Bonus: The Rita Minute

**The Rita Minute** is the first bonus episode of the first season of The Penumbra Podcast. It was released September 20, 2016.

## Overview

What does Rita do when Juno Steel, Private Eye, is out of the office? Why, everything she’s not supposed to, naturally.

## Episode Summary

Juno has been pacing around his office for hours. Rita finally tells him that if he keeps walking in circles, he's going to make her sick. She has joined a book club but only read six pages of the book assigned. However, it is later revealed that she is really only interested in the sandwiches that will be at the book club meeting, put on by her friend Franny.

Juno is stuck on a cold case, with a statue as his only clue. He explains the case: "Two years ago, Lazarus McCoy's found dead in his armchair holding this statue... HCPD calls it a heart attack, but McCoy's husband doesn't buy it; he says he's never seen this statue before..."

Rita suggests that Juno walk over to the pharmacy to pick up some "yoga" to clear his head. After having a sudden realization, he departs, leaving her with instructions to research the material of the statue. Juno warns her that the statue is precious, the only piece of evidence in a case that's already been closed. Rita argues that she's busy but agrees to keep it safe.

In a moment of clumsiness, Rita drops both her book and the statue, effectively shattering it. She panics, realizing that Juno will be furious if he finds out and spends some time imagining what his face will look like and what would happen if a vein in it popped. She compares the broken statue to a jigsaw puzzle, hoping she will be able to solve it.

Rita turns to a book for help but quickly becomes distracted when she discovers that it is, in fact, a romance novel. Finding no help, she then decides to get in contact with The Director of the Hyperion Museum of Art. Rita quickly hacks into the email server of the museum but finds nothing except a couple of love letters written from the director to some secret flame. She tears herself away but then gets a call from Franny and spends a significant amount of time discussing the love letters, specifically how The Director of the Hyperion Museum of Art is having an affair with someone else's wife. Rita expresses her desire to be someone's wife someday, then hangs up the call, realizing that she only has about a half hour to fix the statue.

Rita finds some glue but laments the fact that the tube is empty. She sits down in frustration and discovers that she has sat down on an open tube of toothpaste. Deciding that it will work in the place of glue to piece the statue back together, Rita fixes the statue just as Juno returns.

Juno demands that Rita give him the statue, saying that he has found a solution to the cold case. Rita is worried that he'll find out that the statue has been broken and then fixed, so she hesitates, but finally gives in and hands it to Juno. To her shock, he throws it on the ground and shatters it, making her painstaking efforts to put it back together go to waste. Juno then points out powder on the inside of the statue, declaring that it must be poison.

Juno explains that the pharmacist must have known that McCoy would be consuming scotch and have a cigar. The poison then reacted with the cigar smoke and got into his lungs, causing him to die with the statue still in hand. Juno laughs triumphantly, saying he can't wait to rub his new discovery in the face of the HCPD. He congratulates Rita on a job well done, then heads home.

As she's locking up, Rita receives another email in the hacked inbox of The Director of the Hyperion Museum of Art, revealing that his love letters were in fact sent to his dead wife, not a secret lover. She eagerly leans in to read more.

## Cast and Crew

### Starring

* Kate Jones as Rita
* Joshua Ilon as Juno Steel

### Crew

* Kevin Vibert, Co-creator, Lead writer
* Sophie Kaner, Co-creator, Director, Sound designer

## References

 One-Shots
 Bonus Episodes

 Other Episodes
 Live Shows