Hollywood Domination Chapter 256: Signals

"Ohmygod," said Jenny, and she sat down across from Cesare, and said again, "oh—my—god!"

Chesa didn't mock her frivolity, the lines of his face were tighter than ever, while Jim closed the door and found himself a seat at the table, "Yeah, I see what you mean , oh—my—god, this matter can only be described with this word.”

Cesare, Jim, Mary, and Jenny - this is everyone in the United States who knows about this matter, and it is also Jenny's core team. Judy is not present, of course she can be trusted, but with the team The degree of fit is not that high. After all, she has too many clients in her hands. Although Jenny is undoubtedly among the most important ones, she is not the only one.

"Let's sort out the facts again now," Cesare said, turning his hand over and looking at his watch, "We still have... one hour to make up our minds, once this decision is made, there is no going back leeway.”

"Yes." Jenny said, she buried her face deeply in her hands, combed her hair with her fingers, and almost moaned, "Come on, tell me, and torture me again."

"Half an hour ago, we hired two private investigators, let's call them Tom and Jerry," said Jim, obviously Cesare put him in charge of the matter. "Call me. They found the body of Shef Cohen in an empty apartment in the suburbs of London. They took some photos. According to the preliminary judgment, it should have been about ten days since Shef died. If not The weather was cold, and he was wearing the coat he last appeared on the surveillance camera, and it was even difficult for them to tell that the body was Jeff Cohen.”

He hesitated for a moment, then looked at Jenny inquiringly, "Have you seen the photo—Cesare, should we show it to her?"

Before Cesare answered, Jenny rushed to say, "Show me, I want to see—don't treat me like a porcelain doll, Jim."

Jim still looked at Cesare, and he didn't turn the laptop screen to Jenny's eyes until he nodded, and opened a photo in the email. ——Mary glanced at it, immediately turned her head to the side, and made a few nauseating sounds, even the faces of Jim and Cesare couldn't be described as pretty: although people can now conveniently watch "csi" and other American dramas 1. I saw a murder scene in a movie, but that kind of picture can’t match the impact of real photos anyway. Any murder scene that is understated is more disgusting and frightening than the carefully arranged scenes in movies and TV.

Jenny is of course no exception. As soon as her eyes fell on the screen, she had the urge to jump up and run away, but instead of doing this, she had to force herself to accept and analyze the information on the photo: this is an empty apartment , a blurred face...

She covered her mouth, suppressed the feeling of vomiting, skipped the details of the dead man, and turned her eyes to the blood on the side of the corpse-someone was stained with blood, on Shef's body that was beginning to swell Wrote a few lines of somewhat illegible words: "The new movie is very good, I like your red hair style, do you like my gift?"

Jenny really wanted to vomit, she pressed down the lid of the notebook, closed her eyes and gasped for a few breaths, and then barely suppressed her gaffe, anyway, what she saw now was enough for her to understand the situation up.

"This person is the same person who broke into our house at that time," she said with certainty, "except for the handwriting—of course, I am not an expert, but the tone is also very similar."

"The criminal pattern is almost the same, except Shef died and suffered a lot," Jim said. * rights, and broke into your residence, maybe it will make him feel that his territory has been violated... However, the rest of the criminal methods are the same, including writing on the corpse, and you say it Yes, the tone of the words is very similar, and there is no subject in the two messages, so, initially, it can be considered that it is a person."

Although the break-in incident caused an uproar at the time, the police still controlled the details of the case very tightly. This was mainly because they were afraid of inspiring imitators, making it more difficult to solve the case and causing more instability. Therefore, the only people who know the criminal's usual methods are Jenny's team, the American police and the murderer.

"ohgod," said Mary, covering her face, "ohgodohgodohgod—"

"Let's not think about security now," Cesare said in a calm tone, his intention to stabilize people's hearts is very clear, "The problem we have to solve now is: the detectives are having dinner near the apartment, waiting for our decision ——They are all very good insiders, thoughtful and professional. So they did not rush to call the police and are still waiting for our decision.”

"What's our decision?" Mary asked blankly, "What can we do now but call the police?"

She looked around for a while, then covered her mouth, gasped harshly, and murmured, "oh, deargod..."

"This is a decision we have to consider," Cesare said, with no expression on his face. "In a week, you will pass the torch, and in half a month will be the premiere. In August, you may And going to Venice, it's all scheduled - you can't afford to cancel them, let alone next year's Avatar, we're still thinking about the Oscars at the end of the year, if we call the police - —”

He didn't say any more, but the point was clear: If they called the police, it would all be over.

It's one thing for Shef to invade her place for news, but quite another to be killed by her crazy fans because of it. Although his status is incomparable to that of President Reagan, this is still a very bad incident anyway. So bad that Jenny isn't even sure if "Iron Man" will make it to theaters - maybe it will, but it's going to be a hit at the box office, and then of course she'll have to stay out of the public eye at least -

"How long was Judy quiet after Reagan?" she asked.

"Seven years," Cesare replied quickly, "a full seven years. And Hinckley didn't assassinate the president just to 'excuse Judy'."

This is exactly what Jenny is worried about: Assassinating the president in order to attract attention, and assassinating the paparazzi who are against her in order to vent their anger on the stars, the two feel completely different. Dee would still be perceived as a victim by public intuition, and the latter would be very difficult to say. If this incident did not happen to Jenny herself, as a bystander, she would certainly feel that the star involved was very unlucky, but she would also think that it was best for her to avoid the limelight temporarily, at least until this crazy murderer was arrested. Before that, don't make any big moves, otherwise, if her movie fails at the box office, and the murderer goes to kill her enemy, the leading actor at the top box office in the same period, what should I do? In the face of human life, it seems that personal career should be put aside, not to mention that Jennifer Jefferson must have been quite rich in the public perception.

Even if you don't talk about these things, just simply count the influence of the Sheff incident as one-seventh of the Reagan incident-she will have to be silent for at least a year, and this price for Jenny is- — Yes, almost unimaginable!

"Let's not talk about your career," Jim said, his tone slightly anxious. After reading some posts in your forum, it can be clearly seen that after the break-in incident, the number of postings by extremists has increased significantly. I have tracked down some IPs. What is certain is that you are definitely more than one crazy fan, and they all Encouraged by the break-in, you know what I mean? If this comes to light-"

"After the assassination of Reagan, Jodie Foster became the movie star most troubled by crazy fans. Just a few months after the assassination of Reagan, she received another death threat. The other party really carried a gun. Going to the show," Cesare added, "she's been getting a lot of harassing emails over the years, and of course there was the email bomb from her fans three years ago. John Hinckley made so much noise that Her fans have been greatly encouraged, and it can even be said that there is an extra impetus to make trouble. So we must also consider your personal safety after the police and the media get involved.”

Jenny knocked her head on the edge of the table and made a muffled sound, but now, because her emotions were completely overloaded, as if she had been completely short-circuited, she calmed down instead, "So, our people discovered the corpse first but it was ours Fortunately, otherwise all this is completely irreparable. My acting career, our company-Dream has not yet reached the point where it can flourish without my acting-"

Mary looked terrified, and Jim kept wiping sweat from his face, hands, neck, all over his body, and Cesare looked like—Jenny didn't know how to describe it , but he does look very serious, serious to the point of being a little scary.

"So the only way now, it seems, is to cover up this matter." She concluded, "Is it? For our own interests to violate—"

She swallowed, "Law?"

The word hangs in the air, looking heavy, and the unspoken words flutter in the air along with it: Are we really crazy to this point? Are we really selfish and bold to this extent? No matter how many excuses there are, this is after all a trampling and destruction of the law and the bottom line-this decision is like a very heavy fall. Although it seems reasonable, Jenny still feels that she and even the whole team will pay a lot for it. heavy price.

"First of all, vandalizing a crime scene is not a felony," said Cesare, who appeared to have given the matter much thought. Neither the American nor the British police have any idea of ​​the man's movements. Assuming the victim is not an important figure like Reagan, I don't think they have a chance to find the murderer—basically, the information our detectives have is just that. They are similar to them, or even less, but as you can see, they found the body first, and they still have the leisure to go out for a night out and wait for our decision. So, I really don’t think doing so will hinder the implementation of justice, I think we should have a consensus on this point: concealing information from the police will not harm the interests of the late Shef Cohen. On the contrary, providing information to the police may harm his interests. After all, this case cannot be avoided. The involvement of the media, and this is not only a warning to the murderer, but also interferes with the detective's convenience in solving the case."

It is always easy to find reasons for yourself, and Jenny has to admit that, just like the measures Cesare once wanted to take after the break-in incident, the whole thing is not clear. Of course, logically speaking, any citizen should choose to believe in the police and justice, but the fact is that a few years have passed, and the police have never caught the murderer, and even let him go to the UK to kill someone. It can be seen that the police are not representatives of justice in this matter, on the contrary, they should be regarded as a stumbling block to justice, at least a pig teammate.

Once the police are reported, the news will definitely be leaked to the media, and Jenny will start to pay a high price for the incident for which she has no responsibility because of media violence. If you become a big shot, you will fall from the peak of your career overnight because of these two factors, and it is hard to say that there is even a chance to get back up. The promotion of "Iron Man" and "Avatar" will deliberately ignore her. "Monroe", her Monroe, and the elaborate finished product that she spent so long and so much effort on making, may not be made public. opportunity to issue. Big dream, the crystallization of her dream and long-term plan, the company cultivated by sacrificing many personal interests, will lose most of its bargaining chips and initiative in business negotiations-all because a madman is infatuated with her and wants to Use various means to dominate and hurt her.

This feeling of resentment and injustice is even stronger than the sense of fear. Jenny feels like a diligent farmer. —not even a robber—is taking advantage of the loopholes in her own conscience and the rules of society, gleefully trying to rob everything. Relying on his own shamelessness and madness, he wanted to take her away and destroy her.

Under the dominance of such emotions, it is difficult for a person to control himself. Against the tide of emotions, Jenny thought: Do you think that you are strong enough if you are crazy and shameless enough? Do you think that others can't do anything about you? Don't be silly, I have too many ways to make you unable to do what you want, I have too many ways to destroy you and your dreams, you want to be famous in the world, in order to gain my favor, even at the price of your life No matter what—then I will let you die silently, let you die unwillingly, yes, you killed a person, but no one will know, and no one will care, you will die as if A bedbug——

She was suddenly frightened by her own thoughts. Jenny took a breath and returned to reality. She looked around, as if she was asking for help—she really needed some help at this time—

However, both Mary and Jim seem to be a bit overwhelmed now. In the end, Jenny's eyes still met with Cesare's. Cesare still looked so serious, and he seemed to abandon all personal feelings. Outside, however, Jenny had the feeling that she and Cesare were both thinking the same thing now—a year and a half ago, their conversation about the intruder, about Karen, about the bottom line, about the private eye. Discussion——she knew that now, Cesare and she were back before this choice, but this time, the situation they faced was more severe, and the choice seemed to be more and more obvious and urgent.

All multinational companies have some special departments...

There are some things you have to understand, but you can also choose not to ask, because fortunately, Dameng is a company of two people.

In any case, the choice is yours.

She and Cesare looked at each other for a while, but there was no emotion in the other's blue eyes, and Jenny didn't know what kind of expression she was showing. She hesitated to speak, but when she opened her mouth, she realized that I wasn't ready at all.

"You still remember what I said," Cesare suddenly broke the silence, he maintained eye contact with Jenny, his tone did not fluctuate, "Dream is the company of two people, Jefferson, I am not only you partner—and also your agent.”

His hint made Mary breathe a sigh of relief, but Jim was taken aback. What it means to choose.

There is no precedent, at least not in the cases she knows. This matter is different from dealing with drug addiction, prostitution, and asset disputes for celebrities, and even different from handling cases of fights and homicides for celebrities. In this case, the agent should How much responsibility she had to bear, but there was no doubt that this matter was of great importance, and now that Cesare was telling her that he was willing to carry it, she could get out, even if she wanted to. Pretending to be ignorant from now on—literally true, if she walks out now, even if something happens in the future and this conversation is taken to court, it will prove nothing and hold her accountable .

And this prompted Jenny to finally make up her mind.

"But Dameng is a company of two people." She said, categorically, "We should face all this together."

She turned her head and glanced at Mary, "You go out, Mary—Jim, if you want, you can go out too."

Mary's face turned pale immediately. It seemed that she was not hurt because she was not trusted—no, she was more frightened because she knew Jenny's plan.

"Jane—" she said almost pleadingly, "you—this is a murder after all!"

"These are two murders." Jenny said unmoved, once she made up her mind, she wouldn't let herself retreat. "One has ended, a cruel, deliberate murder against me is still going on, and what we are going to do, if I say it, can be classified as self-defense."

She was full of confidence and courage, and her tone could almost be called cold, but it seemed to have given some encouragement to Jim. His back straightened, and his expression was no longer panicked. In fact, he was returning quickly Come to your own working state.

"You'd better go out and wait, Mary." He said in a persuasive tone, "This matter has nothing to do with you - just like Jenny said, this is a matter of Dameng, and it should be handled by Dameng's partner. People handle it.”

Cesare remained silent, while Mary looked around with an extremely complicated expression. After a while, she gritted her teeth and said with determination. "No."

She folded her hands, raised her chin, and said stubbornly, "I want to stay too——I want to stay."

Jenny exchanged glances with Cesare and Jim, then nodded, "OK, if you want."

"We don't have much time, you have to leave for the consulate within twenty minutes." Cesare looked at his watch again and said remindingly, "Now that we understand the disadvantages of calling the police, I must remind you You, Jenny, covering up this matter is by no means done once and for all, it can suppress the crisis at this moment, but it does not mean that the crisis will not come back with a more violent posture one day."

Jim said, "Chesa, if you're worried about Tom and Jerry—"

"No, I'm not worried about the two of them. They have been in this industry for more than ten years." Cesare said, "As far as I know, many big companies have approached them to solve their problems. I'm not worried about them. Blackmail something, or leak information. Anyway, it's not serious - they never let themselves go too deep into the line, but put themselves in danger. Stealing, breaking into houses... these light Sin doesn't matter to them, it doesn't matter to the company, even if they were in trouble, they wouldn't blackmail customers into asking for help. Even if they would, we wouldn't be the first customers they found, before us There are a lot of big companies, not to mention, they know how close our relationship with Disney is...they won't be a problem."

It seemed unnecessary for him to say so much, but such a detailed explanation somewhat calmed Jenny's mood and allowed her to regain some sense of security. She couldn't wait to ask, "Then what will be the real trouble?" ?”

Needless to say, Mary has probably just regained her sanity and is unable to provide any constructive advice at all. Jim is slightly better, but reasoning is not his specialty. Jenny has a feeling that everyone is relying on Cesare now, and his calmness and "knowledge" have become the pillars of the entire team: as long as Cesare is around , the train will not derail, and there will never be any trouble that cannot be solved.

"The murderer," said Cesare, pursing his lips so that for a moment he looked like a deeply chiseled sculpture—he paused before saying, "Now we have several Option one, we let the detectives leave the scene and not report to the police, it seems that scotland yard has almost no chance of catching Shef before he is completely rotten, because it is very obvious that a reporter who jumped bail with a 6 year sentence It's not very harmful, and they hardly pay attention to it."

This is exactly Jenny’s thinking: it’s already April, and the temperature in Britain will rise soon, and the corpse may be found after it rots, but no matter how you look at it, it’s impossible to preserve the bloodstains until then, so The possibility that this case has something to do with her is not too great. If you're lucky and the body is so rotten that you can't tell its identity when it is found, then this matter has nothing to do with her at all, and to be precise, the team, including the detectives, did not break the law, they just didn't say it, and it didn't really matter. what did you do.

"But if this is the case, there is a risk after all, because this time he used blood to write the words, so he even changed him into a white T-shirt that was not stained with blood." Cesare said, "The Rumillo reaction will make everything go away, if someone thinks of doing this experiment, it's all over, so we can't let them go, we have to let them take the dress, so they will have more The clues can be traced."

No one can refute him, Mary may be searching for Lumino's reaction, but Jenny's knowledge reserve in this area is enough for her to understand what Cesare is talking about, she nodded, "OK? And this also means ——"

She understood, "It means that even if we catch the murderer, we can't send it to the police to testify that he was the murderer of Shef."

"Yeah, if we don't testify, he'll just go to jail for a few months for a misdemeanor burglary, which doesn't help, and if we testify against him, we're digging our own grave, not just The crisis we are trying to avoid will explode and we will all be prosecuted for obstruction of justice," Cesare said. Catch him as soon as possible, because it is still risky to let him wander outside."

"You mean, is there a risk that someone wants to kill Jenny?" Mary seemed to want to joke, "There is a risk that she might die at any time?"

Cesare's icy eyes moved to her face, "No, I'm talking about the risk of him claiming responsibility for Shef's death."

The room suddenly fell into silence: Although none of them are policemen, the murderer's character is quite obvious. He likes to grandstanding, otherwise he wouldn't have made such a dramatic 'beheading show of love' death threat, if After Scheff's body was found, the police did not mention his existence for a long time. It is really hard to say whether he will write a letter claiming that he is a crazy fan who threatened Jennifer and is responsible for this case.

Even, if you think about it deeply, if Shaf's body has not been found for a long time, will he return to the scene of the crime, and then find that the information he left has been erased, and do it in a rage? Something crazier?

"I understand what you mean, this is not a perfect choice." Jenny said, ordering her emotions—be it panic or anything else, stay where you should be, and don't come out to disrupt the situation, " But we can only accept the risks - we have no better choice."

"Of course, even if he comes out and claims responsibility, we're not likely to get caught up in the trouble of destroying the scene, at most it's a little suspicious," Jim added, "it's a good deal to say-anyway The bad thing is that the crisis broke out, so we at least have some hope, if we are lucky, we can get out of the body, keep our ass, and maybe even get some benefits."

"Draw benefits from this black swan incident?" Jenny frowned, and said wearily, "I dare not think so in my dreams, I'm overjoyed if I can keep myself—Mary, we should go, we can't Keeping the consul waiting too long."

Several people stood up, Mary lowered her head and began to pack her things, Cesare said, "Jenny—do you understand what I said? We can't let him be caught by the police."

Jenny and him looked at each other for a moment, and she felt that Cesare's eyes seemed to be shaken—the mask he put on his own eyes, that layer of camouflage, seemed to be breaking, as if he was also concerned about this decision. A little uncertain, as if he somehow wanted her to object—

Before his eyes aroused her emotions—before her sensibility had time to strike back, Jenny lowered her head, broke eye contact, and said clearly and numbly, "I know what you mean, Cesare—and this It was a joint decision between the two of us."

#

"...So, then you will be the 35th bat, holding the torch and running across the section before the San Francisco Bridge," the Olympic official who came from San Francisco at the Chinese Consulate General in Los Angeles said in standard English, Smiling, he introduced to Jennifer Jefferson, the biggest torchbearer in the American torch station, "In that way we can take some very valuable photos——yes, when the time comes, you can run over with this posture, Very beautiful, of course, the clothes will definitely need some modification..."

"Is that so?" Jennifer posed several poses vigorously and cooperatively, and her professional and beautiful running posture immediately attracted applause from the officials, "That's right, running like this must be very vigorous! You are so beautiful Smart."

Although this is a bit too enthusiastic, but for the support of a heavyweight American movie star, the hospitable Chinese people are more courteous, which is of course reasonable. The rare thing is that Jennifer doesn't seem to get carried away by these compliments. She also smiled in response, and said apologetically, "If possible, I really want to stay a little longer, but a new movie is about to be released, and I am really too busy."

"Of course, of course, your willingness to be the torchbearer is already a great support," the Consul General hurriedly shook hands with Jennifer to bid farewell. He had a good impression of this modest and low-key star. The movie has a lot to do with it, "I believe this will be a good story, and I look forward to seeing you in San Francisco."

Being able to participate in the Olympic torch relay as a torch bearer is indeed an honor for ordinary people, and this also means that Jennifer Jefferson, a very popular movie star in the United States, will be in the upcoming public opinion battle Standing on China's side, this is excellent news for the consulate that has received some news. Even some relevant departments in Beijing have issued instructions to pay special attention to the introduction of Jennifer Jefferson. The movie, including the matter of her coming to the Olympic opening ceremony, should also be included in the promotional materials, and whether to promote it will be considered according to the situation. Of course, her seat was also arranged to have a better view and a more central location. , the area closer to the dignitaries, in general, for the consuls who have had enough cold reception and protests overseas, this cooperation with mainstream stars is indeed a rare story, and maybe even a better cooperation relationship The beginning of - and he also thinks that Jennifer. Jefferson is very worthy of a generous return.

"Thank you, thank you," I don't know if it was his illusion, but Jennifer Jefferson seems to be very familiar with Chinese social etiquette, and there is no sense of cultural difference when communicating with her. When they walked to the door, Jennifer stood still, and said, "No need to send it off, I can get in the car by myself."——while making a blocking movement, this is the standard gesture in China for asking the owner to stay.

"Then I wish your new movie success," the Consul General also took advantage of the situation and stopped his steps: Although the other party has a special status, foreign affairs etiquette must be followed, and it is really not suitable for him to send it too far. "Have a nice day too."

Jennifer Jefferson laughed happily, shook hands with the Consul General again, and then briskly led her assistant and makeup artist to the door. The Consul General stood at the door, watching her back, thinking about how he should word some phone calls: the other party was so knowledgeable and interesting, which made him take a higher look at this blonde girl. It seemed that she was by no means the kind On the contrary, Jennifer Jefferson is an upstart who has reached the sky in one step. Jennifer Jefferson is a very well-educated, knowledgeable, high-quality talent with great cooperation value. If nothing else, she is in such a busy schedule , can treat her collaborators so happily and patiently, even more amiable than her assistant, which shows how rare she is...

Unbeknownst to the Consul General, the smile on Jennifer Jefferson's face disappeared without a trace almost as soon as she got into the car. The assistant is as terrifying as the assistant, and the atmosphere in the car is also uncharacteristically, the silence is no longer pleasant, but full of unknown tension. Neither Jenny nor Mary took out their mobile phones. Instead, they stared straight ahead, and their thoughts had already sunk into some corner.

It was not until the car drove out of the consulate that Jenny broke the silence.

"By the end of the year..." she said softly, however, after realizing how weak her voice was, she quickly amplified the volume and put in more effort, "By the end of the year, I will give away the shares of Dameng Some of you, maybe not as many as Jim..."

Mary shook her head.

"Don't," she said, "just, don't."

"Mary," Jenny said softly, "I'm not trying to bribe you—"

"I know." Mary gave her a look, "but I'm not doing it for something in return."

"Okay..." Jenny said, she knew that she had better not ask any more questions—maybe hurting Mary's feelings by asking one more question at this time, but she still couldn't help being curious, "Then what is your reason?"

"Loyalty." Mary said without thinking, "Friendship..."

She thought for a while, and her tone was a little uncertain, "Sense of justice... I don't know, the most simple sense of justice, I hope that bad people will be punished, and good people will not be implicated..."

Her voice lowered, but quickly became firm again, "If this is inconsistent with the law and social reality, then the law is wrong, and the reality is also wrong."

Jenny looked at Mary, she couldn't help smiling, and held out a hand to Mary, "Oh, dear Mary."

Mary held her hand, turned her head to look at her, her still fleshy face looked very serious.

"And sympathy," she said, looking at Jenny almost pityingly and tenderly, "yes, there is sympathy... remember what I said to you? I'm gone now."

She said, "Actually, if I had to choose, I would rather pay anything than be you... You are so lonely and helpless, Jane, you have carried so much burden, but The world is still pouring storms on you, and I'm just—I can't do anything, but I still want to give you a little support."

In the shaking car, Jenny stared at Mary, staring at the unabashed sincerity on her face, she slowly revealed a smile.

"Thank you, Marie," she said, "but you are wrong, I am not alone, I have you, I have Cesare, I have Jim... I know that no matter what happens, I can count on You."

The dark clouds that shrouded the carriage, those confusions and fears—multiple fears, doubts, and guilt emotions—slowly faded away. The two girls looked at each other for a while, as if they were both a little embarrassed, and they retracted tacitly. Looking away, Mary let out a series of nervous laughter.

"I guess we'll have to wait for that boot to hit the ground for the next while—I'll have to make some appointments with my therapist," she said in a gossiping, homely tone, clearly trying to Adjust the mood, "How about you, Jane?"

Jenny held her forehead and looked at the slowly changing scenery outside the car window. When she heard Mary's question, she nodded and leaned her head on the back of the chair.

"Yes," she said, "I need you to make an appointment with Maggie Johnson..."