Death in the Spotlight: A Murder Most Unladylike Mystery 07 (A Murder Most Unladylike Mystery, 7)

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Hey, it wasn’t me!’ Simon said, shaking his head. Lysander crossed his arms and Annie shrugged, her hands draped in deep swags of material. Lysander sneered, and then he dropped her hands and stepped away. Rose was left panting, glaring after him with an expression that was half rage and half fear. See here!’ cried Inigo, and he came up onto the stage, his cloak billowing, and spoke the lines for me, leaving me feeling even worse, and more confused, than I had before. Don’t be awful, Daisy!’ I said, although privately I agreed with her. Lysander had made me uncomfortable. He stood too close to people and stared at them for too long, and there was an angry energy to him that I did not like.

Only Annie looked troubled. She turned to me and Daisy and said, rather unhappily, ‘They all do seem to hate her, don’t they?’ I shall take her somewhere to sit quietly,’ said Daisy, and pulled me towards the stairs – but, instead of going upwards to our dressing room, she dragged me down, through several twists of the staircase, to the underbelly of the theatre. She turned to look at us, her arms still crossed. I wondered if she was upset about being reminded that she was having to pretend to be from a different country. People sometimes ask me if I am Japanese and it makes me furious.

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I almost don’t want to get to what happened, because I am still reeling from what Daisy and I saw – what we found – but of course I know I must. I have to get past the part where the murder is real and let it become a problem to be solved. When I write things down, they become mine, my puzzle, like something Aunt Lucy might set me to work on; not horror but logic. Daisy made me the Detective Society Secretary because she thought it was not as important as being President, but she didn’t realize then that writing something down makes you the most important person in the story. So? They seem great! Rose does have a lot to answer for, though,’ said Simon, his face falling. ‘I’ve got to tell you what she—’ Don’t you like her?’ I said, surprised, for I had seen Martita patiently working with Daisy on her graveyard scene, showing her how to project her voice into the depths of the stalls. I ought to explain exactly how we came to be sitting in the dusty, greasepaint-smelling stalls of the Rue Theatre, while a large, blue-hatted policeman stamps about onstage and shouts at us all to sit tight and not go anywhere. I came to be a star, of course,’ said Martita. ‘And Portugal isn’t such a good place at the moment. Have you heard about it?’

Frances! Now there are children in my dressing room!’ the girl shouted, leaning out into the corridor. ‘Frances! Frances! This is too much!’ Hello, Rose dear,’ said Miss Crompton. ‘Thank you for joining us.’ She smiled, and I felt rather surprised. Miss Crompton had not shown herself to be someone happy with lateness. They did indeed!’ he cried. ‘And it is dreadful, Rose. Of course it is! But you must have heard that there is no such thing as bad publicity? These playbills are intriguing. Perhaps they may draw more of an audience.’ Of course it wasn’t me, you madwoman!’ cried Lysander. ‘You’re quite desperately unhinged, I tell you. No onePenguin presents the audiobook edition of Death in the Spotlight by Robin Stevens , read by Katie Leung. I feel quite sorry for Rose!’ I said to Daisy. ‘I know she can be a bit rude sometimes, but it’s not her who’s causing problems. It’s Inigo and Martita and Simon who are being awful.’ Why did you come to England?’ I asked. I was curious about this. Martita’s accent marked her out from the rest of the company – she was like me, a girl from another country trying desperately to find her place in England. Of course it’s real!’ snapped Rose. ‘How dare you! I bet you’re the one behind it. You’re trying to frighten me off, all because I’m the star and you’re not.’ Even her,’ said Daisy. ‘She’s being nice to Rose because she’s the star, but Rose’s complaining is beginning to wear thin. Just you wait and see.’

I remembered how Lysander had accused Daisy of only getting her part because she was a member of the aristocracy. I glanced at Daisy now, and saw her watching Lysander with interest. Rose had spoken as though the thought had only just occurred to her, quite innocently, but Lysander’s face flamed furious red.Hilda Dove wasn’t born Hilda Dove, of course. Most actors choose better names when they go on the stage – who’d go and see a leading lady called Bertha Jones? And I know because of Bertie,’ said Daisy, waving her hand airily. ‘He’s quite obsessed, and I steal his theatre magazines. After all, you never know what knowledge may turn out to be useful – and so it has proved.’ Of course, the policeman is here today, and so are we, because of the corpse – which is not a pleasant thing to have to write. Dead bodies are always awful. They are my least favourite part of what Daisy and I do. Daisy is sometimes impatient with me when I say this. But, all the same, I am glad they do upset me. I do not think I would be as good a detective if I stopped caring about the victims. Murder matters, and bothering about it helps us solve each case.