by R A Wallace
“The window of opportunity was over twelve hours,” Callie said mostly to herself. “Do you know who all has access to the theater?” Callie knew the answer before her mother gave it. Of course, she didn’t know.
“You’ll need to check with Audrey and the others. When can you start?” Margaret asked.
Callie realized that she’d just been pulled into yet another case for Elliot.
“What can you tell me about the other people involved in the play?” Callie pulled her notepad from her purse.
Margaret saw the notepad and realized that Callie would be taking notes on her comments.
“Oh, this is exciting. Let’s see. You met the director, right? John Laslo?” Margaret waited for Callie’s nod. “He’s a friend of Elliot’s. Well, to be honest, I’m not sure how well they know each other. But I do know that Elliot handpicked him to direct my play.”
“I guessed he was around your age?” Callie phrased it as question.
“Yes. He seems very nice. I know he mentioned working in New York and some other places, but I don’t have any details.”
Callie wrote a note. “What about Peter, the stage manager?”
“It sounded more like he was local to here though I think that might be because he retired from somewhere in the north. He worked in the business for years, of course, then I believe he came down here to live.”
Callie looked up from her notes. “Did Elliot hire him also?”
“Yes, Elliot hired the director and the stage manager.” Margaret thought for a moment. “He also called in Camille, I’m certain of it. She’s been so kind to me. She’s the one who handles the wardrobe. And, I believe Nina, the set designer.”
“What about the rest?” Callie asked.
“Audrey is local. She works here at the theater on a regular basis. But the rest of the cast and crew were pulled in by the director with the help of the stage manager.”
“John and Peter. I’ll start with them. And Audrey, of course.”
“She should be able to answer your questions about who has access to the theater.”
“Who was the couple standing next to you during the intersession yesterday,” Callie asked.
Margaret shook her head. It was all so exciting, it went by in the blur.
“They looked like a young couple,” Callie prompted.
The confusion on Margaret’s face cleared. “Oh, that sounds like Molly and Cliff. They’re college theater students. This has been such a wonderful opportunity for them.” Margaret got such a warm feeling knowing that her gift from Elliot had actually been a gift for many others as well.
Callie thought about the others she had met.
“What about Rob?” She couldn’t remember his last name.
“Rob Shaw?” A frown formed between Margaret’s brows then cleared quickly. “Insurance. He said he’s in the insurance business. I didn’t have any lines with him. He was in the scene at the party, you know, when the inspector is trying to narrow down the list of suspects.”
Callie had found that scene particularly interesting. She’d thought Greyson had handled it like a pro. It was another reason why she wanted to know more about him. She couldn’t imagine an actor pegging it like that without having actual experience questioning suspects.
Callie thought back to the time she’d stopped at the theater when looking for Ian. “And the three men that work on the set?”
“Wes is around your age. He’s very sweet. Nothing like Greyson, of course, but very nice. I asked him a few questions about his goals in life, that sort of thing. It sounds like he works during the day as a carpenter and then helps out on plays when he has time. I don’t know that he’s ready to settle down.”
Callie looked up from her notes. Her mother ignored her glare.
“Steve handles the props. He’s also retired. I don’t know if he moved here from the north or not. He doesn’t seem to talk like a southerner.”
“Was the other guy the one who handled lights?” She was pretty sure that’s what Audrey had told her.
“Hank. He’s around my age also. Definitely a transplant. He’s from the north but he lives here now. I think he has a crush on me. It’s very sweet. I would never leave Elliot, of course. That man truly understands me. Still, it’s nice to be appreciated.”
“Do you have practice again today?”
“Yes, this evening and tomorrow evening but it won’t be the entire cast both nights. About half will be there tonight, the other half tomorrow. John and Peter want to go over the matinee performance and run through a few scenes to smooth them out a bit, and maybe work with a few individuals, I suppose. I don’t really know. I’m sure Audrey and some of the others like John and Peter will be there later this afternoon before the rest of us are due to arrive.”
Callie asked her several more questions about the other members of the cast and crew before leaving. Then she headed back to her office. She wanted to try to find out as much as possible about everyone on the cast and crew before she arrived to begin questioning them.
Chapter Eighteen
She entered the office and immediately went to the desk that used to hold the money. She sat at the desk and opened the large desk drawer on the right side. In the past, they had always secured the money from the ticket sales in a lockbox in the main office in this very drawer. It was part of Audrey’s duty to deal with getting it to the bank the following day. It was a system they had followed for the fifteen years that Audrey had been working at the theater. They had never had a problem with the system. Not until now. Audrey sighed. Wishing the money would magically appear if she checked the lockbox again hadn’t worked. She startled when there was a tap on the door.
Callie saw Audrey raise her hand to her heart and realized that she’d surprised the other woman from her thoughts.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you.”
“No, it’s just…” Audrey waved vaguely to the desk. “I was hoping the money was here again. Silly, I know.”
“Not silly. Just human.”
Audrey smiled at the kind words.
“Did the police say anything?” Callie asked as she moved into the office.
“No, not really. Everything was pretty obvious though. The lock on the lockbox was broken. They left the lockbox here in the drawer. I may not have noticed right away that the money had been stolen if it weren’t Monday. I wouldn’t have had any reason to open the lockbox to look inside.”
Callie understood Audrey to mean that if the matinee had been on a Saturday, they wouldn’t have noticed the theft until the bank opened again on Monday.
“I don’t mean to criticize, but have you ever considered a nightly deposit?” Callie assumed there were some bank branches that still had that feature.
“We might have to in the future, but it will need to be someone other than me who does it. I don’t want to be responsible for carrying that kind of cash around at night by myself.”
Callie agreed it was a valid point.
“Can you tell me who has access to the theater?” Callie took the seat across from the desk.
“Me, of course. On this production, Peter has a key. He’s the stage manager,” Audrey explained. “We’re careful about who is allowed to have a key.”
Callie nodded her understanding. “What about on past productions, over the years?”
“There’s a group of community members on the board of the theater. They were concerned about that around a decade or so ago. You have to understand, the theater is over a hundred years old. Anyone and everyone could have had a key. To be safe, they decided to have all the doors rekeyed.”
“Walk me through the process,” Callie said.
Audrey leaned back in her chair. “As you know, I stay out front in the ticket office before each play. I have the lockbox with me.”
“You’re the only one who does that?” Callie asked.
“Yes. Once the play has started, I remain there until a certain point in the play. Typically, that�
��s until the end of the first act. I then transfer the money from the money drawer in the ticket booth to the lockbox. I carry the lockbox back to this office and put it in this drawer. The lockbox has a lock on it, the drawer has a lock on it, and the office door itself is kept locked.”
Callie asked to see the lockbox. Audrey removed it from the drawer and Callie inspected it. The tiny lock on the box had been broken.
“Did anyone see you bring the money to the office?” Callie asked. She saw the surprise in Audrey’s eyes and raised her hands in a conciliatory gesture. “I’m not suggesting that you never actually put it here. It could have been a simple crime of opportunity. Someone watched you carry the money and then knew it was here.”
Callie saw Audrey relax.
“I see. That does make sense. I suppose it’s possible. People come and go throughout a play. The restrooms are out there.”
Callie knew that was true. She’d taken Josie and Cassidy. Anyone going to the restrooms would have easily seen Audrey leave the ticket booth at the front of the theater carrying a lockbox. It would have been fairly obvious what the contents would be.
“And John Laslo, the director,” Audrey said as though just remembering it. “He saw me lock the money in the drawer. I’m not suggesting he stole it. I’m just saying that I did have a witness.”
“That she did,” a voice said behind Callie. She turned in her chair and saw the director standing at the door. Callie stood to face him.
“My mother…”
“Asked you to look into the theft. Yes, I know. I’ve spoken with Elliot. We appreciate your help,” John said.
“What brought you back here during the show?” Callie asked.
“I’d left my notes here thinking I wouldn’t need them.” John made a face. “Turns out, there were a few more things we needed to smooth out before the next performance.”
“Can you add anything that may help?” Callie knew from his face the answer was no.
“I’m not sure how much you know about me, but Elliot brought me here just for this production. I’m not familiar with the theater, the town, or the cast and crew. I only know what I’ve learned since working with them on this production.”
“You didn’t know any of them before this production?” Callie asked.
“With the exception of Peter, Camille, and Nina,” John clarified. “I was the one who contacted them about joining the production.”
Just as her mother had guessed.
“And neither of you saw anyone else around the office after the money was locked in the drawer?”
She wasn’t surprised when they both answered in the negative. John told Callie that some of the cast and crew had begun arriving. She went in search of Peter next and found him back in the prop room. He had his clipboard and was reviewing some notes as he looked at various props throughout the room. Callie introduced herself.
“Yes, of course. You’ve been here before.” Peter tucked his clipboard under his arm.
Callie explained that she was investigating the theft of the ticket money.
“Boy, that was a surprise. We’ve never had any problems like that before.”
“How long have you been associated with the theater?” Callie asked.
“Oh, since I retired. I moved down here but couldn’t get the theater out of my blood. You know how it is. I was lucky that Pomelo Cove had this beautiful old place and that the town has taken such good care of it over the years.”
Callie thought about Audrey’s explanation of who had keys. If Audrey was correct, the window of time for the theft should have been narrowed to when there were people in the theater. It would have been after act one, but before everyone left for the cast party.
“How late would you say everyone was here on Sunday?” Callie asked.
Peter rubbed at his chin while he thought. “The play lasted until around seven or so. Everyone was pretty excited after that and hung around here for maybe another hour or so before they started leaving to go to the cast party. They were pretty excited about that too.”
“You think everyone was gone by around eight?”
Peter tilted his head. “There about. I think I was the last one to leave with Hank, our lighting technician. I locked up when we left.”
“I know it was pretty busy for you and there were a lot of people coming and going. Did you happen to see anyone near the office?”
Peter nodded quickly. “I did. It was during the intermission, just before it ended. I should have thought more about it at the time. He looked a little out of place. I mean, it wasn’t just because he was near the office area.”
“What do you mean?”
“He’s what I would call expensive. He wasn’t wearing a suit, but he still looked like he was, you know? Even his casual looked dressy and formal. I saw a lot of guys like that in New York. They all had a ton of money.”
“What did he look like?” Callie knew the answer before he responded.
“I’d guess around five ten. Gray hair, blue eyes, million dollar smile. Like I said, expensive clothes. He had on navy slacks. He walked like he owned the world.” Peter made a face as he tried to remember more details.
Callie didn’t need them. Peter had just described Elliot.
He looked past Callie’s shoulder. She turned and found the young couple she’d asked her mother about.
“Cliff, Molly, this is Callie. She’s investigating a problem we had here over the weekend.” Peter nodded to Callie after excusing himself.
She watched him leave then turned to the curious couple in front of her.
“There was a problem?” Cliff asked.
Callie watched him instinctively step closer to Molly. She explained the theft of the ticket money.
“That’s awful,” Molly said. She looked upset. Cliff put his arm around her and pulled her to him.
“Molly thinks everyone needs to learn to get along,” Cliff explained.
“I know you came and went a few times on the stage during the production,” Callie said.
“We both had relatively small parts, but it was such a wonderful learning experience,” Molly said.
“And it counts as our required internship for our degree, so we got that out of the way,” Cliff added.
“Did you see anything out of the ordinary when you weren’t on stage?” Callie asked.
Cliff and Molly shared a look as they considered it. Both shook their heads.
“We were just totally focused on the play and remembering our parts,” Molly said.
“We were one of the first ones to leave for the cast party.” Cliff looked down at Molly. “We had a great time.”
Molly smiled up at him. Callie thanked them and went to find others who were just arriving.
Chapter Nineteen
Callie left the theater later in the evening. She’d spoken to as many people as possible but knew there would be more available on the next day. On her way home, she contemplated stopping to pick up something to eat but the thought of just being at home won out. She parked her car in the driveway in front of her double-wide modular home. The motion detector security lights on the front of her attached shed lit the drive. As she reached to unlock her door, she was surprised when headlights appeared behind her.
Not wanting to be exposed to danger, she quickly unlocked the door to her sunroom and stepped inside before turning back to see who had pulled in. She let the cabana door close behind her and flipped the lock. The glass window of the cabana door allowed her to watch a male figure emerge from the driver’s side door of the car now parked behind hers in her drive. The top half of the male disappeared back inside the car briefly before straightening and elbowing the door closed behind him.
Callie watched in a mixture of dismay and anticipation as Greyson Divine walked toward her carrying what appeared to be bags of takeout and a bottle of wine. He stopped on the other side of the cabana door and raised the bottle of wine in question. Callie hesitated a fraction of a moment before flippi
ng the lock. She pushed the door open and stepped back to allow him to enter.
“I thought you might be hungry,” Greyson said as he watched Callie open the sliding glass door into her kitchen.
“You guessed correctly. I thought about stopping for something on my way home but talked myself out of it,” Callie said as she flipped lights on throughout the house.
Greyson stopped in the kitchen and put the food on the counter. Callie continued walking toward her bedroom.
“Help yourself to the kitchen. I’ll be back out as soon as I change.”
Greyson did as she had suggested and began searching through the cupboards. He found a single pair of wine glasses and wondered what that meant. His guess was that Callie didn’t entertain much. He pulled out plates and found the silverware but left them sitting next to the bags of food. He poured two glasses of wine. When Callie returned a few minutes later, he handed her a glass.
Callie made a noise of pleasure when she took her first sip.
“This is really good.” Callie studied Greyson as she leaned against a counter.
“Are you wondering why I’m here?” Greyson stepped out of the kitchen and moved around the rest of the room. The living area and dining room were visible from the kitchen. It was essentially one large open space. The peak in the center of the roof added to the appearance of more space. Greyson wandered over to the aquarium.
He asked the obvious question. “You have fish?”
“It’s as close to having a pet as I can get with my schedule. Even with them, I worry that they might not get fed on time. I lost my betta yesterday. I’m not sure what happened with it.”
He watched the colorful fish for a moment.
“Okay, why?” Callie asked.
“Hmm. What?” Greyson turned around to face her.
“Why are you here?”