Part Three of Mystery #29: Stacey and the Fashion Victim (Chapters 7-10)
Chapters 1-3 Chapters 4-6
Let's see if I can do this without wanting to throw something. Deep breaths, deep breaths...
It's Chapter 7! And another modeling session! And no kids going on about smoking! Yeah!
...
...Anyway, Stacey heads over to Bellair's (Outfit! "I’d narrowed my choices down to a pink wool jumper, a plaid skirt and white shirt, and a navy blue suit with tailored pants. Then I’d modeled each outfit for my mom, and together we’d decided on the pink jumper, with the white shirt from the other outfit." IDK, I'd've worn the suit, but I'm not a model.) to get ready for the photo shoot. All of her efforts to look nice are for naught, however, because she gets new makeup ("Then [the makeup artist] slapped on about a ton of her own makeup, including foundation, powder, eye shadow, lip liner, and gloss, and plenty of blush. This makeup job was a lot heavier than the one I’d had for the show. I could barely face myself in the mirror when she was done. I thought I looked awful." I guess the makeup gun was set on "Whore," then.), a new hairdo ("My hair was teased and tossed until it looked as if I’d slept on it for a week."), and new clothes to model (And as an aside, I do agree with her on one point--platform shoes are kinda clunky).
The shoot goes well, though it's quite long ("[F]or every finished shot, the photographer probably used three rolls of film. And before he could even take a single picture, he had to reposition the lights [or rather, his assistant had to], load the camera [or tell his assistant to load it], and take some Polaroids to see whether the setup was correct [and give them to his assistant to hold].). After her photos are taken, Stacey is walking back to the dressing room (she needs to eat something) when she hears Blaine yell "Oh, no! This is so creepy! Who would do a thing like this?" The problem? A pajama top she was going to model was shredded with a pair of scissors. DUN DUN DUN, end of chapter.
(Oh, and before I begin Chapter 8, I just have to mention this Claudia outfit: "She was wearing one of her 'working artist' outfits: a pair of white jeans with drips and squiggles of colorful paint all over them, a smock-like denim shirt, her favorite red hightop sneakers, and a hairdo that said 'creative'-a loose bun held in place by two red lacquered chopsticks." OK, A: Why is she going to a public place wearing jeans with paint on them? and B: That hairdo does not say "creative." It says "I love to put utensils in my hair 'cause I'm so goddamn funky! Look at my badass hairdo!")
On to Chapter 8! The pajama top wasn't the only thing that was shredded: "Sydney’s red-and-white checked flannel robe was shredded too, and so was Harmony’s tie-dyed baby-doll nightie." Oh, "and the three pairs of bunny slippers the girls were supposed to wear? You don’t even want to hear about what was done to those poor things." My mind is going to all sorts of places, but since this book was written for children, I'll refrain from mentioning them. Uh, anyway, Stacey "had the peculiar feeling that [Harmony] might actually know who had cut up her clothes-and that it was the same person who had poisoned her." Good feeling, Stace.
A bit later, Claudia has a new suspect: Dylan Trueheart, Cokie's agent. Why is he suspicious? "He’s always lurking around. You’ve probably seen him. He’s that guy with the black ponytail and the mirrored sunglasses? And he seems to know everything about all the models." And why would he put poison in a cup of tea and shred up clothes? "Maybe he’s trying to make the other models look bad, so Cokie-his client-looks good in comparison." Stacey isn't convinced. I'm not either, but I know who the suspect is, so...
Stacey goes to the bathroom to calm down (she's a bit shaky--and I won't snark that. I'd be creeped out, too.). Then she sees a message written (in lipstick) on the mirror: "MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL, WHO WILL BE THE NEXT TO FALL?" Cokie walks in and asks "Who is doing this?" Stacey replies, "I don’t know. But I’m going to find out." Super Sophisticated Detective McGill is on the case! She'll use her powers of being a snot and having diabetes to get the bottom of any mystery! Er, sorry, I had a moment there.
The pranks continue for the rest of the day and the next day. I'll list them:
- "Eight rolls of film had been exposed-which meant that half a day’s work was wasted."
- A spider (let's hope it's rubber, because if that spider was real...oy) was put into a model's shoe
- Blaine was locked in the freight elevator.
- Harmony fell off the catwalk after a bright light flashed in her eyes (She blamed it on her shoes, but Stacey saw the flash).
- A model got a rash after applying some foundation.
- More notes were written in various places: "PRETTY IS AS PRETTY DOES, UNTIL PRETTY DIES!" (written with an eyebrow pencil) on the schedule posted on the dressing room, 'BEAUTY KILLS" traced in face powder on a dressing table and "MODEL BEHAVIOR CAN BE HAZARDOUS TO YOUR HEALTH." written with lip liner in the bathroom.
Mrs. Maslin tells the models that she'll do her best to keep them safe, and that they should report any suspicious behavior to her. Later, while having dinner (Chinese takeout), Stacey considers quitting, but after she opens a fortune cookie and reads the fortune (" YOU WILL KNOW THE ANSWER SOON." I guess they hadn't opened the "STAY WITH YOUR WIFE" barrel.), she's determined to solve the mystery.
On to Chapter 9! Oh, fuck me, it's the subplot again. OK, I'll summarize: Kristy gets one of her Great Ideas (yup, it's capitalized in the book): the Great Stoneybrook Smokeout! That's actually a good idea, but I don't care. I'm moving on.
It's Chapter 10, yay! Detective McGill gets to work by watching the drinks table (the woman in charge left to go get more diet soda--the models love drinking it). Harmony walks over, and Stacey offers her some tea. Harmony passes on that ("I don’t know if I’ll ever drink tea again.") and Stacey gives her a bottle of juice instead. Harmony thanks Stacey and leaves, Stacey notices that Harmony seems "listless".
Sydney is the next one to walk over the table--she, too, refuses the tea and gets water. Blaine, Cokie and Cynthia walk by later (in that order) and grab diet sodas (Stacey notes that "not one of them seemed tempted by tea." Uh, hello?! It's perfectly understandable that they would be wary of the tea! And speaking of which, I think I'll make a cup after I finish this.). Blaine and Cokie leave, then Cynthia asks if she can talk to Stacey (which is fine with her). Cynthia confesses (that's not the best word, but I'll run with it) that she is having doubts about continuing her modeling career. Stacey suggests that Cynthia take a break (she's only 16, after all). They chat for some time, and Stacey says that she'd begun to make a new friend.
Oh, joy, a mystery notebook entry "Well, I spent all my time wacthing Mr. Im-The-Bosse’s-Son, and I can tell you one thing for shur. He may not be our prime suspect, but hes defenetly a prime jerk." Oh, Claud. Will you ever learn to spell? Anyway, Roger Bellair is off the suspect list--he's a jerk, but it's not likely that he's responsible.
Another entry? Ugh. "Okay. I admit I was fooled. But wouldn’t you be, if you saw all those secret conferences going on?" At least Mary Anne knows how to spell. Where was I? Oh, right. Dylan Trueheart is also off the suspect list--he just wants to be sure that his clients are "treated well."
Oh God, really, another entry?! "I found it! I found it! I found it! Did I mention that I found it?" Y'know, I think Mallory found something, but I can't be sure. Can you clarify, Mal? Anyway, what she found was important in solving the mystery--she found the scissors used to shred the clothes ("They were junky old scissors, spotted with what looked like pink paint and patches of rust, but they were very sharp."). But how can we be sure that these scissors are--oh, they also have flannel on them. Fair enough.
And that concludes Part 3! I'll recap the last five chapters in a few days.