Page 195 of The Silent Appeal

9:00 p.m. Fran wrote:

If you follow me like that, you give me no choice but to renew the restraining order.

9:02 p.m. Issy wrote:

Your phone is working again! Lovely to hear from you! I was just getting some fresh air and the door in the back of the cupboard is so handy.

9:05 p.m. Fran wrote:

Have you followed me out there before? Be honest, Issy.

9:09 p.m. Issy wrote:

Promise I won’t say anything, unless the RO is renewed—because then I’ll have to get legal advice, and I’ll have to tell my solicitor what I saw.

To: The Fairway Players mailing list

From: Celia Halliday

Date: June 1, 2025

Subject: Fear not

Dear Fairway Players cast and crew,

There’s a moment in every rehearsal schedule when the play takes such a dive that it feels as if we’re practically back where we started. Today is that day. Sadly, both Big Sunday rehearsals fell flat.

Cast, crew, you are doing a fabulous job and whether today’s drop in energy and focus was a symptom of six months’ hard, consistent work, or something else, it matters not. What matters is that it’s over. The bad rehearsals are behind us and we can move forward into play week with the knowledge that things can only get better, because there really would be no getting any worse.

If anyone is in need of a pep talk or a pick-me-up in the form of a cupcake and a coffee, Joel and I will arrive at tomorrow’s tech rehearsal half an hour early and will treat anyone feeling low to a sugar-rush and a natter. All welcome.

All that remains for me to say is “you can do this.” But not only that, you can do it WELL. You can fly, you can soar, and you can hold an audience captive in your hands for two hours of solid, time-honored entertainment. They may ask “who done it?” but at the end of every play night, the denouement will always be “The Fairway Players did it, and they were brilliant.”

Celia and Joel Halliday OBE

Message exchange between Kevin MacDonald and Nicky-Rose Dearing on June 2, 2025:

12:09 a.m. Kevin wrote:

Absolutely seething.

12:10 a.m. Nicky-Rose wrote:

Why, babe? Do you want to meet?

12:10 a.m. Kevin wrote:

No! It’s ten past bloody twelve in the morning! So angry I’m grinding my teeth and the dentist will scowl over her facemask at me. Again.

12:13 a.m. Nicky-Rose wrote:

Kevin! What’s wrong?

12:15 a.m. Kevin wrote:

Have you read that bloody woman’s rousing email to the troops? She KNEW I was planning on sending one and got hers in first. I’m so mad I could punch the wall.

12:15 a.m. Nicky-Rose wrote: