Still unable to proceed beyond the first lines of his script, Fink consults producer Ben Geisler (Shalhoub) for advice. Irritated, the frenetic Geisler takes him to lunch and orders him to consult another writer for assistance. Fink accidentally meets the novelist W.P. Mayhew (Mahoney) in the bathroom. They briefly discuss movie-writing and arrange a second meeting later in the day. Fink later learns from Mayhew's secretary, Audrey Taylor (Davis), that Mayhew suffers from alcoholism and that Taylor ghostwrote most of his scripts. With one day left before his meeting with Lipnick to discuss the movie, Fink phones Taylor and begs her for assistance. Taylor visits him at the Earle and they have sex. Fink awakens the next morning to find that Taylor had been violently murdered. Horrified, he summons Meadows and asks for help. Meadows is repulsed but disposes of the body and orders Fink to avoid contacting the police.