Chapter 10
Icarried the key to Pearl’s flat in my purse so I didn’t need to return to the hotel to retrieve it. Her flat was exactly the same, with all her things in the same place, as if Pearl had just stepped out. It made my task easier.
I went straight to the table with all the photographs and bent to study them.
In the one I wanted, Pearl stood in the center, dressed in the sleeveless and belted stola of a Roman noblewoman, a gold band in her hair and another around her upper arm.
On one side of her, with a hand resting on her shoulder, was a man dressed in a Roman gladiator’s costume.
I recognized him from the posters in the Playhouse’s foyer as the lead actor in Cat and Mouse.
On Pearl’s other side stood another man, his hand also resting on her shoulder.
He was not in costume but wore a pinstripe suit.
On his smallest finger he wore a ring with a dark square gem.
I took the framed photograph with me and returned to the Playhouse, just a short walk away. The side door was still open and I slipped inside and made my way along the corridor that led to the offices and dressing rooms.
I stopped at Mr. Culpepper’s door and knocked quietly before I changed my mind.
“A moment!” His voice sounded thick, muffled.
I waited and several moments later, the door opened. I think I was as shocked to see Mr. Culpepper as he was to see me. While I’d certainly expected him to open the door, I hadn’t expected him to have swollen red eyes. He’d been crying.
It took the wind out of my sails. I was no longer sure how to begin.
“What are you still doing here?” he asked.
At least he didn’t invite me in. I didn’t want to enter his office. If I was going to confront him with what I knew, I preferred to do it in the corridor. I glanced along it, left and right, but there was no one about.
“I have some questions to ask you,” I said.
He clutched the edge of the door and leaned into it, as if it were the only thing holding him up. “Are you still trying to suggest Pearl was murdered?”
“Why are you so sure she wasn’t?”
He sighed. “Because I believe Rumford drove her to take her own life. It’s obvious. Something happened between them, they fought, he was going to give her up…something like that.”
“You don’t really believe that, Mr. Culpepper.”
He looked down at the carpet.
“You don’t believe that because you know she wouldn’t kill herself because of Rumford. She wasn’t in love with him.”
His Adam’s apple bobbed with his hard swallow. “What makes you say that?”
“She was in love with you.”
He looked up. His eyes brimmed with sorrow and something else. Remorse?
“Mr. Alcott showed me the letter Pearl wrote expressing her love to the unnamed recipient. She never got a chance to give it to him, which is a tragic shame.”
He swallowed again. “I just read it myself. It was very moving. Why do you think I am the man she was writing to?”
“The ring wrapped up with the letter is your ring, isn’t it?” I showed him the photograph. “Did you give it to her as a token of your love?”
He closed his eyes and tipped his head back. He expelled a shuddery breath before looking at me again. “All these years of hiding our relationship, and a complete stranger uncovers it.” He huffed a humorless laugh. “Pearl would have found that amusing.”
“You loved her, and that’s why you can’t bring yourself to clear out her dressing room or change the posters.”
He pressed his lips together, but it didn’t stop them trembling.
“Tell me about your relationship. When did it begin?”
He stepped aside, inviting me into his office.
“Let’s talk out here.”
His frown deepened before clearing in understanding. “You think I killed her and will kill you too for discovering our secret?” He shook his head. “Pearl really would find that amusing. I didn’t kill her, Miss Fox. I loved her. You even said so yourself just now.”
“You must have been jealous of her relationship with Lord Rumford.” When he didn’t respond, I forged on. “I imagine this is painful for you, but if you want me to believe you didn’t hurt her, you have to talk. But I’ll be staying right here.”
He stroked his thumb and forefinger over his thin moustache. “I wasn’t jealous of Rumford. I had no reason to be. I knew she didn’t love him. That letter proves it.”
“But you never received the letter.”
“I didn’t need to read it to know. Look.
Pearl and I had been together for a few years.
When she left Wrexham, I thought we’d finally be together.
I’d hoped it would be just the two of us, and I even asked her to marry me.
She said she would, but not yet. She was at the height of her career and didn’t want to give it all up.
Then shortly after Wrexham, she took up with Rumford.
She said she missed the gifts and attention.
He paid for a nice flat, took her to expensive restaurants, and they attended balls and parties together.
She met princes and dukes because of Wrexham and then Rumford.
” He sounded as though he was in awe of the life she was able to lead, not jealous that he couldn’t give her those things.
“It must have stung that she promised to be with you but took up with Rumford instead.” I recalled something Mr. Alcott had said. “You argued about it, didn’t you?”
“We fought about that and other things. We had a volatile relationship.” He gave a hollow laugh.
“There was never a dull moment.” He must have realized how that sounded, because he quickly shook his head.
“I never wanted her dead. Our fights only showed how much we loved one another. If we didn’t fight it would have meant we were indifferent, and indifference is the end of a relationship. ”
I believed him when he said he loved her and didn’t wish her dead, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t done it in the heat of the moment, perhaps accidentally causing her to fall to her death. “Where were you when she died?”
“Here at the theater.”
“I mean where precisely. You must have been nearby if you got to the body first.”
He frowned. “I didn’t. Perry Alcott was already there when I reached her.”
If that were true, why hadn’t Mr. Alcott corrected Dotty when she claimed Mr. Culpepper was first on the scene? “Can you show me where?”
“I don’t have time.”
“Please, Mr. Culpepper. This is for Pearl. If she was killed, she deserves justice.”
His eyes filled with tears. He nodded. “Follow me.”
He led the way along the corridor, past the dressing rooms and a store room where a staff member was polishing a candlestick. He pushed open a door and we emerged into the ground floor seating area. Four actors on the stage looked up from their scripts.
“Miss Fox?” said Mr. Alcott. “You’ve returned.”
“I had some questions for Mr. Culpepper,” I said without stopping. Mr. Culpepper’s strides weren’t long but they were purposeful and quick.
Mr. Alcott and Dotty Clare exchanged glances then Mr. Alcott jumped off the stage. He assisted Dotty down then they both followed us up the aisle.
Mr. Culpepper stopped eight rows back. “Here.” He pointed along the row. “Seats seven to ten.” He swallowed and looked away.
“What time did it happen?”
“Three-thirty?” He looked to the others and they nodded.
Dotty took his hand. “Is this necessary, Miss Fox?”
“Can you all point out where you were when you heard Pearl’s scream?”
Mr. Alcott clutched his throat but was the first to answer. “I was behind the stage curtain. When I heard her, I came out here and looked around. When I didn’t see anything, I jumped off the stage and started checking the rows.”
“You were the first one to reach the body,” I said, watching him closely.
“Was I?” He shrugged. “I can’t recall. It was all so chaotic. So horrible.”
“Was anyone backstage with you?”
“No.”
“Did you see anyone out here?”
He nodded at Mr. Culpepper. “He came out of that door.” He nodded at a side door further back. There was a matching one on the other side of the theater. The words FIRE EXIT were painted on both.
“I was in the actress’s privy,” Dotty said.
“I think I’d just come out when I heard Pearl’s scream.
I tried to follow where I thought it had come from and emerged through that door.
” She indicated the door at the back of the theater through which the audience would come and go.
“I saw Perry and Mr. Culpepper standing here. I didn’t realize what had happened until I came over to see.
” She pressed the back of her hand to her trembling lips.
“Thank you,” I said. “I know how difficult this is for you, but I’m sure it will help.”
Mr. Culpepper excused himself and hurried off, but not before I saw his eyes fill with tears.
One of the actresses on the stage called Dotty’s name. “I need help with this scene.”
Dotty sighed. “She’ll never do.” Hands on hips, she headed towards the stage.
Mr. Alcott watched her go. “The girl is Dotty’s understudy. She’s quite good, but Dotty hates admitting it. I think she’s worried.”
“Thank you for your help today,” I said. “Finding that letter was a revelation.”
“I thought it would be important. I wish I knew who it was meant for.”
“You have no inkling?”
He shook his head. “I’d best be off too. Good day, Miss Fox.”
I tipped my head back to look up at the balcony of the dress circle. It seemed unlikely that anyone could fall by accident, but I wanted to see the balcony’s height for myself.
I continued up the aisle but instead of going all the way to the back of the stall seating and exiting through the door Dotty said she’d used, I glanced to the stage to see if anyone was watching, then pushed open the fire exit. Just as I assumed, there were stairs.