“What do you remember?” Dillon asked when Porter was sitting down.
Before she could answer, the door opened and an officer walked in holding a red hooded robe decorated with hieroglyphics and some other clothes. “I found this near the exit to the loading dock in the back of the theater.”
Dillon took charge of the robe and the clothes. They were similar to clothes he’d seen the stagehands wearing. Then he held out the robe. “Is this yours?” he asked.
Porter studied it. “It looks like it.”
“Do you remember what happened before you passed out?” Dillon asked.
“I have asthma, and I always have to have my inhaler with me if I do something strenuous like pushing the dolly off the stage by myself. Only the inhaler wasn’t where I’d put it. I started looking for it and…” She shook her head. “That’s all I remember.”
“When was the last time you saw your inhaler?” Dillon asked.
Porter was lost in thought for a few moments. “Bobby does a trick where he levitates one of us. Then he does card tricks by himself so we have time to change into our costumes for the Chamber of Death. I’m pretty sure I put my inhaler on my dressing table before the levitation trick, but it wasn’t there when I came back to change into my robe for the Chamber of Death.”
Ragland turned to the officer who’d brought in the robe. “Search this room for Ms. Porter’s inhaler.”
“Did you see who attacked you?” Dillon asked.
“No.” Porter looked around. “Why are all these police officers here?”
“This might be a shock. Are you feeling up to hearing some very disturbing news?” Dillon asked.
“Please. I need to know what happened.”
“Robert Chesterfield is dead.”
Porter’s hand flew to her mouth. “How?”
“It looks like the person who knocked you out used your robe as a disguise and followed Maria and Sheila onto the stage. As I understand it, you pretend to push Mr. Chesterfield down while he is crawling over the edge of the sarcophagus and hiding in the dolly.”
“Yes.”
“The killer stabbed him in the coffin when he was pretending to push him down, then he may have left by the backstage exit near the loading dock after discarding your robe.”
“Oh my God!”
Anders held up the robe. It was oversized and bulky. “With the hood up and the long sleeves, no one in the audience would be able to see who was wearing the robe, but what about the other assistants? Wouldn’t they see the killer?”
“There’s a good chance they wouldn’t,” Porter said. “It’s dark at the back of the theater. I usually help Maria push the sarcophagus up the aisle and onto the stage, but Sheila would have helped her if the killer showed up after the finale started. They would be looking forward, so they wouldn’t see someone dressed in my robe if the hood was up and he was standing behind them. The killer would still be behind them when they lifted the coffin lid, and they stare toward the back of the stage. If the killer kept his head down, the sides of the hood would block a view of his face.
“Bobby sits up in the coffin and I pretend to push him down. He would be vulnerable when he sits up. The killer could stab him then, and Maria and Sheila wouldn’t notice, because they’re still staring toward the back of the stage. After that, they lower the lid on the sarcophagus, so they wouldn’t see Bobby inside. Meanwhile, the killer would go behind Maria and Sheila and push thedolly off the stage, so they would never notice that someone else was dressed in my robe.”
“I found the inhaler,” an officer said.
“Where was it?” Ragland asked.
The policeman pointed to a drawer in one of the tables the assistant used for applying makeup.
“That’s Maria Rodriguez’s table,” Porter said.
“Could you have put it in her drawer by mistake?” Anders asked.
“Absolutely not. I specifically remember putting it on my table. And why would I put my inhaler in Maria’s drawer?”
“Do you have another inhaler you can use, because this one is evidence,” Anders said.
“I have extras where I’m staying.”