Free Crowning the Slug Queen (A Callie Stone Mystery Book 1) by L.M. Fortin Page B

remembered one conference she had done early in her training where the final event was a performance of the musical 42nd Street . She had spent half the night washing, ironing and starching shirts for the thirty plus cast members who each had many costume changes.
    Callie noted there were four rooms for cast members on this level; two of them were small and would only hold one person and maybe their dresser. She assumed these would be for the lead actors. The other two rooms each looked as if they would hold six people, each with their own lighted mirror and station for make-up and clothing.
    These rooms were all along the left side of the hall. On the right side there was only one door. Wade took out his ring of keys to open the padlock. "This is where the fun is," he said mischievously. The door opened into a darkened room and Callie gasped when he turned on the lights. It was the theater's main storage room. In approximately one half of the room there were rows of metal shelves all piled high with things like hats, swords, pillows, room décor, tables, chairs, anything it would take to create and enhance a scene on stage.
    The second half of the room held larger stage pieces like doors or faux staircases. Callie saw a trio of disco balls she thought looked entertaining. She smiled, "You're right, this is where all the fun is."
    "I thought you'd like it. Our main storage is in a warehouse across town on West Eleventh Street, but this is where we keep most of the smaller stuff. We're limited here to what can fit into the elevator."
    At the opposite end of the hall were the elevator doors. "Can we go up to the rigging?" asked Callie.
    "As if a tour of the stage would be complete without the sky view," he said smiling and pushing on the elevator button.
    The elevator was of an industrial size, with gray padded mats hanging on the walls to protect any stage sets from bumps and damage. The elevator moved smoothly and the door opened silently when it reached the upper level of the theater.
    Callie and Wade stepped out onto a metal catwalk. They walked forward until they got to the place where it overlooked the stage. There were ropes and numerous sandbags that acted as ballast for the curtains and backdrops.
    Wade leaned over the side of the railing looking down. "I've been here since they built the place. Back in the early days we'd spend hours up here watching the show and moving the scenery and curtains around. It's a lot easier on my back now that so much of its electronic, but I sometimes miss the bird's eye view of the show."
    Callie said, "I always thought of this as 'God' view. It's not only that I can see what's going on, but I get to control an awful lot of it."
    He laughed. "You're right. I guess a bird doesn't really have much impact on the whole show, does it?"
    They both looked down as they saw two people arrive on the stage. "I'm sure it makes no difference to you, but I will be taking the dressing room on this floor," said a man's voice in falsetto. From the view above, Callie couldn't see the face of the speaker, but from the black beehive of hair she could see, she assumed it was Slimerita Rivera.
    "That would be one of many things you would be wrong about," said the second person in a low voice that Callie couldn't tell was a man or a woman's. There was an accent to it she couldn't quite recognize. Maybe Eastern European? However, from the brilliant green dress, she thought she could identify the speaker as Molluska. Neither of the two voices matched the distinctly female voice Callie had heard yelling earlier.
    "I think I'd better be heading down to meet the contestants," said Callie.
    "Better you than me," Wade mumbled as he led her back to the elevator.
     
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER NINE
     
    The pictures definitely did not do them justice, thought Callie. While she and Wade had taken the elevator down to the main level, the other three contestants had arrived and now all five were standing