Page 54 of A Village Theatre Murder
‘Thank you, Nicky. Again, I don’t think it relates directly to the case. Now, back to the casting. What happened after the emails?’
‘There was an audition on a Saturday morning,’ said Oscar. ‘We all had to read a few lines. There weren’t a huge number of applicants. Just about everyone who came along got a part, big or small.’
Hayley seemed relieved to have moved on to more meaty topics. ‘Right. Any trouble there? In the casting, I mean.’
‘Not that I saw,’ said Oscar, looking round the group. ‘I guess some people might have been disappointed not to get something. Or not to get a bigger or better role. But it’s am-dram, after all. Not the West End. It’s supposed to be a bit of fun.’
There was a glum silence after Oscar’s words. Whatever fun there was supposed to have been, that had long gone.
‘No conflict, then?’
‘Um, do you have anything to say, Guy?’ Gina said pointedly. ‘Afight, perhaps?’
‘I had a run-in with Roger.’ The words came spilling out. All heads turned towards Guy. He was so quiet and unobtrusive that Julia tended to forget he was there at all. Let alone having run-ins with people. ‘I wanted to give the Postman more personality. Even though he was a minor character, I thought he could have more gravitas. More mystery. I wanted to play him as French.’
Hector gave a dismissive snort.
‘French?’ Hayley’s astonishment moulded the word into three distinct, lilting syllables:Fre-e-ench?‘Why French?’
A fair question. After all, the play was set in a manor house in 1950s England. A French postman would be unusual, to say the least.
‘I do a good French accent,’ said Guy, modestly, as if that explained it. He went on: ‘’Ello, my nem is Gee.Je suis votrepostman…’
‘Votre facteur,’ said Dylan helpfully.
‘Facteur? Are you sure?’
‘Yes, I’m learning French on Duolingo. Funnily enough the word came up last week.’
‘Well I never,’ said Guy. ‘Je suis votre facteur…’
‘Thank you.’ Hayley held up her hand, putting an end to the excruciating performance. ‘I’m assuming Roger refused?’
‘He did. He didn’t like the idea at all. Didn’t see the point. I was quite upset and said some horrible things. Just in the heat of the moment, you know. Said he had no imagination. That he was a petty dictator. Gina must have overheard the argument.’
She nodded. ‘Sorry, I don’t think you killed him or anything, but the detective did say we must mention any conflict.’
Guy nodded his understanding and forgiveness, and looked down at his hands.
‘Oh, I’ve just remembered another thing,’ Nicky cut in. ‘I complained to Roger about the teabags. Does that count?’
‘No,’ Hayley and about half the cast answered in unison.
Things continued to deteriorate after that. Despite Hayley’s efforts to keep things on track, there followed an accounting of small slights, tiny tiffs, random run-ins and misunderstandings. Those weeks felt like ancient history, although they had been only a month or so ago, and the conflicts themselves entirely trivial. Julia couldn’t believe that they had anything to do with the death of the two men.
Hayley called an end to the meeting, with an air of barely concealed irritation. ‘Please be in touch with DC Farmer if you remember anything that might be useful.Useful. Nothing about teabags and French postmen and such.’ She paused and spoke in a serious, measured tone: ‘Now, I don’t want to cause panic, but I must reiterate, the killer is still at large.’
The look on the assembled faces indicated to Julia that there was – if not panic – at least significant unease amongst some of the cast. They forgot about their trifling arguments and confessions, and focused once again on the core of the matter – two men had died, and the police didn’t know how, or why, or at whose hand. The mood was suddenly sombre.
Oscar said: ‘It’s the men who are being targeted, isn’t it? Shouldn’t we have security until the murderer is behind bars? I feel rather nervous.’
‘No, I don’t think that’s necessary at this stage. We are not at all sure what the connection is between the deaths, or if it has anything to do with this production,’ said Hayley.
‘Probably nothing at all. I don’t think you need to be afraid, Oscar,’ said Hector, with a hint of an eye-roll.
‘Not afraid, just alert,’ said Hayley. ‘I’m just asking you all to be alert. If any of you experience anything suspicious or are at all concerned for your safety, you must phone the police immediately. I’m going to give you my personal number to save on your phones. You can of course also phone 999 in case of emergency. I don’t need to tell you, this is for emergencies only.’
The players diligently tapped the digits into their phonesand then dispersed, some of them looking around anxiously as they exited the hall.
