Derek knew Minka, too, and he was almost as annoyed as I was. She had caused way too much trouble for both of us over the last year.
I finally decided to telephone Ian. I couldn’t be too angry with him because he had set up my meeting with the fabulous Edward Strathmore. Still, it wasn’t right for him to sic Minka on me.
“Hello, Brooklyn,” Ian said cheerfully.
“I can’t believe you recommended Minka!” So much for not being angry with him.
“What are you talking about?”
“She’s working here.” All of the fury drained away when I realized Ian had no idea what I meant. “I take it you didn’t suggest her to the producers.”
“Absolutely not,” he insisted. “I wouldn’t do that to you.”
“I appreciate that. But somebody did. I don’t think I can take it.”
“I remember what she did to you the last time she came to see you in Dharma.”
I scowled at the memory. Minka had interfered with a murder investigation and almost gotten us both killed. I had been forced to save her life, but had she thanked me? Of course not. She’d blamed me for causing the problem in the first place. Horrible woman.
I sank onto the couch. “I’m glad it wasn’t you. But who do you think recommended her?”
“Maybe someone at BABA?” he suggested.
“Oh, maybe so,” I said slowly. BABA was the Bay Area Book Arts Center, where I occasionally taught bookbinding classes. The director might have recommended Minka for the job in order to get rid of her. I couldn’t blame her.
Nobody liked having Minka around. Maybe we could send her an anonymous letter suggesting that she move far, far away and never bother us again. But I doubted she would take the advice. Meanwhile, I was stuck with her for the next five days.
? ? ?
An hour later, I had finished my first segment and was back in the dressing room, studying my next book. My cell phone vibrated, so I grabbed it and checked the screen. “Alex, hi. Everything okay?”
“Hi, Brooklyn. Um, no.” She sounded distracted and ill at ease, which wasn’t like her at all.
“What’s wrong? What is it, Alex?”
“I hate to tell you this, but somebody tried to break into your apartment.”
? ? ?
The producers tweaked the schedule to allow Derek and me enough time to rush back home to see what had happened. The studio was barely a mile away so it didn’t take us long, but I was on pins and needles the whole trip.
As soon as the elevator door opened, I saw Inspector Lee standing outside in the hall, talking to Alex. I had called the Inspector as we left the studio and she had rushed to our place in minutes.
“Thank you for coming,” I said to her.
“What happened?” Derek asked.
“You go ahead and tell them,” Inspector Lee said, waving to Alex.
“I happened to be home in the middle of the day because of an appointment I had.” She was avoiding meeting my gaze and I realized she must have been meeting up with one of her handcuffed men.
“I heard a noise out in the hall,” Alex continued, “so I peeked out and saw a big guy wearing a ski mask, trying to jimmy your lock.”
“With what?” Derek said caustically. “It’s impossible to jimmy that lock.”
“He had a tire iron,” Alex said. “I called the cops right away. I thought he was going to rip the door off its hinges.”
“What an idiot,” I muttered. “He should be arrested for stupidity.”
“I went out into the hall to get in his face.”
“Oh no. Alex, you could’ve been—”
“I happened to be carrying a whip.” Alex glanced at Inspector Lee. “Don’t ask.”
“I don’t want to know,” Inspector Lee said, holding up her hands in mock surrender.
“I yelled at him,” Alex continued. “I told him I’d already called the cops. He hesitated a second and I figured he would attack. I was ready to fight him, but instead, he took off in the opposite direction and ran down the stairs. I didn’t want him to get away, so I raced after him. I managed to crack the whip at his feet a few times. It caused him to trip and fall down the stairs.”
“All right!” I said, clapping my hands.
“Smart move,” Inspector Lee, sounding impressed.
Derek flashed her a grim smile. “That was fast thinking, Alex.”
“He still got away,” she said, scowling. “But the good news is, he was limping. So I was just telling Inspector Lee that they should be on the lookout for a big, ugly guy with a limp.”
? ? ?
“One minute to air!” Angie shouted.
I took my seat on the stage. We had rushed back to make it in time, so I was a little out of breath. But I still managed a smile for the book owner sitting across from me. “Hi. You must be Joanne. I really enjoyed your book.”
“You must be the blonde the screener told me about,” she said, her tone a little haughty. “I hope you plan on giving me a fair appraisal.”
“Of course I do,” I said, my smile faltering. “I’ve done quite a bit of research on your book and I’m looking forward to talking to you about it.”
She folded her arms tightly across her chest. “That makes one of us.”