This Old Murder by Valerie Wolzien

Courtney gets at least a half-dozen marriage proposals a year.”
    “Doesn’t surprise me,” Dottie said, joining them. “She’s what every man wants—blond, sexy, and capable of fixing anything that goes wrong around the house.”
    “I’ll bet that young woman with the great body—Jill, I think she said her name was—will be getting fan mail,” Bobby Valentine continued. “She sure fills out a T-shirt nicely.”
    Josie saw a frown forming on Courtney’s face. If she had to make a prediction, she’d guess that Jill was going to be receiving limited airtime. “She’s a good carpenter. That’s all I care about. Speaking of which, we’d better get to work.”
    “We’re ready for you at the back of the house.” Courtney started in that direction as she spoke.
    “What? I was . . . We were . . .”
    “Our cameraman is set up at the end of the dock.”
    Josie was confused. “The show starts out there? I thought—”
    “No. We just want to get a few cover shots while the sun is shining on the bay.”
    Josie looked down at her pants. “I don’t suppose I have time to go home and change?”
    Courtney laughed. “Not only don’t you have time to change, you need to keep those clothes around in case we want shots on either side of this one to match.”
    “You mean everyone has to spend the entire series in the clothing they’re wearing today?”
    “Nope. But you do need to be wearing one thing in each show. We don’t want to be cutting back and forth between shots and discover some sort of fashion show going on. And if you’re going to be changing your clothing, you’ll have to help us out and remember what you’re wearing when. We don’t have a continuity person on the show. This is public television, remember, not Warner Brothers.”
    “But I haven’t even started working and I’m filthy,” Josie protested, looking down at the coffee stains.
    “You’re a carpenter. You’re not supposed to be immaculate. I’m going to check my face and I’ll be back in a few minutes, ” Courtney announced, then turned and headed toward the large trailer Josie had visited yesterday.
    “Remember, Courtney wears work clothes, too,” Bobby Valentine said aloud. But Courtney’s work clothes had been translated into a fashion statement by the likes of Ralph Lauren. She also wore tons of makeup and had recently had her blond hair done. “So let’s get started.”
    “Shouldn’t we wait for Courtney?”
    “Nope. We don’t need her for this.”
    Josie hurried after him. “I don’t understand. I thought this was an interview. You know, that she was going to ask me questions and I’d answer them, and so on.”
    “We already taped her questions. Now we’ll tape your answers.”
    “But how will I know what to say?”
    Bobby Valentine chuckled. “I’ll ask you questions, the same questions we taped Courtney asking. And we’ll tape your answers. It’s the only way we can do this type of thing without multiple cameras. This is public broadcasting, you know, not Turner Broadcasting.”
    “What if I make a mistake? You know, stutter or say something stupid?”
    “We’re not live. Everything will be edited. And no one wants you to look anything but your best.”
    Josie wasn’t so sure of that, but she figured she had to trust someone.
    “And this isn’t a quiz, remember. I’m just going to ask you a bit about your background. The same type of things we’re asking the rest of the crew.”
    “Shouldn’t I have on makeup?”
    “Not unless you’re planning on wearing it while working during the rest of the project. You might want to run a comb through your hair though.”
    She started to search her pockets.
    “Use mine,” he offered, handing her an elegant tortoise-shell model.
    “Thanks.” She scraped it across her unruly curls. “What do you think?”
    He looked at her doubtfully. “Better, I guess. But don’t worry. Our viewers will probably assume it’s windy on the dock.”
    They circled