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her eyes. ‘He gets his leg over anything in a skirt – well, that’s what I’ve been told about him. I’ve never worked with him but I’d like to!’
    ‘You get anything of interest?’ Anna asked Simon when she rejoined him in the catering tent.
    Simon nodded, flicking through his notebook. ‘The victim was screwing a lot of men, not on this film, but we’ll need to question them all.’ He gestured across to the James brothers, who were sitting smoking a few tables away. ‘Those are her drivers – Harry and Tony James.’
    ‘You been told about the scream she heard the night before last?’
    ‘Yes. We’ll need to check it out. I’ve contacted the station to make enquiries to see if anything was reported.’
    Anna looked up to see Mike Reynolds heading over to them. As he reached their table, a thin-faced young man wearing a creased shirt, jeans and trainers, called out to him.
    ‘That’s the boss, excuse me,’ Mike said.
    Anna and Simon watched as he conferred with Julian Pike, who wafted his hand in irritation and, turning his back on them, headed towards a row of small office trailers, Mike Reynolds in pursuit.
    Anna was so intent on watching them, she jumped when her shoulder was tapped.
    ‘You’re the police, aren’t you?’
    Anna turned. Standing directly behind her was a very pretty blonde girl.
    ‘I’m Emma Field, Amanda’s stand-in – well, I was. Do you need to talk to me?’
    Anna hesitated, unprepared, then said, ‘Yes, I would like to ask you a few questions. When was the last time you saw Amanda?’
    ‘Two days ago. I was standing in for the lighting and she was sitting in a chair by the set. She was looking for her mobile. I sat with her for a while and then she was called. Anyway, I was about to come out here for a cigarette and I saw her phone. Her long skirt had hidden it – it was just by her chair.’
    Emma dug into her pocket and handed the phone to Anna.
    ‘I meant to take it to her trailer, but then I was called as they were setting up lights for the interior.’
    Anna looked at the phone; the battery was dead.
    ‘I went over to the make-up trailer later to give it to her, but she’d already left. They said I should keep it until the next day, so I did and . . .’ She bowed her head, mumbling, ‘It’s so awful, I can’t believe it.’
    Simon smiled at the nervous girl. ‘You’ve taken over her part, haven’t you?’
    ‘Not really. I’m being filmed in long shot, but luckily her costume fits . . .’ At that moment, the call boy appeared with his radio and waved over to her. Emma apologised; she was needed for rehearsal.
    As she hurried away, Anna checked the phone again. ‘I’ll get this over to the technical support unit to check out her call lists,’ she said.
    Simon was distracted. ‘She was very pretty. I wouldn’t mind working on one of these movies,’ he commented. ‘Big break for her, isn’t it, the stand-in, but I doubt that’d be a motive.’
    Anna was truly amazed when she stepped from behind the blackout curtain into a massive scenery build of a Victorian incident room at Scotland Yard. Mike Reynolds led her towards Julian Pike, the director, who was standing with his back to her, thumbing through a script.
    ‘Boss, this is DI Anna Travis.’
    Pike turned and gave her a tight smile. Anna could feel his nervous energy. He had piercing eyes and his long, bony fingers twitched. There was an elastic band around his wrist and he slipped it off, twanging it between his fingers.
    ‘You want to sit down?’ he asked.
    ‘If you don’t mind,’ she replied.
    Pike sat and crossed his long legs, one foot twitching up and down, his hands constantly playing with the elastic band.
    ‘Did you get on with Amanda?’ she asked, taking out her notebook.
    ‘Of course I did – everybody did. She could be difficult, but she was a professional and the rushes we have are good. Thankfully her bulk scenes were already shot.’
    ‘I’ve been told you had a few