Murder in the Second Row (19 page)

‘That’s
interesting. I’ll check into that more closely. It did appear to be
her clothing – we found her hairs on the sleeves and collar. ’

‘Ah, the good
old epithelials, eh? Always a C.S.I. favourite!’

‘Actually, no,
those would have required DNA analysis. Hair is easier. The lab
just checked the colour and structure under the microscope and
matched the hairs to the ones in her file.’ He grinned at her. ‘You
thought you were an expert for a minute there, didn’t you? I’m
afraid real life forensic science tends to be a bit more on the
mundane side.’

‘So she wasn’t
strangled resulting in a fracture of the hyoid bone?’ she said
hopefully.

‘Nope, just the
stabbing. And your facts are wrong again. Strangulation by a
ligature, such as a sleeve for instance, has a different effect
from manual strangulation which is what tends to snap the hyoid
bone. Also, the victim was quite young, so the hyoid bone was still
pliable. It’s generally the older victims with more brittle bones
who show that kind of damage. Next question?’

‘Dammit! Just
when you think you know stuff, it all turns out to be wrong. I
think I’ll give up on the scientific clues. Forget C.S.I., give me
good old Agatha Christie. Leave it with me, Jack – I shall apply my
little grey cells to the problem and try to come up with a solution
for you some other way. It’ll be the human element that’s the key,
you know. Motive is everything.’

‘I’m sure your
insight will prove invaluable. Let me know how you get on.’

Jessica arrived
for Sunday’s rehearsal, feeling she’d spent far too much time at
the theatre lately. The morning’s tour had gone well, but it had
been awkward at times, trying to satisfy the public’s fascination
with the macabre without allowing any details of Tamara’s murder to
slip out. Now she was tired and cranky and ready to snap if anyone
got out of line.

Walking towards
the Green Room, she could hear Simone’s powerful voice raised in
anger and her only thought was “Oh God, what now?” As the door
opened, Simone reached full volume.

‘It’s perfectly
obvious that some hideous pervert has been getting their disgusting
thrills by spying on women in the lavatory, and I demand action.
This theatre must be made accountable for the actions of its
members, however depraved, and must make restitution for the harm
inflicted upon every female in the company.’

She was holding
up a small electronic device with wires dangling from it, which
Jessica assumed she had found in the backstage toilet. ‘Ladies, we
must make our anger known. This outrage must be dealt with! Let us
band together to raise our voices and be heard. Unity is
strength!’

Pippa and
several female cast members were trapped in the kitchen by Simone’s
substantial bulk. They cast pleading glances at Jessica as she
advanced towards Simone.

‘Is there
something I can help you with, Simone?’ asked Jessica.

‘Ah, at last,
somebody with some authority. I found this spying device in the
backstage lavatory and I insist that you take action, both to find
the perpetrator and to make good the suffering and humiliation
inflicted on the women in the cast. What are you going to do about
it?’

‘I will take
charge of the evidence, of course, so that a full investigation can
be carried out. May I have it please? Thank you. Now, can you show
me exactly where you found the device?’

‘Right up
here.’ Simone stomped heavily up the two steps to the backstage
toilet area. Pippa and the others made a break for it and escaped
from the kitchen.

‘It was wedged
up here at the top of the cubicle wall. I dread to think how long
it has been up there – it was covered in dust. Obviously the
cleaners haven’t been doing their job properly for quite some time
or it would have been found and dealt with. We have incurred
needless harassment and embarrassment while these layabouts failed
in their duties.’

With every
sibilant ‘s’, a fine spray of saliva landed on Jessica’s arm. She
stepped back out of range.

‘Well, thank
you very much, Simone. I’m sure we’re all grateful for your
excellent powers of observation and your diligence in bringing this
to our attention.’

Simone’s
overstretched balloon of indignation slowly deflated. ‘That’s all
very well, Jessica, but I want your assurance that this will be
properly looked into. It’s a major breach of our privacy and I do
feel that restitution is in order.’

‘I quite
understand,’ said Jessica, her calm exterior almost ready to crack.
‘Rest assured, Simone, I will give this matter all the
consideration it deserves. There will be an in-depth examination of
the scene and the device, and a full enquiry into the circumstances
of its positioning and discovery.’

‘Well I suppose
that will have to do then. Get out of the way, girl, I’ve got a
rehearsal to prepare for.’ Simone squeezed her way past Jessica and
stomped back down to the Green Room where Pippa and the others were
suddenly intently focussed on their scripts.

Jessica stood
still for a moment, fighting back an urge to fling the device with
full force at the back of Simone’s head. She took it down to the
workshop and showed Howard instead.

‘Look at it, it
must have been there for years! It’s faded and dusty and looks as
if it wouldn’t work even if you put 50,000 volts through it. What
exactly is it, anyway?’

‘Some sort of
listening device, I think. The sort of thing they sell the
components for, and you make it up yourself. It would broadcast
whatever sounds the mike picked up and send the signal to a
receiving device, but it wouldn’t have much power so the person
listening would have to be no more than a couple of rooms away.
Here, look at the battery – it’s completely corroded. This thing
hasn’t worked in months. Probably years.’

‘Oh thank God
for that – it puts us in the clear with Simone. Do you know what
she said? She wanted us to fork out restitution for invasion of her
privacy!’

‘I guess you’d
better go tell her the bad news then.’ Howard grinned at her
expression. She shook her head.

‘Actually, I
think this is so serious in her eyes that only the president of the
society is exalted enough to bear those tidings. You tell her,
Howard. It’ll be safer that way. Otherwise, she might provoke me
enough to jam this device where it wouldn’t see daylight for many a
long year. I’m in that sort of mood today.’

‘Ah. Right
then. Fair enough. Thanks for the warning – we don’t want to lose
any more actors, do we? I’ll just go and have a little chat with
her then, shall I?’

He edged away,
pretending to flinch when she moved. She picked up a length of
timber and menaced him with it. He headed for the stairs,
laughing.

Jessica took a
moment to wind down a bit, feeling pleased that she had managed to
hand over responsibility to Howard instead of taking it on herself.
She was becoming increasingly aware of her tendency to take on
every task and was trying to combat it.

She went back
to the Green Room where Terence had just arrived, and took the
opportunity to introduce him to the rest of the cast and crew.

‘So, Terence,
it’s been a while since we’ve seen you on stage. How have you
been?’ Howard asked him, and Jessica smiled to herself.

‘Actually I’m
just out of hospital, Howard. Yes. Had to have a cholecystectomy
and I’m only just back on my feet again.’

Jessica grinned
as Howard tried to back away. Terence was relentless once he’d got
an audience. ‘The surgeon said he’d never seen gallstones like it.
Big as marbles, some of them, not a word of a lie. No wonder I’d
been so uncomfortable!’

Jessica watched
with a horrified fascination as she guessed what was coming
next.

‘Would you like
to see one? The surgeon gave it to me. I’ve got it right here
wrapped up in my pocket. It’s the biggest one of the lot.’

‘Actually,
Terence,’ gabbled Howard, his voice strangled, ‘I just have to –
um, just have to go and see Simone about something. I’ll catch up
with you later, OK?’

‘All right,
Howard. We could go for a drink, eh? Just a soft drink for me of
course – not allowed alcohol any more, doctor’s orders. I’ll look
forward to it. After rehearsal then?’

The stage door
had already swung shut behind Howard’s rapidly-departing back.

Moments later
it opened again and Gerald came through with a handful of papers.
He greeted the cast members then spotted the new face among
them.

‘Hello,
Terence, back with us again? How – ah, how nice to see you again.’
He spotted Jessica in the kitchen and hurried over. ‘Hello,
Jessica. Look, I don’t want to upset you, but I just found this
pushed into the letterbox and it’s a bit worrying.’ He unfolded a
piece of heavy purple paper and handed it to her. Jessica glanced
at it briefly and laughed.

‘Oh, relax,
Gerald. There was one of these in the box yesterday. I’m sure it’s
just some bunch of religious nutters targeting the area trying to
get their message across.’

‘Well, I
checked several boxes up and down the street and nobody else had
one. And this does sound quite specific.’ His pale face looked
concerned.

‘Does it?’ She
took it from him and read it carefully.

Though you are
as numerous as the stars in the sky, few of you will be left
because you would not listen to the LORD your God. Just as the LORD
has found great pleasure in helping you to prosper and multiply,
the LORD will find pleasure in destroying you, until you disappear
from the stage you are about to enter and occupy.

The LORD
himself will send against you curses, confusion, and
disillusionment in everything you do, until at last you are
completely destroyed for doing evil.

The LORD will
strike you with madness, blindness, and panic. You will grope
around in broad daylight, just like a blind person groping in the
darkness, and you will not succeed at anything you do.

‘Yes, this one
is a bit more hard-core than yesterday’s effort.’

‘It was the bit
about the stage that got my attention.’ Gerald pointed it out. ‘I
suspect the quote has been paraphrased to aim it directly at
us.’

‘Which,’ she
said slowly, ‘would make this quite a threatening letter.’ She
paused to think. ‘OK, Gerald, here’s what we’re going to do. Change
the door combination, and only tell committee members. If anyone
else wants to come in at odd times, they’ll have to get a committee
member to accompany them. We’ll double-check all the usual security
areas like doors and windows, and make sure all the fire gear is
easily accessible. I’ll put up a notice to tell the cast to watch
security and I’ll ring round the rest of the committee
tonight.’

Gerald looked
relieved.

‘I’m glad
you’re so confident and well-organised, Jessica. I’m sure there’s
nothing to worry about but I do feel better knowing you’ve got
everything under control.’

She grinned at
him and waved the paper.

‘This is
obviously from someone who doesn’t know much about the theatre.
They seem to think that the Lord has been helping us to prosper.
That would be the day, eh? The theatre bank account isn’t showing
much evidence of assistance from the Almighty, is it?’

For the whole
week, Jessica was slightly nervous when she approached the theatre
each morning. She’d check the letterbox cautiously for purple
notes, and walk right round the outside of the building checking
for any signs of tampering. Only then would she relax and get on
with her day.

However, by
Friday she was getting over it. She didn’t notice the small panel
of broken glass in the foyer window. It was only the crunch of
glass shards under her shoe that alerted her that something wasn’t
right.

She hurried
inside to check what the damage was inside the foyer, and found a
stone wrapped in purple paper lying amid more glittering jewels of
broken glass on the red carpet. Muttering curses, she went to pick
it up, but stopped herself just in time. This was a criminal act of
vandalism, so the stone was evidence. She went into the box office
and picked up the phone to call Jack Matherson. Might as well have
a friendly face around when it was time to report a distinctly
unfriendly crime.

He was there in
minutes, knocking on the front door after he’d inspected the broken
window. She had been waiting for him on the foyer couch, and had
watched his broad-shouldered silhouette walk past outside. She let
him in and pointed to the stone.

‘We’ve been
getting some religious notes in the letterbox lately, on that same
type of paper. I guess maybe we didn’t take enough notice, so now
they’re trying harder to get our attention.’

Jack took out a
slim digital camera and photographed the scene, then pulled on
latex gloves and picked up the stone. He unwrapped the note
carefully and read it, raising his eyebrows as he spoke.

Those who
blaspheme God will suffer the consequences of their guilt and be
punished. Anyone who blasphemes the LORD’s name must be stoned to
death by the whole community. Any among you who blasphemes the
LORD’s name will surely die.

Look now; I
myself am he! There is no god other than me! I am the one who kills
and gives life; I am the one who wounds and heals; no one delivers
from my power! Now I raise my hand to heaven and declare, as surely
as I live, when I sharpen my flashing sword and begin to carry out
justice, I will bring vengeance on my enemies and repay those who
hate me. I will make my arrows drunk with blood, and my sword will
devour flesh – the blood of the slaughtered and the captives, and
the heads of the enemy leaders.

Jessica gasped,
‘Jesus Christ! What kind of lunatic writes stuff like that?’