Entertaining Death

by Lesley Cookman

  ‘To tell you the truth, I’d be delighted,’ said Dorinda. ‘And I’m sure you’d be happier.’

  Mariah gave a small satisfied smile. ‘So what did you want to ask me, miss?’

  Dorinda leant forward confidentially. ‘I was a little concerned yesterday when first the Inspector and then Mr Coutts both wanted to talk to Amy. It seemed to be bringing the trouble you’d had in London down here, and I didn’t want it to unsettle her – or the others.’

  Mariah nodded.

  ‘So I know you look after her like – well, like a mother –’ Mariah smiled smugly, ‘but I hoped I could persuade you to come to me if you think anything’s troubling her – or you – and to keep an eye out for anything odd. You know, if someone in the audience seems to be taking too much notice. Or if there are any incidents at the hotel. Because now at least two people from London know you’re both here, there might be more. Do you see?’

  Mariah was now nodding eagerly. ‘See, she doesn’t think she needs protecting, but she does! You’ve seen it, too. Yes, miss, I’ll do that. I’ll see if I can find a way to have a look at the audiences. I can’t stay out there, ’cos I help the girls change – well in the second half I do. First half’s just the pierrots.’

  ‘Excellent, Mariah.’ Dorinda stood and held out her hand. A surprised Mariah also stood, and took it. ‘I’m glad we’ve had this chat. Now, shall I come out and tell everyone that we’ve decided you’re going to be official dresser?’

  The girls in the company, including Amy, professed delight that Mariah was going to be helping them.

  ‘Although she already does,’ said Maude. ‘But that’s grand. Takes a lot off me.’

  ‘And me,’ Amy whispered in Dorinda’s ear. ‘Thank you!’

  Chapter Nine

  The atmosphere at The Alexandria improved over the next couple of days. Mariah, although not an entirely reformed character, was certainly less waspish and less likely to lose her temper. Dorinda began to relax and hoped that nothing else would descend on her little company to upset them.

  The first indication that this was a vain hope was when Patsy and Betty came to find her as soon as they arrived on Thursday.

  ‘What’s the matter, girls?’ Dorinda looked up from her desk in surprise.

  ‘Please, Dolly …’ began Patsy, then stopped.

  ‘It was a man, miss – Dolly.’ Betty nodded and looked at her friend.

  ‘A man?’

  ‘Yes, miss. He come up to us – up there.’ Patsy pointed out of the office window to Victoria Place.

  ‘What did he want?’ Dorinda rose to her feet, prepared to do battle.

  ‘No, miss – Dolly. It wasn’t nothing like that,’ Betty hastened to assure her. ‘It was just questions, like.’

  Dorinda sat down again. ‘What sort of questions?’

  ‘Well, he come up to us and says how he come to the show last night and how good we were, an’ that, and o’ course, we was pleased, then he says we got a new girl, haven’t we.’

  ‘And stupid like, I says oh, yes, how did he know,’ admitted Patsy.

  ‘That wasn’t stupid,’ said Dorinda.

  ‘Thank you, Dolly.’ Patsy looked relieved. ‘Anyway, then he says it was Amy – described her and her act in the second half. And says where does she come from – he’s sure he’s seen her before.’

  ‘So we says we don’t know,’ said Betty. ‘And he gives a sort of a wink, and says he’s sure we don’t and he won’t say nothing.’

  ‘So we still says we don’t know,’ continued Patsy, ‘and so he puts his hand in his pocket and sort of jingles his money. And gives another wink and says we could be … persuaded. Is that the right word?’

  ‘It certainly is,’ said Dorinda grimly. ‘What happened next?’

  ‘Patsy says we have to go to work and we turns round and run down the slope.’

  ‘And he calls after us,’ said Patsy.

  ‘What did he say?’

  ‘If you change your mind – something like that?’ Betty looked at Patsy, who nodded.

  ‘Has he gone?’ Dorinda turned to look out of the window.

  ‘Yes, miss. We had a look when we come in. Just vanished he had.’

  ‘You did very well, girls.’ Dorinda stood up and came round the desk. ‘I’m very pleased with you, and Amy will be, too.’

  ‘Who do you reckon it was?’ asked Patsy. ‘Wasn’t no policeman, I’ll be bound.’

  ‘I don’t know.’ Dorinda frowned. ‘But someone who wants find out about Amy.’ She opened the office door and led the way to the backstage area. ‘Is she here yet?’

  Maude looked up from where she was trying to get a mark out of one of the pierrot costumes. ‘Who?’

  ‘Amy,’ chorused Dorinda, Patsy and Betty.

  Maude smiled. ‘Yes, she’s in the dressing room with Mariah. ’She called over her shoulder. ‘Amy, love – can you come out here?’

  Amy appeared, surprisingly, with an apron tied over her skirt.

  ‘Hello – did you want me?’ She looked from one face to the others.

  Dorinda quickly repeated Patsy’s and Betty’s story, while Amy’s face grew pale.

  ‘What did he want?’ she said at length.

  ‘Nosy-parkering, that’s what.’ Mariah had appeared behind Amy’s shoulder. ‘Newspapers.’

  ‘Maybe, but why would the newspapers be interested in Amy?’ said Dorinda.

  ‘Stands to reason,’ said Mariah promptly. ‘Someone’s talked.’ She looked fiercely round the group of women.

  ‘Don’t be ridiculous, Mariah,’ said Dorinda sharply. ‘None of us here would talk about Amy – and who would we talk to?’

  ‘Anyway,’ said Patsy, ‘he was from London.’

  ‘How do you know?’ asked Dorinda.

  ‘Typical London boy, weren’t he?’ said Betty. ‘Talked like it, too. We come from London – we know. Not from Whitechapel, though,’ she added thoughtfully.

  ‘You could tell that, could you?’ Dorinda was surprised.

  ‘You come from London, you can tell,’ said Amy. ‘Not the toffs, though.’

  ‘So what was a Londoner doing down here asking about Amy?’ said Maude.

  ‘Did he ask about me by name?’ asked Amy.

  Patsy and Betty shook their heads, just as Phoebe and Maisie came in, closely followed by Aramantha.

  ‘What’s going on?’ demanded Aramantha.

  She was answered by several voices at once, until Dorinda held up her hand for silence, then explained.

  ‘Copper?’ suggested Aramantha.

  ‘No. Not the right type,’ said Dorinda. ‘And I can’t see what the newspapers would want, either. Even if Amy’s right and there’s gossip about her.’

  ‘I know!’ said Phoebe suddenly, having appeared to be deep in thought. ‘One of them detectives – like that bloke in the stories. Oh, you know,’ she said, as they looked at her blankly. ‘In them papers.’

  ‘Sherlock Holmes,’ said Algy, appearing in the doorway. ‘In the Strand magazine. What about him?’

  Once again, the story was told.

  ‘I don’t know,’ said Algy doubtfully. ‘See, Sherlock Holmes isn’t real. They’re just stories.’

  Phoebe looked doubtful. ‘But there must be real ones.’

  ‘I don’t see what he’d want with me,’ said Amy.

  ‘And those sort of people have to be paid by someone, surely,’ said Dorinda. ‘Not like the police.’

  Amy and Mariah looked at each other. ‘Juliana and Violet,’ they said together.

  ‘Who?’ said a bewildered Algy.

  ‘Amy’s late husband’s daughters,’ explained Dorinda.

  ‘They’re who I come down ’ere to get away from,’ said Amy. ‘They was trying to say I killed my Harry to marry Jeremy.’

  Dorinda took pity on Algy, who, with Ted, hadn’t been privy to all that had been going on in the last few days.

  ‘Will can tell you all about it,’ she said, ‘but you’d already
been warned not to say anything about Amy, hadn’t you?’

  ‘Yes.’ Algy shrugged and smiled. ‘But Ted and me, we don’t talk to many.’ He went off to the men’s dressing area to find Ted and Will.

  Amy sat heavily down on a chair by the little stove. ‘I still don’t see why those cats would’ve me followed – if that’s what this is,’ she said. ‘I know I left to get away from all the gossip, but this –’ She stopped and sighed.

  ‘If it is them, they’re trying to – I don’t know – find something they can hold against you, perhaps?’ Dorinda frowned. ‘Although I still can’t see what good that’s going to do them.’

  ‘If they knew Jeremy come to see me?’ suggested Amy.

  ‘That would add weight to their story,’ agreed Dorinda. ‘But we don’t even know that this horrible little man is a detective. I don’t believe in them, myself.’

  ‘What about the Inspector?’ said Maisie.

  ‘He’s a police detective, that’s different. I think the others are all stories, like that Holmes person.’ Dorinda looked fondly round at her little company. ‘I know I can rely on you all to be careful, both of what you say and of yourselves.’

  She walked slowly and thoughtfully back to the office, and realised she needed someone to talk to. But who? If only The Alexandria had a telephone. Ivy had persuaded Sir Frederick to have one installed, and had also arranged for her sister Ada to have one in Hoxton, and Dorinda thought wistfully of being able to make a call to one of them and talk over what had been happening to Amy.

  Although, she reminded herself, it wasn’t exactly “to” Amy, rather “around” Amy. Still, she could write a letter. That would reach Ivy by tomorrow morning, at least. Deliveries weren’t quite so frequent in rural areas.

  Half an hour later, she pinned her hat on her head and called out that she was going to the post office. The sun was out, and all along Victoria Place and above on Cliff Terrace holidaymakers strolled and the sound of children’s voices echoed cheerfully. She was just reflecting how much she enjoyed living here when someone stepped in front of her.

  ‘Scuse me, miss, but ain’t you the young lady what plays the pianner for the pierrots?’

  The slightly greasy-looking individual before her was beaming ingratiatingly, showing a row of broken yellow teeth.

  Dorinda gritted her teeth, nodded slightly and tried to step round him. He immediately blocked her way.

  ‘Now, see, I’m sure you won’t say no to earning a bit extra, will yer?’ He jingled his pockets suggestively.

  Dorinda fixed him with her most glacial stare and was relieved to see him flinch. ‘I understand you were trying to get information from two of my employees –’ his eyes widened – ‘this morning. If you persist, I shall have no alternative but to call on the police. Perhaps you would inform your employer of this?’

  ‘M-m-my employer?’ he stuttered, then pulled himself together. ‘No need fer pleece, miss. ’Ow was I to know you was the boss?’

  ‘Very well.’ Dorinda nodded again. ‘And now perhaps you would tell me who your employer is, exactly?’

  Unlovely colour was now creeping into the sallow face. ‘Ah, well, now. That’s not exactly the case, see …’ The individual looked from side to side, then unexpectedly tipped his hat and darted round her towards the cliffs. Dorinda watched him go with a frown, then resumed her walk to the post office. Perhaps, she thought, she also ought to send a letter to Inspector Colyer.

  At the post office, she bought a postcard with a rather unlikely looking photograph of Nethergate on one side, wrote a brief message: “Suspicious individual asking questions about A. Accosted staff.” and addressed it to Inspector Colyer, Scotland Yard, London. She then bought two stamps and posted Ivy’s letter and the postcard.

  As she walked back to The Alexandria, she wondered, not for the first time, about having some postcards made of her company. She knew many of the other concert parties had them, indeed, Will had brought back several after his brief sojourn in the north-east with one of the famous companies. She wasn’t entirely convinced that they would increase their business, but she supposed if audience members were to send them to friends, it might encourage those friends to pay Nethergate, and The Alexandria, a visit.

  Arriving back in her office, she was surprised to find Will and Maude waiting for her anxiously.

  ‘What’s the matter?’ She stopped just inside the door.

  ‘We heard someone in here,’ said Will. ‘And we’d seen you go up the slope.’

  ‘So I called out, and Will and Ted and Algy all came flying out of the dressing room just as we saw someone run out the front door.’ Maude was quite white.

  ‘How long after I went out did this happen?’ Dorinda was frowning.

  ‘Only ten minutes,’ said Maude, finally sinking down into the chair.

  ‘I think I know who it was, then,’ said Dorinda, and told them of her encounter with, she was sure, the individual who had accosted Patsy and Betty earlier.

  ‘He’s got a bloody cheek,’ said Will. ‘Sorry, Dolly, but he has. I’ll get the boys and we’ll see if we can’t find him.’

  ‘No, Will. I think it would be best if we told Constable Fowler. Was anything missing after he ran away?’

  ‘I don’t think so,’ said Maude with a frown. ‘I don’t think he was in here long enough. The chair behind the desk was pushed back, but there wasn’t even a drawer open.’

  ‘And all he’d see on the desk would be these bills.’ Dorinda gave them both an encouraging smile. ‘Thank you both for being my saviours again. And don’t worry – I sent a postcard to Inspector Colyer about the person trying to get information just now, so he may ask the local force to keep an eye on us.’

  ‘Again,’ said Will morosely. ‘I don’t know, Dolly. Sometimes I think we’re cursed.’

  Chapter Ten

  Dorinda hoped the rest of the company didn’t share Will’s view, and was relieved when the afternoon performance went as smoothly as ever. She was unsurprised, however, when between shows she was interrupted while eating her pie in the office by a tentative tap on the door, followed by a red-faced and perspiring Constable Fred Fowler.

  ‘Constable?’

  ‘Pardon, miss, but I got this telegraph, see …’ Hampered by the helmet which he held under one arm, he struggled to fish something out of his tunic pocket.

  ‘Never mind, Mr Fowler,’ smiled Dorinda. ‘Just tell me who it was from.’

  ‘That Inspector Colyer.’ Fred Fowler’s eyes widened. ‘’E says there might be more trouble?’

  Dorinda sighed. ‘Sit down, and I’ll tell you all about it.’

  She repeated everything that had happened since Amy’s arrival, omitting, however, the reason for her flight from London.

  ‘So there was actually an intruder?’ said Constable Fowler, scratching his head. ‘And you think it must be this cove ’oo tried to talk to your girls and you?’

  ‘It makes sense.’

  ‘Spose it does,’ said Fowler mournfully. ‘What do you want me to do?’

  Dorinda’s sigh was barely audible. ‘Perhaps patrol down this end of town a bit more than usual? Oh – and keep an eye out for this person.’

  Fowler took out his notebook, after laying his helmet carefully on the desk. ‘Can you describe ’im again, miss?’

  Dorinda gave as accurate a description as she could, then called Patsy and Betty to see if they could add anything.

  ‘I’ll do what I can, miss,’ said Fowler when they finished. He creaked to his feet. ‘Will I send a telegraph to the Inspector?’

  ‘No need to do that, Constable. I have a feeling we might be seeing the Inspector himself very soon.’ Dorinda stood and showed Fowler out of the building.

  ‘How did he know to come?’ asked Betty. ‘Did Will go for him, like last time?’

  ‘No, I wrote to the Inspector this morning,’ said Dorinda, resuming her seat and picking up her rapidly cooling pie. ‘He telegraphed the Constable.’
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br />   ‘Only this morning?’ said Patsy, eyes wide. ‘Ain’t the post wonderful?’

  ‘I wasn’t sure it would get there that soon,’ said Dorinda. ‘It isn’t always collected as quickly here as in London.’

  ‘They say there can be as many as twelve deliveries a day some places,’ said Betty, shaking her head in wonderment. ‘If you got anybody to write to you, that is.’

  ‘We certainly don’t get twelve deliveries a day down here,’ said Dorinda, ‘and I don’t know when I’d find the time to read it all if we did.’

  Patsy and Betty giggled dutifully and took themselves off. Dorinda leant back in her chair and took a bite of cold pie. She had a feeling she was right. Inspector Colyer would very soon put in an appearance.

  It was Ivy who arrived first, however, taking a seat in the audience for the second show accompanied, surprisingly, by Sir Frederick himself.

  Dorinda went straight to the office in the interval, where Ivy and Sir Frederick followed her.

  ‘What’s all this about then, lovey?’ asked Ivy, pushing Sir Frederick unceremoniously into the only chair. ‘I was a bit worried to tell you the truth. So was Freddie. ’e’s got a suggestion.’

  ‘Have you, Sir Frederick?’ Dorinda raised her eyebrows and the old man nodded. ‘Well, let me tell you what’s happened. Since I wrote that letter this morning there’s more.’

  She told them about the man’s attempt to accost her, and his subsequent attempt to find information in the office, if, indeed, it had been the same man, and finally, of Constable Fowler’s visit.

  ‘So Inspector Colyer is aware of the trouble, Dorinda?’ Sir Frederick leant forward, resting his chin on his cane.

  ‘He is.’

  ‘So we shall be expecting him any time soon.’ Sir Frederick nodded. ‘Now, what I said to Ivy this morning was – you need a telephone.’

  Dorinda’s eyes widened. ‘I was only thinking that myself when I wrote …’

  Sir Frederick smiled. ‘You see, after we had ours installed – and one for Ada, too – I am convinced of their usefulness. And if you had one here in The Alexandria I’m sure it would be even more useful.’