Body on the Stage

by Bev Robitai

  “Oh yes,” said Dennis with feeling. “I don’t know how I used to complain about being busy before I got into the theatre and the gym. They just take over your entire life!”

  “Yes,” said Jack dryly, “I’ve seen how many hours Jessica puts in at that palace of magic she calls a theatre. I can’t complain about it when my job has me working all kinds of odd hours, but sometimes I think it would be nice to count on a weekend away together once in a while.” He hummed a few bars of ‘A Policemen’s Lot is not a Happy One’ as he drove Dennis back home.

  “Thanks for the ride,” said Dennis as he got out and closed the car door.

  “You’re welcome!” Jack drove off with a cheery wave.

  Dennis went inside, shut his front door and leaned against it, closing his eyes. But the vision of Vincenzo’s body floated in front of him so he quickly opened them again and headed for the kitchen in an automatic search for comfort. He switched on the kettle and pulled out his favourite mug, feeling reassured by the normality of the actions. It was time for his mid-afternoon snack of tuna and rice wafers but his stomach strongly suggested that if he sent any food down it would be sent straight back, so he settled for a simple instant coffee, cradling his hands around the hot mug as he sat at the kitchen table thinking. He wasn’t good at on-the-spot decisions, preferring to think through all the possible ramifications before he settled on a course of action. Right now he was considering the blood stains he’d found in the gym. Now that Vincenzo had turned up dead, they might be relevant and he should probably tell the police about them. But, he argued with himself, they’ll be checking the gym themselves and will find them anyway, so there’s no need to say anything. It might look bad if he admitted he’d found them before but hadn’t said anything – he might look as if he was covering something up. The police might even think he and Cathy were in collusion over Vincenzo’s disappearance. He decided, on further reflection, to keep quiet.

  When he got to the gym that night he went straight to Cathy’s office. She sat at her desk, head in her hands.

  “Cathy? Are you OK?”

  She looked up, pale, with shadows under her reddened eyes. Dennis crossed the room in one swift movement and pulled her into a hug. She drew in a shuddering breath and relaxed against him, wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her head against his shoulder.

  “It’s been a rough day,” she murmured into his shirt.

  “Yes,” he said simply.

  They stood for a long moment, drawing strength from each other. Then Cathy broke away, looking up at him.

  “Jack said you found the body. That must have been awful for you.” She shuddered.

  “Oh it wasn’t so bad. Tony and Gazza were there, it was a nice day to be out in the sunshine looking at the scenery.” His mouth wrote a smile but his eyes wouldn’t cash it.

  “Was it…was it really awful? I mean, it’s been ages since he, you know,” she trailed off, unwilling to say the words.

  “It wasn’t the most fun thing I’ve ever done, but it’s over for now. Let’s talk about the future instead, shall we?” He guided her into her seat. “How does this affect your business, now he’s been found?”

  “I don’t know. I’d been hoping, of course, he’d turn up and I could get the money back from him somehow, but that’s been knocked on the head, hasn’t it?” She sighed. “And somehow I doubt he’s left me anything in his will to cover it. So I guess it’s up to me to try and trade my way out of trouble – if I can. I just need some money-making scheme to get back on track. As long as the show is successful I’ll get a bit of income from that, but I’ll need more.”

  “Whatever I can do to help, just ask. Anything at all.”

  “Oh Dennis, you sweetheart, thank you.” She paused and then looked at him more closely. “What? I can see the cogs going round in your head – you’re thinking of something, aren’t you?”

  He grinned. “Just a silly idea, you’ll roll your eyes when I tell you. Really, it’s not even worth listening to.”

  “Well, you have to tell me now. Come on, spit it out.”

  “OK,” he shrugged, “don’t say I didn’t warn you. I was just thinking about the routines you’ve created for the actors at the theatre, their strip routines.”

  “Yes?”

  “Well there would be lots of guys out there who’d like to be able to surprise their girlfriends with something like that – so why don’t you offer classes once a week? Take eight or ten guys at once and show them how to move, how to tease, how to put on a bit of a show. You could charge a decent rate for something as unusual as that because they’re not going to find it anywhere else. It would boost your cashflow, wouldn’t it?”

  Cathy threw her head back and laughed. “Oh Dennis, you’re wonderful! It’s actually not too bad an idea. That’s one way of taking my mind off my worries! Fill the gym with hunky men and show them how to strip! Genius.”

  “I really didn’t think that through, did I?” he said wryly. “Competing with the actors was bad enough – how can I compete with half the population of Whetford as well?”

  “You don’t have to compete, sweetie,” she soothed him. “You’re the tops in my book.” A smile lit his face. “Actually…” she said, looking at him more thoughtfully.

  “What? What are you dreaming up now?”

  “I would need a guinea-pig to try out ideas on, to get this course organised. Would you volunteer to try out some lessons beforehand, in private of course, so I can see what works and what doesn’t?”

  He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “I did just offer to do ‘anything’ to help, didn’t I? This wasn’t quite what I had in mind, but if it’s what you need, then of course I’ll do whatever you say. As long as it’s in private, because nobody is going to be inspired by seeing this body shaking its groove thing all over the place.”

  “Don’t talk about yourself like that. Your mental image hasn’t caught up yet with the way you look now, after doing all this exercise. You’ve got a pretty decent bod there, and with a little more work you’ll look fabulous.” She was struck by inspiration and clicked her fingers. “I know! To help me design these classes, I’ll go through the process of choreographing a strip routine for you. It can be the cardio aspect of your training and it’ll be great for your flexibility. You need to include more stretching in your workouts and this will be perfect.” She jumped up and surveyed him from head to toe. “Now, what character shall we use?”

  He stood there shaking his head. “You’re mad, Cathy, quite mad.”

  “No I’m not,” she said confidently. “I know exactly what I’m doing. You’ve had no performance experience, no dance background, right?”

  “I’m afraid not. Well, not since a few basic ballroom dance lessons as a teenager.”

  “Well, that’s why you’re perfect for this. It’ll show me the starting point for people with no previous skills so I’ll know what I have to teach them. Dennis, you’re a godsend.”

  “Not quite in the way I expected, but I’ll take it.”

  “Right, let’s see what you can and can’t do. Hold on a second.” She pulled a music player from her desk drawer and slotted it into a speaker set. Dialling round the playlist, she selected a bright and bouncy tune with strong rhythm. “Right, click your fingers in time with the beat, Dennis.”

  “Seriously? How can this possibly help?” He did his best to obey, despite feeling like a total prune. Cathy watched him closely.

  “Good, very good – you can carry a beat, and that’s the most important thing. It means you’ll get the timing right when you’re moving to the music.”

  “It does? Well I suppose that’s something. Can I stop now?”

  “You can step forward and back to the music, please. That’s right, good.” She watched his movements. “You’re quite well co-ordinated so that’ll make things easier for both of us. OK, you can stop now.” She burst out laughing at his look of relief. “Sorry, was that such an ordeal? I do appre
ciate your sacrifice, you know!”

  “I’ll wave all my dignity goodbye if it’ll help you.”

  “It’s going to help you too in the long run. This sort of exercise is great for your muscle flexibility, and for your brain as well. You’ll be a limber genius by the time I’ve finished with you! I’ll put a routine together over the next couple of days and we’ll go over it at the weekend, OK? You can practise it by yourself as much as you like and I’ll check your form every few days.”

  “I can’t believe I’m doing this, but yes, all right. I guess once you start opening up to new things, all sorts of possibilities appear. One simple step inside the theatre door and now look at me – new friends, new body, new skills – I never expected any of this!”

  “All you’re doing is realising your own potential, Dennis,” she said quietly. “The capability was inside you all along. You really can do anything you put your mind to.”

  The question that had been niggling at the back of his mind since he’d walked in finally popped up and made itself known.

  “I meant to ask, how did you get on with Jack when he came in? Was it awful? He didn’t grill you or give you a hard time, did he?”

  “Why, would you go and thump him if he had?” She smiled. Then her face grew bleak. “Actually he was very nice, but I felt there was a touch of professional caution in the way he spoke to me. That was a bit disturbing. It felt as if he was treating me as a possible suspect and being very correct in how he phrased things. I started to feel guilty even though I’m not.”

  “I know what you mean; he did the same thing to me. I can understand why criminals sometimes blurt out a confession, just to relieve the tension. Or maybe that’s just me being so new to all this. I’ve never come across any serious crime before.”

  “I guess we’ve both been lucky. It’s not as if Whetford is immune to homicide or any of the other delightful things human beings do to each other, is it?” She frowned. “One question had me puzzled though – he asked me if any of our equipment had gone missing recently. I said I couldn’t think of anything but that I’d check and let him know.”

  “He didn’t say what?”

  “No, he was quite vague. I suppose I’d better do a stock check and count all the mats and stretch bands and weights and exercise balls – hell, it’ll take ages. I hope he’s not in a hurry.” She pulled open a file drawer and rummaged inside. “I know there’s an asset list here somewhere, but God knows how up to date it is. I haven’t actually checked it physically against the stock for a year or two now. That’ll teach me for taking shortcuts with my paperwork, won’t it?” She pulled out a sheet of paper and studied it. “Got it. Now I just have to find all these items and verify they’re still here.”

  “Want me to give you a hand?”

  He saw her open her mouth to say no but quickly think better of it. “Yes, actually, that really would help. You can take the list and call out the items and I’ll locate and check them. It should all be in sequence around the rooms ‘cause that’s how I made the list in the first place.” She paused. “Are you sure you don’t mind? This is really…”

  “Sweet of me, yes, I know. Don’t rub it in.”

  She pulled out a black vinyl clipboard and handed it to him with a pen. As she walked past him towards the door she said “Thank you,” quietly but with intense feeling. Dennis felt a warm glow.

  It took them the best part of an hour to work their way around the gym, ticking off every moveable item and noting any shortfalls. Dennis noticed the two dumbbells were still missing off the rack and pointed it out to Cathy.

  “Have those been missing for years or are they around somewhere in the wrong place, do you think?”

  “They’d better be here somewhere. I only bought that set a few months ago to replace the old lot that were looking shabby. I’ll be very annoyed if they’ve gone missing.”

  But after checking the whole place thoroughly they found two dumbbells, a mat, and a set of stretch bands had disappeared completely.

  “How the hell people smuggle this stuff out is beyond me,” sighed Cathy. “You’d think someone would notice a person sneaking out with a whole exercise mat stuffed under their shirt, wouldn’t you?”

  “What about the last person out each night? If they were alone they could make off with whatever they liked.”

  “I suppose you’re right. I had complete faith in my staff until Vincenzo worked his poisonous little tricks. Now I don’t know who to trust. Dammit!” She slapped the steel frame of a rowing machine in frustration. “Ow! That didn’t help!” She rubbed her fingers vigorously. “Normally it was either Vincenzo or me that locked up, so it’s quite likely he nicked the gear rather than one of the others. I wonder if it’s hidden at his apartment? I don’t remember seeing it, do you?”

  “No, but we weren’t looking for it then, were we?”

  Cathy held her hand out for the clipboard. “I’ll let Jack know about these items just in case they prove relevant. He may have gone through the apartment more thoroughly and recognise them if they were there. It would be good to get them back.”

  Dennis looked at his watch. “Is there anything else you need help with? If not, I should probably head over to the theatre for rehearsal.”

  “Oh hell! Is that the time?” Her face radiated stress. “I’m supposed to be there myself from this week on. I’d completely forgotten about it with all this other stuff going on. Can you tell Adam I’m sorry, and I’ll be there from tomorrow? I haven’t arranged the extra staff to cover closing up yet but I’ll sort it out tomorrow and be there.”

  “I’m sure it’ll be fine,” soothed Dennis. “He knows you have a business to run. Your livelihood has to come first.”

  “Yes, but I want to do everything I can to make sure the show is really successful. They offered me a share of the publicity and the profits instead of paying any training fees for the actors, so as long as the show makes decent money I’ll get a bit of a bonus. God knows I need it!” She looked distraught, her red-blonde hair dishevelled, her cheeks flushed.

  “I’ll explain everything to Adam, it’ll be OK. Try not to worry.” He felt a sudden flash of daring and pulled her in close for a quick kiss. Releasing her with a wink, he made his exit, grinning at the look of utter surprise on her face. That might just stop her from worrying for a while.

  At the theatre he sought out Adam as quickly as possible to make sure he wasn’t fuming about Cathy’s non-appearance.

  “She’s going to be here tomorrow, Adam, she promised. It’s been difficult for her to organise staff at the gym since one of her personal trainers was killed not long ago.”

  Adam nodded understandingly, his grey curls glinting in the soft light from the chandelier. “Oh dear, that really is a fair excuse, isn’t it? Poor Cathy, is she coping all right? We can’t have our choreographer under too much stress, can we?”

  “I think she’s doing all right.”

  “Tell her to eat lots of bananas. The potassium is very good for the nerves.”

  “Is it? I’ll pass that on.”

  “Dennis,” said Adam suddenly, eying him up and down, “you’ve lost a lot of weight, haven’t you? It suits you – you’re looking very…manly. What have you been doing?”

  “I, er, I’ve been going to the gym with the actors, and Cathy worked out a programme for me to lose the fat and build some muscle.”

  “Ah, so she’s been building a man, with blond hair and a tan. Are you good for relieving her tension, Dennis?”

  “What?” He tried to keep the shock off his face but Adam’s laughter told him he’d failed.

  “So you’re not a Rocky Horror fan then. Never mind.” Adam patted him kindly on the arm. “Can you pop out back and ask Tony to come and see me please? I want to get a few things sorted out before rehearsal starts.”

  Dennis backed away, glad of the excuse to escape a conversation that he didn’t fully understand. Sometimes the theatre in-jokes were a bit beyond him when he wasn�
�t familiar with the quotes and references. He walked down the red patterned carpet to the front of the apron, leaped up the three steps recently placed there to give access to the stage, and made his way through to the Green Room.

  The group sitting round the table looked up as he came in.

  “Dennis,” cried Tony, “you’re the man on the spot – tell us about this dead dude. What’s the latest?”

  Dennis looked at the faces assembled in front of him. Tony and Gazza were on one side of the table with Mark, Warwick and Ricky on the other. Simon lounged against the kitchen counter and Jayden was hunched over in a far corner talking on a cellphone.

  “Er, well, what have you heard so far?” he countered. “Apart from the fact we found him at the bottom of the river.” He didn’t want to reveal details of Vincenzo’s alleged raids on the gym finances – they were Cathy’s to divulge if she felt like it. There was still no real evidence Vincenzo had stolen the missing money, so speculation was pointless.

  “Well we know the dude’s dead,” said Gazza. “And we know he worked at the gym.” He looked across the table. “You guys trained there, what did you make of him?”

  “He was OK,” said Mark neutrally. “He knew his stuff, was a pretty good trainer.”

  “He was all right,” muttered Warwick.

  “He was a feckin’ dick,” scoffed Ricky. “I thought he was a complete tosser. Always swanning around in the latest pretty-coloured gym clothes with his hair all nicely styled, thinking he was the best thing since sliced bread. A total arsehole.”