text: [Themes: Mystery]
  
  > look around
  It wouldn't be the hardest thing in the world to get lost back here among the soundstages, each of them nearly identical to the next
  except for the identifying number stenciled on it in faded white
  paint. If you keep going straight to the north, eventually you'll get to the main building. Or you could turn around and head back to the parking lot. More buildings of an administrative flavor are over to the west.
  
  > go west
  that one day they'll end up working in the other building. Not that this building is bad--not that it's a fire hazard or anything like that--although the budget allocated for repairs to the roof probably went into new oak paneling inside the main building. And maybe this place someone like you could at least get into. Probably just by leaving the shade of this tree and climbing up the set of three stairs that leads to the door.
  
  > Go up
  You could plunk yourself down in one of the two comfy-looking high-backed chairs while waiting for someone. The minty-blue hospital tint to the walls could take some getting used to, though. A hallway of office doors extends to the west, or you can go back outside to the south.
  The building's receptionist is sitting at her desk. Her nameplate
  says her name is Anne.
  
  The phone rings. Anne answers it and takes down a message.
  
  > ask Anne about Fina
  "Who shall I say is here?" Anne asks, looking you up and down. "Um...forget it. I'll just buzz him." She punches a couple of
  buttons on her phone and speaks very briefly into it before hanging
  up.
  
  > Go west
  Now, seeing as you don't know your way around here, the best you can hope for is to wind up wandering the halls and maybe getting security called on you. Better to wait here if there's someone you need to
  see.
  
  > ask Anne about Cindy
  "I think it's horrible what happened to her! I was so upset when I heard--I didn't know her, though." Anne looks at you. "What do you have to do with it? Is that why you're here?"
  
  > Yes
  That was a rhetorical question. (Although you sound rather positive.)
  
  > ask Anne about Fina
  "I just called him for you." She seems a little annoyed with your impatience. "You're welcome to have a seat."
  
  > ask Anne about Anne
  Anne looks at you in a way that says, hey, I'm just the receptionist--I'm not bothering you, am I?
  
  Stuart Fina appears from somewhere down the hallway. He obviously doesn't recognize you, but he manages to greet you with one of those practised smiles that suggests you're the best thing that's happened
  to him all day. "Hi there. Stuart Fina."
  
  > ask Fina about Cindy
  "Yeah, well, geez..." Stuart trails off, shaking his head. "God, I really don't know what to say...I mean it's terrible, absolutely terrible. She had such a bright future. She was going to be a huge star. Her picture, the one she was doing with us--it's going to be a hit. A huge hit. When people see it they're going to think
  about James Dean and Marilyn Monroe and all wonder 'What if...?'"
  
  > ask Fina about the movie
  "Oh, it's going to be a big, big hit. It's testing through the roof--test audiences are just loving it. Cindy's perfect in it: this sweet, adorable girl plotting all these terrible ways to kill her cheating lover." Stuart sighs heavily. "It just makes what happens
  to Cindy that much sadder...that much more of a tragedy."
  
  > ask Fina about Milt
  "Milt? I idolize Milt," Stuart says. "You know what he is in this business? The godfather. The king. Milt talks and people don't even question it. If there's one guy you don't want to look like an idiot in front of it's Milt Walker."
  
  > drive to the apartment
  You drive south to National Blvd. and pull over to the curb next to Cindy Painter's apartment building.
  
  National Boulevard, in your cousin's Volvo
  The sidewalk leads south from the street to Cindy Painter's
  building, which is a three-story apartment complex. Maybe it's not Beverly Hills, but you know, it's not bad. National extends to the east, and also to the west before curving away to the north.
  
  > go to the south
  The sidewalk leads south from the street and under the thick
  greenery hanging lazily from a concrete overhang to the base of the stairs leading up.
  
  > Go upwards
  apartment. At least you assume it's hers on account of all the yellow "POLICE LINE--DO NOT CROSS" tape crisscrossing the door, which is closed. The doors to the other apartments are closed, too. You can
  go back down to the ground from here.
  
  > enter the apartment
  You unlock the door and go in, ducking under the tape and closing the door quietly behind you.
  
  (Now keep in mind that this is a crime scene, and you may want to be fairly judicious about what you disturb--or at least leave disturbed.)
  
  Rather sparsely decorated: a fairly new sofa sitting in the middle
  of the hardwood floor commands your attention. There's a television
  in the corner. The sole bedroom is to the north. East takes you into the kitchen, or you can go back out into the stairwell.
  
  > examine the sofa
  The sofa is cloth-covered, off-white, relatively new, low almost to
  the floor, and not the cheapest you could possibly find.
  
  > look under the sofa
  A cassette tape is half-sticking out from under the sofa, probably overlooked by the police.
  
  > get the tape
  Taken.
  
  > examine tape
  Handwritten on the cassette label is "New Songs - May 15". If the the tape player in the Volvo worked, you'd even be able to give it a listen. The contact address on the tape is in Santa Monica.
  
  > examine the television
  The fairly expensive television is sitting on the floor in the way in of a fairly expensive television just purchased by someone who has yet to buy a nice wall-unit for it. The TV is turned off.
  
  > go north
  Not a good idea: everything in the bedroom has been covered with plastic--presumably to protect the crime scene from contamination--so you'd be best not to go tromping around all over it.
  
  > Go east
  Refrigerator, stove, sink, kitchen window. An empty carton of grapefruit juice sitting on the counter. The living room is back out to the west.
  
  > examine the fridge
  Done in the same style and color as the stove: part of a matching
  set. The fridge is closed.
  
  > open the fridge
  Opened.
  
  > look in the fridge
  The refrigerator is curiously empty of anything edible.
  
  > close the fridge
  Closed.
  
  > look through the window
  Through the window you can see behind the building, where a narrow alley plays host to a garbage dumpster.
  
  > examine the sink
  It's pretty much your average stainless-steel kitchen sink and faucet combo. Entirely appropriate for washing dishes or rinsing vegetables or anything like that. The boring tangle of plumbing is likely concealed in the cupboard beneath the sink.
  
  > search the cupboard
  The cupboard is closed.
  
  > open the cupboard
  Opened.
  
  You can see the kitchen sink's plumbing in the cupboard.
  Various cleaning supplies--rags, cleansers, disinfectants, etc.--are tucked away in the cupboard in the space around and behind the plumbing.
  
  > search the cupboard
  You can see the kitchen sink's plumbing in the cupboard.
  Various cleaning supplies--rags, cleansers, disinfectants, etc.--are tucked away in the cupboard in the space around and behind the plumbing.
  
  > Search rags
  You find a box of garbage bags tucked away behind the pipes.
  
  > Inventory
  You are carrying an envelope, your cousin's car keys, a police report, Cindy Painter's apartment key, and a cassette tape. Inside the envelope are a small note and a studio pass.
  
  > take the bags
  Taken.
  
  > open the stove
  You're either hungry or you've suddenly been struck by the urge to cook. Neither is really what you should be thinking about right now.
  
  > close the cupboard
  Closed.
  
  > Go west
  Rather sparsely decorated: a fairly new sofa sitting in the middle
  of the hardwood floor commands your attention. There's a television
  in the corner. The sole bedroom is to the north. East takes you into the kitchen, or you can go back out into the stairwell.
  
  > go outside
  You go out, ducking under the police tape before closing and locking the door behind you again.
  
  apartment. At least you assume it's hers on account of all the yellow "POLICE LINE--DO NOT CROSS" tape crisscrossing the door, which is closed. The doors to the other apartments are closed, too. You can
  go back down to the ground from here.
  
  > Go north
  building, which is a three-story apartment complex. Maybe it's not Beverly Hills, but you know, it's not bad. National extends to the east, and also to the west before curving away to the north.
  Your cousin's Volvo is parked here.
  
  > Lock apartment
  It's already locked.
  
  > go north
  You unlock the door and go in, ducking under the tape and closing the door quietly behind you.
  
  Rather sparsely decorated: a fairly new sofa sitting in the middle
  of the hardwood floor commands your attention. There's a television
  in the corner. The sole bedroom is to the north. East takes you into the kitchen, or you can go back out into the stairwell.
  
  > go east
  Going east will just get you further away from your car and where you want to be.
  
  > go west
  Going west will just take you past the back of the building to the south, away from your car and where you want to be.
  
  > examine the bags
  The garbage bags are stretchy plastic and dull orange in color.
  
  > drive to the santa monica
  You drive to Santa Monica and park along Ocean Avenue.
  
  Santa Monica, in your cousin's Volvo
  This is about as far west as you can get on the mainland United
  States and not be driving on the sand. Ocean Avenue extends north and south, lined with palm trees and brightly colored, Santa Monica-ish buildings. You can get a better view of the beach to the west.
  
  > read the cassette
  Handwritten on the cassette label is "New Songs - May 15". If the the tape player in the Volvo worked, you'd even be able to give it a listen. The contact address on the tape is in Santa Monica.
  
  > go west
  To get anywhere by driving, try something along the lines of "drive to my hotel". (Or, if you plan to walk, you'll have to get out of the car.)
  
  > go west
  and the long curve of the coastline north past Malibu. A cement stairway descends to the beach from here, or you can go back east to where the Volvo is parked.