Fatal Act (22 page)

‘Dangerous?’

He launched into a brief diatribe about the implications of health and safety regulations on stage fighting. Geraldine could see this wasn’t going to shed any light on the investigation. The dangers she was dealing with were real.

A
GROUP
OF
GIRLS
came forward, claiming to have been friends with Bethany. Geraldine spoke first to her flatmate, Lucy, a tall, skinny girl with white blonde hair, pale skin and blue eyes so large they looked unreal. She was almost incredibly beautiful, in an ethereal way. Geraldine remembered her face from the photographs displayed on the wall in the college bar. As Lucy sat down in the small rehearsal room being used as an interview room, Geraldine saw that her white legs were shaking. She fidgeted constantly with her hands, alternately interlocking her fingers tightly and releasing them.

‘P
lease don’t be nervous, Lucy. There’s no need. I just want to ask you a few questions about Bethany. You were sharing a flat with her, weren’t you?’

‘Yes,’ Lucy whispered. ‘We’ve been sharing a flat since last year. Bethany graduated in July but she said she might stay on – that is – we talked about it – it all depended on where she was.’

‘Where she was?’

‘Yes, you know. Wherever she found work. She was thinking of going to America – Hollywood –’

Geraldine wasn’t very surprised when Lucy began snivelling. She waited a moment for her to regain control of herself before she resumed questioning her.

‘W
hat can you tell me about Bethany?’

‘We were friends. Bethany was –’ her lower lip trembled. ‘I wanted to be like her. And now –’

Tears sparkled in her beautiful eyes.

‘What was she like?’

Lucy paused for a moment, considering.

‘Bethany was all right,’ she said at last.

‘All right?’ Geraldine prompted her. ‘In what way?’

‘If you’d met her, you’d know what I mean. She was a strong character. She knew where she was going, what she wanted to do with her life. I mean, I’d be a nervous wreck before an audition,’ Lucy explained earnestly, ‘but she knew how to handle herself.’

Geraldine could well believe that Lucy would be anxious about auditions. The principal had said the successful students thrived under pressure. Lucy didn’t seem very robust, but perhaps her looks would carry her through the tough world of the entertainment industry.

‘H
ow did she seem just before she died? Was she worried about anything?’

Lucy smiled wistfully.

‘Bethany didn’t worry about anything. She was always positive. She was waiting to hear about a really important audition she’d had, about a week ago. They said they’d call her. That doesn’t mean anything, but I think she was pretty hopeful. That’s what she was like, always expecting the best. She’ll never know if she got the part now, will she?’

‘So there was nothing particular on her mind, as far as you were aware?’ Geraldine asked quickly, before Lucy could start crying again.

‘Only the audition. It was a really big deal, a TV role. A casting like that can be a career maker, you know.’

‘I can imagine.’

L
ucy seemed to have been in awe of Bethany, who had been the dominant character in their living arrangements. Lucy freely admitted she would be at sea without her. Bethany had organised paying the bills, fixing the washing machine, and making sure they had milk in the fridge, and food in the cupboards. Lucy was keen to tell Geraldine all about her experience of living with Bethany, but nothing she volunteered was of any help to the investigation.

‘It wasn’t that she made a big deal out of taking responsibility for the place, she just did it.’

It was a casual aside when Lucy mentioned that Bethany had a part-time job in a pub. She seemed surprised when Geraldine was interested to know the details.

‘In a murder investigation any information might be significant,’ Geraldine told her, and Lucy started to sob.

‘It sounds so dreadful, a murder investigation,’ she mumbled.

‘W
hat about boyfriends?’ Geraldine asked, when Lucy had calmed down.

‘There was Marco. I think they’d just split up again. It was difficult to be sure, because they were always breaking up and getting back together. I think they enjoyed the drama. Just being together wasn’t exciting enough for them. They were both thrill junkies.’

‘What do you mean?’

Lucy shrugged.

‘I don’t think Bethany was scared of anything. Marco used to say she was a daredevil. And he was right. She was always looking for excitement.’

‘Were she and Marco happy together?’

‘Who knows? They argued a lot, but it was more point scoring than anything. I don’t think they were ever really angry with each other. They just used to bicker and break up and then they’d get back together again. I think Marco wanted Bethany to move in with him but she said she liked her independence.’

G
eraldine watched Lucy closely as she asked whether it was true Bethany had been seeing someone else.

‘You mean that story about an affair with Piers?’ Lucy gave a sad smile. ‘There were always stories going around, but if she
was
seeing him, she was very discreet about it.’

‘She told a reporter.’

‘I don’t believe she said any of that. You can’t believe everything you read in the papers. Was that story attributed to a particular journalist?’

Geraldine confirmed it hadn’t been published under any journalist’s name.

‘Though I wouldn’t put it past Beth to have made the story up herself,’ Lucy added. ‘She would have done anything to get herself noticed.’

‘Including having an affair with Piers,’ Geraldine thought. She refrained from saying it aloud.

‘W
hat can you tell me about Marco?’

‘Marco? He’s really nice, and he’s fit. But he’s got a terrible temper. He says he gets it from his Italian mother.’ She smiled. ‘He says he’s passionate, but he’s really bad-tempered. But he didn’t kill her,’ she added quickly.

‘What makes you say that?’

‘I mean, he’s got a temper, but he’s not violent. And he was bonkers about Bethany. He wanted her to live with him, and in any case he’s not the sort of guy who would do that. Kill someone, I mean. He’s a decent guy. He’s just a bit fiery, that’s all I meant.’

‘What about Dirk?’

‘Dirk? He’s with Megan, although they’re a bit secretive about it. And before that he was seeing Anna.’

‘What about Dirk and Bethany?’

‘No. They were never an item. I don’t think this has anything to do with Dirk.’

‘Thank you, Lucy. You’ve been very helpful. Here’s my card in case you think of anything else.’

T
he other girls had little to add to Lucy’s statement. Not one of Bethany’s classmates was prepared to say a bad word about her, and they all denied any knowledge of an affair she had been having.

‘She had a boyfriend,’ they all said.

They were all so generous in their praise, Geraldine wasn’t sure she found their testimony completely credible.

‘There must have been someone she didn’t get on with,’ she said to each girl in turn, but they all returned the same answer. It seemed that Bethany had been both popular and universally admired, and she had only been seeing Marco all the time she had been at the college.

M
arco had classic Mediterranean good looks, with raven black hair and eyes as dark as Geraldine’s own. Understandably subdued by what had happened, his voice remained flat and devoid of emotion to begin with, but his eyes betrayed his distress from the moment he entered the room. Geraldine kept her questions carefully low key. Nevertheless it wasn’t long before Marco lost control.

‘I’m sorry,’ he muttered, wiping away tears sliding down his cheeks, ‘I loved her. She was –’ He broke off and dropped his head in his hands. ‘I can’t believe she’s gone.’

‘Marco, think carefully before you answer. Was Bethany worried about anything recently?’

‘What?’

‘Did you notice anything different about her lately?’

‘No. What kind of thing are you talking about?’

‘Anything different.’

‘No. She was fine. She’d just had an audition and was feeling so hopeful –’ His voice broke with emotion. ‘She was always so positive, so sure everything was going to work out for her. She was headed for great things, you know. Everyone said so.’

H
e looked up with a suspicious scowl.

‘What’s this about? What’s all the questions for? We were told Bethany was mugged. So what’s this all about? How would anyone here know what happened? She was by herself when she was killed. You need to get out there and find out who did it. They should be locked up.’

Gently Geraldine explained they suspected Bethany’s death wasn’t an accident. Marco’s dark eyes widened in surprise as she spoke. He was visibly shocked to hear that the police suspected she had been deliberately murdered.

‘But who would want to do that?’ he asked.

‘That’s what we’re trying to find out.’

S
AM
REPORTED
THAT
D
IRK
had denied ever having even so much as a fling with Bethany.

‘He said he fancied her all right, but it had just never happened. He’d been busy with Anna while Bethany was at the drama school and once they’d both left he never really saw Bethany to speak to again.’

Dirk’s statement appeared to be borne out by the other students and staff at the college.

S
am wondered if Marco could be a suspect. Geraldine didn’t think so, but they went through what they knew about him anyway. Whatever impression he had given, as Bethany’s boyfriend they had to consider him seriously.

‘Bear in mind that most of the people associated with the victims were trained and practised actors, skilled at dissembling. Don’t take what any of them say at face value,’ Reg had warned the team.

A
ccording to Lucy’s statement, Marco and Bethany had recently split up. It sounded like their relationship had been a stormy one.

‘Lucy reckoned Marco wanted Bethany to live with him but she refused,’ Sam said. ‘He must’ve cared more about her than she cared about him. He could have been jealous and possessive. We suspect she may have been seeing someone else, probably Piers. What if Marco found out? Lucy said he had a bad temper. Could he have killed her?’

‘Lots of people have bad tempers. There’s nothing to suggest he was violent. And why would he have killed Anna? And –’

Sam finished the question for her. ‘How did he disappear from the crime scenes?’

D
inah Jedway was the theatrical agent who had represented Anna and Bethany. Given that her livelihood depended on her clients finding work, it seemed unlikely the agent would have wanted any harm to come to Anna who was by far her most lucrative client. All the same, it could be significant that she had represented both the dead actresses. At the very least, she might be able to shed some light on what had been going on in her clients’ lives. Her office was located in an impressive address in Central London which turned out to be a room above a shop off Tottenham Court Road. At the top of a narrow staircase, Geraldine found the door with ‘Dinah Jedway Theatrical Agent’ emblazoned on a bronze sign. She knocked and opened the door without waiting for a reply.

I
n a small room, two women sat facing one another across a desk, one middle-aged with jet black hair, the other in her early twenties, blonde and slight. They both glanced up when Geraldine entered. The younger woman looked down at her keyboard again at once and continued typing, while the older woman stared shrewdly at Geraldine.

‘I’m not taking on any clients,’ she announced shortly. ‘My PA will show you out.’

‘Even though you’ve just lost two,’ Geraldine replied, displaying her warrant card.

‘Juniper, fetch us some tea, there’s a dear,’ the raven-haired woman said, turning to her young assistant.

The blonde girl scrambled to her feet and scurried out.

G
eraldine took a seat and asked Dinah for information about the two dead women. The agent heaved a sigh.

‘Where do I begin?’

‘Let’s start with Anna Porter.’

‘It’s a shocking business, deeply shocking,’ the agent began in the rasping voice of a heavy smoker.

She told Geraldine she had represented Anna for eighteen months, since Anna had begun her final year at drama school. There had been no falling out, and no question of Anna quitting the agency. Dinah was effusive in her praise, and became tearful. If she was right, Anna had been the most talented actress of her generation. Dinah was equally fulsome in her tribute to Bethany, who was apparently also destined for almost unprecedented success.

‘I have an eye for talent,’ Dinah went on, dabbing at her heavily made up eyes with a tissue. ‘I know who has that special factor. I can sense it straight away. And they were both such lovely girls. They are a loss to the profession, a loss to the theatre, a loss to the world. Their death is a blow from which we can never recover.’

F
or all her eulogies, Dinah had little useful information to offer. She had seen both the girls in productions at the college and had invited them to her office where she had signed them both up.

‘I knew I could help further their careers,’ she explained, leaning forward and speaking earnestly. ‘People think agents do the job for the money, but that’s not it at all. You have no idea what a thrill it is to nurture young talent and watch it blossom into a successful career. I have a very close relationship with my clients. Anna had been with me for nearly two years. She was like a daughter to me –’

Dinah broke off, sobbing, and scrabbled in a large handbag for a packet of Menthol cigarettes. She offered one to Geraldine who refused.

W
hen Geraldine asked her what she knew about Piers Trevelyan, Dinah pulled herself together at once.

‘He was very good for Anna.’

‘Good for her career, you mean?’