Murder in the Second Row (25 page)

‘Sure, Jack, no
problem. That complimentary card I gave you can be used any night.
It’s a special one we keep for major sponsors and people like that.
Just wave it at the box office and they’ll find you a seat. Even in
our wildest dreams we’re not expecting any full houses so you won’t
be turned away.’

‘Great. Well,
all the best for tonight, hope it goes well. Break a leg.’

‘Thanks for
that. The worst is pretty much over so I can relax a bit now. No
more horribly late nights fixing the set or sorting out problems.
We must catch up when you’re free too.’

‘It’s already
planned.’ He listed a few activities that he had in mind.

Her delighted
grin lasted for hours.

She picked up
the programmes from the printers and double-checked that they were
correct. She found one spelling mistake but since it was in copy
that a sponsor had supplied she didn’t feel too responsible. In any
programme there was always at least one error that managed to sneak
past every single check.

All the
preparations were made. Now all they needed was bums on seats.

At 6pm the cast
and crew started to arrive, buzzing with nervous energy. Matt and
Paul were outfitted with generously-proportioned dinner jackets
from wardrobe, ready for their Front of House duties. Jessica, in
her plain black pants and top, was ready to flit anywhere in the
theatre to help where needed. The crew were all in black clothes as
well, in varying stages of disrepair depending on the ages of the
sweatshirts and jeans. Adam appeared in a beautifully tailored grey
silk shirt and black pants. Even Austin had made an effort and dug
out his most presentable black shirt, adding a black bow tie to
mark the formality of the occasion. The effect was only marred by
glimpses of an off-white string vest between his straining
buttons.

Several
deliveries of flowers had arrived during the afternoon, mostly for
Simone from her circle of theatrical friends. Jessica had put them
in the star’s dressing room after making sure that none of the
bouquets contained pollen-laden blooms that might stain a
costume.

Phil and Pippa
arrived together, secretively clutching carrier bags. Phil opened
his to produce a bouquet for Pippa and presented it to her with a
flourish. She smirked and handed him a small and extremely phallic
cactus in a pot with a red bow round it.

‘Don’t leave
that on a chair in your dressing room,’ advised Jessica. ‘That
really would be unlucky.’

Austin gathered
the cast for a few words, his sweat-dewed face gleaming. ‘It looks
like a good house tonight, so you’ll have plenty of reaction to
work to. I know I don’t need to tell you not to peek at the
audience, because if you can see them, then they can see you. And
please remember to take off your bloody costumes and all your stage
make-up before you leave at the end of the evening – that’s a rule.
Make sure everything you need for tomorrow’s show is tidy and ready
before you go home tonight.’ He mopped his brow. ‘All right, that’s
all the grumpiness you get from me – break a leg folks, and have a
good show.’

Adam smoothly
stepped in to continue the speech.

‘You’ve all
worked very hard and you’ve already shown me what you can do. Now
you get to show the audience and earn your reward. You’re already
good, now you have the option of being brilliant, every night for
all nine shows. I’ll be out there watching you tonight – make me
proud, people.’

The actors,
dressed and ready in costume and make-up, chose various ways of
passing the tension-filled minutes until curtain-up. Some read
their scripts to freshen their memories, some played cards, others
just sat still and focused inwardly.

Matt came
through from Front of House carrying a large colourful bouquet and
looked round for Jessica.

‘Hi Matt – is
that another one for Simone?’ she asked him.

He flicked the
envelope and broke into a grin.

‘Not this time,
Jessica.’ He handed the flowers to her and watched as she read the
name. Her gasp of surprise alerted the company that something
unusual was happening.

‘Ooh, are they
for you, dear?’

‘Hey, stage
crew don’t get flowers. What’s going on?’

‘Who’s sent you
flowers, Jessica?’

‘She’s
blushing, it must be a secret admirer!’

She grabbed the
card off the wrapping paper and stuffed it into her pocket, then
rummaged under the sink for a container. There was no way she was
letting them read whatever was written in the card until she’d
checked it first. She thrust the bunch into a plastic jug, filled
it with water, then went to the downstairs props room to read her
card in private.

All the very
best for Opening Night, sorry I can’t be there with you. Will catch
you later in the season and perhaps we can try out for the Shield.
Love, Jack.

She gasped with
laughter and was very glad the rest of the company couldn’t see her
blush. It took several moments before she could wipe the grin off
her face and compose herself.

When she went
back up to the Green Room, she found Clara-Jane examining her
bouquet and looking quite impressed.

‘He knows his
stuff, whoever he is. Someone who can’t be here tonight?’
Clara-Jane fingers lingered over the different blooms.

‘What do you
mean, “He knows his stuff?” And you’re right. He won’t be here
tonight.’ Sometimes, Jessica had to admit, Clara-Jane seemed to
know things others didn’t.

‘Striped
carnations. They mean “I can’t be with you”, and laurel means
“success” so I guess he’s wishing you that too. The camellias have
various meanings but I’d go for “you’re a flame in my heart” and
“you’re adorable”. I’m not sure about the camomile, I’d have to
look that one up. Perhaps it’s just a suggestion to relax!’

Jessica looked
stunned. ‘Gosh. He’s even smarter than I thought. That’s a little
bit scary.’

‘Oh don’t be
silly! Accept the attention, don’t analyse it to death. It’s
harmless fun, you should be enjoying it.’

‘OK,’ she
straightened up and smiled. ‘I guess I am, actually. Having some
romance in my life is a bit of a novelty.’ A thought occurred to
her. ‘Speaking of romance, you wouldn’t happen to remember the name
of a girl that Nick was friendly with towards the end of Guys and
Dolls, would you? I think she went off to Australia.’

Clara-Jane
frowned in thought. ‘Something beginning with E? Emma? Emily?’

‘Wasn’t me,’
said Emma, looking up from her script.

‘Emily’s the
one who went to Australia,’ said Howard, a faintly wistful note in
his voice. ‘Pretty little thing. She sends me an email now and
again, to let me know how she’s getting on.’ He smoothed his
dark-grey hair. ‘I think she misses me.’

‘I hate to rain
on your fantasies big guy, but I’ve heard that little Emily had a
thing for Nick. She might be able to confirm his story to the cops,
so can you give me her email address tonight so I can get him a bit
closer to being released?’

‘How could she
possibly do that?’ Howard queried. ‘Never mind. It’s probably a
long story and I don’t have time for it. I don’t know what they see
in these young guys. OK Jessica, I’ll email you as soon as I get
home tonight.’

Austin walked
through the Green Room giving them the ten minute call. Jessica
gave Clara-Jane a quick hug, gave the rest of the company a
thumbs-up, and went to check on Front of House.

The hubbub of
conversation increased as she pushed open the side door from the
corridor and entered the foyer. There was a whole new smell about
the place – a mix of perfume, wafts of cigarette smoke from
outside, and the occasional nose-wrinkling tang of mothballs from
the fur-coat brigade. She was pleased to see the programme sellers
doing a good trade. With almost half the tickets tonight being free
ones, any money they could make on other sales would help. The bar
was crowded but she got a wave from Greg the bar manager in between
his handing out glasses of wine. Round the corner, the sweetshop
counter was three and four deep with eager patrons wanting
ice-creams and soft drinks.

Gerald was
working the box office tonight, steadily issuing tickets and
guiding people towards the ushers and programme sellers. Jessica
popped her head out front to check the street and found Matt
standing guard outside.

‘All quiet on
the western front, Matt?’

‘Yeah, I think
we’ve got just about everyone in who’s coming. Didn’t see any
obvious loonies so I think we’ll be OK.’

‘Excellent.
Carry on, old chap.’

Paul was doing
duty as Front of House manager, solidly stationed at the auditorium
door.

‘Can I let them
in yet, Jessica?’

‘Wait till you
get the all-clear from Austin. They may still be doing checks.’

Across the
foyer she saw the side door open and Austin’s head appear. He gave
them a nod. Paul pushed open the doors and allowed the ushers to
begin seating the crowd. Once the first wave was in, he rang the
bell to give the lingering bar customers a hurry-up.

Jessica waited
until the last few stragglers were going in before she went
upstairs and slipped into one of the private boxes off to the side,
balancing on an old office chair that was long overdue for
disposal.

She loved the
anticipatory hum that filled the auditorium when a show was about
to start. The atmosphere was electric, particularly when so many of
the audience had direct connections with the show. They were
chatting excitedly, looking at their programmes to spot names and
faces, sharing sweets with their neighbours.

She leaned
forward to check that the critic seats were filled, and was
rewarded with a friendly wave from Brad Bannerman. Across the aisle
the newspaper critic had his head down and she couldn’t tell who it
was. He was studying the programme and making notes on a
clipboard.

The pre-show
music went quiet, the house lights did a slow fade, and there was a
brief silence. The curtain rose. The show began.

At the first
funny line there was a ripple of laughter, and Jessica felt a
tingle of excitement at the response. It energised the actors too –
she saw Stewart’s head go up as he heard it. The words took on a
whole new dynamic as the audience responded to them, like kites
that had lain flat and still on the ground suddenly taking to the
air in soaring flight. She blew out a gentle sigh of relief. It was
going to be all right.

Act One drew to
a close with Ada Boynton alone on the stage, laughing an evil,
silent laugh. The house lights came up, the interval music began,
and the audience broke into conversation as the spell they’d been
under lifted. Patrons surged up the aisle in search of food, drink
and toilets. Jessica eased her way past the circle crowd and went
down to the box office, where Gerald was totalling up the night’s
takings from his department.

‘What’s the
house number, Gerald? Respectable?’

‘I make it 298.
We had a few door sales so that was good. I hope it picks up a bit
tomorrow though.’

She smiled.
Gerald would never be happy even if they got a full house of 380.
She went backstage to write up the figure next to the season
clock.

The Green Room
buzzed, with excited actors exchanging compliments and
reactions.

‘Simone, you’ve
got them in the palm of your hand. You were amazing!’

Simone inclined
her head regally. ‘One does one’s best. Even when hearing the
chimes of people’s dratted cell phones as the hour changes. Why
they can’t simply leave the blessed things at home I don’t
know.’

‘Yeah, I’m sure
I saw someone texting in the front row,’ said Stewart. ‘The ushers
should just take the phone off them when they do that.’

The comment
prompted Jessica to slip down to the props room to send a text to
Jack thanking him for the flowers. She dithered for so long trying
to think of the perfect thing to say that interval ended and all
she had time for was a quick acknowledgement. She grabbed a cup of
coffee and a muffin and dashed back to her seat in the box.

The curtain
rose on Act Two, revealing the glowing red rocks of Petra. The
audience broke into spontaneous applause for the set and Jessica
punched the air with delight. These were the moments that made it
all worthwhile. It wasn’t often that the crew got a reward like
that so she knew the construction team, and especially Nathan the
designer, would be beaming with pride. She hoped he was in the
auditorium somewhere, although she hadn’t seen him out front or
backstage.

Act Two
continued to keep the audience engaged, right through to the
dramatic announcement that Ada Boynton was dead.

The curtain
came down but the house lights stayed low to signal that there was
no second interval between Act Two and Act Three, just in case
patrons hadn’t read that fact in their programme. A murmur of
speculation ran through the crowd as they tried to work out who’d
done it. Dame Agatha had cleverly cast suspicion on several members
of the Boynton family, providing motive and opportunity
aplenty.

When the
curtain rose for Act Three Jessica could see several people
actually on the edge of their seats with anticipation. They were
not disappointed. As the final act unfolded, the rollercoaster ride
of joy and despair pulled them right along with it to the final
scene where the twist in the tale was revealed. The last funny line
got the laugh, and the curtain came down.

The whole
auditorium burst into enthusiastic applause as the actors made
their bows, rising in intensity to Simone’s entrance as her
excellent performance was acknowledged. The cast linked hands and
bowed low, smiling happily. Then they pointed towards Adam and
applauded warmly, calling for him to come up on stage with them. He
took a bow of his own, then Jessica saw him signal to Austin to
drop the curtain while the audience was still clapping vigorously.
Once the house lights came up and the music started, the patrons
realised that there was no more to see. They gathered up their
belongings and started to file out, chattering eagerly about what
they’d experienced.