Body on the Stage (22 page)

“Go on,” encouraged Jack. “I’d
appreciate anything you can tell me.”

“Even if it’s just hearsay?”

“Sure. I won’t hold you
responsible for any inaccuracies, I promise!” Jack’s eyes were
friendly, inviting confidence.

“Well there was talk Vincenzo
might have been supplying steroids to some of the guys.”

“Bullshit!” muttered Warwick,
and there was a rumble of agreement from Mark.

“He never bloody gave me any,”
complained Ricky. “I wanted him to but he said no. Said his
training methods were enough and I just had to work at it.”

“OK, that’s an interesting
angle, certainly. Thank you Dennis, we’ll look into it.” He looked
at them searchingly. “What about Vincenzo and women? Any
comments?”

There was a sharp intake of
breath, followed by a bark of bitter laughter from Warwick.

“Yes?” enquired Jack. “Something
to say on the subject of Vincenzo’s love life?”

“I thought he was gay,” said
Warwick in measured tones, “but it turned out he wasn’t.”

“Apparently not,” Mark grated.
“Appearances can be deceptive, can’t they?”

“Well I could have told you
that,” said Simon. “My gay-dar is pretty finely tuned and I could
tell he was a ladies man from the start.”

“Yeah, all right, you’ve made
your point,” growled Mark. “We were just too blind and too bloody
stupid to see it, obviously.” He hurled himself out of his seat and
took a few steps towards Jack. “Is that all you want from us? Can
we get back to rehearsing now? I’ve got nothing more to say
here.”

Jack eyed him curiously. “OK,
Mark, we can leave it there if you like.” He addressed the group.
“There’s no need for me to disrupt your schedule any more than
necessary. If I have any further questions I will come and ask you
individually. Thank you for your cooperation, guys.” He caught
Dennis’s eye and indicated he’d like him to stay as the actors
moved off.

Once they were alone in the
auditorium he came and sat beside him in the front row. “Some
interesting reactions there, weren’t there? What did you make of
that, Dennis?” He leaned forward, his eyes friendly, but Dennis
sensed there was a keen mind at work that would assess whatever he
said and sift it for hidden meanings.

“Well, yes – they all seem a bit
highly strung. I don’t know if that’s normal for actors though.
Being new to all this stuff I don’t really know what to expect.” He
was hedging and he knew Jack recognised it.

“You can tell normal behaviour,
Dennis. Here or anywhere else. What’s been going on?”

Dennis took a breath. “Well,
Simon and Jayden and I get on fine, we seem to be on an even keel
and just get on with training and doing what we have to do here –
but the other three are emotionally all over the place. I think
there may well be some truth in the steroids theory because they
seem to be displaying all the symptoms.”

“Such as?”

“Anger, particularly. You just
don’t know what’s going to set them off. And now that they’re so
bulked up and strong it’s a bit unnerving when they start behaving
like the Incredible Hulk.”

“Have you noticed any other guys
at the gym reacting in the same way?”

“You mean ones who aren’t
involved with the theatre? I haven’t really noticed, no. I tend to
keep my head down and don’t interact with anyone I don’t know.
Sorry.”

“Oh, not your fault, Dennis! You
weren’t to know I’d be needing a witness.” Jack clapped him on the
shoulder. “Relax, it’s OK! Thanks for your input anyway, it all
helps to fill in the picture. Off you trot and do whatever you need
to do. I’ll catch up with the rest of these guys another time.” He
unfolded his tall frame from the seat and strode towards the exit,
pausing halfway there. “What’s a good time to catch Cathy at the
gym? I need to speak to her but it can wait till she has a quiet
moment.”

Dennis felt his heart thump. Why
would Jack need to speak to Cathy? Did he suspect her of something?
Surely he didn’t think she could have done away with Vincenzo? Then
common sense caught up with his instinct. Jack was on their side –
he wouldn’t be rushing to arrest an innocent person.

“She’s usually quite busy during
the day, and she teaches from six to seven tonight, but it’s
generally pretty quiet after that. Does that help?” He was trying
to make sure he could be there at the time just in case Cathy
needed moral support. Jack smiled as if he’d guessed as much.

“I’ll try after seven then.
Expect I’ll see you there, Dennis, as you’re training so hard. The
gym must feel like a second home to you. Bye!”

At seven o’clock that night
Dennis stationed himself on a machine that was as close as possible
to the door of the yoga room, doing a light set of chest presses so
that he could stay in place as long as necessary. Just as the last
of the yoga group left the room, Cathy came out and Jack Matherson
appeared at the far end of the gym. He came over, carrying a
briefcase that appeared quite heavy.

“Good evening, Cathy, Dennis.
Good to see you.” He winked at Dennis. “Would you care to join
us?”

“Oh, er, yes, OK. Thanks.”
Dennis eased the weights down gently on his machine and followed
Jack and Cathy to her office. Jack placed his briefcase on her desk
and opened it.

“Can you tell me if this looks
like a piece of your equipment, Cathy?” He pulled out a black iron
dumbbell enclosed in a plastic evidence bag and handed it to her.
She looked up at him, startled.

“Oh God, this isn’t the murder
weapon, is it?”

“We don’t know for sure just
yet, but we found two of them with the body. We think they were
used to hold it underwater. It would have worked, too, if that
heavy rain hadn’t dragged the body away from the sheltering bank
and moved it out into view.”

She stared at the item, turning
it over and peering through the bag. She turned to Dennis. “Could
you go and get one of the dumbbells off the rack, please?” Her
voice was frail. Dennis squeezed her shoulder and went off to the
rack, pretty sure he would find a dumbbell which would match the
one she held. Oh, this looked bad. It was another link between that
blasted Italian and Cathy’s gym. If only Vincenzo had been done in
by someone completely unrelated to Intensity. Cathy really didn’t
need this complication.

He took a dumbbell off the rack
and returned to the office, handing it to Jack.

“Thank you.” Jack examined it
closely and compared it to the one in the evidence bag. “It
certainly looks identical to me. Do you think it’s one of yours,
Cathy?”

She nodded. “Yes, I’m afraid so.
We found there were two missing when we did a stocktake. It seems
pretty conclusive, doesn’t it?” Her face was drawn and pale.

“I’m sorry, this must be very
difficult for you,” said Jack sympathetically. “I’m afraid I’ll
have to take this one away as well so the lab can do a proper
comparison. Sorry if it leaves you short.”

“Somehow I doubt if it will
matter,” she sighed. “Once word of this gets out, there won’t be
many customers coming here anyway, so a shortage of equipment won’t
be a problem.”

“Oh, come on, don’t be like
that.” Dennis tried to be cheerful. “You never know, the publicity
might get more people interested in coming here. You know how
ghoulish they can be where murder is concerned. They’d probably
love to see where the dead guy used to work.” He forced himself not
to think Vincenzo might have been killed there as well. Those
stains on the carpet meant nothing. It was vital the gym stay
open.

Cathy shot him a sceptical
look.

“Don’t shoot his idea down in
flames,” said Jack. “After there was a murder in the theatre a
while ago they did tours of the place and made quite a tidy sum.
There may be some way you could cash in on the notoriety.” He
paused. “But of course as a responsible officer of the law I could
never suggest such a thing. Do forget I mentioned it, please.” He
winked, and Cathy managed a small smile.

“Thank you for being so human,
Jack, I really appreciate it. This would be far worse if you
weren’t the one dealing with it.”

Dennis felt a small pang of
jealousy until she turned to him. “You’re my knight in shining
armour, Dennis – look at you, here protecting me against this big
bad policeman! I really don’t know what I’d do without you.” He
moved closer and put his arm around her.

“All right, you two – I’ll be on
my way now. I’ll just write up a receipt for the dumbbell and then
I’ll get out of your hair.” He pulled out the paperwork from his
briefcase and jotted down a few lines. “Here you are – you can get
these items back eventually once all the tests have been done.”

Cathy shuddered. “I’m not sure
if I want them after what they were used for. But thanks
anyway.”

They sat in silence for a few
moments after he’d gone. Cathy looked so glum that Dennis knew he
had to find her something else to think about, if only for a
while.

“So, Miss Choreographer, have
you managed to come up with a dance routine for my exercise
programme?” It was the last thing he wanted to remind her of but he
knew she’d be enthusiastic about it. She looked up, her eyes
showing the gleam that had been missing for too long.

“Oh yes, I have, actually.” She
grinned. “Just wait till you see my idea, I think you’ll like it.”
She stood up and walked around her desk to take his hand. “Come to
the yoga room with me and I’ll show you the whole routine, and then
you can start practising in front of the mirrors.”

“Great!” His bright,
carefully-crafted smile faded slowly as she towed him through the
gym.

After four days of practising
his dance moves at every opportunity, Dennis felt he was making
good progress. It was getting easier to remember what his arms and
legs had to do at each point in the music, so he had more brain
space to devote to actually performing with a bit of style. He
would practise after his weights workout once the yoga room was
empty, and found the mirrors there invaluable for assessing his
form. As he warmed up and peeled off his T-shirt, he realised his
body was actually looking quite presentable. He found himself
striking the sort of muscle poses he’d seen the other guys do,
flexing biceps and crunching his abs. He had abs! It was a
revelation. He even found himself considering getting a spray tan
like Ricky to make the filmstar look more believable.

His elevation to pin-up status
got another boost at the Friday night rehearsal when Adam called
him over from where he was coiling a rope in the wings.

“Dennis, could you help us out
for a few minutes please, if you can spare the time? Ricky is
missing tonight and I want to run through some of the group dance
routines. You just need to mark his place and walk when I tell you
– you don’t need to know the moves. It’ll help the others to get
the timing right.”

“If you think I’ll be any use,
sure.” He grinned. “I’ve got used to following instructions when
Cathy tells me what to do!”

Adam arranged the three actors
and Dennis on the stage and nodded to the sound guy for the music
to start. Dennis watched carefully and tried to mimic what the
others were doing. It was hard work, both physically and mentally,
but he managed to keep up and stay no more than half a beat
behind.

“That’s very good Dennis!” Adam
called out. “See if you can follow what the others do as they come
off the stage.”

Warwick bounded down the steps,
ran back about four rows and jumped up to stand astride the aisle
with his feet on the seat arms, facing the stage. Mark followed,
taking the third row from the front.

“Now you, Dennis!” called
Adam.

Dennis tried to move as quickly
as the others and jumped into position in the second row. It was
hard to balance and he felt himself wobbling, but Mark braced him
with a steadying hand on his shoulder. Simon sprang into position
in the first row and began to clap his hands over his head then
down against his thighs. Dennis struggled to follow the moves but
couldn’t quite keep up the timing.

“Don’t worry about it Dennis,
just fake it for now,” advised Adam. “You’re doing fine. OK
Warwick, down you go.”

Suddenly Warwick appeared
beneath his legs, coming out of a forward roll and bounding back
onto the stage. Mark came next, untucking from a roll and leaping
up the steps.

“Just jump down and follow
them,” called Adam, “No need to do the roll.”

Gratefully, Dennis landed feet
first on the red floral carpet and hurried to join the others, with
Simon just seconds behind him. They lined up in a row and ran
through a few more moves that Dennis managed to copy, still only
slightly behind the others.

As the music stopped he blew out
a huge sigh of relief, grateful to stop the intense
concentration.

“My God, how do you guys do
that?” he gasped. “It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done!”

“Practice, dear boy,” drawled
Simon, “simply practice. Just like getting to Carnegie Hall. Or if
you’re really lucky, onto The X Factor.”

“Very good, guys,” called Adam.
“Take five, go and grab a drink.”

Out in the Green Room he took
Dennis aside. “Thank you for that – you made a great effort out
there. It can’t have been easy for you, but it made it much easier
for the others. I may call on you as a stand-in again if anyone
fails to show up at inconvenient times, would that be all
right?”

“Sure, no problem, as long as it
doesn’t get any more complicated than that. I think that was about
my limit.”

“You’d soon pick it up if you
watched it a few times. Can you get free to watch a couple of
rehearsals when everyone is here so you get more familiar with the
moves?”

“I guess so. I haven’t been
assigned any particular crew task to do yet so it shouldn’t be a
problem.” He hesitated. “But are you sure there isn’t anyone better
suited?”