Part 26 (1/2)
”I've seen SpyMatrix fifty-six times,” Clarence gushed. ”Fifty-seven if you count the time it played in my hospital room when I had my tonsils out.”
”Fab.” Ross walked through to the dining room where he pulled out a chair from beneath the table and turned it around.
”But I don't usually count that time since I wasn't awake through the entire movie,” Clarence said.
”Really,” Ross drawled. He offered the seat to a grinning Clarence with a wave of his hand. The younger man plopped down.
The ”interrogation team”, comprised of Ross, Mo, Leo and Miss Kitty, surrounded Clarence.
”Okay, Clarence. Spill it.” Mo demanded. ”What's going on?”
”I can't believe it's you, Mr. Dagger,” Clarence said, ignoring Mo. His eyes gleamed with excited adoration as he gazed up at Ross.
”Grant. It's Ross Grant,” Ross said firmly.
”Oh yeah.” Clarence grinned. ”I'm the president of your fan club. It's called the Acolytes of Stephen Dagger.”
”It would be,” Mo said with sarcastic venom.
Leo's sputtered chuckle drew Mo's attention. He bent toward Miss Kitty and whispered in her ear. Susie looked up at him flirtatiously and laughed.
Oh pickles. The two of them were sharing a ”Clarence” joke.
”Acolyte?” Ross asked.
”Yeah, you know a follower, devotee,” Clarence replied.
”You know, Ross. Like the follower of a cult leader,” Mo said.
”I know what acolyte means,” Ross said with a frown. ”You do know that Stephen Dagger is a character in a movie, don't you? He isn't real.” Ross directed the comment to Clarence.
”Yes, but Stephen Dagger is worthy of wors.h.i.+p. I've always felt that SpyMatrix is like the bible. All the secrets of the world can be learned from SpyMatrix if you know how to listen.”
More snickering and shared looks pa.s.sed between Leo and Miss Kitty.
Mo couldn't stand it. She had to know about her brother and the catwoman. Mo pulled Leo away from the girl with the ears and took him into the parlor.
”What's with you and her?” Mo whispered furiously.
”She helped me locate Clarence at the convention,” Leo whispered back. ”So I could follow him.”
”You're not dating her, are you?” Mo asked.
”Not yet,” Leo answered. ”But she has got a rockin' bod and I would like to know if she has a tail to go along with those ears.”
”She doesn't.”
”How do you know?” He asked with an arch to one eyebrow and a salacious smirk.
”Wipe that look off your face. She told Ross and me yesterday. Besides a tail would just be weird.”
Leo laughed. ”As opposed to the ears?”
”Just do me a favor and don't date her. Talley doesn't need a sister and I definitely wouldn't want to deal with her litter box.”
”Don't worry, sis. She's a nice girl. She's only done a couple of fetish films. Nothing hardcore. In one she crawled around with a little collar and-”
”Oh my gouda. I don't want to know,” Mo interrupted, clamping her hand over his mouth.
Leo laughed again and the two of them returned to Clarence, who was still gus.h.i.+ng about his idol wors.h.i.+p.
”You wouldn't believe how big the Acolytes have become. They can't wait for the sequel. It's all the talk on the loops.”
”I'm not doing a sequel.”
”You've got to. The Acolytes will be so disappointed.”
”Hey, cottage cheese head,” Mo said. ”We don't want to know about the fan club. We want to know why you called the other night and told me Harry had a.s.signed me to break into Ross Grant's car.”
His expression became blank. Then a frown emerged. Good the little bagel was finally realizing this was serious.
”I don't understand. I didn't tell you to break into anyone's car. Why would I do that?” His tone was so earnest and his gaze so sincere that Mo would have sworn he was telling the truth except that she knew for a fact that he was so totally lying.
”And I would never tell anyone to break into your car.” The lying bagel turned his fake sincerity like a laser beam in Ross's direction. ”I would never do such a thing, Mr. Dagger.”
”Grant,” Ross said with a distracted tone. He didn't seem focused on Clarence, but on his own thoughts.
”The call you got must've been from someone else,” Clarence said with an exaggeratedly wide-eyed innocence.
”You.” She glanced at Ross who met her gaze with a question in his eyes. ”I spoke to you, Clarence. I know it was you.”
The little bagel's eyes widened even further. ”Are you sure you got a call at all, Ms. Tuttle?” Clarence glanced up at Ross, then back at Mo. Then Clarence winked.
”Did you just wink at me?”
”Why would I do that, Ms. Tuttle?”
More suspicions seemed to be swirling in Ross as he stood there silently. She had to do something.
”But you were using the Stephen Dagger name at the convention,” Ross said.
”Sure,” Clarence said. ”I love pretending to be Dagger and being in costume at the convention was encouraged.”
”Hmm,” Ross said.
”If you don't have anything to do with this then what were you doing at the convention with Heather Davies?” Aha. Mo had him there.
”I'm president of her fan club too,” Clarence replied easily. ”We're working on a write-in campaign to the studio for her to be cast as Francesca in the SpyMatrix sequel. She's perfect for the role.”
The creep had an innocent explanation for everything.