“She was at the Imperial when Mr. Chesterfield was murdered. I couldn’t find a police report with a record of her statement. I thought she might have seen something that could help clear Mr. Turner’s name.”
“She was at the show?”
“You sound surprised.”
“I am. She was really upset when Bobby disappeared at the coast. I think they had a thing going and she felt like he dumped her.”
“They were having an affair?”
Maria smirked. “We were all bunking at Bobby’s house, and he came on to every one of us. Me and the two other girls in the act turned him down, but Miriam… I never caught them going at it, but she put out a vibe, if you know what I mean. And she was furious when he pulled that disappearing act.” Maria shook her head. “I guess she never got over it.”
“Why do you say that?”
“She showed up at the theater during a rehearsal, and they got into an argument. I don’t know what it was about, but she walked by me on the way out, and she didn’t look happy.”
“Do you know where I can find Miss Ross?”
“I might. Let me get my phone.” Maria was gone for five minutes. She had a smile on her face when she came back. “When we were working at the coast, she gave her phone number to us in case we needed something. If she kept it, you can get in touch.”
“Thanks.”
“So you don’t think Turner killed Bobby? I remember how mad he was at the rehearsal.”
“Oh, he was mad, all right, but a lot of people were mad at Mr. Chesterfield.”
“How many of them are master magicians?”
Miriam Ross agreed to meet Jeff at a coffee shop near the downtown building where she worked as an office manager for an engineering firm. Jeff spotted her as soon as she walked in.
“I remember you,” Ross said when Jeff handed her the soy latte he’d offered as a bribe if she would meet with him. “You were with the blond lawyer at Bobby’s rehearsal.”
“I was.”
Ross looked sad. “It was terrible what happened to Bobby.”
“You sound like you really cared for him.”
“I did once.”
“Were you close?”
Ross smiled. “You don’t have to be diplomatic. If you got my number from Maria, I’m sure she told you that Bobby and I had a fling at the coast. He and Claire were a couple in name only, so I never felt guilty.”
“Did you get angry when he took off after the rehearsal?”
“Yeah, but I got over it pretty quickly. Sex with Bobby was good, but I knew it wouldn’t last. Bobby had only one true love—himself—and I knew that from the start.”
“So the affair was just a way to kill time at the coast?”
Again, Ross smiled. “That’s one way to put it.”
“If you disliked Mr. Chesterfield, why did you go to his show?”
“Good question, but there’s a simple answer: After seeing the rehearsals so many times at the coast, I wanted to see if the Chamber of Death worked in front of a real audience.”
“I heard you two got into it at the Imperial during one of the rehearsals.”
Ross raised an eyebrow. “So Maria did gossip. She was always jealous that Bobby was visiting my room at night and not hers.”