Don’t jump to conclusions, Hannah’s mind cautioned. Even if Vivian did have an appointment with Tori that night, it doesn’t mean that she kept that appointment. And even if she did, it doesn’t mean that she murdered Tori.
Hannah readily admitted her mind was right. Tori could have canceled Vivian’s appointment. According to Doc’s autopsy report, the window of Tori’s death stretched from seven to ten, but Hannah knew that it was shorter than that. Delores had heard the shots at a few minutes past eight. And Tori could have cut Vivian’s appointment short the way she’d done with Tricia.
Those were all possibilities that would clear Vivian of any wrongdoing. There were all sorts of questions Hannah needed to ask and the only person who could answer them was Vivian.
There was only one truly valid conclusion Hannah could draw from the new information she’d gleamed. And that conclusion was that she had to talk to Vivian now . . . tonight! Perhaps nothing would come of it, but she needed to know if Vivian had met with Tori on the night that Tori was murdered.
Chapter Twenty-five
Hannah stood outside the dressing room door, waiting for Vivian to come out. Just as Michelle had mentioned, Vivian had waited until everyone else had left the temporary dressing rooms set up against the back wall of the auditorium to remove her costume and makeup.
The ring of keys were heavy in Hannah’s pocket. Michelle had given them to her when Hannah’d promised to lock up after everyone left. Of course, she hadn’t told Michelle exactly why she’d volunteered to stay. Her conversation with Vivian Dickerson would probably amount to nothing useful, but it was certainly worth doing.
Hannah had decided that her talk with Vivian had to be private. Vivian might not be as forthcoming if she asked her questions in front of anyone else. She would wait until Vivian came out, and talk to her then.
*
“So you’ll do it, Rod?” Mike asked the older man.
“Of course I will. The Lake Eden Journal has always supported law enforcement. You know that, Mike. Let’s get a really good setup for the first article. How about if one of the deputies talks to some kid on the street and helps him fix his bicycle?”
“That’s good. I think we should use Lonnie for that. We should have a younger deputy who’s a Lake Eden native. For the next one, how about Bill having coffee at The Cookie Jar with a whole table of ladies?”
“You mean ladies from the Lake Eden Gossip Hotline?”
Mike laughed. “That’s right. You can get Delores to arrange it. She’s really good at things like that.”
As they watched through Rod’s windshield, Barry Withers came out and walked across the parking lot to his car.
“Who’s left inside?” Rod asked.
“Hannah and . . . I’m not sure,” Mike answered. “The other car’s a fairly new Buick. Hold on a second and I’ll run the plate. Can you see the numbers from here?”
“Yeah.” Rod grabbed a small pair of binoculars from his glove box and read off the letters and the number.
Mike punched in the information on his cell phone and listened for a moment. “This could take awhile. Why do you carry those binoculars anyway?”
“Just in case something newsworthy is happening and I don’t want to get too close.”
“That makes sense. You don’t want to get too close, but you want to get photos for the paper. I noticed you had a long-range lens on that camera of yours.”
*
“Oh, good!” Hannah said when Vivian Dickerson walked out of the dressing room. “I was waiting for you.”
“Why?”
“Because I have the keys and I promised my sister that I’d lock up after everyone had left.”
“I’m leaving right now.”
“Wait a second. I’d really like to ask you something.”
Vivian turned around and faced Hanna directly. “What did you want to ask me?”
“You’re a very good actress. I told you that at the bake sale. And that made me curious about your background.”
Vivian’s eyes narrowed. “What about it?”
“I was just wondering if you had any professional acting experience.”
“I never discuss my background,” Vivian said, turning to go.
“No, wait!” Hannah reached out to grab her arm. “I didn’t mean to pry. I just thought you were so good, that you must have acted somewhere else before. That’s all.”
“Thank you for the compliment, but that’s none of your concern. I live here now and I’m with the Lake Eden Players. That’s all your sister and you need to know.”
“Of course it is.” Hannah gave her a smile. “But there’s one more thing.”
“Yes?”
“Do you know that Tori Bascomb gave acting lessons in her home studio?”
“Yes, I heard that.”
“Did you ever take an acting lesson from her?”
Vivian’s eyes flashed with anger. “Of course not! Why would I?”
“No reason. I was just curious because she had you listed by your character name in the appointment book she used for her acting lessons. The appointment was for seven forty-five on the night she was murdered.”
Vivian turned to face Hannah fully. “It wasn’t an acting lesson. It was a personal matter.”
“Then you knew Tori in some capacity other than as the director of the Lake Eden Players?”
“You could say that.” Vivian moved a step closer and Hannah found herself backing up.
Warning bells went off in her head and she knew this wasn’t good. “I’ll bet you were in a play together, or something like that?” Hannah said, trying to cover her earlier question with some explanation that Vivian would find innocuous.
“You know better than that.” Vivian’s voice was hard as ice chipped from a solid block. “You figured it out, didn’t you?”
You’re alone with her. You’d better backtrack as fast as you can, Hannah’s mind told her. And Hannah listened to that wise advice. “I figured what out? That you’re a really great actress? Of course I did. And so should everyone who sees you on the stage.”
“Thank you,” Vivian said, but her eyes were still hard with a gleam of suspicion. “Have you ever seen me on the stage?”
“No, I don’t get to attend many plays. I’ve seen a few things the Lake Eden Players have done, but that’s it.”