reason – love, Emily had always assumed – she had given it up, but now she ran a stage school locally, so the subject quite often came up, and even if people didn’t watch much daytime TV, every one of her neighbours knew what she had once been.
‘I made a video,’ said Victoria. ‘When I was a student…’ She curled her fingers and put her hand up to her mouth and looked out of the window, her knuckles pressed against her lips as if to silence herself. Then she put her arms around herself and hugged tightly. Emily was impressed and slightly thrilled to be treated to this private performance of Victoria playing ‘woman for whom the memory of a youthful transgression is still painful’. She tried to think of a tactful way to say that no one would much care these days if a video of Victoria’s bare bottom should show up on the Internet, unless she was really famous. The world was awash with pornography – Victoria’s indiscretions would matter to no one but her.
‘If it got onto the Internet,’ said Victoria, ‘I would be ruined.’
‘It may not be as bad as you think,’ said Emily. ‘People these days are very broad-minded.’
‘I’d say they’re less broad-minded than they were twenty years ago. But that’s hardly the point. Emily, a man died because of that video.’ She stood, turned and did a press-lipped anguished face, and wrung her hands together. By now, all Emily’s earlier cares had seeped away because she was so thoroughly absorbed by Victoria’s elegant response to her troubles. Solo performances by actors of Victoria’s calibre would do brilliantly well as part of executive redundancy packages, Emily reflected. If she were more entrepreneurial, she’d be off and making some phone calls about it now, setting up a new business. Instead, she said, ‘A man died? Is that why you gave up acting?’
‘God, no! The cost of child care in this country…’
‘Besides, you’ve got Showstoppers now.’
‘Not for much longer if these notes continue.’ Victoria brought out two more notes from an inner pocket in her handbag and showed them to Emily. Like the one she had just opened, these contained sneering rhymes written on blue stationery.
I know Victoria’s secret
I hope I can keep it
If I should leak it
She will be sorry
And
When they know what I know
It will stop the show
At Showstoppers
‘Not exactly W H Auden, is it?’ said Victoria. ‘I can’t show them to Piers. He did English at Oxford. He’d be mortified.’
‘Has the sender made any demands for money?’
‘Not yet.’
‘It could be a bluff. Who else knows about the video?’
‘I haven’t told a living soul about it, Emily. The only people who knew about it were my boyfriend and me because we were in it. We filmed it ourselves. We didn’t even hire a lighting guy.’
Emily was quiet for a while, thinking about what sort of person even considers hiring a lighting technician when filming that sort of video. Victoria watched her respectfully in her turn, as if Emily were mentally sifting through the evidence and would soon have a solution.
‘Why would anyone send you something like that, Victoria?’
‘I don’t know why , but I know who . It’s my old boyfriend, David. It has to be. I haven’t seen him in twenty years or more, suddenly he turns up at the school. Next thing, I’m getting nasty notes through the mail.’
‘He turned up at the school? What did he say?’
‘I didn’t talk to him. I just saw his name on the enrolment forms – he wants to get his daughter into Showstoppers. Or so he claims. I don’t know if he even has a daughter.’
‘You think he’s stalking you? What does he want?’
‘That’s what we’ve got to find out.’
We? Emily had only popped across the road to deliver a letter. Suddenly she was being roped into investigating Victoria’s possibly sordid relations with a possibly dangerous ex-boyfriend. And come to think of it, Victoria herself was possibly
‘I made a video,’ said Victoria. ‘When I was a student…’ She curled her fingers and put her hand up to her mouth and looked out of the window, her knuckles pressed against her lips as if to silence herself. Then she put her arms around herself and hugged tightly. Emily was impressed and slightly thrilled to be treated to this private performance of Victoria playing ‘woman for whom the memory of a youthful transgression is still painful’. She tried to think of a tactful way to say that no one would much care these days if a video of Victoria’s bare bottom should show up on the Internet, unless she was really famous. The world was awash with pornography – Victoria’s indiscretions would matter to no one but her.
‘If it got onto the Internet,’ said Victoria, ‘I would be ruined.’
‘It may not be as bad as you think,’ said Emily. ‘People these days are very broad-minded.’
‘I’d say they’re less broad-minded than they were twenty years ago. But that’s hardly the point. Emily, a man died because of that video.’ She stood, turned and did a press-lipped anguished face, and wrung her hands together. By now, all Emily’s earlier cares had seeped away because she was so thoroughly absorbed by Victoria’s elegant response to her troubles. Solo performances by actors of Victoria’s calibre would do brilliantly well as part of executive redundancy packages, Emily reflected. If she were more entrepreneurial, she’d be off and making some phone calls about it now, setting up a new business. Instead, she said, ‘A man died? Is that why you gave up acting?’
‘God, no! The cost of child care in this country…’
‘Besides, you’ve got Showstoppers now.’
‘Not for much longer if these notes continue.’ Victoria brought out two more notes from an inner pocket in her handbag and showed them to Emily. Like the one she had just opened, these contained sneering rhymes written on blue stationery.
I know Victoria’s secret
I hope I can keep it
If I should leak it
She will be sorry
And
When they know what I know
It will stop the show
At Showstoppers
‘Not exactly W H Auden, is it?’ said Victoria. ‘I can’t show them to Piers. He did English at Oxford. He’d be mortified.’
‘Has the sender made any demands for money?’
‘Not yet.’
‘It could be a bluff. Who else knows about the video?’
‘I haven’t told a living soul about it, Emily. The only people who knew about it were my boyfriend and me because we were in it. We filmed it ourselves. We didn’t even hire a lighting guy.’
Emily was quiet for a while, thinking about what sort of person even considers hiring a lighting technician when filming that sort of video. Victoria watched her respectfully in her turn, as if Emily were mentally sifting through the evidence and would soon have a solution.
‘Why would anyone send you something like that, Victoria?’
‘I don’t know why , but I know who . It’s my old boyfriend, David. It has to be. I haven’t seen him in twenty years or more, suddenly he turns up at the school. Next thing, I’m getting nasty notes through the mail.’
‘He turned up at the school? What did he say?’
‘I didn’t talk to him. I just saw his name on the enrolment forms – he wants to get his daughter into Showstoppers. Or so he claims. I don’t know if he even has a daughter.’
‘You think he’s stalking you? What does he want?’
‘That’s what we’ve got to find out.’
We? Emily had only popped across the road to deliver a letter. Suddenly she was being roped into investigating Victoria’s possibly sordid relations with a possibly dangerous ex-boyfriend. And come to think of it, Victoria herself was possibly
Similar Books
