a week nothing bad happened. Everyone was working their socks off, desperate to be ready for opening night.
On the morning of the dress rehearsal Mum needed to be at work extra early so once again she dropped us off at the end of the alley before any of the other kids had arrived at the theatre.
As usual, Maggie was at the stage door flanked by a couple of police officers. She waved to us as we approached.
I waved back but Graham didn’t. He was frowning and I recognized it as a sign of Deep Thought.
“What is it?” I asked.
He pointed to the building. “There’s the fire escape. If the stalker climbed that to poison Tiffany’s tea, how did he get up there without Maggie noticing?”
“Someone must have distracted her. Delivered flowers or something. He could have sneaked past then.”
“So he must have an accomplice,” said Graham.
“But Maggie’s not stupid. She’d have put two and two together. If she’d seen a stranger she’d have reported it to the police,” I said thoughtfully. “So she must have been distracted by someone she already knew.”
“Which means that one of the cast must have given him a hand…”
We reached the stage door and Maggie let us in, saying, “Hi you two! My, aren’t you keen? You’re the first in again. Peregrine should give you a prize for your enthusiasm!”
Graham and I headed towards the kids’ dressing room. We were planning to just sit and wait for everyone else to arrive but over the intercom we could hear Tiffany up on stage, singing the opening bars of “Over the Rainbow”.
“I thought Maggie said we were the first ones here,” said Graham.
“Maybe she just meant we’re the first kids to arrive,” I replied, shrugging. I was more interested in the sweetness of Tiffany’s song. “She’s got an amazing voice. Magical.” I suddenly remembered Cynthia’s remark. “It’s very consistent.”
“Which is odd, when you think about it,” said Graham.
“What do you mean?”
“Well in theory it ought to be impossible to reproduce exactly the same effect each time. The vocal chords change, you see, with variations in temperature and humidity. Strong emotion, diet, hot drinks – all sorts of things can affect the human voice.”
Graham and I exchanged looks.
“Shall we go up and watch?” I said.
“Yes,” said Graham slowly. “But we ought to be very careful.”
So we were. We crept like mice through the corridors. By the time we tiptoed into the wings Tiffany’s song had just finished. The last note was still hanging in the air but there was no one on stage but Jason.
Tiffany Webb had vanished. It was as if she’d clicked her ruby slippers and been magically transported home to Kansas.
the dress rehearsal
Graham and I reversed without a word and crept back to the dressing room before Jason could see us. Once there, we shut the door firmly behind us and checked there was no one else around before we started discussing the possibilities.
“Maggie said we were the only ones here. Do you think she didn’t know Jason had arrived?” I asked.
“But how could he have got past her?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “He could have stayed here last night, couldn’t he? Perhaps he pretended to be working late. He might have told Maggie he’d lock up when he left. He’s the technician – could he have his own set of keys?”
“That would explain an awful lot,” replied Graham.
We both sat in silence while we considered the implications.
“But what about Tiffany? Do you think she was hiding just now?” I said.
“I suppose it’s possible…” Graham didn’t sound convinced.
“But not very likely.”
“No… It’s a big floor area,” mused Graham. “We were there just as the song ended. She’d have had to sprint across the stage to get out of sight. And she doesn’t look like a very fast runner to me.”
“Plus we’d have heard her heels clicking across the floor.”
Then we both said at the same time, “Why
On the morning of the dress rehearsal Mum needed to be at work extra early so once again she dropped us off at the end of the alley before any of the other kids had arrived at the theatre.
As usual, Maggie was at the stage door flanked by a couple of police officers. She waved to us as we approached.
I waved back but Graham didn’t. He was frowning and I recognized it as a sign of Deep Thought.
“What is it?” I asked.
He pointed to the building. “There’s the fire escape. If the stalker climbed that to poison Tiffany’s tea, how did he get up there without Maggie noticing?”
“Someone must have distracted her. Delivered flowers or something. He could have sneaked past then.”
“So he must have an accomplice,” said Graham.
“But Maggie’s not stupid. She’d have put two and two together. If she’d seen a stranger she’d have reported it to the police,” I said thoughtfully. “So she must have been distracted by someone she already knew.”
“Which means that one of the cast must have given him a hand…”
We reached the stage door and Maggie let us in, saying, “Hi you two! My, aren’t you keen? You’re the first in again. Peregrine should give you a prize for your enthusiasm!”
Graham and I headed towards the kids’ dressing room. We were planning to just sit and wait for everyone else to arrive but over the intercom we could hear Tiffany up on stage, singing the opening bars of “Over the Rainbow”.
“I thought Maggie said we were the first ones here,” said Graham.
“Maybe she just meant we’re the first kids to arrive,” I replied, shrugging. I was more interested in the sweetness of Tiffany’s song. “She’s got an amazing voice. Magical.” I suddenly remembered Cynthia’s remark. “It’s very consistent.”
“Which is odd, when you think about it,” said Graham.
“What do you mean?”
“Well in theory it ought to be impossible to reproduce exactly the same effect each time. The vocal chords change, you see, with variations in temperature and humidity. Strong emotion, diet, hot drinks – all sorts of things can affect the human voice.”
Graham and I exchanged looks.
“Shall we go up and watch?” I said.
“Yes,” said Graham slowly. “But we ought to be very careful.”
So we were. We crept like mice through the corridors. By the time we tiptoed into the wings Tiffany’s song had just finished. The last note was still hanging in the air but there was no one on stage but Jason.
Tiffany Webb had vanished. It was as if she’d clicked her ruby slippers and been magically transported home to Kansas.
the dress rehearsal
Graham and I reversed without a word and crept back to the dressing room before Jason could see us. Once there, we shut the door firmly behind us and checked there was no one else around before we started discussing the possibilities.
“Maggie said we were the only ones here. Do you think she didn’t know Jason had arrived?” I asked.
“But how could he have got past her?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “He could have stayed here last night, couldn’t he? Perhaps he pretended to be working late. He might have told Maggie he’d lock up when he left. He’s the technician – could he have his own set of keys?”
“That would explain an awful lot,” replied Graham.
We both sat in silence while we considered the implications.
“But what about Tiffany? Do you think she was hiding just now?” I said.
“I suppose it’s possible…” Graham didn’t sound convinced.
“But not very likely.”
“No… It’s a big floor area,” mused Graham. “We were there just as the song ended. She’d have had to sprint across the stage to get out of sight. And she doesn’t look like a very fast runner to me.”
“Plus we’d have heard her heels clicking across the floor.”
Then we both said at the same time, “Why
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