Murder in the Second Row Read Free Page A

There are some quite bright youngsters I’ve worked with
before and they’re very keen to help.’
    The door banged
open and Nick Usher breezed in on a waft of expensive aftershave.
He sketched a bow to the rest of the production team before
kneeling at Jessica’s feet.
    ‘My humblest
apologies, Jessica, for being so unforgivably late.’ He sprang to
his feet and turned around, presenting the seat of his jeans. ‘I’m
ready to take my punishment like a man.’
    ‘I think we’ll
take that as read,’ said Jessica drily. ‘Nick – Sit!’
    He subsided
into one of the battered armchairs and grinned at her.
    ‘Right, where
were we before Mr Usher decided to grace us with his presence? Ah
yes – set construction. Switch hats from President to construction
manager, Howard, and tell us what you need.’
    Light from the
Rose Room chandelier gleamed on the silver streaks in Howard’s hair
as he leaned forward to speak.
    ‘Bit hard to
say at this point. Adam’s asked some arty student to design the set
and he hasn’t shown me any plans or sketches yet, so I don’t know
exactly what we’re going to need. There’s a hotel interior that’s
got a bit of construction work in it though, to make a reception
counter and an elevator.’
    ‘A working
elevator? Bloody hell, that’ll be a trick. How many people do we
have to lift in it? And how am I going to light it?’ Gazza the
lighting guy was looking worried.
    ‘Don’t panic,
Gazza, it doesn’t have to move. We just need some sliding doors and
a little pointer thingy that someone can operate from behind the
set. No problem.’
    ‘Just as bloody
well. I can imagine the fun Health & Safety would have if we
tried to lift a bunch of thespians up into the fly tower.’ Gazza
wasn’t one to let go of an idea easily.
    ‘Anyway,’
Howard continued, ‘there are probably some bits and pieces in store
below stage that we can use for the counter and fittings. The hard
part’s going to be the desert background. Lots of rocks and cliffs.
Adam said he wanted some kind of canvas tent thing as well, and
we’ll probably have to make that from scratch. Can we put TBA on my
budget figure?’
    ‘OK,
construction budget to be advised,’ said Jessica, making sure it
was noted in the minutes.
    ‘Right, Nick.
Your big moment. What’s the promotion plan and how much will you
need?’
    ‘Oh, give us
half a mill and we’ll say no more about it.’ He grinned winningly.
‘No? Oh well, worth a try. I’ve been talking to my boss at the
radio station and he’s happy to give us a fifty percent discount on
ads if we display station signage everywhere we promote. Does that
sound good?’
    There was a
chorus of approving comments. Nick looked pleased.
    ‘Well done,
Nick!’ said Jessica. ‘I hoped you were more than just a pretty
face.’
    He clasped his
chest as if shot. ‘Ooh, you wound me. Anyway, I figure about seven
hundred will take care of radio – they’ll do promo slots among the
regular programming as well, and do an interview the week before we
open. Newspaper’s not quite so helpful I’m afraid. No discounts,
usual rates, and their display ads have just gone up by 10 percent.
It’ll probably cost us about eighteen hundred for a decent spread
of ads through to final night. On the plus side, the Arts page will
do a piece on Adam when he gets here, and we can probably dream up
some other aspect for them to feature as we get nearer
opening.’
    ‘That’s good,
Nick. I’ll hit up my old boss at The Outdoor Company – he still
feels guilty for making me redundant last April. Besides, since
there’s a tent in the show it’ll be a good tie-in for him. Can
anyone else suggest places that might sponsor some ads?’ Jessica
looked round the room. ‘Howard, you’ll run the usual ad for your
shop in the programme, won’t you – assuming your dear lady
accountant lets you?’ She winked at him. Howard’s wife kept a tight
rein on their finances, with good reason.