The Silent Appeal #2
Well, your sister picks her moments. When no one answered at the house she came to the hall to see if we were there.
Hope it didn’t steal Kevin’s thunder. She’s asked if she can stay “for a while,” whatever that means.
I’ve put her in the little bedroom, but she hasn’t said a word about why she’s back.
Didn’t want to pry. Her occasional emails never hinted at anything awry.
I’ve got a funny feeling about it. She won’t confide in me.
Can you ask her what’s happened? Tread carefully, just in case. Mum
Message exchange between Sarah-Jane MacDonald and Nicky-Rose Dearing on January 3, 2025:
9:03 a.m. Sarah-Jane wrote:
Why are you back?
9:04 a.m. Sarah-Jane wrote:
Are you pregnant?
9:05 a.m. Sarah-Jane wrote:
Is it a man?
9:11 a.m. Sarah-Jane wrote:
A woman?
9:12 a.m. Sarah-Jane wrote:
Debts?
9:15 a.m. Sarah-Jane wrote:
Not work, surely?
9:28 a.m. Nicky-Rose wrote:
Tell Mum whatever she needs to hear.
To: Carol Dearing
From: Sarah-Jane MacDonald
Date: January 3, 2025
Subject: Re: Nicky-Rose
Everything’s fine, apparently. Fancied a change from Barbados and thought Lockwood as good a place as any.
I suppose even working in cruise-ship entertainment gets old after a while.
It’s positive news, Mum. We’ve barely seen her for two decades and it was an extra surprise for Kevin’s birthday party.
He was quite thoughtless to be born on the worst day of the year for a party, but everyone who wants to be involved in The Hollow had to show up and that meant a good turnout. Thanks for taking Sammy home overnight, keeping the bash secret, and letting me store the spreadsheets on your laptop.
Sarah-Jane MacDonald
Independent Retail Marketing Consultant
Message exchange between Sarah-Jane and Kevin MacDonald on January 3, 2025:
10:09 a.m. Sarah-Jane wrote:
Why has Nicky-Rose come back?
10:12 a.m. Kevin wrote:
Actually asking? Or is that a rhetorical question?
10:18 a.m. Sarah-Jane wrote:
She won a scholarship to Juilliard in New York, left home the day after her eighteenth birthday, and has only been back a few times.
10:21 a.m. Sarah-Jane wrote:
Like for Dad’s funeral, when she arrived from Heathrow at dawn, crying uncontrollably.
Kevin is typing ···
10:23 a.m. Sarah-Jane wrote:
Not because of Dad. Because she was missing an audition for 42nd Street. that afternoon.
Kevin is typing ···
10:24 a.m. Sarah-Jane wrote:
Mum said Dad would’ve wanted her to follow her dream and seeing as I was home from college, she should make the audition if she could.
Kevin is typing ···
10:25 a.m. Sarah-Jane wrote:
Only the 1 p.m. flight would get her back to JFK in time, so she brought her case to the crematorium and left in a taxi straight after the service.
Kevin is typing ···
10:26 a.m. Sarah-Jane wrote:
She didn’t get the part. But she was in a few off-Broadway musicals, then worked on cruise ships before a knee injury forced a move into teaching and choreography.
10:27 a.m. Sarah-Jane wrote:
Did something backstage with Cirque du Soleil and then worked for a theatrical agent in LA.
10:29 a.m. Sarah-Jane wrote:
For the last ten years she’s run her own company with a friend, supplying entertainment for cruise ships. She was doing a job she loved in an amazing place.
10:31 a.m. Sarah-Jane wrote:
Now she’s back “for a while” and won’t say why. Any ideas?
10:35 a.m. Kevin wrote:
You want my opinion? Really?
10:38 a.m. Sarah-Jane wrote:
Maybe it’s her love life? She only ever seemed to date dancers and they were always moving on to the next job. Could she have split up with someone she thought was “the one”?
10:40 a.m. Kevin wrote:
You do realize who this is you’re texting?
10:44 a.m. Sarah-Jane wrote:
Yes. What do YOU, Kevin Rupert MacDonald, think has gone so wrong that your sister-in-law is back in Lockwood?
10:49 a.m. Kevin wrote:
My wife finally wants my opinion on something. If this is what turning fifty means, bring it on!
10:50 a.m. Sarah-Jane wrote:
I’m serious.
10:52 a.m. Kevin wrote:
My opinion is that whatever’s happened, Nicky-Rose has no money and THAT is why she’s back.
To: Fran Elroy-Jones
From: Karen Payne
Date: January 3, 2025
Subject: The Hollow
Hi Fran,
Hope you had a really lovely Christmas and New Year.
Are you auditioning on Monday? There are six female characters in The Hollow and two police officers who could be women and counting up all our regular members, there’s a really good chance I’ll be cast in this one, so long as a crowd of new girls don’t turn up!
I just want to say you would make a brILLIANT Lady Angkatell.
According to the script, she’s in her sixties, so twice your age, but you’re such a great actor you can play any part and the NADAs always award actors who stretch themselves and play against type.
Have you thought about asking Kevin if he’ll consider you for that part? Honestly, you’d be AMAZING! Love, Karen
Message exchange between Fran Elroy-Jones and Amelia Stibson on January 3, 2025:
11:43 a.m. Fran wrote:
Your New Year’s resolution to spend less time on your phone… going well?
11:43 a.m. Amelia wrote:
*Answers within three seconds* What do you think?
11:45 a.m. Fran wrote:
The Fairway Players are auditioning for an Agatha Christie play this Monday. Play dates in June, rehearsals Monday nights. They’ve asked for new members and I still think about your Roxie Hart…
11:48 a.m. Amelia wrote:
Me too when my knee clicks and I remember falling off that ladder. Sure, if you like I can bring Lucas and his cousin Georgia. She’s staying with us for a bit.
11:56 a.m. Fran wrote:
Still in the studio flat? Sounds crowded.
11:56 a.m. Amelia wrote:
Yeah, but Georgia’s ok. Lucas says it’s not for long.
11:56 a.m. Fran wrote:
Would Lucas consider acting?
11:57 a.m. Amelia wrote:
Maybe. He has Monday nights off, but it’s full-on with the club so he could only do a small part.
12:00 p.m. Fran wrote:
What about Georgia? Has she acted before?
12:01 p.m. Amelia wrote:
Don’t know, but she’s fallen out with her mum and needs something to focus on.
12:05 p.m. Fran wrote:
Come to the audition—all three of you! It’ll get you out of that poky room.
To: Fran Elroy-Jones
From: Kevin MacDonald
Date: January 3, 2025
Subject: Re: Who done it?
Hi Fran,
Thanks for coming to my party, which, as you could tell, was a complete surprise.
I have my wife to thank for the organization, keeping it secret, and generally thinking of absolutely everything.
You know, she even brought along a decent set of clothes so I could change in the toilets and didn’t have to wear the trackies I turned up in?
Carol told me she had a spreadsheet for the garments she had to divert from the laundry in the preceding week…
Thanks for confirming you’ll be reading on Monday, but hope you don’t mind if I have a quiet word with you about something.
If you bring anyone new, please can I request that you vet them very carefully for their suitability?
Everyone admires the charity work you do with ex-prisoners, but we all remember those young brothers you brought down to read for last year’s panto.
The ones who stole Emma’s chakra bracelet, the PA system, Joel’s BMW, and John O’Dea’s identity.
Just thought I’d mention it. We don’t want any trouble with The Hollow. A raft of NADAs will keep our membership healthy over the coming years. Kevin
Message exchange between Fran Elroy-Jones and Amelia Stibson on January 3, 2025:
2:33 p.m. Fran wrote:
A quick heads-up—on Monday, best not mention how we met, or about Lucas and his trouble.
2:34 p.m. Amelia wrote:
Got it.
To: Kevin MacDonald
From: Fran Elroy-Jones
Date: January 3, 2025
Subject: Re: Who done it?
Hi Kevin,
I understand. Amelia played Roxie Hart in an amateur production of Chicago that I saw last year.
She and her husband, Lucas, are personal friends of mine, both in their late twenties, and Georgia is Lucas’s cousin.
I’ll be responsible for them and if, on the off-chance, they happen to steal anything, I’ll replace it myself or do whatever it takes to make good whatever they do that’s wrong.
Very much looking forward to being in a murder mystery! Thanks Kevin, Fran
Message exchange between Kevin and Sarah-Jane MacDonald on January 3, 2025:
3:55 p.m. Kevin wrote:
Thinking about casting. Fran will be difficult to place.
3:56 p.m. Sarah-Jane wrote:
Nonsense! She’s the best actor in the Fairway Players.
4:03 p.m. Kevin wrote:
Precisely! She can play any part from the leading lady to the maid and deliver a NADA-winning performance. So where do we cast her? In the role she wants: Henrietta, or in the role she’s most likely to win a NADA for: Lady Angkatell?
4:06 p.m. Sarah-Jane wrote:
Or, do we remember that she’s had leading roles in every play since she joined, and give her a backstage role so other members have a chance to shine?
4:07 p.m. Kevin wrote:
Nice theory, but when the NADA judge is sitting in the front row with his clipboard, I want our best actors onstage acting their socks off, not wearing a pinny and serving him tea.
4:08 p.m. Sarah-Jane wrote:
That’s an idea. I’ll take her out for tea.
4:09 p.m. Kevin wrote:
I’ve already emailed and asked her not to bring the Artful Dodger or Bill Sykes.
4:09 p.m. Sarah-Jane wrote:
I mean Nicky-Rose, not Fran.
4:11 p.m. Sarah-Jane wrote:
Kevin, please tell me you did NOT explicitly ask Fran not to bring former prisoners to the auditions. Not in so many words.
4:12 p.m. Kevin wrote:
I explicitly asked her just that in exactly as many words.
4:12 p.m. Sarah-Jane wrote:
But we’re a welcoming and INCLUSIVE group!
4:13 p.m. Kevin wrote:
There are NADAs at stake. The Krays can audition for Fowey Light Operatic, not the Fairway Players.
Message exchange between Sarah-Jane MacDonald and Nicky-Rose Dearing on January 3, 2025:
4:15 p.m. Sarah-Jane wrote:
I’ve booked afternoon tea at Mirage.
4:56 p.m. Nicky-Rose wrote:
Jet-lagged.
5:03 p.m. Sarah-Jane wrote:
Tomorrow at three.