Murder in the Second Row

by Bev Robitai

  ‘Oh, relax, Gerald. There was one of these in the box yesterday. I’m sure it’s just some bunch of religious nutters targeting the area trying to get their message across.’

  ‘Well, I checked several boxes up and down the street and nobody else had one. And this does sound quite specific.’ His pale face looked concerned.

  ‘Does it?’ She took it from him and read it carefully.

  Though you are as numerous as the stars in the sky, few of you will be left because you would not listen to the LORD your God. Just as the LORD has found great pleasure in helping you to prosper and multiply, the LORD will find pleasure in destroying you, until you disappear from the stage you are about to enter and occupy.

  The LORD himself will send against you curses, confusion, and disillusionment in everything you do, until at last you are completely destroyed for doing evil.

  The LORD will strike you with madness, blindness, and panic. You will grope around in broad daylight, just like a blind person groping in the darkness, and you will not succeed at anything you do.

  ‘Yes, this one is a bit more hard-core than yesterday’s effort.’

  ‘It was the bit about the stage that got my attention.’ Gerald pointed it out. ‘I suspect the quote has been paraphrased to aim it directly at us.’

  ‘Which,’ she said slowly, ‘would make this quite a threatening letter.’ She paused to think. ‘OK, Gerald, here’s what we’re going to do. Change the door combination, and only tell committee members. If anyone else wants to come in at odd times, they’ll have to get a committee member to accompany them. We’ll double-check all the usual security areas like doors and windows, and make sure all the fire gear is easily accessible. I’ll put up a notice to tell the cast to watch security and I’ll ring round the rest of the committee tonight.’

  Gerald looked relieved.

  ‘I’m glad you’re so confident and well-organised, Jessica. I’m sure there’s nothing to worry about but I do feel better knowing you’ve got everything under control.’

  She grinned at him and waved the paper.

  ‘This is obviously from someone who doesn’t know much about the theatre. They seem to think that the Lord has been helping us to prosper. That would be the day, eh? The theatre bank account isn’t showing much evidence of assistance from the Almighty, is it?’

  For the whole week, Jessica was slightly nervous when she approached the theatre each morning. She’d check the letterbox cautiously for purple notes, and walk right round the outside of the building checking for any signs of tampering. Only then would she relax and get on with her day.

  However, by Friday she was getting over it. She didn’t notice the small panel of broken glass in the foyer window. It was only the crunch of glass shards under her shoe that alerted her that something wasn’t right.

  She hurried inside to check what the damage was inside the foyer, and found a stone wrapped in purple paper lying amid more glittering jewels of broken glass on the red carpet. Muttering curses, she went to pick it up, but stopped herself just in time. This was a criminal act of vandalism, so the stone was evidence. She went into the box office and picked up the phone to call Jack Matherson. Might as well have a friendly face around when it was time to report a distinctly unfriendly crime.

  He was there in minutes, knocking on the front door after he’d inspected the broken window. She had been waiting for him on the foyer couch, and had watched his broad-shouldered silhouette walk past outside. She let him in and pointed to the stone.

  ‘We’ve been getting some religious notes in the letterbox lately, on that same type of paper. I guess maybe we didn’t take enough notice, so now they’re trying harder to get our attention.’

  Jack took out a slim digital camera and photographed the scene, then pulled on latex gloves and picked up the stone. He unwrapped the note carefully and read it, raising his eyebrows as he spoke.

  Those who blaspheme God will suffer the consequences of their guilt and be punished. Anyone who blasphemes the LORD’s name must be stoned to death by the whole community. Any among you who blasphemes the LORD’s name will surely die.

  Look now; I myself am he! There is no god other than me! I am the one who kills and gives life; I am the one who wounds and heals; no one delivers from my power! Now I raise my hand to heaven and declare, as surely as I live, when I sharpen my flashing sword and begin to carry out justice, I will bring vengeance on my enemies and repay those who hate me. I will make my arrows drunk with blood, and my sword will devour flesh – the blood of the slaughtered and the captives, and the heads of the enemy leaders.

  Jessica gasped, ‘Jesus Christ! What kind of lunatic writes stuff like that?’

  ‘Oops, be careful, you just committed blasphemy. Apparently I should stone you now.’ Seeing the look on her face, he went over and put a warm arm round her shoulders. ‘It’s all right – I was just trying to make it seem less serious. Don’t worry Jess, crackpots like this rarely go beyond the nuisance level.’

  ‘Really? The last note threatened blindness, madness and panic, and this one sounds even worse. Someone out there seems pretty fanatical to me. I’m about ready to install metal-detectors to stop blokes with hulking great swords from sneaking in here and slashing us all to death. That would be a nuisance.’

  ‘Yes,’ he said dryly, ‘I can see where you’re coming from on that. So you’ve had other notes like this? Why didn’t you tell me about them?’

  ‘We thought they were just normal flyers being stuffed in everyone’s letterboxes. Then it got more specific so we beefed up our security a bit. Now this one has caused actual damage. I’m getting worried, Jack!’

  He hugged her briefly against his chest and let her go. ‘I’ll tell the patrol cars to check the place more often, day and night. Do you have a monitored alarm at all?’

  ‘No, not a burglar alarm. The fire alarm is linked direct to the fire station though, mainly because that’s the major risk to the place. There’s not much to break in for besides a few tools and a bit of lighting and computer gear, all pretty specialised stuff.’

  She was regaining her composure now, sorting out practicalities. ‘Look, how sure are you that this won’t escalate? If there is a real threat, I want to set up even more extra security and have people on site to keep watch on the place.’

  He thought for a moment. ‘I’d say about eighty percent sure. And with increased attention from our patrols, you could make that ninety percent.’

  ‘OK, those are good enough odds. But if anything does go wrong, I’ll take it out of your hide, understood?’

  ‘Oh dear, that sounds to me like a threat with the intention to intimidate. Do you realise there’s a two-year jail term for that?’

  ‘Well,’ she said sweetly, ‘then we’ll both be released at the same time – me from jail and you from the hospital.’

  He threw back his head and laughed. ‘Save your retaliation for the real enemy, would you? I’m on your side!’

  She put a hand on his arm. ‘Yes, of course you are. I’m sorry. I guess I’m getting a little stressed out by all this. Religious fanatics scare the hell out of me, and coming on top of the developers threatening the place, and having to get a show on the boards, it’s more than I really need. Have you got any ideas for how we can placate this person? Perhaps if we show that we are taking notice they might leave us alone.’

  ‘How about getting somebody from a church to speak out on your behalf? Do you have any well-placed friends in religious circles? Even just a letter to the paper might be all you need.’

  ‘That’s a great idea, Jack, thank you. I’ll email our members tonight and see who we can come up with. Excellent suggestion!’

  She stood on tiptoe and kissed him on the cheek, surprising both of them.

  ‘OK then, right, I’ll get this letter fingerprinted, and we’ll see where we go from there,’ said Jack in a businesslike tone. He smiled down at her warmly. ‘Take it easy, Jessica. I’ll let you know if we find anythin
g helpful.’

  She watched him cross the foyer in easy strides, then walk past outside. She lifted the net curtain for a better view of his departing back as the words “nice butt” popped into her mind.

  Later in the day, Gazza dropped by at her request, and she explained the notes and the broken window. He looked concerned.

  ‘It sounds like we should beef up our security a bit. At the very least I could rig up a surveillance camera covering the frontage so we can see who this joker is that’s delivering the bloody notes and rocks. I’ll pick one up this afternoon and charge it to the maintenance account. Should be able to install it tonight.’

  ‘Really? That would be great, Gaz. Jack Matherson said we shouldn’t worry, but I’ll feel a whole lot better if we do our best to keep the place safe. It’s not like we’ve got a back-up theatre we can use if this one is destroyed. Do we hide the camera secretly so we can collect evidence, or do we make it obvious as a deterrent?’

  ‘I reckon deterrent’s the way to go. The picture quality on these things isn’t what you’d call crystal clear so it wouldn’t make crash-hot evidence, but the risk of exposure should stop the bastard who’s been making the threats.’

  ‘Cool. Sounds good to me. Make it so, Number One.’

  While Gazza installed the camera, Jessica got busy with email and phone calls. By the end of the evening she had managed to arrange for a Baptist minister to write a supportive letter to the paper extolling the virtues of the Regent Theatre, in return for free use of the place for a choral recital later in the year. Satisfied that she had done all she could to pacify their God-bothering maniac, she went to see how Gazza was getting on.

  He was at the top of an extension ladder at the front of the building, mounting the camera on a wall bracket.

  ‘Looks good, Gazza! When do we see a picture?’

  ‘When I connect the wires and put the software on your computer. About half an hour, if you stop bugging me.’

  ‘Carry on then. If there’s nothing I can do to help I’m off home – I’ll have a look at it tomorrow. See ya!’

  The new security measures paid off. Two whole weeks went by with no incidents. Jessica started to hope that with all the looming problems ironed out, there would be a clear run through to the show’s opening. The cast members were word perfect. Costumes were almost ready, props were complete, and the set only needed a few extra tweaks. Most of the last-minute details belonged to Nick’s promotions department – distributing posters and flyers, arranging publicity interviews, and collating the programme. She started to breathe a little easier.

  Nick was arrested.

  One week before opening night he was charged with the murder of Tamara Fitzpatrick.

  As soon as she heard the news, Jessica was on the phone to Jack Matherson.

  ‘Are you sure about this, Jack? You have solid grounds to arrest him? Do you realise how much this is going to disrupt the show if you keep him locked up? He’s the promotions manager you know – the major part of his work is just beginning and it’s pretty important to us.’

  ‘Just as important as investigating a homicide is to us, I expect,’ said Jack quietly. There was a pause.

  ‘Sorry, Jack – I got a bit carried away. I forget sometimes that the theatre isn’t the centre of everyone’s world. So anyway, what evidence have you got? Has he actually confessed or are you just assuming he’s guilty?’

  ‘Jessica, I can’t actually confirm any of that right now. Would you like to meet for a coffee?’

  ‘As in away from the ears around you?’

  ‘Yes, that’s right. How about the Whetford Gallery café in half an hour?’

  She made a point of wearing a raincoat with its collar turned up, and approached the gallery by sneaking along the street from tree to tree. Jack chuckled, watching her from a table in the gallery’s front garden. She sat down opposite him and lifted her sunglasses.

  ‘Eeet is I, Madame Jessica. Listen very carefully, I shall say zis only once.’

  ‘Good moaning, Madame Jessica. Look, can we drop the cloak and dagger bit? I haven’t got long and I expect you’d like to hear what’s going on.’

  ‘OK, sorry, Jack.’ She took off the hat and sunglasses. ‘Spill the beans, what have you done so far? Have you interviewed absolutely everyone who might have been in the theatre that day?’

  ‘Yes, of course we have. We’ve spoken to her parents, the entire cast and crew, and a whole list of very interesting people we found in her address book. None of them gave any indication of having a problem with her and there’s no evidence linking any of them to the crime. Nick, on the other hand…’

  ‘What have you got on Nick?’ she burst in. ‘It can’t really look as if he did it?’

  ‘I don’t have to tell you to keep this quiet, do I?’ She shook her head, aware that he was taking a risk by telling her case details. Jack looked her in the eye. ‘There’s strong physical evidence putting him at the scene in the back row of the auditorium where the body was found, and he can’t provide any verifiable alibi for the time of death.’

  ‘But I’ll bet Nick’s saying he’s innocent, isn’t he?’

  ‘Just like most suspects do, yes.’

  ‘So what’s his story? He must have some explanation of what he did that day.’

  ‘Well, according to him, he left the theatre as the rehearsal started, with plans to take Tamara out that evening. He bought a bottle of vodka, went home, showered and changed. He was expecting to end up with her at his place at the end of the evening so he changed the sheets.’

  ‘Classy.’

  ‘He went to her place to pick her up at about 6 o’clock but she wasn’t there so he went back to the theatre assuming rehearsal had run late. A couple of witnesses saw him in the area. He says he could see that the theatre was dark and all locked up so he didn’t bother to go in. There’s no confirmation of that. Then he said that being stood up by Tamara after being dumped by you as well was too much, so he took the bottle of vodka and headed to the park to drink it.’

  Jessica winced. ‘Ouch. That sounds messy. And I don’t suppose anybody saw him there?’

  ‘No, there’s nobody to back that up either.’

  ‘Did he have any explanation about whatever the evidence is you found in the back row? What was it, blood, sweat, hair?’

  ‘Semen, actually, and a few hairs that match Nick’s. Just about what you’d expect from a lovers’ meeting. His explanation was that he’d been “trying to win the Shaggers’ Shield”, apparently. It sounded a pretty unlikely story to me.’

  Jessica’s face had an expression of surprised understanding.

  ‘Oh, I see. That could explain it. Did he say when that event took place, exactly?’

  ‘According to him, it was “on the final night of Guys and Dolls”. Why, does it make sense to you?’ He had to wait for her to finish laughing before she could answer.

  ‘The cheeky bugger! He should have a good chance at the trophy, in that case!’ She realised his impatience and quickly composed herself. ‘Sorry. The Shaggers’ Shield is something the fly-floor guys came up with, and it’s become something of a challenge to everyone in the theatre. The idea is to have sex in the most daring place in the building without getting caught. Doing it in the auditorium during a show would rank pretty highly! I wonder who was brave enough to go along with it. It wouldn’t have been Tamara – she wasn’t around then.’

  ‘So his story might be genuine?’ Jack looked incredulous. ‘Do you people really get up to things like that?’

  ‘Oh yes, more often than you’d think! There was a time…’ she broke off. ‘You don’t need to hear about that; it’s ancient history. So, if Nick’s story is true, does that mean you’ll keep looking for some other suspect? If the girl he was with confirms his story you’ll let him go?’

  ‘We’ll keep working the evidence and interviewing people, yes. Unfortunately, he says that the girl concerned has moved to Australia and he’s lost touch with her.�
��

  He fixed Jessica with a searching look that sent quivers down her belly. ‘I’ll interrogate you further about that “ancient history” next time I see you – don’t think I’ll forget.’

  She swallowed. ‘Nice thought, copper, but you’ll have to stand in line for an appointment. I’ve got all the show’s promotion things to take care of now and I’ll be pretty busy for the next couple of weeks.’

  He frowned. ‘Really, Jessica, you take on far too much. Surely you can find someone else to do that stuff, can’t you?’

  ‘Don’t worry, I’ll be fine, I’ve done it before. But if you could see your way clear to find evidence that exonerates Nick and let him go, that would be even better.’

  ‘In that case, I really should get back to my desk. It’s been a pleasure to see you, Jessica.’

  He stood and took her hand, kissed it gallantly, and placed it gently down again.

  ‘Au revoir, mademoiselle. Á bientôt.’

  ‘Yeah, see ya!’ was all she could stammer.

  Friday night’s rehearsal was a nightmare. Several items of staging were being tried for the first time, and not everything worked as expected.

  The corner of the hotel set came unbolted halfway through the first scene and the truck it was built on started to roll downstage, threatening to pull down the prompt-side legs with it before Howard swiftly threw a sandbag in front of the leading wheel and brought the runaway to a shuddering halt.

  ‘Are you OK, Stewart?’

  Stewart had narrowly escaped being squashed between the approaching wall and the hotel desk, and was standing centre stage wide-eyed and pale.

  ‘Yeah, I’m OK. Do you think we could we put on an extra bolt or two on it, maybe?’ He squeaked. ‘Just in case?’

  ‘Yes of course, I’ll do it afterwards. We’ll leave the wheels chocked for now so it won’t get away again. You’ll be alright.’