A Sprinkle of Sabotage by Fiona Leitch (bill gates book recommendations TXT) 📗

are probably other people who come up and down those stairs – delivery people maybe, I dunno. And when you add to it the other things that have happened… You heard about the lock on Faith’s caravan—’

‘We should have a look at that.’ Nathan grinned. ‘I mean, I should have a look at it. I’m the copper round here. I keep forgetting… And you think someone let the dog out deliberately?’

‘Yes. I think they may have even chucked her in the lake.’ Nathan looked horrified. ‘I know, that’s a really nasty thing to do. But Kimi’s sister didn’t leave Princess alone for very long. How she managed to get the door open, get all the way over to the lake, and end up swimming in the middle of it, in that short a time… I just don’t think a dog of that size could cover that much ground in so little time, especially not without being spotted.’

‘Which leads on to the next question,’ said Nathan. ‘How could someone do that without them being spotted? We’re in the middle of a busy film shoot; there are people everywhere.’

‘I was thinking about that,’ I said. ‘When we saw the dog, most of the crew were in the ballroom, setting up for filming. Not all, of course: the make-up and wardrobe staff were in their trailers, and there would have been some cast members with them getting ready. The rest of the main cast would have been in their trailers, and the extras were either getting dressed or heading for the ballroom.’

‘Would they have passed the lake?’

‘No. We only did because I was feeling rebellious and wanted to have a walk about before having to stand in one spot for hours wearing a potato sack.’ Nathan raised an eyebrow. ‘That’s another one of my long stories. Put it this way, they obviously don’t think I’m leading-lady material.’

‘That’s a travesty. So who else was near the lake when you spotted the dog?’

I thought hard. ‘There were a few crew members; I don’t know who they are. And the bloke who owns the house.’

‘Hmm… I’ll have a quiet word with him, see if he’s seen anyone lurking who shouldn’t be here. Even if there weren’t many people about, you’d think someone would have spotted a person carrying a dog.’

‘Not if it’s someone who was meant to be there,’ I said. Nathan nodded.

‘Yes. A crew member. But I don’t understand what the point of these little ‘accidents’ is. They haven’t really caused any problems, have they? I mean, apart from Gino breaking his arm. They haven’t stopped filming.’

‘No, but they’ve made everyone uneasy. Ridiculously so.’ I told him about the curse and he laughed.

‘These creative types, they do let their imaginations run away with them,’ he said. ‘No common sense.’

‘Much better to be a completely unimaginative copper,’ I said, and he grinned.

‘You said it. At least there’s one thing we can be sure of: it’s not the local sheriff dressing up as a mummy. I know Sergeant Adams likes to dress up when he’s singing in the fishermen’s choir, but I think I’d notice if he’d gone full-on Ancient Mariner on us. But if a gang of teenagers and their weird talking dog turn up in a psychedelic van, let me know…’ I laughed; I was glad Nathan was on my wavelength, and I wasn’t the only one who could see just how Scooby Doo the situation was. Nathan stood up. ‘I’d better go. I’ve got a ton of paperwork to do. Obviously I can’t do anything about any of this unless someone wants to make a formal complaint. So far, apart from causing Gino to hurt his arm, it comes more under the heading of ‘annoying pranks’ than any real crime.’ He looked around, but by now the last of the crew had left and we were alone. ‘Still, be careful, yeah? Keep an eye out and let me know if anything else suspicious happens.’

‘Wait,’ I said, as he turned to go. ‘Why did you call me earlier? Was there something you wanted?’

He smiled awkwardly. ‘No, no, I just wanted to thank you again for last night.’

‘No worries, I really enjoyed it.’ Fancy coming round tonight as well? I thought, but I didn’t say it because that might come across as desperate.

‘Me too.’ Nathan looked at me for a moment, and I thought he was going to say something else. But he didn’t. ‘I’ve really got to go. I’ll see you later.’

The rest of the day was busy but uneventful. I had kept some food on the hotplate for any cast and crew who wanted dinner, but the shoot wrapped for the day at 5 p.m. amid mutterings about ‘the light’. Apparently the ballroom scene was done – it may have taken most of the day, but according to Tony there were only six lines of dialogue and the whole scene would probably only last about two minutes on screen – and they were ready to move on to an outdoor scene, but it would start to get dark before they’d even set up.

I decanted the leftover curry and chilli into Tupperware containers – it saved me having to cook dinner when I got home – and washed everything up, conscious that it wasn’t my kitchen and that I needed to leave it in good condition. I’d just taken out the keys and locked up when I heard movement behind me. I whirled around, my heart pounding, to find Zack standing behind me.

‘Sorry,’ he said, a rueful grin on his face, ‘didn’t mean to startle you. Do you know what’s happening with Gino? Is he gonna be back tomorrow?’

I took a deep breath as my heart rate returned to normal. All this talk of curses must have got to me. ‘I don’t know,’ I said. ‘To be honest though, I doubt it. It looked like his elbow was broken, which is really nasty. He couldn’t move his fingers or anything. Looks like you’ll