Do I Want To Know?

Chapter 11- What Are You Afraid Of?

   The crash from backstage was loud enough for the whole group to turn their heads, and Bess to jump in surprise.

   "What the hell was that?" Guy demanded, and Nancy was already on the move to check it out. She heard Frank and Joe following her, and glanced around the room to see what suspects could be accounted for. Cedric was still standing next to Guy, and Babs wasn't hard to miss when she was yelling,

   "Don't tell me it's another klieg light!"

   Honey and Clyde were standing wide-eyed next to the craft services table, and so it seemed no one was missing. Nancy would have to see the damage before assuming none of them had anything to do with whatever happened.

   When she made it backstage, she saw a giant sandbag had fallen and crushed a table. It evidently held some props, which were destroyed by the bag as well. Nancy also noticed a stagehand standing frozen next to the scene, most likely grateful it wasn't him who had gotten crushed.

   Frank and Joe had caught up to her, surveying what had happened too. When Guy and Cedric arrived next to them, Joe looked over at the director,

   "Why do you have sandbags on a movie set?" He asked incredulously. Guy rested a hand on his forehead, his face pale white,

   "This place used to be a theater, but it went out of business, so I scooped it up for cheap... We never used the fly system, mostly because we had no need for it... But also because it's faulty." He explained, his words broken. It was clear he felt guilty that supposed faulty equipment had almost crushed one of his crew members. Nancy wasn't entirely convinced it was solely because the fly system was old, especially when she took a closer look at the rope the sandbag had been hanging from.

   Joe stood next to her, examining the rope as well. He looked back at Guy,

   "It's not your fault, Guy. Seems our culprit has a thing for rope-cutting." He said matter-of-factly. Frank went over to the stagehand to make sure he was alright, and soon Bess, George and Callie joined the group again. Once the stagehand was safely out of the way, Frank turned toward all of them,

   "I guess they wanted to make a statement." He was referring to the threat, where it said they wouldn't be afraid to take out the crew along with Guy, if the production didn't stop. Nancy remembered she was still holding the note, which was a bit crumpled in her hand now, but protected by the handkerchief. They might still be able to get a print off of it.

   It was entirely possible one of the suspects had cut the rope, and returned in time to look innocent. But which one?

   "I don't know how much more of this I can take," Guy said through gritted teeth, looking at the Hardys with a desperate expression. They had barely been there a day, but Guy had been going through this for weeks on end. They all knew they had to put a stop to this before something really bad happened.

   "Don't worry Guy, we've got your back. And a few leads we need to follow up on." Nancy said reassuringly to the director. She wanted him to know that they were making progress, so he would hopefully calm down a little. Guy took a few deep breaths, nodding a bit at her. Joe piped in once again,

   "I think I'll run this one for prints properly this time." He held out his hand to Nancy, who gave him the note, handkerchief and all. Joe looked to Guy next,

   "Got anything I might be able to do it with?"

   "...We've got powder?"

   "Good enough. Show me. Bess, you in?" Bess agreed, but she was clearly distracted by Cedric's presence. Joe huffed in annoyance when she asked,