Destiny turned as she and Gabby approached and began making introductions. Emily noticed the silence hanging over the auditorium as all the students were gathering around the edges of the stage, anxious to meet and impress this celebrity in their midst. "I'm very pleased to meet you, Mr. Bodley," Emily began, shaking his hand and noticing his firm grip and direct gaze. "We appreciate you stopping by to help with our production."
"Please, call me James, and I have to say, I'm really glad my aunt volunteered me for this because it's great to be back where it all started."
A cynical part of Emily's mind wondered exactly which "it" he was referring to, but instead, she beamed a smile in his direction and said, "Let me introduce you to the kids." Bodley began to win Emily over when he stepped forward and shook each student's hand, repeating their name as if committing it to memory and asking questions about the character they were portraying. They had just reached Jeweliah when Sapphira came charging on the stage, her stilettos almost tripping her up as she hurried forward. She latched onto Bodley's arm and said, "Of course, our dear Jeweliah needs no introduction, does she, Jamie?"
Emily and Gabby exchanged a look at the use of the possessive. Jeweliah looked distinctly uncomfortable and moved over to stand by a group of her friends. Emily's heart went out to her. What did Sapphira think was going to happen? Emily wondered. That she and Bodley would get married and he would adopt Jeweliah? The girl was practically old enough to vote.
Sensing Jeweliah's discomfort, Destiny stepped forward and, taking Bodley's other arm, steered him toward the wings to go over the scenes they would be rehearsing that evening. Sapphira would not be deterred, however, and followed in their wake, waving over her shoulder at her daughter, who ignored her. Destiny was glaring daggers at Sapphira, which Emily assumed had more to do with her treatment of Jeweliah than her hanging on Bodley.
Emily herded the students to their places, catching the eye of her dad as he continued to work on the door of the set. "Where's Tad?" she mouthed.
"Went to get some supplies," he answered quietly. "Just let me know if you want help."
With a grateful nod, Emily crossed the stage to announce the start of their first official dress rehearsal. As she moved down the stairs to join Gabby in the front row, she noticed that Annabeth and Violet were huddled together in one of the side aisles. Emily knew that Violet had planned to drop by to discuss ticket sales, but that didn't appear to be what was on her mind at the moment. The tiny, slightly frumpy looking woman looked like she'd been crying, and Annabeth was patting her hand, looking close to tears herself. She almost went over to check on them but then decided the students needed her attention more. If Violet or Annabeth needed to talk to her, they knew where to find her.
The rehearsal got off to a great start, and during the first scene, Bodley only stopped the students twice to give some pointers, which Emily was pleased to see made the students stand a little taller and try just a little harder. She began to relax, thinking maybe everything would work out all right after all. She was especially impressed with Gareth Deering, the senior playing Colonel Mustard, and Holley Reid, who was playing the part of Mrs. White. She said as much to Gabby, who whispered back, "I agree, but notice that Bodley seems to be harder on them than on anyone else."
Emily watched closely, and as the play progressed, she did see that Bodley stopped those two the most frequently, making minor adjustments to their movements or their line delivery. "Maybe he just sees their potential and wants to push them to deliver their best performance," she said.
"Maybe," Gabby agreed, but she didn't sound convinced.
By the end of the first act, Tad had returned, and he and Destiny had joined them in the front row and seemed to be on Gabby's side. "That man is being so tough on Gareth and Holley, but all he does is smile at Jeweliah. Can't he see that she needs the most help of anyone up there?" she fumed.
Emily noted Sapphira watching from the sidelines, a satisfied smile on her face. If Bodley was going to go easy on Jeweliah just because her mom and he were dating, they were definitely going to have an issue. They were coming up on intermission in the middle of this act, so Emily decided she would speak to him about their concerns then.
Bodley was currently giving Ryken Elsner, the senior portraying the butler Wadsworth, some pointers on handing out the weapons.
"The trick is to handle them as if they're all extremely dangerous. After all, they're supposed to represent lethal weapons that can be used to commit murder," he said, hefting the lead pipe in his hand. "Of course, we all know they're harmless, but the audience doesn't. So hold this carefully, like the blade is scalpel-sharp."
Reaching into the box, Bodley carefully lifted out the prop representing the knife. "If you treat this like the letter opener it is, the sense of danger you are building for the audience is diminished. See?" Bodley turned the prop in his hand, grabbing it by the blade. With a sharp intake of breath, he let the prop fall to the stage, cradling his hand against his chest. When he turned around, Emily saw blood dripping from his curled hand.
CHAPTER THREE
Emily jumped up from her seat and ran for the stage steps. She could hear Destiny and Gabby right behind her, but before she could reach Bodley, Sapphira had launched herself at him, screaming shrilly. "Jamie! Your hand! What happened?"
Bodley looked up at them all with blank eyes. "It's a prop," he said faintly.
"Of course, it's just a prop," Emily assured him but then sent a questioning look at Destiny, who gave a helpless shrug. Even as she said it, she knew there was no way a letter opener could have caused a big enough gash to be bleeding the way Bodley's hand currently was. Blood was running down his arm to drip off of his elbow onto the dusty stage floor. Gabby came running with a roll of paper towels. Always good in a crisis, she grabbed Bodley by the arm and lowered him to the edge of the stage. Once he was seated, she examined the wound, then pressed a wad of paper towels into his hand to staunch the bleeding.
"He needs stitches," Gabby told the crowd of onlookers. Tad stepped forward, but before he could say a word, Sapphira scurried forward and announced loudly that she would be taking him to the hospital immediately.
When she and Bodley were halfway up the aisle, she turned to Emily and spat, "Look what you've done. You're a lousy teacher, you know that?" Then with a toss of her hair, she disappeared out the auditorium doors, dragging Bodley behind her, who was pale and sweaty, still clutching the sodden mass of paper towels to his bleeding hand.
Emily knew her face was awash with color. Her breath was coming in short, shallow gasps, and she longed to punch something—anything. Part of her was furious that Sapphira had dared to accuse her of causing this horrible mishap, but another part of her was also burning with shame because she did feel guilty. How could this happen? All of the props were supposed to be harmless, and she was the one responsible for the safety of the kids. What if one of them had been hurt? She took in the faces of the students gathered on the stage, hearing their whispers and noting their frowns. The only one who wasn't looking upset, oddly enough, was Jeweliah. She had a half-smile on her face as she stared at the doors out of which her mother had just flounced.
Tad and Destiny both moved to her side to comfort her after Sapphira's stinging words, but Emily brushed them off. This was not the time to be feeling sorry for herself. She had to worry about the students first. She called for their attention and assured them that this had all been a terrible mistake. Reiterating that there was nothing to be concerned about, that she was sure Mr. Bodley would be as good as new and back to help again, she called off rehearsals for the night, knowing the students were too preoccupied with the dramatic events to concentrate on actually performing their own drama.
The students quickly fled the stage and auditorium, still whispering and chattering about what had happened to Mr. Bodley and Sapphira's terrible words. Emily tried to tune them out as she moved to examine the supposedly harmless letter opener that Bodley had dropped to the sta
ge. Gabby was already busy cleaning up the pool and drips of blood the accident had left behind, and Emily was grateful that she had found a pair of plastic gloves and some industrial-strength cleaner. She vaguely wondered where she had scrounged those items up, wondering if they had come from her cavernous purse that always seemed to hold everything but the kitchen sink. She shot her a grateful look, then knelt on the stage. Tad was immediately by her side, holding her back from touching the letter opener. Only it was no letter opener.
She had personally selected each of the props to use as the traditional weapons in Clue—a rope, a candlestick, a lead pipe, a wrench, a revolver, and a knife. Each prop was carefully inspected and deemed completely safe by both her and Destiny, as well as the school administration. The letter opener that was to be used as the knife had come from her parents' own house. But that's not what Bodley had been holding. This was a lethal-looking dagger, with a clearly sharpened keen-edged blade. The shiny silver handle was the only thing that resembled the letter opener that Jeweliah, as Mrs. Peacock, was supposed to remove from its box.
"I think we better leave that where it is and call the police," Tad told her.
Emily whirled to face him. "The police? Why on earth would we call the police? Bodley cut his hand. It's not like anyone did him any harm."
"Didn't they?" Tad asked her softly. "We both know this isn't the prop that was supposed to be in this box. How did this dagger get in here?"
"I have no idea," she told him. "Destiny put Albert in charge of props. Either he or Destiny lock them away every night after rehearsal." Emily looked around the auditorium and saw the couple in the front row, Destiny clinging to Albert's hand.
Tad motioned to them both, and once they had joined them on stage, he asked them the same questions concerning who could have switched the props. Albert's shoulders sagged, and he looked forlornly at Destiny as he said, "I honestly don't know. I locked those props up after rehearsal last night. I'm sure of it. But the key isn't here." He held up a Mizzou tiger-head keychain from which dangled several keys. Emily saw that the small storage locker key that she had given him and Destiny was not among them.
"Did you leave the key in the lock?" Emily asked him, but Albert shook his head.
"I always keep the key right here. I don't know where it could've gotten to." He looked so miserable that Emily didn't have the heart to chastise him about being careless. Besides, who was she to talk? Someone had been harmed on her watch.
"So someone had to have deliberately taken the key in order to switch the props. This was not a simple mistake. I really think you should call the police," Tad told Emily, but this time, Destiny was shaking her head.
"I don't see any reason to involve the police. It was probably one of the kids, and we don't want to get them into trouble, do we? I'm sure they meant it as a harmless prank, but once Bodley got hurt, they were too afraid to come forward. Let's leave it for now. We can have a big lecture on safety tomorrow before rehearsals and encourage the guilty party to come forward." At Tad's skeptical look, Destiny added, "These are good kids. I'm sure the one who did this will confess. Then we can punish the one responsible instead of bringing down the whole group. Don't you think, Emily?"
Emily wasn't sure what to think. She'd never imagined something like this would happen. She saw her mom and dad watching from the edge of the stage, and when her dad gave a slight nod, she agreed with Destiny.
"If no one comes forward, we'll call in the authorities, okay?" She laid a hand on Tad's shoulder, which was rigid with tension. "Let's call it a night. We can lock these other props up and worry about the rest tomorrow."
Tad didn't look convinced, but he went about helping the rest of them gather up the remaining weapon props, examining each one closely to make sure it was still harmless. Still, the way he mumbled under his breath made it clear to Emily that he hadn't said all he had to say on the subject yet.
* * *
The next day at school was a repeat of the previous one, only this time the students were worrying over whether Mr. Bodley would come back to help them again after what had happened the night before. Emily and Destiny kept reassuring them that he had called and informed them that, after seven stitches, he was right as rain and would be there to help with rehearsals. Emily found herself counting the days until the whole production was over and done with.
"This is why I need to learn to keep my mouth shut in staff meetings," she muttered under her breath to Tad as she finally managed to break away from a knot of concerned students and scoot into the teacher's lounge.
Tad laughed, and she leaned into him for a moment, grateful for his solid, comforting presence. They both took their seats at the lunch table, and Emily noted that Destiny looked as exhausted and shell-shocked as she did. She was listening silently as Albert, subbing that day for Mr. Barnes, talked steadily to her in tones too low to catch. "Hanging in there?" Emily asked her when Albert stopped to take a bite of his lasagna.
Destiny toyed with her salad and shrugged. "Not really," she said, not looking up at them. "I'm worried that we've gotten in over our heads by involving Bodley in the play production."
Emily sent a puzzled look Tad's way and laying her hand on top of Destiny's, forcing her to look up, she asked, "Why do you say that? What particularly has you worried? The fiasco with the letter opener?"
Destiny shrugged again, looking at Albert as if in appeal to help. "It's a bit more than that," Albert said cryptically.
"I think you better explain," Tad said. His tone was serious, and Destiny gave him a little frown before she let out a huge sigh and said, "Alright. You probably better know what I heard last night."
Emily's stomach flipped and flopped wondering what else was going to go wrong. She shoved her own reheated leftovers aside and leaned forward, resting her chin on her hands, mentally preparing herself for more bad news.
Gripping Albert's hand tightly, Destiny began, "I was talking to Violet at the start of rehearsal last night, and well, she was pretty upset." Emily had a flash of seeing the two of them talking, wondering why Violet looked like she'd been crying, and she nodded at Destiny to continue. Only the normally cheerful brunette didn't look like she wanted to say any more. Albert squeezed her hand and murmured, "Go on."
Destiny looked up at them then, her big green eyes filled with tears. "I'm afraid that maybe what happened with Bodley wasn't a prank after all. I didn't think too much about what Violet told me at first. I'd already decided that James Bodley seems like a class-A jerk, the type who's only out for himself. But the more I thought about what all Violet told me last night, the more concerned I became. I didn't know what to do." With a groan, Destiny laid her head on her arms, slumping over the table.
"But what did Violet tell you?" Emily asked. She knew the two of them, along with Annabeth Cardinal, had gotten pretty close in recent months. She didn't want to encourage Destiny to betray a confidence, but obviously, there was something here that needed to be shared. "We can't help you if we don't know what's wrong," she added softly. Beside her, she could feel Tad straining with impatience to hear the full story.
Rubbing at her eyes, Destiny sat up and looked around to make sure they were the only ones still in the lounge. Once she was sure the coast was clear, she said quietly, "Violet hates Bodley. And frankly, after hearing what that man did to her, I do too."
She crossed her arms defensively across her chest, and from the determined set of her shoulders, Emily could see that she meant it. Her mind spewed out a thousand horrible ideas as to what Bodley could have done to Violet. A thought occurred to her, and she asked, "They went to high school together, right? Is this some high school drama that never got resolved?" She mentally crossed her fingers, praying that was all it was, but Destiny gave a stubborn shake to her head.
"This is not over some old, stupid heartbreak. Bodley destroyed Violet's chance at happiness, at pursing her dreams."
Emily's mind spun through several different scenarios of what awful thin
g Bodley might have done in the time it took Tad to ask, "And how exactly did he do that? I mean, I don't know Violet Shaw that well, but she seems to be happily married and completely devoted to her son. What makes you think she's unhappy?"
Destiny pushed up from her chair to pace the small teacher's lounge. Albert watched her carefully, waiting for any opportunity to come to her aid. "I'm not saying that Violet is unhappy with her life, but did you know that her dream was to become a concert pianist?"
"No," Tad shook his head slowly. "But it was my dream to play first base for the St. Louis Cardinals. Now I'm a teacher. I'm not sorry I gave up that dream."
"But you gave it up," Destiny repeated, whirling to face them. "Violet practiced and worked hard her entire life to win the Ellington High Margaret Farmington Performing Arts Scholarship her senior year. She was raised by a single mom who struggled to make ends meet, and that scholarship was her only chance of attending Julliard. But she lost the scholarship to the great and mighty James Bodley." The way she spat out his name took Emily by surprise. There was pure venom in her voice. She struggled to understand why Destiny was so angry at someone who didn't have any real impact on her life.
"That's very unfortunate for Violet, but these things do happen," Tad pointed out gently.
"But Bodley's parents could have afforded to send him to any school he wished. He could have turned down the scholarship. He knew how desperately Violet needed it."
"But surely there were other scholarships or opportunities out there for Violet if she was that talented," Tad persisted.
"Well, she never had time to pursue them because after her first year of community college, she found out that her mom was really sick, and she dropped everything to take care of her."
Emily felt a tear well up at the idea of the sacrifices she had made. Still, she knew what it was like to adore your parents. She wouldn't think twice about sacrificing for her own parents. However, she also knew what it was like to love a best friend like a sister. She knew that Destiny and Violet had become close since Destiny's move to Ellington. If someone had hurt Gabby like that, she would be angry too. She looked to Tad for the right words, but he looked as stumped as she did. Thankfully, they were saved by the bell, signaling the end of their lunch break.
Murder Takes Center Stage Page 3
