it. ‘Come on Jack, we’ve got a crime scene to
investigate.’ He nodded to Jessica. ‘We’ll come and speak to you
when we’ve had a look around. Please stay here until told
otherwise. Thank you.’
‘But hold on,’
began Jessica. ‘Can’t you tell me what’s happened?’
But Detective
Inspector Carthew was gone. Jack Matherson shrugged apologetically
and followed him.
‘They don’t
give much away, do they?’ said Gazza.
Jessica ground
her teeth. ‘Argh! This is so frustrating! If something major has
happened in there I need to know about it. Suppose we can’t use the
theatre and I have to organise an alternative venue for
rehearsals?’ Her eyes widened as the next thought struck her.
‘Suppose we have to cancel the show for some reason?’
‘Take it easy
there, Jess. Don’t go looking for a worst-case scenario just yet.
Let’s deal with one thing at a time, eh? How about texting people
to tell them that tonight’s rehearsal is cancelled, for
starters?’
‘Of course!
Thanks, Gaz. Just as well one of us can still think straight. I’m
on it like a cop on a doughnut,’ and she dug her cell phone from a
pocket with shaking hands.
With ten
minutes left before rehearsal was due to begin, she might still
catch a few people before they reached the theatre. She wrote a
quick text message and sent it to all the cast and crew that were
on her phone list.
Adam’s car
pulled up across the road and she saw him look at his phone and
frown. He got out of the car quickly and came over.
‘What’s
happened, Jessica? Flood? Fire?’ He saw the ambulance. ‘Injury?’ He
saw the police cars. ‘Break-in?’
‘For all we
know, Adam, all of the above. The police have given orders to keep
everyone out and they’re calling it a crime scene. That’s as much
as we know.’
He looked at
her searchingly, blue eyes seeing deeper than she might have
liked.
‘You’re really
upset, aren’t you?’ he asked, in a voice so gentle that she just
wanted to bawl her eyes out.
She toughed it
out instead. ‘Oh, I was for a bit, but I’m fine now. I just wish we
could find out what happened in there, that’s all.’
Adam patted her
on the shoulder. ‘Let me see what I can do.’
He walked
purposefully towards the door and went inside, leaving Jessica
saying, ‘But you can’t do that, Adam’ in his wake.
In a few
minutes he reappeared in the corridor, deep in conversation with
Jack Matherson. There were serious faces, nods, and finally
handshakes, before Adam re-joined them outside. For once he looked
older than his 56 years.
‘Sorry Jessica,
but it’s not good news, I’m afraid. It seems that Stewart and
Nathan found a body at the back of the auditorium. The police
suspect it’s a homicide, so they’ll be closing off access to the
whole theatre while they investigate. The detective told me that
it’ll be off-limits all of tonight, and next day at least, to give
the criminal pathologist time to get here and complete work on the
scene.’
‘Who?’ She
managed a strangled croak. ‘Whose body?’
He shook his
head. ‘They wouldn’t say any more than that. Not even if it was a
man or a woman.’
‘Shitfuckbuggerypoxdamn’ was Gazza’s eloquent contribution.
‘Yes indeed,’
agreed Adam. ‘Now, in a “show must go on” spirit, shall we work out
a contingency plan for dealing with the situation?’
‘We could ask
the Musical Society if we can use their clubrooms as a rehearsal
space,’ said Jessica, her mind already racing ahead. ‘I think it
should be available for a week or so at least before they start
working on Oklahoma.’ She grabbed Adam’s arm, her eyes huge at the
thought that had just struck her.
‘Suppose it’s
one of the cast. What do we do then?’
He shrugged.
‘To be brutally practical, there’s nobody who is irreplaceable.
Except perhaps for Simone. That would be a hard part to re-cast at
this stage of the game.’
Jessica pulled
out her phone and stared at it as
investigate.’ He nodded to Jessica. ‘We’ll come and speak to you
when we’ve had a look around. Please stay here until told
otherwise. Thank you.’
‘But hold on,’
began Jessica. ‘Can’t you tell me what’s happened?’
But Detective
Inspector Carthew was gone. Jack Matherson shrugged apologetically
and followed him.
‘They don’t
give much away, do they?’ said Gazza.
Jessica ground
her teeth. ‘Argh! This is so frustrating! If something major has
happened in there I need to know about it. Suppose we can’t use the
theatre and I have to organise an alternative venue for
rehearsals?’ Her eyes widened as the next thought struck her.
‘Suppose we have to cancel the show for some reason?’
‘Take it easy
there, Jess. Don’t go looking for a worst-case scenario just yet.
Let’s deal with one thing at a time, eh? How about texting people
to tell them that tonight’s rehearsal is cancelled, for
starters?’
‘Of course!
Thanks, Gaz. Just as well one of us can still think straight. I’m
on it like a cop on a doughnut,’ and she dug her cell phone from a
pocket with shaking hands.
With ten
minutes left before rehearsal was due to begin, she might still
catch a few people before they reached the theatre. She wrote a
quick text message and sent it to all the cast and crew that were
on her phone list.
Adam’s car
pulled up across the road and she saw him look at his phone and
frown. He got out of the car quickly and came over.
‘What’s
happened, Jessica? Flood? Fire?’ He saw the ambulance. ‘Injury?’ He
saw the police cars. ‘Break-in?’
‘For all we
know, Adam, all of the above. The police have given orders to keep
everyone out and they’re calling it a crime scene. That’s as much
as we know.’
He looked at
her searchingly, blue eyes seeing deeper than she might have
liked.
‘You’re really
upset, aren’t you?’ he asked, in a voice so gentle that she just
wanted to bawl her eyes out.
She toughed it
out instead. ‘Oh, I was for a bit, but I’m fine now. I just wish we
could find out what happened in there, that’s all.’
Adam patted her
on the shoulder. ‘Let me see what I can do.’
He walked
purposefully towards the door and went inside, leaving Jessica
saying, ‘But you can’t do that, Adam’ in his wake.
In a few
minutes he reappeared in the corridor, deep in conversation with
Jack Matherson. There were serious faces, nods, and finally
handshakes, before Adam re-joined them outside. For once he looked
older than his 56 years.
‘Sorry Jessica,
but it’s not good news, I’m afraid. It seems that Stewart and
Nathan found a body at the back of the auditorium. The police
suspect it’s a homicide, so they’ll be closing off access to the
whole theatre while they investigate. The detective told me that
it’ll be off-limits all of tonight, and next day at least, to give
the criminal pathologist time to get here and complete work on the
scene.’
‘Who?’ She
managed a strangled croak. ‘Whose body?’
He shook his
head. ‘They wouldn’t say any more than that. Not even if it was a
man or a woman.’
‘Shitfuckbuggerypoxdamn’ was Gazza’s eloquent contribution.
‘Yes indeed,’
agreed Adam. ‘Now, in a “show must go on” spirit, shall we work out
a contingency plan for dealing with the situation?’
‘We could ask
the Musical Society if we can use their clubrooms as a rehearsal
space,’ said Jessica, her mind already racing ahead. ‘I think it
should be available for a week or so at least before they start
working on Oklahoma.’ She grabbed Adam’s arm, her eyes huge at the
thought that had just struck her.
‘Suppose it’s
one of the cast. What do we do then?’
He shrugged.
‘To be brutally practical, there’s nobody who is irreplaceable.
Except perhaps for Simone. That would be a hard part to re-cast at
this stage of the game.’
Jessica pulled
out her phone and stared at it as
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