Unsympathetic Magic - Laura Resnick [86]
The young fencer nodded and went to do as ordered.
When Max attempted to thank Lopez for his help, the exasperated detective interrupted him. “Get that man a glass of water or something, would you?” He pointed to Henry, who still sat slumped in a chair. “He looks like he’s going to faint.”
“No, no, I’m all right,” Henry said faintly. “It was all just a little . . . overwhelming. I’ve never liked that snake. And this dog is . . . Well, she’s awfully big, isn’t she?” His gaze shifted and he pointed to something. “Oh, look, miss. I think your purse has arrived.”
“My purse!” I said to Lopez, “Oh, thank you!”
I scooped the bag off the floor, where he had dropped it, and began investigating its contents. My wallet, money, ID, various plastic cards, apartment keys, and cell phone were all there. “Oh, thank God! It would have such a nuisance to have to replace all this stuff!” It would have cost money, too, and I didn’t have money to waste.
Lopez went downstairs to the hounfour to make sure Napoleon was properly contained. Max began apologizing at length to Henry for the disturbance while a subdued Nelli sat beside him, her injured paw wrapped in its colorful makeshift bandage. When Henry felt able to stand up again, he decided to retreat to the restroom and compose himself there.
Meanwhile, I sat down on the stairs and listened to my voice mail messages. There had been a number of calls since the phone was taken from me, but it turned out that they were all ones that I already knew about, so I deleted the messages.
Biko returned from stowing his fencing gear. He and Max hurried for the exit with a limping Nelli, pausing only to ask if they’d see me at Puma’s shop later.
“No,” I said. “By the time you’re done at the vet’s, I’ll be on my way to the restaurant.” And since I’d be at Bella Stella all day Saturday, we agreed to meet here at the foundation again on Sunday before attending the Vodou ritual downstairs.
Since I had been reunited with my phone, I decided to call the D30 production office to let them know I was taking calls at this number again. I also wanted to make sure they knew I had indeed paid my required visit to Michael Nolan.
I spoke with the same woman who’d taken my call yesterday. I still didn’t know her name. But she knew mine.
“Esther! I was just about to call you!”
“I visited Mike,” I said firmly. “I was unavoidably detained, but I did show up and do my time. Er, I mean—”
“Yes, I know. He mentioned that.”
“He did?”
“I talked to him earlier today. He’s checking out of the hospital today and plans to come back to work on Monday.”
“What?” That seemed awfully soon to return to his demanding work schedule. “Are his doctors agreeing to that?”
“I don’t have the impression that he and his doctors have reached a consensus yet,” she said carefully. “But Mike’s determined. And, well, we do need to finish the episode.”
“Ah.”
With Nolan chomping at the bit and with his character at the center of an unfinished episode in a tightly budgeted TV series, the production staff would certainly go find a doctor willing to declare him ready to return to work, if need be. The Crime and Punishment empire had a lot of experience at keeping the wheels of production rolling forward. So if they said they would start filming with Nolan again on Monday, then I believed them.
“When do want me back on the set?” I asked.
“Can you hang on for a second, Esther?” Without waiting for my reply, she put me on hold. A couple of minutes later, she came back on the line. “I’ve got Mike on the other line. A doctor has cleared him to return to work.”
“That was fast.” I was tempted to get the doctor’s name, so that I could make sure never to entrust my own medical care to him.
“We’ll need you on the set at six o’clock Monday evening. All right?”
I would have to go straight to the D30 set from the foundation, where I was scheduled to teach a class that afternoon. “No problem,” I said, glad I could feel confident that Jilly’s abused costume would be ready by then. “Where am I going?”
“The same location