Upstaged by Murder by C. S. Challinor

Author:C. S. Challinor [Challinor, C. S.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: soft-boiled;mystery;murder mystery;fiction;cozy;amateur sleuth;mystery novels;murder;regional fiction;regional mystery;amateur sleuth novel;rex graves;rex graves mystery;rex graves mystery;challinor;caroline challinor;cs challinor;c.s. challinor;c. s. challinor;mystery fiction;mystery novel;CVR09142017
Publisher: Llewellyn Worldwide, LTD.
Published: 2018-05-23T16:06:56+00:00

fifteen

Rex rang the producer as he sauntered down the nearly deserted Sunday street to the car. Leaning against it, he gazed across the pavement at a closed lighting shop displaying Tiffany lamps and chandeliers in the windowfront while he waited for Ron Wade to answer.

“Thank you for taking my call,” Rex said when he finally did.

“I got your message. I can’t talk long. My wife and I are going out.”

“Just a few quick questions. And thank you for asking Inspector Fiske if I might participate in the case from the side-lines, so to speak.”

“It was Penny’s idea, really. What can I help you with?”

“I’m mainly concerned at this point with everyone’s movements at the time of the shooting and shortly prior. The inspector gave me a brief overview, but I’d like to fill in the details.”

He heard Ron sigh abruptly at the other end of the connection. “Well, as soon as the scrim came down for the attic scene, I left my prompting post behind the Chinese screen and went backstage, closely followed by the five sleuths. The other actors had already left the set.”

“Whom specifically did you see backstage?”

“As I told the inspector, it was all a bit of a blur. I had a blinding headache coming on, and all I could think about was getting to my car for my pills. I reclined my seat and closed my eyes for a short while.”

“Is there anyone who might have seen you leaving the building?” Rex asked.

“There was a young woman in a stripy pullover by the water fountain in the lobby. She was busy on her phone and I don’t know if she noticed me. I learnt afterwards she was a reporter. At the time, I remember thinking her bright jumper was hurting my eyes and wondering why she wasn’t in the hall watching the play. The ticket attendant was loitering outside by the bushes having a smoke. He may have said something to me. He was still there when I returned from my car at five minutes to eight. I expect he was able to vouch for me to the police. By the time I got backstage, Cassie’s body had been found. Everyone was talking at once. I couldn’t think straight. I had to sit down in a quiet corner and wait for the medication to finish taking effect.”

“Just one more thing, Mr. Wade. Who operated the curtains at the end of the first act?”

“Bill Welsh.”

“He said he forgot.”

Ron Wade roundly insulted the unreliable stagehand. “Must have been Tony then. He’s supposed to direct things onstage.”

“It seems it was not him either.”

“Well, you got me. But someone did, right? Or we’d all know what bloody happened onstage.”

“Exactly so.” Rex thanked the producer again.

He stood hesitating by the car. He did not feel ready to go back to Barley Close. Julie would still be there, and for some reason he felt one too many in her presence. Better to leave the two women to enjoy each other’s company a while longer, he decided, and for him to make the most of his free time.

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