“Well, if not its axles, at least its rails. So what are you telling me?”
“I don’t think she knows anything. I pushed her hard. Nada, nada, nada. She works 8:00 to 4:00 seven days a week for the twelve-week season. And she comes in during May to open the place and works through September to close things up. During those months she’s on a five-day schedule. The rest of the year she’s on a retainer to be available when they occasionally use the place. And, of course, she’s worried that this arrangement will disappear.”
“How about the handyman?”
“He’s off on weekends, and had today off to see his cardiologist in Traverse City. We’ll have to catch him tomorrow or the next day. What now?”
“We still have the rest of the cast and crew. Grubbs is helping line them up. Maybe after lunch we can split the list and talk to all of them.”
30
In the course of the afternoon Ray interviewed most of the remaining cast members while Sue, working in the auditorium’s green room, met individually with the crew members. The one exception to the one-on-one rule was her planned meeting with the five teenage girls who served as ushers. That interview was scheduled for the end of the day.
Most of the remaining actors were younger than the ones Ray had first interviewed, people in their 20s and 30s, none of whom seemed to have a history with Malcolm Wudbine or his family. The interviews went quickly and provided no new information. The one exception was eighty-seven year old Lenore Beeson–tart tongued and venomous, especially toward Malcolm Wudbine. She played the gossipy Mrs. Price Ridley. Frail and unsteady, she was clearly not a possible suspect. She did explain in great detail how Wudbine had robbed her of much of her retirement while making millions for himself. But beyond her vituperations directed at Wudbine, she had little to add.
Soon after Lenore Beeson departed, Sue called Ray, asking him to come to the green room. He found her sitting at the head of a table with five young women, teenagers. One by one, Sue introduced the ushers: Samantha, Brittany, Megan, Kayla, and Anna.
“I would like to cover the same ground again,” said Sue, “this time with the Sheriff listening. She looked over at Ray, “Samantha and Brittany were at the west entrance, Megan and Kayla were at the east entrance, and Anna was at the doors in the rear of the building. Okay guys, let’s talk about the flashlights first.”
“Who should start?” asked Kayla.
“Doesn’t matter.”
“There’s been some kind of trouble with the lights over the doors, the ones that should turn on if the power goes out,” said Kayla. “Mr. Grubbs told us about it the day of the dress rehearsal. We were there with the cast and crew, just like this was the actual event. He gave us flashlights, new out of the box, and told us in case the power went out we were to open the doors, block them open, and use our lights to help people exit the building. But he said having to do that was unlikely. In the thirty or forty years since the emergency lights had been installed, they had never been needed, but he said it was better to be safe than sorry.”
“So how did that work out?”
“Not exactly as planned,” answered Megan. “The first scene came to an end. We had been told that it would be a ten-minute scene change and lots of people would be going out to stretch. As soon as the curtain closed, we propped the exit doors open.”
“We did the same on our side,” said one of the other girls.
“And then what did you do?”
“Well, since I had ten minutes I went to talk to people,” said Samantha. “We wouldn’t be needed again till the lights blinked, indicating that the play was starting again.”
Ray looked at the other girls, they all looked slightly abashed. “We all did the same thing,” said Brittany. “How were we supposed to know the lights would go out in the middle of an intermission?”
“And then,” said Ray.
“I used my light to get back to the door, not that I really needed it,” said Brittany. “And shortly after that the lights were back on. It was no big deal.”
“Did anyone leave early, before the end of the scene?” asked Ray.
“Not on our side,” said Brittany.
“Or ours,” said Megan.
Ray looked over at Anna, the girl responsible for the back entrance. She looked down toward the table.
“Same thing for you?” said Ray looking in her direction.
Anna’s answer was slow in coming. She lifted her head and looked at Sue. “I wasn’t there. I slipped away for a few minutes after everyone was seated. I was planning to get back. I just lost track of the time. And then it started raining so hard. I didn’t think it would matter.”
“Where were you?” asked Ray.
“I was over in the library.”
“Catching up on your reading?” giggled Megan.
“One of my friends was leaving this week,” she said, directing her answer to Sue and Ray. “I just wanted to spend some extra time with them.”
“So let me summarize here,” said Ray. “During the first act, no one left the theater from either the east or west exits. And we don’t know about the back entrance.”
One of the girls answered, “correct,” and the rest nodded their agreement.
“So you were here for the dress rehearsal and the performance. And you are all residents of the summer colony, correct.”
Ray had everyone’s eyes. They nodded their assent.
“Have you seen anyone around who wasn’t part of the colony in recent days?”
After a long silence Megan said, “Well, there’s crazy Tom.”
“Who is that?”
“I don’t know what his last name is. He’s been hanging around. I know Grubbs talks to him all the time and sometimes asks him to leave. A day or two later he’s back.”
Ray looked over at Sue. Her nod told him that Tom wasn’t on their radar.
“The guy creeps me out,” said Megan. “He likes hanging around the beach. I don’t like the way he looks at me.”
“He’s been around the theatre a lot,” said Brittany. “I think he wanted Mr. Shevlin to give him a part in the play. And someone told him to go away last week, maybe that old guy that works the lights. Tom got nasty. I heard him drop a few f-bombs as he was leaving.”
“What does this Tom look like?” asked Ray.
“Like a street person. He’s got long hair and a beard. It’s a narrow one that just covers his chin, but it’s sorta long. He’s tall, real tall, and his jeans just hang on him,” added Anna. “And he reeks of cigarettes. You can smell him coming.”
“But the real creepy thing is that he’s always jabbering away on his phone, loud conversations, lots of laughing and hand waving,” added Megan.
Ray held her in his glance.
“Well, you have to understand. It’s not a phone. I saw it up close. It’s just a piece of wood about the size of an iPhone. It’s colored up with pencils or markers to make it look like a phone.”
Ray looked over at Anna. “This Tom has been hanging around the theatre a lot?”
“She’d know,” chimed in Samantha. “She’s hardly left the place since rehearsals started.”
“He’s been hanging around. He would often sit way back in the rear of the auditorium. In the beginning he didn’t bother anyone, and no one said anything. Lots of people drop in and watch the play practice. About a week ago he had one of his famous phone conversations, and Mr. Shevlin asked him to leave. He started out being very nice, but Tom said something, and Mr. Shevlin lost his temper. And then there were a lot of obscenities from both sides. And Mr. Grubbs showed up. He got Tom in his car and drove off somewhere.
“I didn’t see him for a few days, but he was around the other day, not in the theater, but around back. One of the older women said she thought he was looking in the windows. Anyway, that other man I told you about asked him to go away, and there was some more shouting. Not as bad as the day with Mr. Shevlin.”