“But what about her lyrics, they’re pretty dark, no?”
He waves his hand dismissively. “They aren’t any darker than anyone else’s. Plus, so many different people work together on creating those songs, it’s hard to tell who the lyrics even come from most of the time.”
“So she doesn’t write her own songs?”
“No, no, she definitely does now. From what I’ve heard, she’s killing it.” His face reddens. “Sorry… poor choice of words, but yeah, I always thought she was a really talented songwriter actually. Especially with lyrics. But she was pushing for songs that were a bit too ‘indie.’ And the label had already acquired their ‘singer-songwriter’ artists like Kamryn Hart, and I knew Charlie didn’t want to lose his golden pop star, if you know what I mean.” Bobby drops his elbows to his knees, hands clasped in front of him. “Listen, at the end of the day, music is a business. More of a business than an art nowadays. So Harlow had to do what most other artists have to for their first few albums—until they get big enough to tell whoever they want to fuck off—and just do what the label wanted, and work with who they wanted her to work with.”
“Like Bill Lever?” Naomi prods. Bobby shrugs, looking slightly confused at the mention of the late producer. “There’s rumors…”
Bobby cocks his head. “Oh yeah?”
“That Harlow could also be behind Bill Lever’s death.”
Bobby cackles. “You can’t be serious?”
Naomi shrugs, playing the fool.
“No.” Bobby shakes his head. “No way.”
“You worked with both of them, right? Did you ever notice anything strange between Harlow and Bill? It’s weird they only worked on one song together, right?”
“Not at all. The label will mix up producers and collaborators for songs now and then, especially for hit singles like the lead track fromOne Heart.” Bobby strokes his chin and looks up at the ceiling. “But strange between them? I don’t think so. Not saying they were best friends or anything. Harlow could be flaky at times, anxious. And Bill wasn’t the sort of person to have patience for that. He was all business. So I could see them clashing.”
“She was always anxious?”
“Yeah, long as I knew her. But it was more than frustration over not being able to sing her stuff. It definitely was rooted in her personal life. There’s lyrics she shared with me that have never made it into her songs. But they came from her heart and I think they were about Colton. Everyone thinks he’s this can-do-no-wrong hero, but judging by her emotional state during the times they dated… he can’t have been as great as everyone makes him out to be.” He raises his hands in defense. “But hey, that’s just my opinion.”
Naomi cocks her head, debating how to classify this interesting bit of information.Could Colton have been the bad guy?she wonders. But then she remembers he was killed, which makes him the victim. Not Harlow.
She thinks of her next question carefully. “If, as you say, he wasn’t as great as everyone believes, perhaps he provoked her, then? Pushed her to a point where she finally snapped?”
“Nah, I stand by what I said. The songs she wrote tended to be very sad. Not angry. That’s why I was so shocked when I heard the news. If anything, I worried she’d try to harm herself. Not someone else. Harlow had a lot of heart but that’s not necessarily a good thing in this business.”
Naomi bites the inside of her cheek. Wanting to make sure she covers all bases, she unlocks her phone and finds the screenshot she saved of Bill and Harlow fighting in a parking garage.
“So does this change your mind at all? It looks like they were fighting?”
Bobby narrows his eyes, studying the photo. He slides his fingers over the screen to zoom in before handing it back to her.
“Um yeah… huh.” He seems conflicted. “I really don’t know. I never heard of any drama between them.”
“Do you know if the allegations made against him were true? Sexual assault…”
Bobby rubs his hand over his chin. “I heard a rumor or two. It’s the reason I wasn’t too upset when I heard he’d passed, to put it bluntly.”
Naomi is impressed by his candor on the matter. “I’m trying to figure out if there’s a pattern. If she killed Bill, then…”
Bobby cups his hand to his face. “No. I really don’t think she’s a killer.”
Realizing he can’t give any more insight into the serial killer theory, Naomi changes tack. “So tell me more about working with her.”
“Well, outside of her self-titled album,One Heart, andRed, White, & Blue, I worked with Mama Money’s team on ‘To the Nines’ and also did some mixing on ‘Endless Summers’ in 2021—not that many people liked that one—but the last album I worked on with her was 2019. Last one that was released, at least…”
Naomi raises an eyebrow.
He looks sheepish, like he shouldn’t have mentioned that. “Well, there was a scrapped album in betweenRed, White, & BlueandApotheosisthat we started, but with COVID and everything, it kept getting dragged out and then everyone would change their mind on the songs and the sound. Harlow really wasn’t happy with it… she was getting real sick of the generic pop stuff at that point and wanted to break out, write her own stuff, as I said, but there was a lot of pushback from the label at that time.”
“This was in 2021?” Naomi asks. “Around the same time ‘Endless Summers’ was released?”
