Page 48 of The Timeless Vigilante

“Nothing,” Sherlock stated. “Because you were growing tired of this industry anyway and hoping to be let go, giving you a reason to get away from the woman you were obsessed with.”

“But there was someone here who couldn’t have the show canceled,” Rudolf said, turning and looking at Alexus standing close by. “And you wanted to be the sole star, but the only way to do that would be to get in close with the directors. But you’re one of those women who makes men crazy.”

“I am not!” the woman yelled, her voice high-pitched.

Rudolf wagged his finger at her. “Oh, I know your type. The show wasn’t cursed. It was just that there was a diva who thought she could romance her way to the top. If you had the directors on your side, then you could convince those writers to give you the lead.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Alexus exclaimed, her fists by her side.

“So you didn’t try to seduce the directors?” Rudolf asked. “You didn’t make them fall in love with you and then when you didn’t get what you wanted, you’d dump them, making them crazy?”

“Well… Maybe. But I’m not a murderer,” Alexus said, starting to sob. “I wouldn’t kill my costars just to get a role.”

“No, you didn’t because you didn’t believe the show was cursed,” Sherlock stated. “And it isn’t. That was just a way for the murderer to sabotage Sunrise Cove. The person who killed the previous director and the actors and is behind all the mysterious events is someone who had access to the vault.”

Rudolf suddenly peeled off to the right at once, disappearing backstage.

“It wasn’t me!” the director declared.

“Or me,” the camera guy stated with conviction.

Sherlock turned to the vault, opening the door wide. He then removed the chair propping it open and stood back. The door slowly started to close. “You see, the large vault door is on a mechanical slow release device due to its size and weight. That way it doesn’t slam shut, hurting someone exiting. But if there was someone who wanted access to the vault, well, all they’d have to do was wait until the camera guy or director put the tapes inside. Then when they were walking away, they could slip out of their hiding place and stop the door right before it closed.”

He reached for the side of the vault where there was a yardstick leaning against the wall. The detective picked it up and slid it in between the door and the frame just before it closed, blocking it from shutting completely. He looked up victoriously at the crowd. “From there, this person could go into the vault and remove the extra pair of keys, make a copy and then have access to the supposedly locked space.”

“So the show isn’t cursed?” the director asked, looking around in awe which quickly morphed into horror. “But that means one of you is a murderer.”

“Indeed someone on the set of Sunset Cove is,” Sherlock stated, glaring at the director. “But it was someone who wasn’t motivated by greed.” His gaze swiveled to the camera guy. “Or love.” Finally he lowered his chin, looking at Alexus. “Or fame.”

“Who did it?” Alexus asked, her voice shaking as she looked around at the cast and crew.

Sherlock held up a finger, his chest high with confidence. “The person who planted the love letters, murdered the director, the three actors and tampered with the tapes was someone motivated by revenge.”

At once, Gen knew. Everything pieced together in her mind and she simply knew who the murderer was. It made complete sense.

Rudolf materialized, dragging a man restrained by a spell. “It was, of course, the janitor.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

THE CUSTODIAN’S REVENGE

Stage Twenty-Six, Canoodle Lot, Fairyland Studios, Los Angeles, California, United States

“I can’t believe it was the janitor,” Gen mused, shaking her head.

She, King Rudolf and Sherlock Holmes stood outside the building for Sunset Cove. In the distance, the authorities were interviewing the cast and crew. The janitor was sitting in what was apparently a police car, which was ablaze with red and blue lights. Uniformed officers buzzed around the scene as everyone talked excitedly.

“It’s always the janitor,” Rudolf stated.

Sherlock shook his head. “It varies and it’s always the person with the means, the motive and the opportunity.”

“So how did you two work out that it was the janitor and not the other suspects?” Gen asked.

“Well, although the director, camera guy and Alexus had reasons to commit the crimes, none of them could fulfill all three of the requirements,” Sherlock explained. “It wasn’t until I investigated the vault, that I realized how the keys could be stolen. Then something that they had said about the writers for the show got me thinking.”

Rudolf grinned, looking down at Gen. “We did some digging and found that the janitor had been one of the original writers for Sunset Cove. However, when the show took off, the execs didn’t want to give him credit. So they fired him and took over the show, not giving him the profits or prestige that he would have deserved.”

Sherlock nodded. “Wanting to get revenge for what was stolen from him, the janitor got a job on the set. That gave him access to the director, who he murdered, after planting the letters in the trashcan, which he’d have access to.”

---