by Ian Shimwell
TRENCH: Worrying about Geoffers, are we Sally-Anne?
SALLY-ANNE: It’s freezing on this boat – I just want to get out of here.
TRENCH: The trouble with you, Sall, is that you don’t appreciate your surroundings. Look at the view of the headland – isn’t it truly..?
SALLY-ANNE: There, Trench – that was a definite tug on the air-line.
TRENCH: I think Geoffrey is ready to come up. Come on –pull.
(We hear plenty of effort as TRENCH and SALLY-ANNE pull on the rope and then splashes, as GEOFFREY emerges from the sea.)
SALLY-ANNE: The Creature from the Black Lagoon surfaces. Hello Geoffrey.
TRENCH: Here, let me give you a hand.
(TRENCH bungles GEOFFREY on board.)
TRENCH: Well Geoffers, did you find the wreck of The Schooner?
GEOFFREY: Yes, yes I did.
SALLY-ANNE: And..?
GEOFFREY: There’s not much left of the ship now, but I did find something.
TRENCH: We’re listening, Geoffrey.
GEOFFREY: Deep within the hull – I found this!
(We hear GEOFFREY reach over the side of the boat and pull something out of the sea.)
SALLY-ANNE: A safe!
GEOFFREY: All we need to do now is crack it open.
TRENCH: And then, maybe, we can find a real clue to this cryptic, Cornish conundrum…
(Thought-provoking music ends the scene.)
OLD TOM: Your tea should be cold enough by now, Trench. You may drink it.
TRENCH: You are very kind, Old Tom.
OLD TOM: How is it?
TRENCH: Stone cold. Just right, I suppose. Your armchair is actually a lighter brown – it is a different one?
OLD TOM: Correct. We all have to make sacrifices on holiday, Trenchy. And besides, it wouldn’t fit in my suitcase! Here, I’ll pass you one of my soft biscuits.
(We hear OLD TOM stretch over.)
TRENCH: Of course! That’s how you gave me the note detailing this err remarkable guest house. You must have slipped it inside my pocket when you reached over for my card. And thinking about it, you crafty old devil – I bet you knocked it out of my hand on purpose to divert my attention.
OLD TOM: I am pleased to say that your deductive reasoning is improving, if only marginally.
TRENCH: I’ll take that as a compliment – now where were we?
OLD TOM: We touched on the subject of Sarah Quinn’s good financial fortune. Now, where did she receive such a tidy sum?
TRENCH: Belatedly Constance informed us that her Aunt Sarah eventually received it from an insurance policy following on from her beloved brothers’ disappearance.
OLD TOM: Now that just doesn’t ring true.
TRENCH: Yes, polices only usually pay out on proof of death – but it’s been such a long time, they have probably been legally declared dead a while ago.
OLD TOM: It’s not that, young man – it’s more the apparent size of the settlement – and the hotel you are staying at, ‘The Sandy Star’. An unusual name, don’t you think?
TRENCH: If you say so – and what about the old brothers’ fisherman’s friend: Mad Jack? You know he’s that odd, he wouldn’t even speak to me – only Geoffrey.
OLD TOM: Intelligent fellow, I’d say.
TRENCH: Ouch! But Mad Jack admitted that he’s never been the same since the Quinn’s vanishing act. Now, is that because he killed them? Has his guilt consumed his mind?
OLD TOM: Madness is only a shipwreck away? A disturbing possibility…
TRENCH: And what was the sunken ship, The Schooner carrying in that empty safe, as we discovered later?
OLD TOM: Now, I think young Geoffrey could help you out there.
TRENCH: Geoffrey, really? He has already – diving down to fetch the thing. I think though that there must be a smuggling connection, somehow.
OLD TOM: Smuggling… Schooner… Sarah… Sandy Star… - there is at least a fair few ‘S’s connected to the strange events at Fisherman’s Cove.
TRENCH: So, what now Old Tom?
OLD TOM: I still think that it all comes back to the picture – I’ll take another look, if you don’t mind.
(TRENCH hands OLD TOM the photograph.)
OLD TOM: To solve this mystery, we need to discover the third person on the beach, on that fateful day fifty years ago.
TRENCH: Woe, woe, woe old fellow – you’ve completely lost me there. How do you know there even was another person on the beach?
OLD TOM: Look at the picture, Trench.
TRENCH: I am. There are only the brothers – two of them. There is no one else.
OLD TOM: Now, who do you think took the photograph?
TRENCH: Of course – the critical question that has been in my hands all the time. And the even bigger mystery: why didn’t I think of that?
OLD TOM: Find the third person, the person behind the camera, Trench – and then perhaps finally, we can have an answer to a question from so long ago, it has drifted into Fisherman’s Cove folklore: what became of the brothers Quinn?
(Mystery music indicates the end of Act Two.)
ACT THREE
(We can hear that TRENCH and SALLY-ANNE are walking through the village of Fisherman’s Cove.)
SALLY-ANNE: This morning’s conference is due to start in precisely five minutes.
TRENCH: Stop worrying Sally. We’ll slip in round the back. I’m sure nobody will notice.
SALLY-ANNE: That would be true, Trenchy – except that you are down to introduce one of the displays.
TRENCH: No, that can’t be today.
SALLY-ANNE: It is today Trench. I know because today is the last day of the conference. I think even Editor Law might just notice your absence on this occasion.
TRENCH: Oh, I’ll bluff my way through it – but that does leave us with an even greater problem.
SALLY-ANNE: Which is..?
TRENCH: We will have only one more afternoon to solve the fishy problem of Fisherman’s Cove.
SALLY-ANNE: Oh that? That’ll be a piece of cake compared to your absence excuse to our editor!
TRENCH: Very funny. Well, here we are – are you going to knock or am I?
SALLY-ANNE: Does it matter?
(SALLY-ANNE knocks on the front door.)
CONSTANCE: Oh, it’s you – you’d better come in.
(TRENCH and SALLY-ANNE enter.)
CONSTANCE: Please sit down. (CONSTANCE then raises her voice:) Aunt Sarah, those journalists are here to speak with you again. (And then normally:) She should be down on the stair-lift shortly.
TRENCH: Actually Constance – we also wanted a quick chat with you too.
CONSTANCE: Really? I want to help, of course – but I was only eight on that terrible day. I’ve told you all I can remember.
SALLY-ANNE: Excuse the personal question, Constance – but you’ve never married, have you?
CONSTANCE: Is it that obvious? No, no I haven’t – I’ve become the archetypal old spinster. I suppose, perhaps sadly, just like my Aunt Sarah.
TRENCH: Just not met Mr Right?
CONSTANCE: More to do with the loss of my father – and something else… For some reason, I have never wanted to stray too far from Aunt Sarah. And before you think it, it’s not the money. Although you could say, ‘that’s easy for me to say.’
SALLY-ANNE: Are you close to your Aunt Sarah?
CONSTANCE: No, no I’m not. I would say distant. Yes, distant is a better description for our relationship.
(SARAH struggles in.)
SARAH: Constance, I thought I told you not to let these people in here again.
CONSTANCE: They want to find my father so, Aunt Sarah, as far as I’m concerned they can stay.
SARAH: Very well. Ask your questions and then leave. Do you really think you can discover anything new when proper detectives investigated my brothers’ disappearance a lifetime ago, for months on end, and still came up with nothing?
SALLY-ANNE: Our question concerns the photograph, Miss Qui
nn. Take another look, please.
SARAH: No, I’ve seen it many times – I will not look at it again.
TRENCH: We want to know: who was the person who took the picture on that day?
SARAH: Ooh.
(SARAH faints and crashes to the floor.)
CONSTANCE: Aunt Sarah! She’s all right – no knocks of the physical kind, at least. I think perhaps you should go now though.
SALLY-ANNE: Of course, Constance – we’re sorry.
CONSTANCE: Are you? I’m not.
TRENCH: And that’s what I find very curious…
(Curious music ends the scene.)
(We hear the usual background noises associated with a hotel restaurant.)
SALLY-ANNE: The Sandy Star does make a lovely lunch. I’ll give them that.
TRENCH: Oh, and thanks Geoffrey for stepping in and introducing that display for me.
GEOFFREY: You know me, Trench – anything I can do to help.
SALLY-ANNE: Quite. At last the endless talks and meetings are over – with only the post-conference party bash to endure – I mean enjoy tonight, and then home.
GEOFFREY: Which brings me to some rather bad news – especially for you, Sally-Anne. My editor has recalled me to the Ghoulmouth Gazette so, Sally, you won’t be able to have that last dance with me, after all.
SALLY-ANNE: I’m devastated.
TRENCH: That makes finding the solution to this mystery even more urgent. So, we are all going to do an awful lot of digging this afternoon – starting now. We need to search old sea records, log books to try to find out what The Schooner was carrying in that safe.
GEOFFREY: Ah, I can help you out there.
SALLY-ANNE: (Says with suppressed annoyance:) Well?
GEOFFREY: The Schooner was holding a rare and expensive diamond: ‘The Star of Rhodesia’ – the Great Star of Africa’s little sister actually. I know because I also freelance as a recovery agent for one of London’s top insurance companies. My two jobs dovetail quite nicely on this job.
SALLY-ANNE: You could have mentioned this earlier. Err, it might have helped, you know.
GEOFFREY: The information is rather sensitive – and secret. For reputation protection purposes, even the police at the time of The Schooner’s sinking…
TRENCH: … and the brothers Quinn’s disappearance…
GEOFFREY: … were not informed.
TRENCH: I understand totally your reticence then, Geoffrey. Thankfully, you’ve told us now. This changes things…
SALLY-ANNE: I’ll say – and it fits in remarkably with my mornings search during the conference keynote speech.
TRENCH: The cheek! Talk about me missing a bit of the conference – you missed the actual finale. Come to think of it, I’ve not seen you very much in the Press Suite, particularly late morning.
SALLY-ANNE: No, and Editor Law didn’t miss me either. I don’t know whether that’s a good or bad thing. Now, where was I? Ah yes, while the hotel manager was eavesdropping to the keynote speech, I slipped into his office and browsed through the hotel books – and discovered that the proprietor of this very hotel is none other than, Sarah Quinn.
TRENCH: Well snooped, Sally-Anne. Of course, so that’s how Sarah already knew of our Press conference, so to speak. Wait, the name of the hotel, The Sandy Star.
GEOFFREY: The Star of Rhodesia.
SALLY-ANNE: Now, that is a connection.
TRENCH: Which brings the ball, or should I say diamond, firmly in Aunt Sarah’s court. But we still need more… Geoffers, do you feel like going snorkelling again and diving down to The Schooner for perhaps more clues? Your friend, Mad Jack, will probably lend you his boat again. He won’t even speak to me, you know. Well, Geoffrey?
GEOFFREY: Message received, accepted and understood.
TRENCH: We’ll meet you on the harbour.
SALLY-ANNE: We?
TRENCH: Yes, Sally-Anne. Fancy another stroll along the beach?
(‘Busy’ music moves things along.)
(We hear the flight of seagulls; the gusts of the wind; the waves crashing on the sands and the footprints of TRENCH and SALLY-ANNE as they walk along the beach.)
SALLY-ANNE: Of course, this could be an excuse for a romantic stroll along the beach.
TRENCH: Well, yes – and the opportunity to recreate the scene from the Quinn brothers final photograph.
SALLY-ANNE: Men… I give up. What makes you think that will help? And, anyway, haven’t we done that before?
TRENCH: Humour me. Old Tom keeps saying that everything comes back to the picture.
SALLY-ANNE: Old Tom this, Old Tom that. Really Trench, you think of your precious Old Tom more than… me.
TRENCH: Come on, Sally-Anne – we are here to solve this mystery.
SALLY-ANNE: Maybe you are. All right, what do you want me to do?
TRENCH: I think… yes, this is the spot – let’s try and exactly recreate it. You stand there pretending to be the brothers and I’ll be the person taking the photograph.
SALLY-ANNE: I have one problem with this: one, I’m a sister not a brother and two, I’m singular not plural. Apart from that, I’ll go with it. Actually that’s two problems but let’s not quibble.
TRENCH: Perfect Sally-Anne. Now, you are the first brother who’s looking straight at the camera.
SALLY-ANNE: Neat idea, Trenchy – pretending the photo is the camera.
TRENCH: I know, I can study the photograph at the same time as the recreation.
SALLY-ANNE: All right, don’t get big-headed.
TRENCH: Now shuffle along slightly to the next brother.
SALLY-ANNE: (Says with a frustrating sigh of breath:) Really. Is that OK?
TRENCH: Yes, now don’t look at me but the headland. No, not the peak, look where the cliffs join the sea – yes that’s it!
SALLY-ANNE: You think that’s important?
TRENCH: Maybe. But it’s, at least, important enough to change Geoffrey’s diving plan – come on, let’s see where he’s up to.
(Pacey music moves the scene on.)
(We can hear the sea water slopping on the sides of the boats in the harbour.)
GEOFFREY: It’s all arranged, Trench and Sally – Mad Jack here has kindly offered me the use of his rowing boat.
TRENCH: Thanks, Mad Jack. Err, Geoffrey – will you thank the man for me?
GEOFFREY: We appreciate the gesture, sir. Now, off to the wreck of The Schooner.
SALLY-ANNE: Oh, there’s been a slight change of plan.
TRENCH: Yes, we’ll be rowing to the headland, looking for a subterranean smuggler’s cave.
MAD JACK: No, no – you’ll be cursed like I was. Cursed with an awful madness. Cursed, I tell you.
(We hear MAD JACK run away, terrified.)
GEOFFREY: I wonder what’s got into him?
SALLY-ANNE: One way of getting rid of him, I suppose. Trench, what are you looking so happy about?
TRENCH: I don’t believe it. Mad Jack actually spoke to me!
(Sea-faring music moves the ‘voyage’ along.)
(The choppy waters can be heard, as they distantly crash on the headland.)
SALLY-ANNE: How long do you think Geoffrey will be down there, searching for this supposed cave?
TRENCH: How long is a piece of string – with a sea-knot in it?
SALLY-ANNE: I was just thinking Trench, Mad Jack is the antithesis – that’s the opposite in your language – to your Old Tom.
TRENCH: In what way, Sally-Anne? Oh and thanks for the English dictionary definition.
SALLY-ANNE: Well, Mad Jack made a point of not speaking to you, whereas Oldy Tommy speaks only to you and no-one else.
TRENCH: I don’t know what to say. Fascinating, truly fascinating…
(GEOFFREY bursts up out of the water.)
GEOFFREY: I’ve found it! I’ve found the cave.
TRENCH: Excellent, Geoffers.
SALLY-ANNE: Well, what’s in it?
GEOFFREY: Ah, that’s why I’ve come back – for my torc
h.
TRENCH: Here’s your torch. How deep is it? Could you lead me down?
GEOFFREY: No problem, it’s not too far down – come on.
(TRENCH strips off and dives into the water.)
(A few subterranean sounds illustrate the dive down. They swim underwater for a short while and emerge from the sea once inside the cave. GEOFFREY takes his head gear off.)
TRENCH: The cave, we’ve made it.
GEOFFREY: Here, you have the torch. It is your story, after all.
TRENCH: Right, I’ll go on ahead.
(We hear TRENCH and GEOFFREY struggle through the narrow confines of the cave.)
GEOFFREY: Well, Trench – what can you see?
TRENCH: I… I can see it all. Geoffrey, we have finally uncovered the fifty year-old secret of Fisherman’s Cove…
(Mysterious music ends the scene.)
OLD TOM: So, nearly all the elements – and I’m not just talking about the sea elements – are in place after half-a-century. You’ve done quite well, Trench.
TRENCH: It was you that gave me the vital clue, Old Tom. ‘It all keeps coming back to the picture’ – and you were proved right.
OLD TOM: Of course, the photograph also meant that something special was going to happen that day.
TRENCH: Does it? I mean, did it?
OLD TOM: Think Trench, think. Fifty years ago, photography was a lot more expensive than it is today. And could you really see ordinary fisherman having their picture taken for the usual smugglers cache of mundane contraband?
TRENCH: I see what you mean. The picture was, in a way, a celebration of the brothers’ acquisition of the fabled ‘Star of Rhodesia’.
OLD TOM: Yes, Trench and you know what you must do now then?
TRENCH: Go and confront the person responsible for the tragedy of the brothers Quinn.
OLD TOM: And discover the final secret: what really happened on the day fate played all the cruel cards… in the tides of time.
(Deep, reflective music sets the scene…)
SALLY-ANNE: What are you thinking?
TRENCH: I’m thinking, Sally-Anne, that I’m going to confront Mad Jack and ask him… and ask him: does my breath smell or something? Is that why he never speaks to me?
SALLY-ANNE: Shh Trench – they’re coming.
CONSTANCE: The stair-lift’s not working – I had to help my aunt down.
