“I know you have questions for me,” Nick said. “But before we begin, I’d like to make it clear that my relationship with Miss Maitland lasted for only a couple of weeks. It ended about a month ago. At least, it did on my side.”
“How, exactly, did it end?”
“I admit that things got complicated. Look, Gloria and I had some fun together at first. I met her at a Hollywood party. She was vivacious and very pretty. I made it clear that I was not interested in a serious, long-lasting relationship. At this point in my life I am focused exclusively on my art. I thought she understood that.”
“But she didn’t?”
Nick sighed. “To be honest, I don’t know what Gloria understood. It took me a while to figure out that the woman was not entirely stable.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’ll be blunt. I think she was unhinged. When we first met, she was a lot of fun. But it wasn’t long before she revealed a real talent for high drama. She would cry at the least provocation. She started accusing me of cheating on her. When I reminded her that I had never promised her anything beyond a good time, she threatened to harm herself.”
“Do you think she was serious?”
“I don’t have a clue,” Nick said. “But I made it clear that I was not about to let her manipulate me. I suggested quite strongly that she see a doctor. But that infuriated her. In the end I had to cut things off very forcefully. I told my studio about the situation and I was assured that it would be handled.”
“What did you think the studio would do?”
“I never gave it much thought. I was told that Gloria Maitland would no longer be a problem, and that was the end of it as far as I was concerned. The next thing I knew, she turned up here at the hotel. She threatened to make a scene. I told her to get lost. And now she’s dead.”
“After making an appointment to speak to me.”
“I can’t begin to guess her intentions, Miss Glasson. But I will repeat, the woman was unstable.”
“What do you think happened last night?”
“I think it was an accident, just as the police have concluded,” Nick said. “I suspect that Gloria planned some sort of petty revenge but before she could carry it out, she slipped on the tiles, hit her head, and fell into the pool. I’m sure she had been drinking all evening. She liked her Manhattans.”
“You think you were intended to be the target of her petty revenge?”
“Sure. In her bizarre fantasy world, she concluded that she was a woman scorned. You know what they say. Hell hath no fury.”
“What do you think she planned to tell me?”
“I have no idea,” Nick said. “Whatever it was, I’m sure it was guaranteed to make me look bad.”
“Why do you think she dragged me here to Burning Cove? Why not speak to me in L.A.?”
Nick closed his eyes briefly. When he opened them, she could have sworn she glimpsed some deep, wrenching emotion.
He’s an actor, she reminded herself.
“You want the truth, Miss Glasson? I’ll give it to you. But I’m hoping you won’t print it. As I said, I think she planned to tell you something that would make me look bad. But I have a feeling that she intended to take her own life after she met with you, or, more likely, stage such an attempt. She wanted the whole act to take place here at the Burning Cove Hotel because she knew that I was staying here. She knew that there would be a scandal that could easily damage my reputation. And thanks to that piece you wrote for Whispers, that is exactly what is happening. I’ve become the subject of a lot of baseless rumors and speculation.”
Neatly done, Irene thought. Nick Tremayne was playing his role brilliantly. He had concocted a script that made her look guilty of using the power of the gossip press to hound an innocent man.
It might have worked if she hadn’t found Peggy Hackett’s body a week ago.
She jotted down a few meaningless scribbles in her notebook, aware that Nick was watching intently. When she looked up without warning, he narrowed his eyes a little. She knew he was trying to figure out if he had given a convincing performance.
“That is all very interesting, Mr. Tremayne,” she said. She snapped the notebook closed. “But it leaves me with the same question I had when I agreed to this interview.”
“What?” he asked.
There was an edge on the single word.
“I still have no idea what Gloria Maitland planned to tell me.” She rose from the table. “Now you must excuse me. I have a few more people to interview.”
Nick leaped to his feet. She could have sworn that he started to reach across the table, perhaps to grab her wrist and force her to stay. But in the next heartbeat he had himself under control.