looking curiously at his empty cup.
âIâm on this new project, and the hours are intense. I was up all night!â he explained.
âWell, Iâll make this quick,â I said with a smile. Close up, I could see the physical effects of Ronanâs sleeplessness; his glasses actually magnified the deep rings under his eyes.
âBy the way, itâs such a small world. I realized Iâm friends with another filmmaker from your graduating class, Alex Burgess,â I began, curious to see Ronanâs reaction to hearing Alexâs name.
âAlex . . . ,â Ronan sputtered, clearly nervous. âYou should have mentioned that on the phone.â
âWhy?â I asked.
Ronan paused. âHeâs a great guy. Talented, too,â he went on, âbut weâve had . . . differences . . . in the past.â
âOh?â I said innocently, hoping to get him talking.
âOff the record . . . ,â he began.
âYes, of course,â I promised.
âAlex and I used to be writing partners. To make a long story short, it ended because I tried to take credit for something that he wrote.â He sighed. âIâm not proud of it, but Alex is a better writer than me, and that made me crazy. I would work the same number of hours as he didâsometimes moreâbut couldnât come up with a single premise. Meanwhile, Alex could generate a hundred ideas in just fifteen minutes.â
âThat must have been frustrating,â I said. âAre you friends now?â
Ronan shook his head. âHe hates me. I understand why, but . . . we were friends for a long time before moving to Los Angeles.â Ronanâs eyes misted over. âI wish we could put this behind us, but he refuses to speak to me.â
âHave you tried to contact him since youâve been in River Heights?â I pressed. âYou know heâs also here shooting The Hamilton Inn , right?â
âYeah, I know. Anyway, thatâs enough about Alex,â Ronan declared. âYou want to know about what Iâm doing now, right?â
âYes, of course!â I exclaimed. âWhat is this mystery project thatâs keeping you up at all hours?â
âIâm not writing anymore. Iâm an editor now,â he said proudly.
âWhat does that entail?â
âThe editor gets all the film footage from the set, then assembles it in the correct order to make the final movie. Itâs like putting together a puzzle! After that,we add the music and the titles, making the film look like what you see in the theater. They say that a director gets to make his or her film three times: once during the writing process, once while filming, and then again in the editing room.â I could tell how excited Ronan was with his new choice of career. âIâm also doing visual effects, which is something Iâve always been interested in,â he added.
âAre you working on a feature right now?â I asked.
Ronanâs phone beeped, and he glanced down to read it.
âItâs a documentary, actually,â he replied. âIn fact, I should be getting back to work now. Was that enough information for you?â
âYes, thank you. Iâll call if I have any other questions,â I said. He pulled some bills from his wallet, then paused.
âDoes Alex know youâre meeting with me?â
âI havenât mentioned it to him,â I answered. âDo you not want me to?â
âOh, no. Itâs fine. Just tell him . . . tell him Iâmsorry,â Ronan mumbled, and scurried out into the parking lot. Heâs in a hurry, I thought as I watched Ronanâs banged-up red car chug toward the traffic on Main Street.
As I drove back to the set, I grew increasingly skeptical about Ronan. He was an obvious suspectâa former rival who had been, and maybe still was,
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