Continued from Part IV:

I met up with Client at Hollywood & Highland, and we decided to have dinner al fresco at Trastevere. He caught me up on the "rehearsal" experience, and we had a good laugh over how he'd dodged a bullet.

He decided he wouldn't be going back, and would call in the morning to let L&L know.

"Why not just email them? That way you can't get sucked in, and Leech seems all about sucking people in," I reasoned.

"I don't want to be like that," Client answered. "I don't want to be a jerk. I'll just keep it short."

After dinner I dropped him off at his place, and when I got home I immediately wrote him a few notes for his call – responses he could use if Leech tried to give him guilt. I'm a big fan of Miss Manners's all-purpose response, "I'm sorry, it's just not possible," and nothing more.

Turns out we needn't have worried, as the call went straight to voice mail. Client left a polite but firm message, and that was that.

Almost. Not everybody got the word. He got this email later that morning:

[Client's name],

Here is the costume and plot logs, a script, and scores of a few old vaudeville songs.

Rehearsal today is at 2 at [address]. Bring a chair; it's an empty apt. A small CHEAP potluck dish would also be appreciated.

[Lurch]