Never Thwart a Thespian: Volume 8 (Leigh Koslow Mystery Series)
Page 25
“We knew he was a fake, too!” Ethan said proudly. He turned to his mother. “He’s going to be all right, isn’t he?”
Leigh nodded. “He got a nasty cut and a concussion, but he was awake and alert when they loaded him in the ambulance, and the EMTs seemed to think his injuries weren’t critical.” She looked at Maura. “And how is Sonia? It was Gordon’s threatening to sell the building to her that made Ned go after her, wasn’t it?”
Maura nodded. “Ned heard her say she wanted to tear it down. Whether she stood any realistic chance of buying the building from Applegate didn’t matter. She was a threat, and she had to go.”
Warren sighed. “She never did have a shot at buying the building. Gordon told me tonight he was only using her offer to up the tension with Bess. He felt bad about Sonia’s getting hurt, though. In fact, he was late to the show because he was at the hospital — admitting to her that he had no intention of selling, ever.”
“But why does she want the building so badly, if she wasn’t involved with Marconi and had nothing to do with the other murders, either?” Leigh asked.
“She’s on the brink of bankruptcy,” Warren answered. “Sonia is a very good lawyer — but she’s a lousy speculator. She invested in several real estate ventures that proved to be total blunders. She had a line on a major corporate buyer for the theater building, and she hoped to shore up her finances by making a quick buck on the turnaround. But it had to be quick, because she’s got a balloon payment coming due in a matter of days that she knew would finish her.”
“So Gordon gave her a final ‘no’ just before the show, and now she’s going to go bankrupt?” Leigh asked.
Warren cracked a wry smile. “She would if Gordon took my advice, but he tends not to, you know. He was vague with me about the details, but I’m pretty sure he agreed to help bail her out somehow. The man does have a conscience, you know. And a heart.”
“Applegate does seem sincere in his concern for Bess,” Maura commented. “I believe even Ned could see that — which is why he threatened Bess, rather than Applegate himself, in the note he mailed. It worked, too. Stroth says Applegate’s been driving him nuts, first worrying that Bess would be a suspect in Sonia’s assault, then worrying about the note and the break-in. When Bess called Applegate earlier tonight and told him that Camille was missing, he was in town at the hospital still, but he immediately called Stroth and demanded that he personally go down and check it out.”
Leigh’s eyebrows rose. “He did? But Bess called—”
“By then, Stroth had already dispatched the nearest unit,” Maura answered. “And a good thing, too.”
“Bess didn’t seem too appreciative of Gordon’s efforts when I saw her,” Warren noted.
Leigh remembered the “colorful” scene all too well. “Well, as my mother put it,” she said with a chuckle, “it’s a dance they do.” She gave her head a shake. She would never completely understand Gordon Applegate, but she supposed she didn’t have to, so long as her Aunt Bess did. If the two of them wanted to liven up their golden years by playing incomprehensible high-stakes mind games with each other, well… she guessed it beat watching cable.
“What about the theater?” Maura asked. “I never even asked how all the chaos went over with the audience. I guess the rest of the show was cancelled?”
The room was quiet for a moment. Then Leigh, Ethan, Allison, and Warren all burst out laughing.
“Have you met my Aunt Bess?” Leigh teased. “The woman did everything but stand on her head to distract the audience from what was going on. As soon as she knew that Camille and I were all right and that Gerardo was being taken care of, she raced up the stairs to the auditorium and announced that everything was fine — that one of the theater employees had had an ‘accident’ in the kitchen, and that an ambulance had been called, but that he was going to be fine, and that no one need be upset by the army of police cars outside because… get this… it was clearly a slow news night in West View!”
Maura laughed out loud. “Damn, she’s good.”
Gerry joined in. “Sure she’s not looking for a job in PR? The city force could use her.”
“I believe she’ll be fully occupied for some time,” Leigh answered. “The show was, despite all odds, a rousing success. If Merle and Earl follow through with their promise to personally recommend the production to everyone they’ve ever met, the next two shows are definitely going to be sellouts.”
“And if Mr. Applegate follows through on his promise to Aunt Bess, the North Boros Thespian Society will be able to use the theater as long as they want,” Allison added, stroking the pups again. “By the way, Mom, Aunt Bess says they’re doing Wizard of Oz over the summer. Can I try out for a munchkin?”
“Hey!” Ethan enthused. “We can train Chewie to play Toto!”
“Sounds good to me,” Leigh responded, delighted with the thought of Allison doing something silly and fun… and bright. “But ixnay on the Toto thing. Chewie’s too big for a basket, and anyway, he would eat his way out of it long before Oz.”
“You could try out too, Mom,” Allison encouraged. “You said you wanted to get back into acting.”
“I did,” Leigh confessed. “But Wizard of Oz is a musical, and I can’t sing.”
“The wicked witch of the West doesn’t sing,” Gerry offered, smiling sardonically.
Leigh caught his eye and grinned. True, the man had once locked her up for a murder she didn’t commit. But they were past that, now.
And she always appreciated a good sense of humor.
Everyone else in the room watched as she stretched her arms lazily, cuddled into her husband’s side, then let out a loud, spine-tingling cackle.
The show must go on.
Author’s Note
I hope you’ve enjoyed Never Thwart a Thespian! If you haven’t guessed already, See You in Bells is a real play. Not only that, but it’s a play I wrote myself, with a part for myself, which I actually got to perform! Doing so was truly one of the highlights of my life, and I can’t tell you how much I’ve enjoyed bringing that experience back to life again as seen through Leigh’s eyes. (I played the part she got to read for — such fun!) The play was published by Samuel French/Baker’s Plays and is currently available for production, so if you’re a thespian yourself, please check it out here!
The next installment in the Leigh Koslow Mystery Series will be released in 2015. If you’d like to receive an email announcement when Book #9 is released, you can sign up for my New Book Alert. The series currently includes eight novels (Never Buried, Never Sorry, Never Preach Past Noon, Never Kissed Goodnight, Never Tease a Siamese, Never Con a Corgi, Never Haunt a Historian and Never Thwart a Thespian) and a short story ("Never Neck at Niagara") which takes place chronologically right after Never Preach Past Noon. If you're new to the series and would like to start reading where it all began, click here!
To find out more about these and other books by Edie Claire, including my novels of classic romantic suspense, women’s fiction, and YA paranormal romance, please visit my website or check out my Facebook page. Several of my novels, including this one, are (or will be soon!) available as audiobooks. I always enjoy hearing from readers via email, so if you're so inclined, please drop me a note. Thanks so much for reading!
Table of Contents
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Author’s Note
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Edie Claire, Never Thwart a Thespian: Volume 8 (Leigh Koslow Mystery Series)