Read Online Death in a Summer Colony by Aaron Stander - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Aaron Stander
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beard covered his face. Ray noted how much older this Richard Grubbs looked from the gregarious, energetic man he had met a few months earlier.
“I will be recording our interview,” he said, hitting the red button and reading a boilerplate intro as he turned his head toward the machine.
“How are you today?”
“Stunned, still stunned. Nothing really bad has ever happened here before. Well, that’s not quite true. That incident in May, that was almost beyond the realm of possibility.” He pulled himself up in his chair, leaned back and inhaled deeply. “Unbelievable…that kind of savagery…here. It’s a violation of this sacred land. I never even imagined the possibility….”
“Didn’t you tell me that you had several cases of suspected arson?”
“Well, yes, but that was years ago and doesn’t compare. I mean, they were old cottages, unoccupied, probably just bad wiring. This…murder…right here. And on our stage. Why not…if they wanted Malcolm dead…kill him up in that big house of his. Sabotage his helicopter. Put a bomb in his car. But not here, not where we worship. Why do this to the colony? Why make us victims, too? I mean, there were children out there, teenagers, too.”
“Did you get any sleep last night?”
“Very little. Everyone wanted to talk to me. Or maybe, more correctly, people wanted to talk, needed to talk. People of my generation and near generations, we have so much history, so many years here. We’re struggling with the shock and horror of this event, and yet I feel there is kind of a shared shame and guilt.”
“How so?”
“I need to think about that a bit. A big part of it is that we didn’t like Malcolm, none of us. We tolerated him. He was sort of a boogeyman. It was safe to make jokes about him because everyone felt the same way. Even this play was sort of a joke. Colonel Protheroe, the most disliked man in the village gets murdered.”
“I’ve been wondering about that,” said Ray. “I can’t imagine that Malcolm Wudbine wouldn’t have noticed the nature of the character he was playing.”
“Yes, I’m sure he noticed. I kind of think he would relish that. Colonel Protheroe gets murdered during the course of play, but Malcolm gets to go to the cast party. And even though lots of people won’t be too sad to see his passing, no one would have wanted it to happen this way.”
“Well, Mr. Grubbs, someone obviously did. Do you have any idea who might have been angry enough to kill him?”
“That question kept running through my head when I was trying to sleep. First I thought about the people who had the longest history with him, especially his first wife. You’ve met Verity. You’ve talked with her on two occasions. Can you imagine her as a murderer?”
“No. But I know nothing of her relationship with her ex-husband. She was in the building at the time of the murder….”
“Yes, but you’d be wasting your time on her.”
“Let’s leave Verity for the moment. At the end of the first scene, you got up and left us and exited through the west entrance almost before anyone else was out of their seats. I can’t remember exactly what you said at that moment. I need to know where you went and what you saw. And where were you when the lights went off? Please, step by step, from the time you left us until you were beckoning me to follow you backstage. Take your time.”
“There is some history here. I sort of freak out during thunderstorms. We did have someone killed by lightning here when I was eight or ten. The victim was a teenager, not that much older than me. Like I said, lightening unhinges me a little bit. And I was concerned about the electrical system in the building, especially with all the stage lights on. I needed to make sure that everything was okay, that’s what I do around here. So I went out through that nearest exit and then back into the building through the nearest stage door. As soon as I got into the hallway there was that
“I will be recording our interview,” he said, hitting the red button and reading a boilerplate intro as he turned his head toward the machine.
“How are you today?”
“Stunned, still stunned. Nothing really bad has ever happened here before. Well, that’s not quite true. That incident in May, that was almost beyond the realm of possibility.” He pulled himself up in his chair, leaned back and inhaled deeply. “Unbelievable…that kind of savagery…here. It’s a violation of this sacred land. I never even imagined the possibility….”
“Didn’t you tell me that you had several cases of suspected arson?”
“Well, yes, but that was years ago and doesn’t compare. I mean, they were old cottages, unoccupied, probably just bad wiring. This…murder…right here. And on our stage. Why not…if they wanted Malcolm dead…kill him up in that big house of his. Sabotage his helicopter. Put a bomb in his car. But not here, not where we worship. Why do this to the colony? Why make us victims, too? I mean, there were children out there, teenagers, too.”
“Did you get any sleep last night?”
“Very little. Everyone wanted to talk to me. Or maybe, more correctly, people wanted to talk, needed to talk. People of my generation and near generations, we have so much history, so many years here. We’re struggling with the shock and horror of this event, and yet I feel there is kind of a shared shame and guilt.”
“How so?”
“I need to think about that a bit. A big part of it is that we didn’t like Malcolm, none of us. We tolerated him. He was sort of a boogeyman. It was safe to make jokes about him because everyone felt the same way. Even this play was sort of a joke. Colonel Protheroe, the most disliked man in the village gets murdered.”
“I’ve been wondering about that,” said Ray. “I can’t imagine that Malcolm Wudbine wouldn’t have noticed the nature of the character he was playing.”
“Yes, I’m sure he noticed. I kind of think he would relish that. Colonel Protheroe gets murdered during the course of play, but Malcolm gets to go to the cast party. And even though lots of people won’t be too sad to see his passing, no one would have wanted it to happen this way.”
“Well, Mr. Grubbs, someone obviously did. Do you have any idea who might have been angry enough to kill him?”
“That question kept running through my head when I was trying to sleep. First I thought about the people who had the longest history with him, especially his first wife. You’ve met Verity. You’ve talked with her on two occasions. Can you imagine her as a murderer?”
“No. But I know nothing of her relationship with her ex-husband. She was in the building at the time of the murder….”
“Yes, but you’d be wasting your time on her.”
“Let’s leave Verity for the moment. At the end of the first scene, you got up and left us and exited through the west entrance almost before anyone else was out of their seats. I can’t remember exactly what you said at that moment. I need to know where you went and what you saw. And where were you when the lights went off? Please, step by step, from the time you left us until you were beckoning me to follow you backstage. Take your time.”
“There is some history here. I sort of freak out during thunderstorms. We did have someone killed by lightning here when I was eight or ten. The victim was a teenager, not that much older than me. Like I said, lightening unhinges me a little bit. And I was concerned about the electrical system in the building, especially with all the stage lights on. I needed to make sure that everything was okay, that’s what I do around here. So I went out through that nearest exit and then back into the building through the nearest stage door. As soon as I got into the hallway there was that
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