re on to something here.”
Nelli barked cheerfully.
“Shh,” I said to her. “I’m on the phone.”
Thack was still talking to Geraldo, who sounded agitated. I heard Thack say, “Oh, for fuck’s sake.” Then he said into the phone, “I’m sorry, Esther, I’ve got to go. I’ve got a client doing an episode of Criminal Motive this week—you know, the ‘brainiest’ of the Crime and Punishment spin-offs? His character gets found hung upside down in a Brooklyn meat locker. Well, you know what sticklers they are for gritty realism on all the C&P sets.” Thack sighed. “So they had a little mishap. Now they want me to dash over to the hospital and see if my client is planning to sue them. I’ll have to talk him out of it, of course—but really, I wouldn’t blame him. A series wins a few Emmy Awards, and suddenly it’s, ‘Hey, how close can we come to really killing our guest performers? ’ I swear, it’s enough to make you want to go back to doing Shakespeare in the rain, isn’t it?”
“I do Shakespeare in the rain,” I pointed out. “But, in fact, Crime and Punishment is what I wanted to talk to y—”
“Gotta go. Bye!”
“Wait! I wanted to tell you about . . .” I realized I was talking to dead air.
I tossed my phone on the table in frustration and said a bad word.
“Is there a problem?” Lucky asked, eyeing me.
“Sort of. There’s this part that’s opened up,” I said, hearing Max’s footsteps approaching us from the cellar.
“A part of what?” Max asked, setting some dusty volumes and two scrolls down on the table.
“An acting part?” Lucky guessed.
I nodded. “On The Dirty Thirty.”
“Pardon?” said Max.
“It’s the newest Crime and Punishment spin-off,” I said.
“Crime and Punishment?” Max frowned. “Are we talking about Dostoyevsky?”
“She’s talkin’ about that TV show,” Lucky said. “The one that’s got a million spin-offs and wins all the Oscars.”
“Emmys,” I said. “TV shows win Emmy Awards.”
“Whatever.”
The latest venture in C&P’s empire of prestigious law enforcement dramas was its most controversial spin-off to date, a gritty, morally ambivalent show about police corruption in the Thirtieth Precinct, a.k.a. “the dirty Thirty.”
After C&P’s regular network had rejected the series, afraid its dark subject matter and antihero protagonists would scare away advertisers, the innovative C&P producers had sold D30 (as it was now known to fans) to a cable network. The show had premiered last year, and had become a critically acclaimed cable hit with a steadily growing audience. Some New York City cops condemned and boycotted the program, while others reputedly provided much of the show’s material from their own experiences on the force.
“So you’re gonna be on TV?” Lucky asked.
“Only if I get the part,” I said. “Which can only happen if I get this audition. The actress who was cast in this role isn’t in performance condition anymore—not after this weekend—so they’ll need to recast. And fast, too, because they start shooting the episode in a few weeks.”
“How come they’re shooting now?” Lucky asked. “It’s May.”
“Some cable networks have had success launching new shows in the summer, when the competition mostly consists of reruns. That’s what happened with Dirty Thirty last year, and it worked well. So the show is launching its second year of episodes this summer, off-season again.”
“And your agent called you about this audition?” Lucky asked.
“No, I found out about this from a friend of mine who knows the actress who had to drop out of the show two days ago because she’s in traction now. A good agent is a big asset, but actors who keep their ears to the ground and go after opportunities get a lot more work than actors who just sit around at home hoping their agents will call,” I explained. “Anyhow, instead of a general call, the casting director will want to choose the replacement fast, from just a small pool of