Free Murder in the Past Tense (Miss Prentice Cozy Mystery Series Book 3) by E. E. Kennedy Page B

to be very effective. Eileen left the program, and now she’s become my responsibility.”
    “You mean s-somebody might kill her? Like gangsters or something?”
    He was silent.
    “But why—” I began.
    I wanted to ask if this was such a secret, why was he allowing her to be onstage, even giving her a starring role, but I quickly realized that then he’d definitely suspect eavesdropping. “Never mind. Of course, I’ll keep it a secret.”
    It was kind of thrilling. I was dealing with stuff Nancy Drew never even dreamed about!
    “I’m counting on you, Amelia.” He stood and tapped his watch. “Time for rehearsal. Let’s go.”
    I complied without another word, allowing him to open the doors for me. Terence was always a gentleman.
    I found a seat in the auditorium, but the rehearsal didn’t begin right away. As I munched the last of my crackers, a small true-life drama played out in a kind of pantomime before me.
    Terence laid his hand on Janey’s shoulder, whispered in her ear and handed her a script. She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him, turned and waved a greeting at Dierdre, who frowned and bent over a script of her own.
    I was so absorbed watching them that I only noticed Lily standing beside me when I smelled the ghost of cigarettes past. I waved my hand.
    “Whew, smoke! You stink!”
    “Well, you have crumbs all over your blouse, so there. Come on, they’re starting up again in a minute.”
    “Ladies and gentlemen, we have slightly reworked the casting,” Terence announced once we were all gathered in the front rows of the auditorium. “The part of Johnsie will be now played by Janey Johnson.”
    Everyone exchanged puzzled glances.
    Terence cleared his throat loudly. “Dierdre will sing all the soprano solos in the choral sections. And three and a half weeks from now, Dierdre will star as the young Duchess in The Merry Marinade .”
    Dierdre nodded graciously, as though already taking her bows.
    He clapped his hands once and barked, “All right, business taken care of. Scene three, people. Get up there, now!”
    Obediently, we allowed ourselves to be arranged in appropriate groups.
    Next to me Lily whispered, “What the heck is going on around here?”
    “Shhhh! Stay in character, people!” Terence ordered.

CHAPTER NINE
     
    “Let’s take that one more time.” Irene Chavez brought her long fingers down on the keyboard in a chord that took in all our opening notes. “Altos, remember that the descant comes in two beats after the melody.”
    She nodded, our signal to begin. Obediently we chimed in on the surprisingly complex choral parts that formed a musical background for the main characters’ singing.
     
    I’m doing this for you—ooo—ahhh—ooo—see you through, see you through . . .
     
    Despite having to compete with the din of pounding hammers onstage, I was beginning to get the hang of the harmony once I heard it several times.
    This was starting to be really fun. We sound like the Broadway album, I thought.
    Irene agreed with me. “Good!” she said. “That was just fine! I think you guys have got it down pat now.”
    “And how are my townspeople doing?” Terence emerged from behind the stage right curtain, clasping the Mighty Clipboard to his chest. He peered down at us, shading his eyes from the blindingly bright spotlights. The lighting crew had been noisily experimenting with various effects, which had added to the challenge of our task.
    Irene smiled benignly at her charges. “Not bad at all. They’ll be ready.”
    “That’s good to hear.” Terence sat down on the front edge of the stage. I reminded myself that it was called the apron. He swung his gaze along our group. “Where’s my sister?”
    With an evasive expression and a shrug, Irene said, “She’s not here. I think I saw her leave with Danny.” She glanced at her watch. “It was about a half-hour ago.”
    Terence scowled and muttered, “We’ll see about that.” He hopped down into the