And then Jada Watkins was on-screen, seated on one of the Hollywood Headline director’s chairs, followed by the grainy photo of Trae Bartholomew and Hattie, caught kissing at dinner only a couple weeks earlier. And another photo, which Mo recognized as one of the publicity stills the network had shot.
HOMEWRECKERS STAR HAS REAL-LIFE DRAMA, read the chyron streaming across the bottom of the screen.
Next came a film clip, footage of the Chatham Avenue house, either taken from a very long lens, or more likely, a drone camera, showing the Chatham County coroner’s van parked beside the gaping septic tank pit, with another streaming chyron line—MURDER MYSTERY DEEPENS AT HPTV SET.
“Hey, miss!” Mo called to the bartender. “Could you turn up the television volume, please?”
The bartender pointed the remote control at the television, clicked it, and moved on down the bar to wait on another customer.
Mo leaned forward to listen.
“The long-unsolved missing person case involving a popular Savannah, Georgia, private school teacher was cracked wide open last week, when the woman’s skeletal remains were discovered at a home undergoing renovation for the upcoming HPTV show The Homewreckers,” Jada Watkins said, in a hushed, serious tone. “The show pairs heartthrob L.A. designer Trae Bartholomew, best known for his hit show Design Minds, with television newcomer Hattie Kavanaugh, a Savannah contractor whose company specializes in historic restorations.”
Jada crossed her long, slender legs. “The schoolteacher, Lanier Ragan, vanished on a stormy night seventeen years ago, leaving behind a grieving husband and three-year-old daughter. But last week her tomb was discovered—in the cavity of a long-disused septic tank pit at the Homewreckers house, and the mystery deepened.”
She turned to Sorrels, seated on the director’s chair next to hers. “Antonio, the making of this new HPTV show has more twists and turns than one of those winding staircases in one of Savannah’s famed historic mansions.”
“So it seems,” Sorrels replied.
“What a stiff,” Mo mumbled to himself. “And whoever scripts this clichéd pile of crap should be fired.”
“The murder has rocked the Homewreckers shoot, where insiders say that Trae and Hattie, who’ve become romantically involved during the shooting of the show, have recently quarreled over the design direction on the home renovations,” Jada said.
“Insiders tell me that the discovery of the body is only the latest in a series of incidents that have caused turmoil on the Tybee Island set. Local authorities have cited Hattie Kavanaugh’s company for numerous building code and noise ordinance violations, and a fire of suspicious origin did extensive damage to the hundred-year-old historic beach house. Law enforcement authorities are calling the fire arson.”
“Wow, a fire, a dead body, what next?” Sorrels said, trying to look concerned but only managing to look slightly constipated.
“Well … our sources tell me that there is significant friction between Trae Bartholomew and the show’s creator slash producer, Mauricio Lopez, whose most recent HPTV series, Killer Garages, was canceled after one disastrous season.”
“Disastrous?” Mo yelped. “Who’s feeding this bullshit to these two?”
A petite brunette, who was sitting two barstools down, looked at him and just as quickly looked away. “Sorry,” Mo muttered. Although he wasn’t.
“In the meantime, network execs are reportedly alarmed by recent revelations concerning Hattie Kavanaugh’s family. Headline Hollywood has learned, exclusively, that her father, Woodrow Bowers, once a prominent Savannah banker, was convicted in 2002 of embezzling millions from a local nonprofit which he chaired at the time.”
“Oh wow,” Sorrels said.
Jada crossed and recrossed her legs again. “At trial, Bowers admitted that he stole from the charity, money designated for sick children and homeless families, to fund expensive vacations and buy a condo for his mistress, who worked at the same bank.”
“Jesus Christ,” Mo exclaimed. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the brunette take her umbrella drink and move to a table near the window.
“Hmm,” Antonio Sorrels said. “What’s the network have to say about this news?”
“I called the VP of HPTV programming, Rebecca Sanzone, earlier today, and she declined to comment specifically on the revelations about Hattie Kavanaugh, but we do know that cast members on shows like The Homewreckers are routinely asked to sign what’s called a morals clause, which would allow the network to cancel their contract for cause if the personality was accused of behavior that would cause shame or embarrassment to the network,” Jada said.