Murder by Numbers Read Online Free

“Mirage Productions bought out Derrick’s company lock, stock, and barrel. They need a successful film, because they haven’t had one since Oliver Chissel took over.”
    Liza knew Chissel’s name from the Oregon Daily —but not from the entertainment section. “I thought he was more of a businessman than a movie guy.”
    Michelle snorted. “He started out more like a con man, if the stories are true. Then he got into all sorts of shady trading. Lately he’d been buying companies and stripping the assets and pulling greenmail scams—scooping up pieces of companies on the cheap and extorting much higher prices from people to buy him out.”
    She snorted again, this time louder. “But he was the one who got taken in this last deal, winding up as president and CEO of Mirage Productions. Damned appropriate name, Mirage, when it comes to the company’s assets. He didn’t help himself by trying to go the blockbuster route.”
    Liza knew that story—paying forty million dollars to produce a film in the hopes of making two hundred million on the other end. The resultant film had flopped, big-time. Mirage had tried that recipe again, making two sequels and a remake next—all to disappointing box office results. Derrick had been working on the other end of the scale, trying to assemble about ten million in funding for Counterfeit —but given the quality of the production, the script, Jenny’s performance, and the built-in publicity, the film had a real chance of making ten times that.
    â€œGiven his background, I was surprised to see Ollie the Chiseler so hot to trot over Counterfeit . But he needs a quick, cheap success.”
    â€œIf it’s that important to him, why isn’t he out here?”
    â€œDon’t invoke the name of the devil unless you want to have dinner with him—long spoon included,” Michelle said. “The farther away Ollie stays, the better the film will be.”
    â€œOkay, then why is he screwing with the film via long distance? Doesn’t he trust his director?” Liza wanted to know.
    â€œHe doesn’t trust anybody. Furthermore, he’s got the critical taste of a commodities trader. He probably thinks he’s opening the flick up to a wider audience,” Michael said.
    â€œA nice way to say going for the lowest common denominator,” Liza growled. “Or just plain dumbing a good movie down.” She sighed. “Where exactly is this assortment of geniuses thinking of going?”
    â€œThe people from Mirage who talked to me thought Malcolm and Terence were keeping the film too light,” Michael said. “They want it darker, more dangerous for the heroine.”
    â€œHow? By adding a stalker in a hockey mask?”
    â€œThat’s probably not too far off from their intentions.” Michael took a deep breath. “There’s a reason they came to me.”
    â€œYou were involved in the news stories about rescuing Jenny,” Liza said. “Duh—publicist, remember?”
    â€œMore than that kind of publicity,” Michael told her. “The new plot points in the script—they want to mirror some of the stuff that happened to Jenny after Derrick’s murder.”
    Now it was Liza’s turn to suck in a deep breath. “Jenny took a long time getting over that.”
    â€œAnd the new director—Olbrich,” Michelle put in. “Like you said, he’s got a reputation for wringing more out of a script, getting memorable performances. But he does it by messing with his actors’ heads. I’ve heard rumors about one promising young guy who wound up in a rubber room after Olbrich got done with him.”
    â€œWhat can we do?” Liza asked.
    â€œNothing much. When Chissel and Mirage moved in to buy Derrick’s production company—and save his deal—they got the whole ball of wax. Jenny doesn’t have much