Read Online Corpse de Ballet by Ellen Pall - Free Book Online

great. They have to take class every day. They have to keep their mouths shut and do as they’re told. And all for what? Most of them never get out of the corps.”
    â€œSo what have you heard of happening?”
    â€œOh, the usual stuff in a closed environment. Like in boarding schools. Petty thieving. Sucking up to management. Ganging up on people who suck up. Ostracizing weaklings.” She paused, then added in a changed tone, “You know, Ryder Kensington just did a very weird thing to me. You know who he is?”
    Juliet nodded.
    â€œWell, when I came out of the locker room after the session, he was using the pay phone and I accidentally brushed against him. He jumped about a mile in the air, and then he glared at me as if I’d been raising a dagger to stab him in the back. You think he could be the mad powderer?”
    â€œI don’t know. Does he have any reason to dislike Anton Mohr?”
    â€œWhat difference does that make? Anyone could have been injured.”
    â€œMaybe. Maybe not. Several people used that rosin box at the start of the last hour of your session today, and they didn’t slip. I noticed.”
    â€œSo you think the powder was put in late in the session?”
    â€œDon’t you?”
    Ruth frowned. The sprightly piano phrase had ceased, and now the empty room reverberated only to their voices.
    â€œCould someone have known that only Mohr was going to work in this studio after your session ended?” Juliet asked.
    â€œGod I’m hungry.” Ruth rubbed her forehead wearily. “Yes, anyone could have known. There are schedules printed up for each day. They’re distributed a day in advance. Here.” She reached into the leather backpack she had been carrying when she returned from the locker room and pulled out a folded paper.
    Juliet opened it. The schedule was very neatly done. Every studio was accounted for during each working hour, from class in the morning until the day ended. The name of each production was given, the dancer or dancers who were to be there, the choreographer or instructor working with them, sometimes even which act of a ballet was to be rehearsed.
    â€œThey all have to know,” said Ruth, after Juliet had studied this for a few moments. “They have to know what shoes to bring and what to prepare and where to go…”
    There was a long silence. Juliet went to the large purse she had left by her chair and returned with a plum, which she handed to Ruth.
    â€œThank you,” said Ruth. She took an unhappy bite and added, as if conversationally, “I knew this project was cursed.”
    Juliet scratched her nose. It seemed to her that, for Ruth’s sake if nothing else, a number of rather melodramatic questions needed to be addressed.
    â€œRuth,” she began, “could Mohr have any—this sounds silly, but, any enemies? People in the company who might want him to fail?”
    â€œI have no idea. Why should they? I mean, I really don’t know him personally. I only worked with him once, in Germany. He seems quite likable to me.”
    â€œThen could anyone envy him—could someone else have wanted to dance his part?”
    â€œSomeone?” Ruth gave a dry laugh. “Try everyone. Every man, anyhow. And probably half the women. But that’s ballet—there’s only one Prince Charming.”
    â€œSo might this have been done from envy?”
    Ruth laughed again, shaking her head. “Look, dancers depend on each other. They have to. That’s not a metaphor—I mean physically, they have to trust each other or they cannot dance. It’s an intense bond. I’m not saying there’s never any backstabbing, or that every member of the Jansch will pray tonight for Anton’s swift recovery. But dancers just don’t injure each other on purpose.”
    Juliet was silent a moment. She knew from experience that Ruth sometimes had clear, sharp insights into