I groaned as I turned off the tape player and thought Now who would call me at home at this time of day? They don't need me at the opera house until six! I answered, "Je vais (I'm coming)!" as I left my room and went out to the family room. I took the receiver she handed to me and answered, "Allo?"
"Roberta? This is Carlotta. Have you seen Carlos?" the voice on the other end of the line asked in an anxious tone of voice.
Puzzled as to how she got my phone number and even why she would bother calling me in the first place, I answered, "Why, no! Not since my run-in with him last night. Why do you ask?"
She paused for a moment before answering, "He was supposed to meet me for lunch and then we were to go to...another appointment we had together, and he never showed up! Look! This is really important! Are you sure you haven't seen him since last night?"
I sighed and said, "The last time I saw him was last night when I saw him talking to the music director after rehearsal."
"I've already talked to him and he hasn't seen him either! Look! Are you absolutely sure you haven't seen Carlos?" she asked, sounding like she was really desperate.
I sighed again and replied, "I already told you I haven't seen him. By the way, how did you get my phone number?"
She hesitated for a moment and then said, I got it from...the managers. Well, thanks anyway. Au revoir!" She then hung up, leaving me puzzled, and I must admit, a little worried.
When I got to the opera house, I was curious to see if Carlos would be there for the gala, but my feelings of curiosity soon changed to feelings of dread as I saw several police officers led by Inspector Ledeux, questioning everybody who had been at the rehearsal the night before. "Ah, Mme. Martin! I'm glad to see you here tonight! I'd like to talk with you, please!" the inspector called out to me as I entered the building.
I turned to André, who was holding the door open for me, and asked, "What's up?"
"We've had a terrible tragedy! The inspector can fill you in on the details!" André exclaimed softly as he closed the door behind me.
"If you'll follow me please. The managers have been very kind to let us conduct our investigation at this time, in spite of your gala later on this evening. They have also allowed us to use the upstairs practice rooms for our investigation, which, under the circumstances, will speed things up considerably!" the inspector said in a commanding tone of voice, as he quickly ascended the main staircase with me almost running behind him trying to catch up to him, which was difficult to do in my long black dress and black pumps Erik had given me for the opera performance which now seemed long ago, but was in fact only a few months previous.
When we reached the room he had selected for his investigation, he unlocked
the door, opened it, and after switching on the light to the room, he motioned
for me to follow him into the room. I did so, and he then said, "Please
sit down. My, you look nice tonight! But aren't you a little
overdressed for a costume girl?"
"I'm singing in the chorus tonight," I replied as I sat down in the
chair he indicated.
"Really? You're moving up in the world!" he exclaimed as he sat
down in the chair opposite from me and took out his notepad and pen from
the inside pocket of his jacket. As he opened up his jacket, I noticed
the handgun in its' holster strapped to his shoulder. I guess this
really is serious! I thought to myself as he opened up his notepad and
said, "You never mentioned that you sang before. How did you manage
to get into the chorus?"
"I'm not in the regular chorus just yet. I'm singing with the
gala chorus tonight. They held auditions last month and I tried out,"
I explained.
"Really? I thought auditions were by invitation only! How did you swing an invitation?" he asked as he wrote my responses in his notepad.
"That's for the regular chorus. The audition for the gala chorus was an open audition-- anyone could try out, so I did!" I replied.
"Really" And how'd you learn to sing? This Bastille Day Gala is always taped and the company only accepts high quality singers for the performance!" He continued.
"Monsieur l'inspecteur, just what does my singing have to do with your
investigation? I don't see how it would be important," I replied,
puzzled as to why he would think my singing had anything to do with his
investigation.
"Mme. Martin, I will decide just what is important and what isn't!"
he replied coldly as he looked up from his notes.
"But, what is it that you're investigating?" I asked, becoming a little piqued.
"Murder, Mme. Martin. And the victim had an appointment with me this afternoon and when he didn't show up, I started to look for him. I finally found him in the morgue, and after Carlotta identified him, I started my investigation," the inspector replied, still looking at his notes.
"Who...is it?" I finally asked, dreading the answer.
"Carlos Montoya!" the inspector replied brusquely, and then seeing the expression on my face, he added, "Now, I understand from Carlotta that you were the last person to see him alive last night."
In shock, I replied in a distracted manner, "No, I saw him with the
music director last night after rehearsal ended."
"I've already talked with him, and he has an air-tight alibi.
Now as for you, I need to know where you were and what you were doing last
night from the time you left rehearsal to the time you got here tonight,"
he said in a stern manner.
I lowered my head a little and replied, "I left the opera house after rehearsal...I guess it was around ten o'clock, and went straight to the emergency room at Hopital St. Lazare."
"Why?" he asked curtly.
"I had another one of my migraine headaches and needed to get a darvon
shot for it," I explained.
"Really? Darvon is a controlled substance. There's other
medications out there that aren't narcotic in nature. Why can't you
take any of those?" he asked, as he wrote down my response.
I shook my head and said, "I'm allergic to them. Darvon is the only thing I can tolerate that will take the edge off the pain."
"Fine. How'd you get there? By taxi?" he asked. I nodded, and he added, "Do you know the name of the taxi company?" I shook my head, and then he said thoughtfully, "I see. Well, do you know the name of the doctor you saw at the hospital last night?"
I shook my head again and said, "I was hurting so bad that I could hardly see straight, let alone remember names! I'm sure if you'll call the emergency room, they'll remember me. It was a slow night and I was the only one there at the time."
"About what time was that?" he asked, still writing.
I shook my head and said, "I don't know...between ten and eleven, I guess. I was in such pain, I don't remember exactly..."
"Fine, then! How long were you there at St. Lazare?" he asked curtly.
I shook my head and said, "A while maybe...I really don't know.
I went home after I got my shot."
"Alone? Right after getting strong medicine like that?" he demanded.
I sighed and said meekly, "Non, monsieur l'inspecteur."
"Well, I would think not! Who took you home? Surely not any of the personnel at the hospital!" he replied sharply.
God, this is getting bad! I look like I'm hiding something, and I'm not! I thought, and then replied, "Non, monsieur l'inspecteur. A friend took me home."
"Really? What's the friend's name?" he demanded.
I sighed again and said, "Erik Filipovic."
"The exterminator? Now how would you know him?" the inspector asked sharply.
I shifted in my seat a little, feeling uncomfortable with his line of questioning. "Monsieur l'inspecteur, why are you treating me so harshly? Believe me, I was in such bad shape last night I could barely get home, let alone commit murder!" I exclaimed.
"Mme. Martin, I am investigating a serious crime, and so far, I have no satisfactory answers. And this isn't the first time with you either! I'm going to check out your story and this...Filipovic fellow as well. In the meantime, if I were you, I wouldn't leave town anytime soon!" he replied sternly, before rising from his chair. Then he added brusquely, "You may go now!"
I rose from my chair as well, sighed, and then said, "Thank you, monsieur." I left the room relieved that the interrogation was over and as I made my way down the main staircase, I could not help but reflect on the evening's events. Poor Carlos! What a sad end to him! And Carlotta! She must be beside herself with grief, losing Carlos like that! And her job as well! Les Pauvres!
I decided to go to the costume room first to see if I was needed for anything before meeting with the rest of the chorus. As I entered the room, I saw Jacqueline trying to help Isabeau with the kimono Carlotta was to have worn. "I take it Carlotta won't be singing tonight," I said as I made my way to my worktable.
"Haven't you heard?" Jacqueline asked as she struggled with the obi.
"Yes, I did. What a shock!" I exclaimed, and then added, "Here, I'll get that for you," as I placed my things on my table and then walked over to the two women and untied the obi.
"I think this kimono is too big for me", Isabeau said as she slipped it off.
"Well, no wonder I couldn't do anything with that! Who put that patch on there, anyway?" Jacqueline demanded as she saw my handiwork.
"I put it on last night. Carlotta ripped her kimono just before rehearsal began. Here! I'll put a tuck in the patch. It won't look all that good, but the obi will cover everything," I replied as I sat down at my machine and quickly sewed a seam where the tear was, thus restoring the kimono to its original state. I handed it back to Isabeau and said, "Now try it!: After she donned the garment, I quickly tied the obi and exclaimed, "Good as new!"
"But who ever heard of patching a silk kimono with a cotton muslin patch!" Jacqueline protested.
"I had to do something that late in the production! But you've got to admit, Isabeau's a lot smaller than Carlotta, girthwise anyway!" I replied.
"Thanks! I think!" Isabeau said as she turned around to show us how she looked from the front.
I smiled and then asked, "Do you have your wig and fan?"
"They're upstairs with the rest of the props in the office. By the way, you don't seem overly upset about Carlos. I thought you liked Him!" she exclaimed.
I shook my head and said, "I liked his singing voice, and he seemed to be a pretty good actor, at least from what I saw during the rehearsals, but I didn't like him as a person all that well. Still...it's quite a shock to hear about him. Does anybody know how he...died?"
"The police aren't saying", Jacqueline commented dryly as Isabeau left the room. Then, after a moment, she added, "But there are rumors that you two had it out last night!"
"How do you know so much?" I asked, irritated that Jacqueline always seemed to know what was going on almost as soon as events happened.
"Oh, come on! This is a small company, and just about everybody
knows each others' business!" she exclaimed.
"Well, for your information, we didn't have it out. He tried
to get fresh with me and I rebuffed him, that's all! And, just for
the record, I'm just as shocked as you are about all this! It's just
that I've had my own problems to deal with these last few weeks, so I haven't
had much time or energy to deal with Carlos! Still...what a terrible
end!" I exclaimed.
She remained silent for a moment and the said, "Oh yeah! I forget
to mention this earlier." She went over to her worktable and took
a letter that was laying on top of it and handed the letter to me.
"André asked me to give this to you", she added. I took it
from her, looked at the envelope, and frowned. "More bad news?" she
asked.
"I don't know yet", I replied quietly, as I walked over to my worktable,
grabbed a pair of scissors, cut the side of the envelope, and took out
the letter. As I read the letter, I placed my scissors back on the
table in an automatic gesture. After reading the letter, I shook
my head and said, "When it rains, it pours!" Then looking up at her
and seeing that she was waiting for an answer, I added, "Not exactly more
bad news so much as bad old news! My ex- is fighting my petition
to void the financial agreement I made before I went into exile.
I'm going to let my lawyer handle this-God know I can't anymore!"
"Will you be able to sing tonight after all this?" she asked.
I nodded and said, "I'll be all right once I start singing. One good thing about singing-it helps to take my mind off my problems even better that work does. Speaking of singing, I need to get backstage with the rest of the chorus. Tell your dad I'll be back down here after the gala to put the costumes away." I then put the letter into my purse and left the room.
The gala went quite well, considering that two of the principle singers had to be replaced at the last minute. René Daniel substituted for the late Carlos, and as he sang Don Jose's aria from "Carmen", I thought to myself Well, it looks like the company now has a new leading tenor. I just hope he isn't a skirtchaser like Carlos was! After he sang his aria, René was followed by a contralto who sang, and before I knew it, intermission had started. I went backstage with the other chorus members, and as I watched the other soloists review their music and the stage hands scramble to get the sets up for the second half of the gala, I noticed Inspector Ledeux standing in the wings. He caught sight of me, nodded his head and gestured for me to come backstage with him. Puzzled, I followed him, dodging stage hands carrying the large props. I finally caught up with him and found him standing in the hall that led to the stairs going down to the lower levels. "Well, Mme. Martin, you've been cleared of all suspicion. I talked with the staff at St. Lazare and they verify your story as do the Fontaines, but tell me, why didn't you say that you were alone? The staff says that no one else was with you when you came into the emergency room."
"I thought Erik was with me! But then again, I was so sick I really
didn't notice him at all. I could have sworn he came in with me,
but maybe he just wanted to wait outside for the taxi," I replied, shrugging
my shoulders.
"Well, at any rate, you have an alibi!" the inspector said in a reassuring
tone of voice, and then added, "You wouldn't happen to know where Filipovic
is right now, would you?"
I shook my head and replied, "Non monsieur l'inspecteur. I don't know where he lives and I don't know how to get in touch with him." Erik doesn't tell me anything! I thought bitterly.
"I have my men looking all over Paris for him. I'm sure he'll turn up," the inspector said softly, and then added, "Look, I'm sorry I was so rude earlier this evening. It's just that I was to meet with Carlos today, and when he didn't show up, I began to get suspicious, and then to have my suspicions confirmed..."
I nodded my head, and then asked, "Monsieur l'inspecteur, may I ask how Carlos died?"
"I'm not at liberty to say at this time," the inspector replied, reverting
back to an official stance.
I nodded, and said softly, "Of course. I understand." Carlos
was such a jerk, but even so, he didn't deserve to die! I can't believe
he's gone, nor can I believe he was actually going to go to the police!
He really did mean what he said! I wonder what he knew that was so
important that someone would kill him!, I thought, shaking my head again.
At that moment, the stage manager called out, "Places everybody!"
"I have to go, monsieur l'inspecteur. I'm glad you gave me some good news this evening! I'll be able to concentrate better for the second half of the performance now. Thank you!" I then turned and left him to join the chorus for the rest of the gala.
The second half of the gala went even better than the first. The stage hands managed to time the lights exactly right, and Iasbeau turned out to be just as good as Carlotta, and while her voice was lighter and not as dramatic as the former diva's, she managed "Un bel di" quite well, as did Sophie with Juliet's aria from "Romeo and Juliet". The chorus did better than I thought we would, but I was thrown off when we finished singing the national anthem. In the United States, one always applauds after the Star Spangled Banner is sung, but in France, La Marseilles is always followed by silence. For a moment, I thought we had really messed up the national anthem, but then the music director smiled at us after we finished singing, and then I knew we had finally managed to sound like the regular chorus!
Unfortunately, Michel was not in as good a mood as the music director, for when it came time for the performers to turn in their costumes, he noticed my impromptu patching job on the kimono, and commented on it. "What the hell is this!" he exclaimed as he took the kimono from Isabeau.
"The kimono Jacqueline warned you about. I mended it," I replied
dryly as I took the Juliet costume from Sophie.
"No! I mean this!" he exclaimed as he pointed to the patch on
the back of the kimono.
I turned to where he was pointing and said, "That's what I mean! I had to mend that thing last night because Carlotta ripped it just before rehearsal started!" I exclaimed.
"But with muslin? You never mend a silk garment with a cotton patch!" he exclaimed.
I sighed, and then, trying to keep my voice down, asked, "And what else
would you have me do? There were no silk patches lying around, and
we have no spare kimonos lying around either! Besides, the managers
know about this because I made out a full report this evening before the
performance and gave a copy to Mme. Giry!"
He shook his head and muttered, "But muslin, of all materials!"
"And besides that, Mme. Giry is going to give me authorization to get some more heavy silk to make another kimono. Hopefully, that one will last longer than this one did!" I continued, and then added, "By the way, do you always explode in front of the entire company whenever you get mad at something?"
Seeing that everybody was looking at him, he shook his head, and with a look of chagrin on his face, he muttered, "God, I hate it when you're right!" Then, he added a little louder, "Well, who's next with a costume?" We then resumed our task of checking the costumes back in.
We had just finished putting the last of the costumes back in the costume room when M. Hauptmann came into the workroom and said, "Well done, people! Excellent performance tonight, right down to the costumes! I cornered the art critic for "Le Figaro", and he agrees with me! Of course, a little...special publicity didn't hurt either!"
"What publicity was that?" Jacqueline asked as she entered the room, and then added, "We're all done, Papa. All the costumes are put away, at least until next year, anyway!"
Turning to her, M. Hauptmann replied, "I'm glad to hear everything turned out all right. I read Roberta's report, and we'll get the paperwork going for some more silk. As for your question, mademoiselle, Mme. Giry thought it might help box office sales a bit if we got the word out that one of our costume girls was going to sing in the gala chorus!" Then, turning to me, he added, "My compliments, along with those of maestro. And you can pass those on to your teacher as well. We had no idea you could even sing!"
I breathed in sharply when the manager said the word "teacher", as Michel turned to me and exclaimed, "What teacher? What lessons? How did you ever manage lessons with your schedule?"
Jacqueline spoke up and said, "Papa! We went through this already, don't you remember? At the auditions! I told you she could sing!"
Michel scowled at her as M. Hauptmann looked at him and said, "Well, I for one am glad the company has more talent to draw on, especially considering next season's program! By the way, Michel. you should work on your temper a bit. It doesn't look good to have the head of the costume department lose his cool in front of the entire company over a minor incident!" Then, turning back to me, he added, "By the way, who is your teacher? She must have very flexible hours in order to accommodate your schedule!"
I lowered my head for a second, and then raising it, it replied, "My teacher wishes to remain anonymous, and yes, my teacher is very kind to take me on as a student."
M. Hauptmann nodded, and then said thoughtfully, "I see. I'll respect your teacher's wishes then, and as for you, I expect the music director will be sending you an invitation to audition for the chorus. At any rate, I'll see all of you next month! Enjoy your vacation!" He then turned and left the room.
After he left the room, Michel turned to me and growled, "A fine pickle you've gotten me into!"
"Me?" I exclaimed, hardly believing that Michel would turn on me like that.
Before he could say anything more, Jacqueline spoke up and said, "Papa! I think it's time we went home to start packing for our trip to the Alps. We've got a long train ride ahead of us, you know." Then, turning to me, she added, "Don't pay any attention to Papa! He always gets this way before the opera house shuts down for the rest of the summer." Then, turning back to him, she said, "And Papa! Don't forget to turn in the costume records--Mme. Giry's going to need them."
"Well, if you don't need me for anything else, I'll head out too," I said as I gathered my things together and started to exit the room.
Still fuming, Michel said nothing as I walked toward the door, but Jacqueline asked, "Where are you going for your vacation, Roberta?"
I shrugged my shoulders and said, "I really hadn't thought about it much-maybe spend a couple of days in Brittany...I've had too much on my mind lately to think much about vacation. Besides, I'm like your father, I guess. Now that I've got five weeks of paid vacation, I don't know what to do with myself!"
She smiled at my little joke, and then nudging her father, she said softly, "Papa!"
Michel, who had turned his back on me earlier, turned his head and said
curtly, "Enjoy your vacation!"
"Papa!" Jacqueline exclaimed.
"And be back here the last Monday in August! We have a lot of work to do!" he added.
"Papa!" she exclaimed again. Then, rolling her eyes, she looked
at him out of the corner of her eye as she turned to me and said, "We'll
see you in August! Have a nice vacation!"