Page 121 of The Silent Appeal

3:32 p.m. Amelia wrote:

Really? You’d do that for me? Thank you! But what will you sleep on?

3:33 p.m. Fran wrote:

I’ll bring a yoga mat and my duvet. It’s not going to be super-cold. I’ll be fine.

To: Dustin Perez

From: Carol Dearing

Date: April 25, 2025

Subject: Sleep Out

Hello Dustin,

Shall I pick you up at the usual time for Monday’s rehearsal? I missed our chats on the way there and back last week, but of course, you need to work. Have you organized your shifts around play week? It would be awful if you were stuck on duty after months of rehearsals, knowing someone from the crew was squeezed into your costume and pushed onstage with the book!

Nicky-Rose says Fairways’ play is going well. According to Denise, Marianne, and Joyce, she’s thrown herself into assistant directing to the point that Kevin is at her beck and call. She’s even working with him now, doing the sort of admin Sarah-Jane always complained about, so finally everyone’s happy!

There are times you only see the whole picture when you look back on it, not when it’s actually happening. I know now that when Nicky-Rose first arrived she was depressed. Something happened in Barbados and she has no intention of ever telling me what it was. I suspect a love affair that fizzled out. I’m delighted to say that cloud has lifted. She’s positively chipper these days!

I hear her on the phone at night sometimes, talking about money. The calls are so late they must be with someone in a different time zone. I wonder if it’s about the house? Was she a joint owner with the chap who went to Indonesia? And what happened to her share of the money? Because one thing’s for sure, there’s none left now.

Are you going to the “sleep out” tomorrow? Joyce roped me into the catering or I’d have been getting an early night. Carol

To: Carol Dearing

From: Dustin Perez

Date: April 25, 2025

Subject: Re: Sleep Out

Hi Carol,

Yes, Monday usual time, please. We put the world to rights on those journeys and I need it after this week at work.

Good to hear about Nicky-Rose. You may be right about the money. It’s a sticky situation—what happens to the house when a relationship breaks down. If it’s not a 50/50 split things can get ugly. Maybe she’s talking to her lawyers in the night?

Not going to the sleep out but sent a donation instead. It’s for a good cause. All the best, Dustin

Message exchange between Kevin MacDonald and Nicky-Rose Dearing on April 25, 2025:

4:04 p.m. Kevin wrote:

Did that new accounting software update like it promised?

4:07 p.m. Nicky-Rose wrote:

No, and Terry says we WILL need to input everything from the last tax year when it does. Everything has to be rescanned.

4:08 p.m. Kevin wrote:

Can YOU do it? We’ve got the sleep out tomorrow and SJ is knee-deep in artisan bagels.

4:09 p.m. Nicky-Rose wrote: