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familiar.
    â€œWow!” said Mort, his eyes scanning the set. “That looks just like Judge Borden’s office.”
    â€œIt certainly does,” I added, marveling that the production designer had been able to find an Oriental rug exactly like Jacob’s—or was it?—and his tall leather wing chair. At least I thought it was a wing chair; I could only see the back of it—but wasn’t his chair maroon, not red? And there was the little blue-patterned settee Lorraine had found at a tag sale—only the pattern on this one was not exactly the same. The overall impression was that this was Judge Jacob Borden’s office, but I realized that while it had been duplicated in spirit, it was not identical to the original.
    â€œThe only part missing is the ceiling,” Mort commented.
    â€œWe have a small portion of the ceiling in case we need to include it in a shot,” Elovitz said, walking to Mort’s side and pointing to where five feet of ceiling jutted out from above the bookcase on the back wall. “This is a hot set. All the furniture and props have been positioned. Nothing can be moved, even an inch, or it will break the continuity.”
    â€œWhat is this continuity thing?” Mort asked. “I heard you talk about continuity in the trailer—I mean, your office.”
    Elovitz smiled. “Continuity is simply keeping everything the same. Let’s say the script calls for an actor to put a book on the desk in one scene, and then we break for lunch. That book must be in the exact same position when we come back to resume filming. Otherwise it might confuse the actor—or worse, if we don’t catch it, it could distract the viewer.”
    â€œOh, I get it now,” Mort said.
    â€œContinuity is what Nicole is responsible for. You saw her in my office.”
    â€œYeah. The lady with the curly hair.”
    â€œRight. She’s the script supervisor and I rely on her to make sure the continuity is maintained so . . .” He trailed off, scowling into the scene before him. “But I don’t remember the desk chair being turned around.” Elovitz twisted his head from side to side. “Estelle,” he yelled at the top of his voice. “Where are you?”
    â€œOver here, Mr. Elovitz,” the astrologer said, coming from the opposite side of the set.
    â€œI thought I told you not to touch anything in this room.”
    â€œBut I haven’t, Mr. Elovitz.”
    â€œThat chair did not have its back to the camera yesterday when I left this soundstage.”
    â€œI didn’t turn it,” the astrologer said. “Maybe someone else did.”
    â€œNo one else has been in this building except you.”
    â€œBut I only peeked into the set to see if Vera was here. I didn’t touch anything.”
    â€œYou better be telling the truth, or I’ll have you on the next plane out of here.”
    â€œI am telling the truth. Besides, Ms. Stockdale would be very upset if you sent me home.”
    â€œVera will just have to manage without another reading of the stars. Now, go turn that chair back to the exact position it was in before you stepped into this set.”
    Estelle wrung her hands and looked to me and Mort. “I didn’t move anything, I swear,” she whispered to us.
    â€œGo!” Elovitz roared, and she tiptoed onto the set, looking back at us nervously.
    Elovitz paced. “Nicole is going to have a fit. She’d better have photos of the set as we left it. I’m going to have to look at the rushes to make certain everything is exactly the same.”
    â€œYeah, your continuity is important,” Mort said.
    â€œI’m sure you’ll be able to put it back the way it was,” I said to Elovitz, just as a scream cut through the air.
    â€œWhat the h—” Elovitz stopped pacing.
    Mort and I whirled around.
    Estelle Fancy was standing with her hands over her mouth,