Death in the West End (London Cozy Mysteries Book 2) by Rachel McLean & Millie Ravensworth

Author:Rachel McLean & Millie Ravensworth [McLean, Rachel & Ravensworth, Millie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ackroyd Publishing
Published: 2023-11-08T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirty

Diana knew that the secret to being in a place where you didn’t belong was to move confidently and with purpose. It also helped to carry a sheet of paper or a parcel.

Diana had neither. She had only her duck-headed umbrella, but she clutched it firmly as though it was of the utmost importance that she deliver it somewhere as quickly as possible.

She found a flight of stairs along the side of the half-lit auditorium and tried to work her way up to the upper reaches of the theatre, if only to get a better understanding of the spot from which Todd had fallen to his death.

Just as Zaf had described, an encircling top-level corridor formed a horseshoe around the stage and auditorium. At the far end, a window in a side door overlooked the gantries of walkways, girders and wires above the stage.

She tried the door handle. It turned, but she wasn’t about to go through. Too precarious.

Far below, dancers pivoted in unison on the stage. Diana peered down at them, and then turned back.

Just as she was about to retreat, she spotted a silhouette at the side of the stage. It looked like a little sandbag, the kind she’d seen used to counterbalance pulleys on the stage.

Then the little sandbag lifted a paw, licked it and used it to wash behind his ears.

“Gus.”

Diana smiled. Newton would be relieved.

She looked back through the door, pondering.

So, Todd Granger, acclaimed stage director and lynchpin to a deal that would see The Cockney’s Complaint transfer from London’s West End to Broadway in New York, had come up here in the middle of a party and, possibly high as a kite, stepped through this door and over the edge into oblivion.

“But what were you doing up here?” she whispered.

Todd had been in the technical booth. Zaf had seen his cocktail glass there, and had heard Noah talking to a woman about the director. Diana made her way there.

It sat at the very base of the horseshoe corridor, giving a clear view of the stage and the auditorium.

She slipped inside. Three people worked at the computers and mixing desks, all wearing headphones. One was counting through a series of light changes to coincide with the activities on stage.

The woman at the sound mixing desk looked round at Diana. “You lost?”

“I wondered if you could help me with a few questions.”

The woman gave a little frown.

“Todd Granger,” Diana said. “He was up here, shortly before he died.”

“Haven’t you already asked us these questions?”

The woman thought she was a police officer.

“Questions get repeated a lot,” Diana said, not correcting her.

“Expecting a different answer?”

“Maybe hoping to glean additional insights.”

The woman raised a finger, cued up a sequence on the computer in front of her and pressed play.

“Right. Then let me recap. Yes, he was up here. He wanted to check up on some video files he’d asked us to transfer to digital and send on. No, he’s not usually up here. No, he doesn’t have an office of any sort.

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