The Silent Appeal
Charlotte
Issy’s return makes me uneasy.
Femi
Her contacts are all blocked on my phone. Just double-checked.
Charlotte
Any thoughts so far?
Femi
I’m looking at the newcomers. Nicky-Rose arrived with just a tote bag, but it’s not the only baggage she brought with her.
Charlotte
Trina forged documents that led to the sale of Nicky-Rose’s house? That’s a big claim.
Femi
She raises serious legal and financial issues alongside emotional accusations of betrayal.
Charlotte
NR hands in her notice at Twin Star on June 17, 2024, yet doesn’t arrive in Lockwood until January 2, 2025.
Charlotte
Her relationship with Stuart Kinsella seems to have ended mid-2024 too. What happened in those six months?
Femi
On January 4, Trina Neale mentions NR’s nighttime visit to the office: “At least you didn’t smash the place up this time.” Criminal damage?
Charlotte
Whatever it was, Nicky-Rose has come back. Like Issy.
Femi
Then we have the three newcomers: Lucas, Amelia, and Lucas’s cousin Georgia.
Charlotte
Fran tells Amelia not to mention “Lucas’s trouble” or how they met. I think she’s hiding the fact he comes from her ex-con counseling group.
Femi
Issy mentions seeing someone at Fairways that she knew once. Issy met Fran via that same charity. That could be Lucas.
Charlotte
Issy also says: “Fran is lovely, but she has one fault: she only sees the best in people.”
Femi
Fran instinctively helps others, yet her emails to Reverend Josh on January 7 betray a downside to that. “But who guides me?”
Charlotte
Whenever she speaks to the three newbies, she takes on the role of mentor.
Femi
Lucas used to work in a bank but now manages a nightclub. A fall from grace?
Charlotte
Either way he’s getting Barry involved in something.
Femi
Barry who’s soon to be a father for the third time in as many years. His growing family is living with his mum.
Charlotte
Has the crime happened already and Nicky-Rose is running from the law in Barbados? We know she’s taken something incriminating that Trina wants back.
Femi
Collateral for future negotiations?
Charlotte
Mr. Tanner says “a brutal murder was committed,” but there’s no indication yet who is killed or who murders them.
Femi
In meetings this afternoon. Can’t read more until tonight.
Charlotte
Same here. Fifty pages and reconvene tomorrow?
Femi
Deal.
Message exchange between Kevin and Sarah-Jane MacDonald on February 4, 2025:
9:44 a.m. Kevin wrote:
Made the mistake of asking John to help with the new accounting software AFTER I’d cast him in the play. If I’d asked BEFORE I bet he’d have sorted it like a shot.
9:59 a.m. Kevin wrote:
You know I wouldn’t mention it unless I was desperate, but can you help? I know it’s only February, but we need it running smoothly by the next financial year.
10:00 a.m. Sarah-Jane wrote:
Or what?
10:01 a.m. Kevin wrote:
Or the accountant will give me that look. Please can you help?
10:02 a.m. Sarah-Jane wrote:
You’ve got until April? Leave it with me.
10:02 a.m. Kevin wrote:
THANK YOU my darling wife
10:03 a.m. Sarah-Jane wrote:
I’ll ask Nicky-Rose. She’s looking for work and has run a company before. Bear with me, though. I’m getting her to rehearsals by stealth as it is.
10:05 a.m. Sarah-Jane wrote:
Right now, I need to prepare for tonight’s committee meeting and hope your director’s report is ready.
To: The Fairway Players Committee
From: Sarah-Jane MacDonald
Date: February 4, 2025
Subject: Committee meeting minutes
Dear all,
Thank you for venturing out into the February chill for tonight’s committee meeting. I’m pleased to have typed up the minutes before midnight for once, which gives me approximately eighty minutes before Sammy crawls into bed and wakes me up.
Sarah-Jane MacDonald
Producer I’ll rewrite it.
11:15 a.m. Sarah-Jane wrote:
And it’s “homeless people” not tramps.
To: The Fairway Players mailing list
From: Sarah-Jane MacDonald
Cc: Kevin MacDonald
Date: February 5, 2025
Subject: The Big Sleep (Out)
The Fairway Players Big Sleep Out
In support of the Crisis UK homeless charity
Do you know where you’ll sleep tonight? Thousands of people don’t and that’s why, this spring, the Fairway Players are raising money to help the homeless as we rehearse our next play, The Hollow by Agatha Christie, to be staged on June 5–7, 2025.
On Saturday, April 26, 2025, you can join a sponsored sleep out in St. Barnabas Church Hall, on the very stage set where our play will be performed, all in aid of Crisis, a wonderful charity that helps those affected by homelessness.
Sign up today and you can look forward to a glorious night jam-packed with fun activities, including:
Board game tournaments
Ping-Pong and foosball
Crafting, with spot prizes
Singing around a virtual fire
Unlimited FREE go-size flaskets of Bliss Bubbles minimally carbonated well-being water
Dipping snacks in a chocolate fountain
Midnight feast
Breakfast (vegan and gluten-free options)