CAMERA…ACTION…MURDER!
by
FAITH MORTIMER
A Murder Mystery Novel in the Best Selling
“DIANA RIVERS” series
CAMERA…ACTION…MURDER!
by
FAITH MORTIMER
Copyright © Faith Mortimer 2012
The right of Faith Mortimer to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All Rights Reserved
No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents originate from the writer’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead is purely coincidental.
Published in 2012
by Topsails Charter, Southampton
About the author:
Faith Mortimer: born in Manchester, England and educated in Singapore, Malaya and Hampshire, England. Qualified as a Registered nurse and later changed careers to oversee a number of travel and sport related companies.
Faith is married with a family. Once the children attended University, she decided to join them in reading for a Science degree. Faith obtained an Honours Science degree in 2005 and believes the dedication and stamina needed to sit for a degree while in full-time employment, gave her the confidence to finish writing her first novel.
To date Faith has written and published:
‘THE ASSASSINS' VILLAGE’. (1st novel in The Diana Rivers series). A murder mystery set in the Troodos mountains of Cyprus. This 93,000 word paperback & eBook was chosen on the Harper Collins/Authonomy site out of over 8000 books to be the Number 1 book!
‘CHILDREN OF THE PLANTATION’. Published in paperback & eBook, (2nd in The Diana Rivers series), murder mystery, set in exotic Malaysia during the 1960's and 1950's and the present. The story concerns a family whose dark secrets threaten to destroy the family.
‘THE SURGEON'S BLADE’. (3rd in the Diana Rivers series) Published in paperback and eBook. This psychological thriller is tense and thrilling and guarantees to keep you on the edge of your seat!
‘THE BAMBOO MIRROR’. An eclectic collection of short stories, covering subjects including: ghosts, murder, mystery, romance and greed.
'THE SEEDS OF TIME - BOOK 1 of THE CROSSING'. Action-Adventure plus Romantic Suspense. (published June 2012).
'HARVEST - BOOK 2 of THE CROSSING' Continues from Book 1. Action-Adventure full of romantic suspense. (published July 2012).
‘CAMERA ACTION...MURDER’! (4th in the Diana Rivers Mystery/Suspense series). Diana finds herself in danger after discovering a body…will she be the next victim?
‘A VERY FRENCH AFFAIR’. Romance, Heartache and Suspense set on the beautiful south coast of France. To be published in 2013
For more information about Faith and her writing please follow on Facebook. www.facebook.com/FaithMortimer.Author
http://twitter.com/FaithMortimer
Website: www.faithmortimerauthor.com
Where Faith writes a regular blog about all manner of things!
Acknowledgements
A Big Thank You to my editor Catherine and to my husband Chris for their invaluable assistance and patient support.
“Camera…Action…Murder!” by Faith Mortimer
Fifteen Years Ago.
For some reason, Diana didn’t want to go any nearer the stage, which was surprising since she had once loved it. Instead, she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. She stood quite still as she stared towards the back. She remembered.
She remembered the deathly silence once her friends had disappeared backstage to the dressing rooms. She heard the door slam as it echoed along the corridor. She recalled the director was always berating the cast for allowing doors to bang shut during rehearsals saying ‘silence backstage was as important as during an actual performance’. Diana remembered smiling while she imagined what her friends were up to. She didn’t mind finishing off the painting on her own, there wasn’t much left to do. Then, some minutes later, she remembered the sudden plunge into darkness as the auditorium and stage lights were suddenly extinguished. She made a tentative laugh and called to her friends, telling them to stop arsing around and to put the lights back on. Then there was that silence: a silence which seemed to go on and on until…she heard it. A single muffled footstep off to her right and on the stage. There was a rustle, and she felt something light brush against her foot upon the ladder and then something took hold of her shirt. She screamed and in her terror shied away from whatever had touched her, and then she slipped. She somehow knew that whatever was lurking there was evil and she had to get away.
Knowing the theatre layout, she rolled from the foot of the ladder, kept low and slithered across the stage as quietly as she could towards the front apron. She kept her wits about her, guessing where the edge of the stage was, and once she reached it knew she could slip down onto the floor in the stalls. There was a series of rapid footsteps away from her, a click, and suddenly there was a single light shining down upon the stage. She cast a look around and saw nobody there, but knowing they would return within seconds she realised she had to get to safety. Scared and hardly daring to breathe, Diana tensed when she heard the footsteps coming back. Where could she go? And that was when she had the idea. The prompt’s pit was just ahead. Two rolls and she disappeared over the edge into the pit. She was lucky that the last prompt had left a cushion on the seat which broke her fall…
…Diana withheld the scream which was threatening to undo her and crawled as quietly as she could beneath the stage. Her shirt was torn by whoever had grabbed her, and she heard it rip once more as it caught on a protruding nail. If only she could make it to the rear of the theatre and the fire-escape doors…or she could run to the dressing rooms and be safe with her friends. She remembered choking back her sobs of terror and reaching the corridor; help wasn’t far away…she heard footsteps…..
Chapter 1
Diana Rivers hadn’t intended to visit England that summer. The novel she was writing wasn’t going too well, and the last thing she wanted was another disruption in her world. For a woman who seldom let obstacles get in her way, life was currently—if she was honest—not going according to plan and even a little boring.
The previous few years had been eventful. Diana had been instrumental in discovering and solving two murders, a fifty-year-old mystery, and helped prevent a serial killer from murdering her last chosen victim. Since those momentous events, things were now definitely a lot quieter.
Being bored was a new experience for Diana. It wasn’t because she disliked living in an old stone house halfway up a mountain in the foothills of the beautiful Troodos Mountains in Cyprus…far from it. Neither did she resent being a mother to two-year-old Poppy or wife to handsome Steve. The truth was, she hadn’t settled down to write more than a few chapters of her latest novel since her daughter’s birth.
Poppy was adorable: a playful, happy little girl and a normal two-year-old. She ran rings around her father, and Diana was overjoyed that at long last they had been blessed with a child in their marriage. Diana knew the problem was of her own making, and despite having loads of ideas floating around in her head for at least two new books, she couldn’t get past those first few stumbling chapters. She knew she really needed a diversion and a break, but so far, she was being her usual stubborn self and not admitting this to anyone.
Steve recognised the signs and had suggested a holiday to entice her away, but to no avail. Diana told him she could handle the situation, and the result was definitely stalemate.
So, when the emai
l arrived from England that morning with an invitation to visit and stay with the Macphersons in Cheltenham, Steve was delighted when Di announced, “What fun it would be to go.” He should have thought the idea through more thoroughly because wherever Diana went in the world, chaos and mystery seemed to follow her. What’s more, he thought darkly, after everything she went through the last time we were there, I’m amazed she’d even contemplate it. He should have known…
“Look, Steve, we’ve received an invitation from Duncan and Isabelle Macpherson to go and stay with them. But that’s not all. You remember that play we acted in the last time we were in Cheltenham? It was called The Holbein Legacy, and this is the most exciting part of all…guess what?” Diana said when she rushed into Steve’s workshop that morning waving a print of the email under his nose.
Steve paused what he was doing and looked at her with a patient, albeit puzzled, expression on his face. She looked flushed and excited.
“Well?” she asked.
“Di, how can I possibly begin to guess what’s in the email? Just tell me. I’m in the middle of rewiring this lamp, and it’s bloody tricky because there’s hardly any wire to play with. Chinese junk again.”
“Tssk, Mr Grumpy! You’re going to be impressed when I tell you. They’re only going to make a film out of the play! Can you imagine? And we’re invited over for a few day’s visit to meet some of the film cast. I wonder who they’ve chosen to play our roles.”
This time, she did capture his attention. “I see what you mean. That is interesting. Let me have a look then.”
Diana passed the sheet of paper over to Steve and shot him a triumphant look. “I knew you’d be fascinated.”
Steve read the message through and looked up at Diana. “It says we’re invited because we were members of the original stage cast of The Holbein Legacy. We’re being asked to take part in a day or two of filming and a photo shoot with the original cast. How extraordinary. That means they must be inviting all the others too. I wonder if anyone we know will be there and which film stars will come. It doesn’t say.”
“Not all the original members will come…Emily for one, if you remember. She’s sadly no longer with us, and there are bound to be a few more we know nothing about. It’s so easy to lose touch.”
“You’re right. I’d forgotten about Emily. Do you reckon Duncan’s still a womaniser?”
“I bet he is. Despite Isabelle’s hooks in him, he always was quite the Casanova.” Diana laughed.
“So you’d like to go then? Visit the Cotswolds and stay at the Macphersons’? What about Poppy? And are you sure you want to go away? You haven’t wanted to lately if I suggested it.”
Diana looked pensive. “Steve, so many questions! I do like the idea of a few weeks or so away and seeing some of the old cast. Staying at the Macphersons’ swanky house and meeting some film stars will be amazing! But as for Poppy, I’m not sure. I don’t really think a two-year-old would be welcome in Isabella’s home, do you?”
“I’m not sure you can call it a home. It’s almost a stately home displaying Isabelle’s family treasures. And I agree. I don’t think we can take Poppy. Perhaps we could ask Robert and Libby if they’d help out for a few days. Or Geraldine…she loves kids too.”
“No, we’d better not ask Geraldine. As much as she loves Poppy, she has the bar at The Magic Teapot to run and her own grandson to look after. I wouldn’t want to burden her any more. No, Robert and Libby are a great choice, and they’ve offered before. Besides, it’ll be good practice for when their own baby arrives next year.”
“But Di, don’t forget we’ll be staying near Cheltenham. That’s what we’re talking about. Are you sure? It’s bound to bring back old memories, and I don’t want you upset.”
“Yes, I know, but what happened was a long time ago, and I’ve put it firmly behind me. Besides, as you say so often, I attract trouble, and there’s nothing I can do about that! So let’s do it. And I’m positive about Robert and Libby being happy in looking after Poppy.”
“If you’re really happy, darling, then I‘ll go along with it. Shall I leave you to ring and organise your cousin?”
“Yes, I’ll do it now. Are you coming in for coffee, or shall I make it and we’ll have it in the courtyard?”
“Give me five minutes, and then I’ll have conquered this Chinese puzzle. I’d like it in the courtyard, since it’s such a lovely morning.”
Diana left Steve with his wiring and headed towards the kitchen. She knew she was taking a risk revisiting the scene of a previous unsolved crime, but she was sure she could handle it.
Chapter 2
The drive from the south coast up to the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire was one of Diana’s favourite scenic routes. It was no wonder thousands of tourists visited the area. The Cotswolds were well known for gentle hillsides (wolds), sleepy villages, and for being so typically English. She loved the non-cemented dry-stone walls everywhere. The eighteenth- and nineteenth-century walls represented an important historical landscape and were a major conservation feature.
Diana spent some years in Gloucestershire in her twenties, which was when she first met Steve. She was already a member of Duncan Macpherson’s theatre company when Steve joined. Within days, the two young actors had fallen in love and spent whatever free time they had together. They explored the surrounding countryside in an old MG roadster, which was Steve’s pride and joy, and learnt a lot about the ways of the local farmers. During the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries—the medieval period—native Cotswold sheep were famous throughout Europe for their heavy fleeces and the high quality of wool they produced. Cotswold wool commanded a high price, so the wealth generated by the wool trade enabled wealthy traders to leave their mark by building fine houses and wonderful churches, known as wool churches. Whenever Diana caught sight of sheep on the hillside, she was reminded of this and thought it one of the classic Cotswold images.
Diana and Steve had arrived in England three days before and lost no time in driving down to Hampshire where Diana’s cousin, Robert, lived with his wife, Libby. Di was particularly fond of her cousin and his new wife, especially since she had played a hand in getting them together. Robert had suffered the loss of his first wife and baby daughter some years previously in a tragic accident. When Libby arrived on the scene, Diana thought the attractive nursing sister the perfect partner for her kind and considerate cousin.
When Diana first rang and asked if they would mind having Poppy for a few days, she heard the enthusiasm in Libby’s voice at once. Diana was relieved. Although she hadn’t left her precious daughter with anyone else before, she trusted Robert and Libby implicitly.
“We’d love to have her! She’s such a dear little thing and so good. We’ll have tremendous fun taking her out, and it’ll give Robert a good excuse to take time off. He’s been working extra hard lately and needs a change. When can we expect you? Is there anything special we need to get in for her?"
Diana ran through some details and then, after having a quick word with her cousin, said she and Steve were looking forward to seeing them a couple of weeks later. The intervening time flew past, and Diana felt her feet hadn’t touched the ground since she had first received the invitation.
Steve and Diana stayed with Robert and Libby for a few nights, and Diana swore Poppy remembered them from their previous visit a few months before. Within minutes, she was rushing around the English household, terrorising their Labrador puppy, Sam, and Diana was confident her daughter felt happy and safe there. Having settled Poppy, Diana and Steve left her on the living-room floor with Sam and set off for Havershall House. The drive up had been enjoyable but uneventful. With barely a half hour to go, they were feeling relaxed yet excited at seeing a lot of the old co-members of the cast once again.
“It must be fifteen years since we were last here at the house,” Steve mused, changing down a gear to let a small herd of cows head into a field. He paused to wave at the herder and resumed their journey.
> Diana nodded. “Easily. We finished the season of The Holbein Legacy and then did a short spell of Shakespeare for the festival. God, that was exhausting! I hated doing Romeo and Juliet over and over again. And what about the Merchant of Venice…?” She laughed. “Remember Clare Thomson as Portia when she’d put on weight and her costume pants split up the back during her big speech? ‘The quality of mercy is not strained’ etcetera, etcetera, and eek! Suddenly there she stood, exposing a shocking pink pair of satin French knickers! All I can say is, it’s a good thing thongs weren’t in vogue then! And as for ‘mercy not being strained’, her bottom was certainly straining in those pants. Ha-ha!” She wriggled down into her seat, giggling, and Steve joined in.
“I do. What a fright we all had. Duncan nearly had a fit. Who was playing Shylock that time? Was it Russell? He nearly dropped his stage knife in shock…he was standing right behind her. No one knew whether to laugh or keep a straight face. Ah, good times. We had a lot of fun, even if the pay was appalling.”
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