The End of the Roadie (A Mystery for D.I Costello) by Elizabeth Flynn Page B

Brendan and Oliver that needs another look.”
    “Absolutely. OK, let’s qualify that. There’s no reason on earth why a rock star can’t be friends with someone on his road crew; but…” She looked across at him. “What’s the ‘but’?”
    “It wouldn’t be a hole-in-the-corner sort of thing that everybody knows about but nobody mentions.”
    “Got it in one, young Houseman; you may have a merit mark.”
    “Cor! Does this make me teacher’s pet?”
    “Steady on, let’s not go mad!”
    Gary laughed. “So it’s another trip up to Hampstead for us, isn’t it? Brendan Phelan said he’d be chilling around the house for a few days.”
    “Yes, he did, but I don’t want to go straight back to him. I’d like to see what else we can find out about this first. We’ll gather the troops and see what they’ve managed to come up with today. Rick and Jim and Derek and Leanne have already spoken to the two crews, and –”
    “Two crews?”
    “Yes, the road crew that travel with Brendan and the permanent theatre crew.”
    “Oh yes, of course. And the band and backing singers, don’t forget.”
    “No, I wasn’t forgetting. They’ve covered everyone, including the front-of-house staff but that was just the normal, where-were-you-when-the-gun-went-off-and-did-yousee-anything-suspicious routine. Now we can focus.”
    It was clear to Angela, when she got back to the incident room, that a heavy day coming on top of a short night was taking its toll on her team. She noted the stifled yawns and sluggish movements, and had to admit she felt almost too weary to think as well. But they still had a job to do, so she crossed the room and stood in front of the whiteboard. “OK, everybody, what have we got?”
    “Nothing much,” said Rick, on behalf of them all.
    “Nobody saw anything,” added Leanne.
    “Not even the cameras,” Jim put in with a grin.
    “What, did you question the cameras?”
    A tired laugh burst out from everybody present. “We spoke to the front-of-house manager, Barry Grieves,” explained Rick. “By the way, we saw Georgia Pensay when we were there.”
    “Georgia Pensay! No way! I love her,” gasped Derek, all tiredness forgotten. “Did you know her name is a –”
    “– play on words; yes, we did know that,” said Jim. “Mind you, the manager didn’t,” he added, as if he thought that meant he had one over on Barry Grieves.
    “OK, everybody, let’s concentrate,” admonished Angela. “What’s this about the cameras, Rick?”
    “Mr Grieves thought they’d been nobbled, Angie.”
    “Nobbled? You mean…?”
    “Yes, they were out of action at the relevant time. As far as he could tell, there was nothing wrong with the cameras themselves. He thought the computer system had been hacked and he was waiting for his IT man to turn up and take a look. We’ve asked him to send us a report.”
    “OK, good. Well, just before we all knock off for the day, Gary and I have picked up on some information that looks interesting and will mean you going back to the band, the singers and the crew.”
    They all made a passable attempt at looking lively. “What’s that, then?” asked Rick.
    “We’ve been talking to the manager, Doug Travers and the production manager, Jack Waring.”
    “Roadie,” muttered Jim.
    “If you like,” acknowledged Angela. “But head honcho roadie, in that case. Both these men talked about the relationship between Brendan Phelan and Oliver Joplin as something they found puzzling. Every now and then they’d notice some sort of conversation going on which nobody else was party to. Oliver didn’t mix that much with the other crew members, apparently, and didn’t seem to be that good a technician. And yet, it seems the dead man was receiving preferential treatment from Brendan.”
    “So is Brendan gay?” asked Jim.
    “Oh, no!” They all turned towards Leanne and the horrified look on her face drew a laugh from them all. She hesitated before adding, “He’s