Dread Murder by Gwendoline Butler Page B

an actor.’
    They were walking towards Charlie and the strange-looking figure, who had just been joined by Mindy, when a high scream tore into the air.
    The scream came from one of the young actresses – not one whom Mearns knew well, but he thought she was called Henrietta.
    Henrietta was standing at the edge of the stage where a passage led into the dressing rooms. She leaned back against the wall, her face white; she was trembling.
    â€˜There’s a body out there. A dead woman. She’s been strangled.’

    Mearns left Denny to support Henrietta as he went to look at the body.
    â€˜I think it’s Dol Worboys,’ he said quietly. ‘And yes, she’s been strangled.’

Chapter Four
    â€˜She was always down to be killed,’ said Mearns sadly as he looked down on the red, swollen face with its staring eyes. ‘Her sort don’t often get a quiet ending.’
    â€˜No, well, that’s true,’ Denny admitted. He was leaning against the wall, looking down at the body, one arm still propping up the unlucky finder of it, who was crying gently.
    â€˜I always kept my distance, I thought you did too.’
    â€˜Her prices were high,’ said Mearns. ‘But there’s more than one way of paying.’
    â€˜Eh?’
    â€˜Oh, not by me.’
    A few minutes later Felix appeared at the off-stage door. He looked at the dead woman. ‘Oh dear.’ He turned to Mearns: ‘You were looking for me, of course.’
    â€˜Oh, yes,’ lied Mearns, who had been hoping that Felix would not appear. But of course, that was not the way Felix worked. In a theatre or not, he did not like to be off-stage.
    The rest of the party were crowding forward to get a
look at what had happened. The Major saw Miss Fairface’s horrified eyes. She was holding Beau’s arm, and the look she gave Beau was enigmatic.
    Mearns moved to push them all backwards. ‘Don’t look … Leave it to us.’ He turned to Felix who was on his knees by the body. ‘We’ll have to tell Dr Devon, the Coroner, and Sir Robert Porteous, the Magistrate.’
    Without looking towards him, Felix said: ‘You forget that it is my Unit that will have to investigate the murder.’
    A commanding, stout figure was pushing through the enlarged crowd surrounding the all-too-real scene; some from the audience had leapt across the orchestra pit, or out of the stage boxes, or pushed their way through the side doors. But others were still sitting in their theatre seats, and were beginning to shout for the second part of the performance to start. There was always a lighter ending, often with music and singing, and this was a crowd that wanted its money’s worth, real life murder or not.
    â€˜Here, here, what is this?’ It was the Theatre manager and owner. He got to the front of the crowd. ‘My God, what’s this?’ he said, looking down. ‘Is she hurt? Is she dead?’
    â€˜She’s dead,’ said Felix, crisply, standing up. ‘Strangled.’ He moved forward. ‘All this crowd must be moved away.’
    It took but a few minutes for those few who wanted to go to leave and the great bulk of those who wanted to stay and see what was going on to be moved into the
street, where most stood watching.
    â€˜Oh stay, Mearns, dear chap,’ the Theatre manager, Mr Thornton, called out as he saw the Major and Denny moving off. Not that they intended to go far. ‘And your Sergeant, too.’ He knew, as did most people, that when you got the Major you got Denny too.
    â€˜Weren’t going,’ muttered Denny. ‘Just moving my feet.’
    Mearns grunted. ‘The murderer may well be among those being moved out.’
    So the Major and Sergeant Denny remained where they were. As did Miss Fairface, Beau and one or two other cast members. Miss Fairface had edged away from Beau.
    â€˜Lucky for you that you were on the stage most of the