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    Movie Magic: Suzi B. Mystery #2
    Movie Magic: Suzi B. Mystery #2
    Movie Magic: Suzi B. Mystery #2
    Ebook138 pages1 hour

    Movie Magic: Suzi B. Mystery #2

    By Gene Grossman

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    About this ebook

    The movie business is complicated enough on its own, but that doesn't stop little Suzi from manipulating the production of a film to help her find out who killed someone she knew.

    As usual, all the adults are amazed at how she puts her plan in motion, and pulls it off with the cameras rolling.

    You'll be sitting on the edge of your seat as she tries to complete her devious plan.

    Attorney Peter Sharp, Suzi's legal guardian, and his ex-wife, District Attorney Myra Scot Sharp are forced to sit by helplessly and watch a film crew's video-assist monitor reveal Suzi's dangerous plan unfold as she tries to capture an entire gang of dangerous criminals.

    This is the second of her adventures, after nearly getting blown up in her previous case, all told in "...Sorry, Wrong Number," also now available in both print and eBook formats, and soon to be available as an audiobook.

    To learn more about Suzi's background and the development of her crime-solving abilities, you should read about her previous exploits as the brain behind her legal guardian's law firm in all 15 of the "Peter Sharp Legal Mysteries."

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMagic Lamp Press
    Release dateAug 4, 2012
    ISBN9781476230016
    Movie Magic: Suzi B. Mystery #2
    Author

    Gene Grossman

    GENE GROSSMAN was born in Chicago, Illinois and raised in the North side neighborhood of Albany Park, where he attended Hibbard Elementary and Von Steuben High School.He pursued majors in psychology, chemistry and mathematics at Wright Junior College, Roosevelt University and Illinois Institute of Technology - all the while working his way through high school and college by playing piano in clubs on Chicago's then-famous "Rush Street."After moving to Southern California, he worked his way through law school playing piano in night clubs and appeared as a musician in seven major motion pictures.While slowly building his law practice, Gene purchased a truckload of movie equipment he rented out to film production companies and then started his own production company which over the years produced more than 50 educational programs on subjects ranting from Boating and Celestial Navigation, to legal subjects (Depositions, Bankruptcy, etc.) Sign Language Instruction and many more.Always having been interested in boating, getting divorced prompted him to buy and move onto a 45-foot Chris Craft motor yacht in Marina del Rey California,.Years later, while serving as navigator on a yacht delivery from the U.S. to Tortola, Gene wrote his first book, "Celestial Navigation for Dummies" (before the popular series of 'Dummies' books was created). He used his own production equipment to shoot a video on the subject Celestial Navigation - "Sextant Use and the Sun Noon Shot" and unintentionally started the nautical video industry in this country.Over the next few years he followed that first title up with more than 50 other educational DVD titles, all displayed on his production company's website at www.MagicLampDVDs.com.Having moved on from doing scripts for his video productions, Gene turned to writing fiction, and now spends most of his time in the marina on his new boat, where he created the 15-book series of 'Peter Sharp Legal Mysteries,' all now available both in print and as eBooks at Smashwords via www.LegalMystery.comIn addition to the 15 Peter Sharp novels, Gene compiled a group of fiction and non-fiction titles that he has either written or edited for others, plus some classic stories: the publishing company he formed (www.MagicLampPress.com) now has more than 60 books in print.The Peter Sharp Legal Mystery Series#1: Single Jeopardy#2: ...By Reason of Sanity#3: A Class Action#4: Conspiracy of Innocence#5: ...Until Proven Innocent#6: The Common Law#7: The Magician's Legacy#8: The Reluctant Jurist#9: The Final Case#10: An Element of Peril#11: A Good Alibi#12: Legally Dead#13: How to Rob a Bank#14: Murder Under Way#15: The Sherlock Holmes CaperThe Suzi B. Mystery Series (a spin-off)#1: ...Sorry, Wrong Number#2: Movie Magic#3: Two Perfect Crimes#4: He's the Guy#5: The Magic BulletsAll 20 of Gene's mysteries are described in detail in a free eBook: The Mystery Books of Gene Grossman: Summaries with the Author's Comments.

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      Book preview

      Movie Magic - Gene Grossman

      MOVIE MAGIC

      Suzi B. Mystery #2

      By Gene Grossman

      From

      www.LegalMystery.com

      Smashwords Edition 1.5 – August, 2012

      Copyright MMXII Gene Grossman - All rights reserved

      ************************

      FOREWORD

      The Suzi B. Mysteries are a continuation of the 15-book series of Peter Sharp Legal Mysteries, in which Suzi B. is a featured character. If you haven’t read any of those, it might help you to know a little background information about the characters.

      Attorney Peter Sharp’s wife Myra threw him out of their home (which she owned before they were married), due to a conflict of their philosophies about legal representation: she was a prosecutor with the District Attorney’s office, and Peter was a defender of those poor unfortunate people ‘wrongfully’ accused of crimes.

      For a while Peter stayed in their back yard on a dilapidated old Chris Craft cabin cruiser he was restoring, until Melvin Braunstein, a former law school classmate, arranged for him to rent a slip in Marina del Rey California. Peter had the old boat trucked there, launched at the boatyard and towed to the slip. He then moved aboard and started making minor court appearances for Melvin Braunstein, who operated his own small law practice from a houseboat in the Marina, on the same dock as Peter’s boat.

      When Melvin died in a plane crash, Peter inherited his former classmate’s modest law practice, along with the office manager that came with it - Melvin’s thirteen-year old step-daughter Suzi, a Chinese computer genius - and her huge St. Bernard.

      Pursuant to a request in Melvin’s Will, the court appointed Peter as Suzi’s legal guardian, and through a series of misfortunes that miraculously worked out, they wound up living on a beautiful 50-foot Grand Banks trawler-yacht.

      The Suzi B.

      Along the way in each of his legal adventures, Peter usually wound up butting heads with his ex-wife, who Suzi adores and is constantly scheming to get back into the Sharp household. There’s also Stuart Schwartzman, Peter’s old friend and frequent client, who is the most entrepreneurial person in Southern California – and Jack Bibberman, the best private investigator that Peter ever met.

      When Peter wasn’t swilling Patrón Margaritas at one of the marina’s local watering holes, he was usually involved in some losing legal case that little Suzi inevitably solved, leaving Peter with the impression that he was really as good as he thought he was. Suzi started to resent Peter always getting the credit, and these Suzi B. Mysteries chronicle what happens when she decides to go out on her own and solve some crimes.

      The same cast of characters is still around from the original series, and they inevitably get ‘drafted’ to help Suzi out… but make no mistakes who is really solving the cases – as she so successfully did in her first adventure, …Sorry Wrong Number – in which a brave member of the LAPD Bomb Squad he to pull her out of danger.

      All of the Peter Sharp Legal Mysteries are summarized at the end of this book, and if you’re curious about them, more details are at www.LegalMystery.com, so sit back, relax, and read Suzi B.’s 2nd mystery, as told by Suzi’s legal guardian, attorney Peter Sharp.

      Magic Lamp Press • Venice, California

      ************************

      Chapter 1 - Play it Again, Sam

      Other than hopping over to Maui to shoot the breeze with world travelers at the Lahaina Yacht Club a couple of times a year, I don’t travel very much, but I have noticed that there seems to be a new growth industry in this country. In fact, to the best of my knowledge, it has doubled in the past few years.

      Unfortunately it’s almost impossible to get into this industry, but if you could find a way, you would have a really permanent job – as a ghost piano player.

      The first time I encountered one of these spirits was in Hollywood at place called the Magic Castle and.

      as you may have guessed from the way it bills itself, it really is ‘world famous,’ and features the best magicians that the world has to offer.

      In the music room, a piano is played by invisible Irma, the Castle's resident ghost, who takes musical requests. The first time I visited the castle I was blown away by the piano presentation. You see the keys move, but there’s nobody sitting at the piano… and as advertised, you really can make a request, and Irma will play it for you.

      I’ve been in a lot of saloons, but I’ve never seen anything like Irma. I firmly believed that she was a unique ghost… and a pretty decent piano player, so you can imagine my surprise one evening in Lahaina when my dear friend Cynthia treated me to an enjoyable evening of entertainment a block down the street from our yacht club, to a place upstairs of Ruth’s Chris’ Steak House called Warren & Annabelle’s Magic.

      The lounge is like a large Victorian living room where guests can have dinner and drinks; sitting off to the side is a piano and stool, where each evening before the magic show in the theater area starts, you can see the piano seat cushion compressed as if someone is sitting down on it – and then the piano starts to play.

      The host announces that Annabelle is now at the piano and will be taking requests. Wow! The ghost piano player industry is now in full swing. There are now twice as many of them working. Who said the economy isn’t improving fast enough?

      As amazing as Annabelle was, my big surprise came a few days later when I got to the airport for my return flight back to Los Angeles and was informed that the plane was overbooked. If I wanted to wait until the next day, the airline would put me up in a first-class hotel for the evening, give me a $500 air credit, and make sure that I get on a flight that next day.

      The deal sounded too good to be true, so I figured that it wasn’t - and demanded to be put on that overbooked flight… and it worked. I arrived back in Los Angeles around 10PM that evening. When reading the New York Times online the next morning, learned that the airline I was flying on – I hate to mention names, but it was American, had filed for bankruptcy protection.

      Because of the time difference, I realized that if they filed in a New York courthouse at nine AM that morning, it would have been three AM in Maui, which means that they would be off the hook for my hotel room – and since their flights were grounded that day, I would have been stuck in that hotel – on my dime – until I could get a flight back to the mainland.

      * * * * * *

      Well, all’s well that ends well, and now that I’m back in the marina I’ve discovered that my legal ward Suzi has a new friend: a boat-owner who just became a neighbor on our dock - and Suzi must need something. I know this because my favorite breakfast has been prepared and is waiting for me in the boat’s main lounge area.

      I’m used to her huge dog watching me eat a meal because he’s always on ‘crumb patrol,’ but having her stand there is a little disquieting, so I address her. What?

      Peter, I need a favor.

      Here it comes. She’s got something up her sleeve. She always does.

      "As you now know, there’s a new neighbor on the dock. His name is Barry and he moved his boat here while you were in Hawaii. He took Ed Sinclair’s slip… you know, the author who died recently.

      Well, he’s in the movie business, and he’s got connections with the unions that all the movie crew people belong to.

      That’s nice, kid… but that helps us how?

      "Well he’s working on a movie now, and a few of the cast and crew need some minor legal matters taken care of. Now don’t get excited. I don’t want you to do anything. I’ve done all the work for one default divorce, a name-change, a landlord tenant matter, and some other little thing.

      And your name won’t appear as attorney of record on any paperwork. I’ve done everything so that they appear to be representing themselves.

      I’m glad to see you’ve been keeping busy, but if you’ve done all the work, what do you want me do to do? There must be something, or I wouldn’t be eating this fine breakfast.

      Well, seeing as I’m only thirteen years old and won’t be in Harvard Law School for another couple years, I’m not licensed to practice law or prepare papers for people, so if anyone asks, I’d like you to back me up and say that you looked over all the paper work and it seemed in order.

      Suzi, I know you like to monetize everything you do, so please tell me: how is this going to help our little law firm?

      Barry may put me in his movie.

      "You can’t work in a movie. First of all, there must be some child labor rule that’ll probably prevent it. And if you do get into a movie, you’ll have to have a full-time chaperone on the set. Second of all, it’ll take you away from the office for too many hours, and thirdly, this town is full of people in the movie

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