Black Cat Weekly #73

Chapter 6

byJudith spotted her niece as soon as she entered the stately Victorian mansion that would serve as the venue for the performance of the Thespians, the town’s popular reader’s theatre troupe. Instead of beaming with excitement over her role as the lead in Ibsen’s classic Hedda Gabler, Sandy’s face was streaked with tears.

Hedda Gabler“Aunt Judith,” said Sandy, as her aunt approached, “I can’t believe what’s happened. This was supposed to be my night, and now everything’s ruined.”

“What’s wrong?” said Judith, offering the trembling young woman a tissue.

“We go on in less than an hour,” Sandy blurted out, “and somebody’s taken my playbook.”

“Why are you so upset?” said Judith calmly. “I’m sure you can find a substitute book.”

“You don’t understand. My playbook has all my notes. Reader’s theatre demands more than simply spitting out lines by rote. I have directions for volume, inflections—everything to make the part my own.”

Seeing that her niece was frantic, Judith said, “Where did you last see the playbook?”

“In the study next to the ballroom where we’ll be performing, or should I say where they’ll be performing?”

As they walked down the carpeted hallway toward the study, Judith said, “How can the play go on without you?”

With a sniffle, Sandy said, “Oh, Gwen will be all too ready to step in. She’s my understudy and has made it pretty apparent that she thinks the part should be hers.”

Off to the right, Judith spotted a portly man in what looked like a 19th-Century frockcoat. He was fiddling with a bushy beard that kept slipping off his chin.

Noticing her aunt’s puzzled look, Sandy said, “That’s Jed Kirkland. He takes his roles very seriously, Even though it’s reader’s theatre, he always rents costumes and wears stage makeup. He’s reading Judge Brack tonight, and during rehearsals he’s been constantly adding lines to his part, claiming that he knows Brack better than Ibsen and that the judge is the play’s real star.”

The study was empty when they entered. “Who had access to the room after you left?”

“I slipped into the room earlier to run through a few lines. I was sitting in the big chair in the corner when I decided I would get a soda. Since nobody was here, I left my playbook on the table next to the chair, and when I returned, it was gone.”

“So you didn’t see anybody in the hallway outside the study?” said Judith.

Sandy thought for a second then said, “Well, I did see Kevin Simpson at the end of the hall.”

“Who’s he?”

Sandy blushed. “Kevin’s sort of a super-fan. He never misses a performance, and he’s always wanting me to autograph something. You know, a program or a Thespian poster.”

“Are you absolutely sure you left the playbook here in the study?” said Judith. “You had to be at least a little nervous with the performance coming up. Could you have carried the playbook out of the room and left it somewhere else?”

“No,” said Sandy defensively. “I left it on the table, and now it’s gone.”

Scanning the room filled with ornate furnishings, Judith said, “You don’t think Gwen could have slipped in here, seen the playbook, and snatched it so she could take over your role?”

“I wouldn’t put it past her,” said Sandy, “but I met her at the refreshment booth right before I returned to the study.”

Judith was considering the possibility that Kevin could have watched Sandy leave the study without her playbook and ducked into the room to secure the ultimate souvenir when she noticed a white splotch on the table where Sandy had left her playbook. Running her finger over the sticky blob, she said with a smile, “I think the show will go on—with you as the star.”

When Judith ran her finger over the sticky substance, she remembered seeing Jed Kirkland fooling with his fake beard that was coming loose. She reasoned that as he removed the playbook from the table, he left some of the spirit gum adhesive from his fingers on the table’s surface. Confronted, Kirkland admitted that he had taken the book to ensure that Gwen, a weak reader, would step into Hedda’s part, further elevating him to the starring role as the judge.