Murder in the Second Row (20 page)

‘Oops, be
careful, you just committed blasphemy. Apparently I should stone
you now.’ Seeing the look on her face, he went over and put a warm
arm round her shoulders. ‘It’s all right – I was just trying to
make it seem less serious. Don’t worry Jess, crackpots like this
rarely go beyond the nuisance level.’

‘Really? The
last note threatened blindness, madness and panic, and this one
sounds even worse. Someone out there seems pretty fanatical to me.
I’m about ready to install metal-detectors to stop blokes with
hulking great swords from sneaking in here and slashing us all to
death. That would be a nuisance.’

‘Yes,’ he said
dryly, ‘I can see where you’re coming from on that. So you’ve had
other notes like this? Why didn’t you tell me about them?’

‘We thought
they were just normal flyers being stuffed in everyone’s
letterboxes. Then it got more specific so we beefed up our security
a bit. Now this one has caused actual damage. I’m getting worried,
Jack!’

He hugged her
briefly against his chest and let her go. ‘I’ll tell the patrol
cars to check the place more often, day and night. Do you have a
monitored alarm at all?’

‘No, not a
burglar alarm. The fire alarm is linked direct to the fire station
though, mainly because that’s the major risk to the place. There’s
not much to break in for besides a few tools and a bit of lighting
and computer gear, all pretty specialised stuff.’

She was
regaining her composure now, sorting out practicalities. ‘Look, how
sure are you that this won’t escalate? If there is a real threat, I
want to set up even more extra security and have people on site to
keep watch on the place.’

He thought for
a moment. ‘I’d say about eighty percent sure. And with increased
attention from our patrols, you could make that ninety
percent.’

‘OK, those are
good enough odds. But if anything does go wrong, I’ll take it out
of your hide, understood?’

‘Oh dear, that
sounds to me like a threat with the intention to intimidate. Do you
realise there’s a two-year jail term for that?’

‘Well,’ she
said sweetly, ‘then we’ll both be released at the same time – me
from jail and you from the hospital.’

He threw back
his head and laughed. ‘Save your retaliation for the real enemy,
would you? I’m on your side!’

She put a hand
on his arm. ‘Yes, of course you are. I’m sorry. I guess I’m getting
a little stressed out by all this. Religious fanatics scare the
hell out of me, and coming on top of the developers threatening the
place, and having to get a show on the boards, it’s more than I
really need. Have you got any ideas for how we can placate this
person? Perhaps if we show that we are taking notice they might
leave us alone.’

‘How about
getting somebody from a church to speak out on your behalf? Do you
have any well-placed friends in religious circles? Even just a
letter to the paper might be all you need.’

‘That’s a great
idea, Jack, thank you. I’ll email our members tonight and see who
we can come up with. Excellent suggestion!’

She stood on
tiptoe and kissed him on the cheek, surprising both of them.

‘OK then,
right, I’ll get this letter fingerprinted, and we’ll see where we
go from there,’ said Jack in a businesslike tone. He smiled down at
her warmly. ‘Take it easy, Jessica. I’ll let you know if we find
anything helpful.’

She watched him
cross the foyer in easy strides, then walk past outside. She lifted
the net curtain for a better view of his departing back as the
words “nice butt” popped into her mind.

Later in the
day, Gazza dropped by at her request, and she explained the notes
and the broken window. He looked concerned.

‘It sounds like
we should beef up our security a bit. At the very least I could rig
up a surveillance camera covering the frontage so we can see who
this joker is that’s delivering the bloody notes and rocks. I’ll
pick one up this afternoon and charge it to the maintenance
account. Should be able to install it tonight.’

‘Really? That
would be great, Gaz. Jack Matherson said we shouldn’t worry, but
I’ll feel a whole lot better if we do our best to keep the place
safe. It’s not like we’ve got a back-up theatre we can use if this
one is destroyed. Do we hide the camera secretly so we can collect
evidence, or do we make it obvious as a deterrent?’

‘I reckon
deterrent’s the way to go. The picture quality on these things
isn’t what you’d call crystal clear so it wouldn’t make crash-hot
evidence, but the risk of exposure should stop the bastard who’s
been making the threats.’

‘Cool. Sounds
good to me. Make it so, Number One.’

While Gazza
installed the camera, Jessica got busy with email and phone calls.
By the end of the evening she had managed to arrange for a Baptist
minister to write a supportive letter to the paper extolling the
virtues of the Regent Theatre, in return for free use of the place
for a choral recital later in the year. Satisfied that she had done
all she could to pacify their God-bothering maniac, she went to see
how Gazza was getting on.

He was at the
top of an extension ladder at the front of the building, mounting
the camera on a wall bracket.

‘Looks good,
Gazza! When do we see a picture?’

‘When I connect
the wires and put the software on your computer. About half an
hour, if you stop bugging me.’

‘Carry on then.
If there’s nothing I can do to help I’m off home – I’ll have a look
at it tomorrow. See ya!’

The new
security measures paid off. Two whole weeks went by with no
incidents. Jessica started to hope that with all the looming
problems ironed out, there would be a clear run through to the
show’s opening. The cast members were word perfect. Costumes were
almost ready, props were complete, and the set only needed a few
extra tweaks. Most of the last-minute details belonged to Nick’s
promotions department – distributing posters and flyers, arranging
publicity interviews, and collating the programme. She started to
breathe a little easier.

Nick was
arrested.

One week before
opening night he was charged with the murder of Tamara
Fitzpatrick.

As soon as she
heard the news, Jessica was on the phone to Jack Matherson.

‘Are you sure
about this, Jack? You have solid grounds to arrest him? Do you
realise how much this is going to disrupt the show if you keep him
locked up? He’s the promotions manager you know – the major part of
his work is just beginning and it’s pretty important to us.’

‘Just as
important as investigating a homicide is to us, I expect,’ said
Jack quietly. There was a pause.

‘Sorry, Jack –
I got a bit carried away. I forget sometimes that the theatre isn’t
the centre of everyone’s world. So anyway, what evidence have you
got? Has he actually confessed or are you just assuming he’s
guilty?’

‘Jessica, I
can’t actually confirm any of that right now. Would you like to
meet for a coffee?’

‘As in away
from the ears around you?’

‘Yes, that’s
right. How about the Whetford Gallery café in half an hour?’

She made a
point of wearing a raincoat with its collar turned up, and
approached the gallery by sneaking along the street from tree to
tree. Jack chuckled, watching her from a table in the gallery’s
front garden. She sat down opposite him and lifted her
sunglasses.

‘Eeet is I,
Madame Jessica. Listen very carefully, I shall say zis only
once.’

‘Good moaning,
Madame Jessica. Look, can we drop the cloak and dagger bit? I
haven’t got long and I expect you’d like to hear what’s going
on.’

‘OK, sorry,
Jack.’ She took off the hat and sunglasses. ‘Spill the beans, what
have you done so far? Have you interviewed absolutely everyone who
might have been in the theatre that day?’

‘Yes, of course
we have. We’ve spoken to her parents, the entire cast and crew, and
a whole list of very interesting people we found in her address
book. None of them gave any indication of having a problem with her
and there’s no evidence linking any of them to the crime. Nick, on
the other hand…’

‘What have you
got on Nick?’ she burst in. ‘It can’t really look as if he did
it?’

‘I don’t have
to tell you to keep this quiet, do I?’ She shook her head, aware
that he was taking a risk by telling her case details. Jack looked
her in the eye. ‘There’s strong physical evidence putting him at
the scene in the back row of the auditorium where the body was
found, and he can’t provide any verifiable alibi for the time of
death.’

‘But I’ll bet
Nick’s saying he’s innocent, isn’t he?’

‘Just like most
suspects do, yes.’

‘So what’s his
story? He must have some explanation of what he did that day.’

‘Well,
according to him, he left the theatre as the rehearsal started,
with plans to take Tamara out that evening. He bought a bottle of
vodka, went home, showered and changed. He was expecting to end up
with her at his place at the end of the evening so he changed the
sheets.’

‘Classy.’

‘He went to her
place to pick her up at about 6 o’clock but she wasn’t there so he
went back to the theatre assuming rehearsal had run late. A couple
of witnesses saw him in the area. He says he could see that the
theatre was dark and all locked up so he didn’t bother to go in.
There’s no confirmation of that. Then he said that being stood up
by Tamara after being dumped by you as well was too much, so he
took the bottle of vodka and headed to the park to drink it.’

Jessica winced.
‘Ouch. That sounds messy. And I don’t suppose anybody saw him
there?’

‘No, there’s
nobody to back that up either.’

‘Did he have
any explanation about whatever the evidence is you found in the
back row? What was it, blood, sweat, hair?’

‘Semen,
actually, and a few hairs that match Nick’s. Just about what you’d
expect from a lovers’ meeting. His explanation was that he’d been
“trying to win the Shaggers’ Shield”, apparently. It sounded a
pretty unlikely story to me.’

Jessica’s face
had an expression of surprised understanding.

‘Oh, I see.
That could explain it. Did he say when that event took place,
exactly?’

‘According to
him, it was “on the final night of Guys and Dolls”. Why, does it
make sense to you?’ He had to wait for her to finish laughing
before she could answer.

‘The cheeky
bugger! He should have a good chance at the trophy, in that case!’
She realised his impatience and quickly composed herself. ‘Sorry.
The Shaggers’ Shield is something the fly-floor guys came up with,
and it’s become something of a challenge to everyone in the
theatre. The idea is to have sex in the most daring place in the
building without getting caught. Doing it in the auditorium during
a show would rank pretty highly! I wonder who was brave enough to
go along with it. It wouldn’t have been Tamara – she wasn’t around
then.’

‘So his story
might be genuine?’ Jack looked incredulous. ‘Do you people really
get up to things like that?’

‘Oh yes, more
often than you’d think! There was a time…’ she broke off. ‘You
don’t need to hear about that; it’s ancient history. So, if Nick’s
story is true, does that mean you’ll keep looking for some other
suspect? If the girl he was with confirms his story you’ll let him
go?’

‘We’ll keep
working the evidence and interviewing people, yes. Unfortunately,
he says that the girl concerned has moved to Australia and he’s
lost touch with her.’

He fixed
Jessica with a searching look that sent quivers down her belly.
‘I’ll interrogate you further about that “ancient history” next
time I see you – don’t think I’ll forget.’

She swallowed.
‘Nice thought, copper, but you’ll have to stand in line for an
appointment. I’ve got all the show’s promotion things to take care
of now and I’ll be pretty busy for the next couple of weeks.’

He frowned.
‘Really, Jessica, you take on far too much. Surely you can find
someone else to do that stuff, can’t you?’

‘Don’t worry,
I’ll be fine, I’ve done it before. But if you could see your way
clear to find evidence that exonerates Nick and let him go, that
would be even better.’

‘In that case,
I really should get back to my desk. It’s been a pleasure to see
you, Jessica.’

He stood and
took her hand, kissed it gallantly, and placed it gently down
again.

‘Au revoir,
mademoiselle. Á bientôt.’

‘Yeah, see ya!’
was all she could stammer.

Friday night’s
rehearsal was a nightmare. Several items of staging were being
tried for the first time, and not everything worked as
expected.

The corner of
the hotel set came unbolted halfway through the first scene and the
truck it was built on started to roll downstage, threatening to
pull down the prompt-side legs with it before Howard swiftly threw
a sandbag in front of the leading wheel and brought the runaway to
a shuddering halt.

‘Are you OK,
Stewart?’

Stewart had
narrowly escaped being squashed between the approaching wall and
the hotel desk, and was standing centre stage wide-eyed and
pale.

‘Yeah, I’m OK.
Do you think we could we put on an extra bolt or two on it, maybe?’
He squeaked. ‘Just in case?’

‘Yes of course,
I’ll do it afterwards. We’ll leave the wheels chocked for now so it
won’t get away again. You’ll be alright.’

Later on, when
Simone attempted to climb the path to the cave, she found that the
skirt of her costume was too tight to allow her to get up the
steps.

‘Clara-Jane!
Could you come here for a minute, please?’ Adam loudly summoned his
wardrobe mistress from backstage and she hurried out, a piece of
khaki material hanging round her neck. Adam pointed silently to
Simone, who demonstrated the skirt’s restriction. Clara-Jane
reddened.