him. You can tell he wouldnât harm a fly even though he seems to be suspect number one for the police. I suppose thatâs with reason, as she did get him sacked twice. Of course heâs old-fashioned but nothing wrong with that if Bill wants it that way. We all understand his boards. Tom pours love into the sketches and thereâs mutual dependence between him and Bill. She didnât like that either.â
I remembered uneasily that Tom could not be found when Jane had paged him on Tuesday morning.
âWhere did the so-called âold gangâ as a whole stand over Angie?â Tom was part of it, after all.
âThe
Running Tides
group? No love lost there either, even though Angie herself was an extra. I suppose she might have felt that the others were closer to Bill than she was.
And
closer to Margot Croft. But I donât believe any of this has any relevance, Jack. Thatâs the past. The trouble is in the here and now.â
âOK. What about Eleanor Richey and the other stars? Did they hit it off with Angie?â
âEleanor and Angie were on good terms. Eleanor drove the Auburn after all, and Justin seemed to get on with her. But then he gets on with everyone. The others werenât obviously antagonistic. I canât see why any of them would want to
kill
her though.â
âTo stop her wrecking the film?â
She stared at me. âNot sufficient. I know that means weâre back toââ
âTom,â I supplied for her.
âAnd me?â she asked quietly.
âI donât see you in that role.â
âThanks.â
A silence fell between us for a moment.
âJack, I should come clean,â she admitted. âThere
was
more trouble in the here and now. Angie was busy meddling with the scripts of more characters than mine and Brianâs. There were others. I heard rumblings.â
âDo you think the film will settle down after all this?â
âToo soon to say how it will be affected. The shooting goes on. Itâs fair to say that any actor with a bit or small part gets used to having their parts chopped down or even out. It goes with the territory. Itâs an up and down life and thatâs why our home lives and private relationships can be so up and down. Joanâs been through a sticky divorce, Chris Frantâs wife left him a year ago and Graham â whoâs gay â is having partner trouble. Brian has a disabled wife. Perhaps thatâs why they stick together, but Angie might have seen it as a conspiracy against her. They stick together because they need support.â
âDo you, Louise?â I said quietly.
She looked up at me. âNot me, Jack. Born under the original wandering star, thatâs me. Thatâs inside me just as much as each of the parts I play. It drives me on. But some actors never get that chance, because fate intervenes or the parts arenât there, or they run up against other difficulties. Iâve been lucky though. Iâve been given the opportunity to wander from part to part and so I have to use it.â
âNot tempted to put roots down?â
âOf course.â She looked round my kitchen and out at what she could see of my garden through the windows. âIâm no gardener,â she said regretfully.
I gave her space. âNor me. I attack it with a mower periodically but otherwise my garden and I have a live and let live arrangement. I let it live until the bushes start advancing through the doors. At the moment the roses are saving me from shame.â
She hesitated. âI
am
sometimes tempted.â
I couldnât stop myself. âBy Nigel Biddington?â
âNo. Heâs a friend.â
âHow do you define that?â
âSomeone I wouldnât go to bed with.â A smile. âInquisition over?â
I nodded, dizzy with relief.
âThen may I see the Glory Boot that Len told me about?â she asked.
âYou
Emma Daniels, Ethan Somerville