A Darker God by Barbara Cleverly

very much to rap his knuckles.
    “Masked and caped I may have been, but hardly under cover!” returned the inspector, unruffled. “You’re all free to inspect
my
ugly mug. May I suggest you return the compliment,
Louis
, and show yourself to the assembled company?”
    The young man unmasked himself and sketched a sarcastic bow.
    “Thank you. Now, as some of you will already be aware, your original chorus leader came down with a bout of malaria. Andrew was relieved to find that someone with experience of the play happened to be seconded to Athens for the weeks in question,” Montacute continued. “He gave me a copy of the script, knowing I was familiar with it, and asked if I could possibly mug it all up and perform. You’ve heard his wife mention that we knew each other. We were in the same regiment during the war, the Northumberland Fusiliers. He was a superior officer but we were drawn together by shared interests.”
    Sensing he was saying more than they needed to hear and repeating facts most of them already knew, he let his voice trail away to be absorbed into the dutiful silence, and he looked over with concern at the cloaked body. “I’m sorry indeed that this should have happened …”
    “On your watch
, were you about to add?” jibed his heckler. “Slipped up there, I think, Montacute? Or were you looking the other way deliberately?”
    He was silenced by the crowd, who turned on him with angry hisses and threats of a walloping.
    Montacute’s eyes narrowed as he judged the gathering anxiety and turbulence. Letty was relieved to see him make a schoolmaster’s decision to regain authority by a simple means: the distraction of a routine task in hand. “Anyway, may I ask you all to remove your masks—if you haven’t already—line up, and give your names to Miss Talbot in the time-honoured way?” the inspector finished decisively.
    “Who?
Me
?” Letty was taken aback.
    “Yes.
You
, Miss Talbot. We all heard Lady Merriman’s tribute to your efficiency and dedication! She volunteered you! We count ourselves fortunate to have you among us at this stressful time. Take this notebook. And here’s a pencil. As the one of those here assembled with the least strong connexions with the cast and the play, perhaps you will allow yourself to be recruited as my aide until support arrives? I’m sure we’re all hoping that nothing untoward has happened, but we must wait for our hopes and fears to be resolved by a medic. In the meantime, I’m taking the precautions you might expect a police officer to take at the scene of a crime.”
    “Ah! You’re saying it’s murder?” The challenging voice again.
    “I say! That’s a bit hysterical, isn’t it?” someone else protested. “This is Athens. You’re not stirring about in the cesspits of Whitechapel now, you know. I’m betting her ladyship’s got it right! Well—is she ever wrong?” He looked for support from his fellows.
    “Oh, put a sock in it, you chaps! You never know. Could all turn nasty and then we’ll be glad we did it by the book. And we’ll all thank you to show a little respect! Henry Beecham, by the way, sir. Chorus, fourth from the left … I’m sure I speak for everyone here when I say we’ve all lost a dear friend, colleague,patron … our inspiration … You, too, Louis … And we owe it to him to do whatever we can to resolve this tragedy.” Beecham’s voice faded and then resumed awkwardly: “Well, you know what I mean …” And, more briskly: “Now, where do you want us, Percy? Or should I call you Chief Inspector for the duration of the enquiry?”
    With varying degrees of cooperation, the chorus, the leading actors, and the remaining backstage crew of two lined up to give their names to Letty. She opened up the black leather Moleskine journal she’d been offered and found a clean page. Finding a folding campaign chair, she settled down with her back to the arc lamp and required the actors to line up in alphabetical