Excerpt: Murder at the Little Theater

After lunch, when Hannah and Flash arrived at the performing arts center, Hannah realized that expectations were coloring people’s responses to them. The two had left the night before in Flash’s car, and here they were arriving now, together in Flash’s car, while Hannah’s car was still in the parking lot, right where it had been left last night. Not knowing what had actually happened, several of the men gave knowing nods and winks in Flash’s direction. Hannah felt her face getting hot, and she knew she must have been blushing fiercely – her pale complexion did that.

Flash leaned in close to whisper in hear ear, “Let them think what they want. They don’t know the truth, but so what? You and I know the truth, and so does Harry.”

“That’s true,” Hannah said, and realized that now, with their heads close together, they looked even more like lovers. She giggled and waved to one of the nearby men who had just given them a particularly leering look.

With the cast gathered in the auditorium, Sid had some announcements to make. “In spite of my previous decision not to have understudies, I am considering changing my mind,” he said. “For one thing, I notice that Hannah Montgomery has already been rehearsing some of Guinevere’s scenes with Lancelot.”

A fluttering of laughter passed through the crowd, and Hannah started to stand up. “Why, you …”

“Hush,” Flash said, pulling her down. “Don’t let him get to you. He thinks it’s a joke; let him think he’s being funny.”

“But he practically said …”

“Don’t worry about it,” Flash said, patting her arm. “We can give them entertainment value that they won’t even appreciate.” He leaned over and gave her a peck on the cheek. “And we can be entertained thinking they think they know something that they really don’t know.”

Hannah had to smile. “And Bunnie will be the only one who really knows that she doesn’t know, except that she doesn’t know it.”

“Now you get the picture,” Flash said, and settled down into his seat with his arm across Hannah’s shoulders, a gesture that Hannah already found familiar but that those around them would reinterpret in their own way. She settled back herself to hear the rest of Sid’s speech.

“Now for the real announcements,” Sid said, gesturing for the crowd to quiet down. “We’ll be fitting costumes this afternoon so adjustments can be made the early part of next week. We’ll be starting full rehearsals with the orchestra on Monday, and by the end of the week, we hope we will have a dress rehearsal or two with the costumes. The last two rehearsals before opening will be full dress, with costumes and makeup. We want to be sure everything goes well, so be sure to be on time and give yourselves plenty of time to get into your costumes. We will have dressers for the main characters, but the rest of you will be on your own.”

As a member of the chorus without any speaking parts, Hannah’s costume plan was simple – she would have one gown and headdress and that would be all she would need for the entire production. In contrast, the major characters would each have several costume changes. The Knights of the Round Table fell somewhere in between – they would have one outfit for most scenes, but suits of armor for the jousting and battle scenes. Sid, as Sir Lionel, would actually have two sets of armor, a “before” intact version for the beginning of the joust scene, and a seriously battered “after” version for when his lifeless body was hauled in following the joust with Lancelot.

It didn’t take Hannah long to get through with her costume fitting – the costume rental company had already been given everybody’s measurements, so only minor adjustments were needed – so she thought about heading across the parking lot to her office to get some work done. Then she decided that work could wait – there wasn’t much of it, just a few stray papers to grade and some copying to do. So she headed toward the lobby of the performing arts center where, as usual, refreshments were available.

She stopped before she got all the way there, however, when she heard a conversation in an alcove off the hallway leading to the rest rooms. Sid and Cyd were having a discussion, and it wasn’t a very civil one.

“Look, dear, I need you to get off my back,” Sid was saying. “I know what you want me to do, but I have limits.”

“You have limits, eh?” Cyd said. “Don’t try to tell me that you can’t get rid of that bimbo, because I know you can. You’ve gotten rid of girls in the past when you’ve gotten tired of them.”

“But this time it’s different!” Sid said.

“Different, how?” Cyd asked. “Look, over all the years, I’ve been willing to overlook your, um, indiscretions, because all in all I’ve had a comfortable life with you, and that’s been a trade off I’ve been willing to make. Besides, you always do come back to me in the end.”

“No, I mean the circumstances this time are different,” Sid said. “This isn’t the same, because it isn’t just a short term fling.”

“You’re not telling me that this time you’re in love with the girl,” Cyd said. “You’ve given me that line in the past, too, but it never lasts.”

“Look, I can’t go into details,” Sid said. “But it has nothing to do with love – at least that sort of love – and it has a lot to do with saving my own skin.”

“You’re trying to tell me that you’re in fear for your life unless you stick with this flake?”

“Yes, that’s exactly what I’m trying to tell you.”

“And so you made casting decisions that looked, until yesterday, sure to doom the production, in order to save your backside.”

“I made one casting decision to save my backside, the others to bury the one poor decision among many others.”

“By making yourself look like an inept fool.”

“That was better than paying with my life.”

“And you had to cast me in a part that’s going to require me to wear forty pounds of padding, to look two hundred pounds heavier? Did you see the costume I’m going to have to wear? Surely you could have done misdirection casting without subjecting me to that?”

“Oh, but I had fun with that one,” Sid said, chuckling.

“Why you little jerk!” Cyd exclaimed. “Still, among all of the miscasting that you did, you also made one perfect call, casting Flash Duran as Lancelot. Why?”

“Even a blind squirrel finds an acorn now and then,” Sid said. “If I made every single decision a bad one, it would look suspicious.”

“Right now, it looks like you’re a big fan of Flash Duran,” Cyd said. “You know, I used to be a fan of his, too. I don’t suppose you noticed though; you were busy with your own affair at the time … I believe her name was something like Birdie?”

“Robin, actually,” Sid said. “And actually, I did know about you and Flash – all that time you were away from the house, that was actually nice. Why haven’t you ever gone out and had any other flings?”

“That’s not my style,” Cyd said. “And besides, if I had affairs, it would be a lot harder for me to guilt-trip you about yours.”

“You have a point there,” Sid said. “However, this time, guilt is not what it’s about. Please, please, you must understand, I have no choice in this matter.”

“But you’re not willing to give me any more specific information about the situation?”

“I can’t. If I did, my life would be in danger.” Sid paused. “Yours too.”

“Likely story, that.” Cyd snorted. “More likely, you’re trying to be more creative in your excuses. Never mind, though, you can have your thing with Bunnie. If that’s even her real name – ‘Bunnie Heffner,’ what a great stage name. I just wish you hadn’t chosen to please her by doing things that are disastrous for the reputation of the Siete Mares Community Theater. Surely, you could have done something for her without ruining the reputation of the whole company.”

“I had no choice in the matter,” Sid said. “Surely you know that I care as much as you do about this organization. If I could have chosen some other way, I would have.”

“Except, probably, for casting me as Morgan Le Fay,” Cyd said dryly.

“Well, yeah, except for that.”

Hannah retreated back down the hallway, glad that Sid and Cyd didn’t seem to have realized that she was overhearing their discussion. So there was a reason Sid had cast Bunnie as Guinevere, despite her extreme shortcomings. He was having an affair with her, if Cyd’s side of the story was correct. Or somebody was threatening him, if his own story was to be believed. If so, who? It couldn’t possibly be Bunnie herself – she was definitely a few frijoles short of a combo plate. But who would have been forcing Sid to give Bunnie the part, and what sort of pressure were they applying to make Sid fear for his life … if he really was in fear for his life and not just finding another way to get Cyd off his back.