Page 275 of The Silent Appeal

Femi

Now WE need to send these documents to Inspector Lascelles. He can charge Trina with conspiracy to abduct.

Charlotte

It’s all we can do for Tiffany. Now to help Mr. Tanner and his colleague convince Fran to appeal her conviction.

To: Carol Dearing

From: Dustin Perez

Date: January 14, 2026

Subject: Good intentions

Dear Carol,

Well, congratulations, Mrs. Warren! Isn’t it typical us to be cast as a divorced couple, just when we start seeing each other in real life? California Suite is my first Neil Simon and I know we’re going to have fun with it—unless Stage on the Bois turn out to be just like Fairways and Mendhams—heaven forbid!

I’m at work now and thought you’d like to know the latest news on Fran’s appeal. It’s all hush-hush at the moment (so don’t mention it to anyone), but I’m reliably informed her lawyers are breaking down what happened at every stage and working out what degree of intent there was to cause harm. Poor Father Josh was caught up in a perfect storm it seems. This is the gist of it.

Nicky-Rose’s relationship with Lucas gets the ball rolling. He keeps dodgy LSD for longer than he intends because Nicky-Rose wants to buy it to plant on Trina Neale, her one-time partner.

Amelia, suffering from her sleep-out injury and worried about ruining the play, tears off a tab, intending to use it to numb her pain—until Lucas tells her on no account must she take it.

As the play is about to start, Amelia retrieves Lucas’s phone backstage and sees messages that are evidence of his fling with Nicky-Rose. She drops the drugged paper into a water bottle in a bag she believes belongs to NR, intending her to suffer the effects of a bad trip. However, she actually plants them in Fran’s bag, in the bottle of Bliss Bubbles Fran is drinking throughout Act One to take her headache tablets and stay hydrated.

Meanwhile, Fran is devastated at the news—revealed accidentally by Kevin in his group email—that Elizabeth is pregnant. She knows Father Josh has been lying to her and will never leave his family.

In the interval Fran meets Father Josh, with the starter pistol and the moletrap, and kills him in a state of diminished responsibility.

At the time, and until a retired KC, Roderick Tanner, reviewed the evidence, no one, including Fran herself, realized she was acting under the influence of a drug. That’s why she confessed to murder, aware she was in a heightened emotional state, but as clueless as everyone else as to why she’d killed the man she loved.

No one intended anyone else to die. The most egregious act was Amelia spiking a water bottle in order to cause harm. I understand we’ll be questioning her, but in the absence of firm evidence she’s unlikely to be charged with anything and without a confession it will be difficult for the CPS to prove intent.

Unlike Mark Digworth, whose shenanigans with the Fairways’ light caused Amelia’s accident and could have killed her, or anyone else asleep on the stage that night. He hobbled into the police station and admitted everything to the officers on duty. Mick and Marianne Payne said they found him in the lane, and he pleaded with them to give him a lift to the police station. If there’s more to the story than this, we can’t prove it, but the duty nurse subsequently reported that both his kneecaps had been fractured and he was admitted to the hospital. Fell off a shed roof and then decided to come clean is his final word on the matter. He’ll be charged with attempt to endanger life, ABH, and aggravated criminal damage. Could be looking at ten years. Karen Payne was back on the dating apps that same morning.

Is there any news from Nicky-Rose? All my love, Dustin

To: Dustin Perez

From: Carol Dearing

Date: January 14, 2026

Subject: Re: Good intentions

Dear Dustin,

My Mr. Warren! I’m as excited as you to be cast in California Suite and in such a strong role too. Stage on the Bois seem rather normal at the moment, which I hope doesn’t become boring, because a little gossip is a good thing!

Thank you for the update. I’ve relayed the information to Sarah-Jane. Poor Fran. To have been betrayed by Father Josh and then to realize she’d killed him. It’s such a sad case and no happy ending for anyone. How soon will it be before Fran is released do you think?

Nicky-Rose hasn’t been in touch, I’m afraid. In my darker hours it’s tempting to feel very down, but I choose not to be one of those people who focus on what they’ve lost and forget what they have. Sarah-Jane and I are so close that even when we fall out, we never land far away from each other. I have a wonderful son-in-law and two beautiful grandchildren. I want for nothing, Dustin, and now I have you, too, and thrilled I am at that.

As for Nicky-Rose, I hope she’ll contact us when she’s ready, but until then, at least I know she can take care of herself. With love, Carol

To: Carol Dearing