AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Her gaze went straight to that middle tree. Her breath caught in her throat as her brain struggled to process what she saw.
A solid figure, a man, dressed in black, looking right up at her.
She let out a small cry as she realised that the person staring up at her bedroom window was Terence Birch.
FORTY-ONE
At the end of the show, Tiff elected to return to the car while Kim completed the second part of her mission.
Now the show was over, there was no need for them to pretend to be strangers, and Tiff had acted as if she needed some air.
Kim was waiting for the manager to return to see if her request had been accepted.
The show had continued in much the same vein, and if the audience noticed some very definite misses, they certainly didn’t show it. The chatter as the crowds had filed out had been positive and appreciative, with Kim hearing many promises that they’d be back to see her again.
Kim had learned about the sequencing of the act. If you started strong, the audience was already with you and would forgive you anything. How something began imprinted the mind-set pretty much for the whole show. After her reading of Tiff, the audience had been putty in Victoria’s hands. She probably could have had a whole string of misses and the crowd would still have been on her side.
Kim spotted the manager heading her way as the last few stragglers left the foyer.
‘Victoria has a couple of minutes,’ she said, beckoning Kim through a double set of ‘Staff Only’ doors.
‘It’s just down here,’ she said, barrelling down a well-lit corridor. After one left turn she knocked on a door.
‘Just head back to the foyer once you’re done and someone will let you out.’
‘Come in,’ Kim heard as she nodded her understanding to the manager.
Kim took a breath and entered.
She was surprised to see Victoria had already changed into a powder-pink tracksuit.
‘Saves time when I get home,’ she said, folding the clothes she’d been wearing on stage.
‘The manager told you who I was?’ Kim checked.
‘Yes. It’s the only reason I’m still here. I like to get straight home for a restorative gin and tonic as soon as I’m done.’
‘Well, thank you for assisting a police officer,’ Kim said.
‘Oh, I’m not talking about you being a police officer. I’m talking about your insistence on getting tickets. The manager told me you were going to watch my show tonight even if you had to sit on stage to do it.’
‘I wanted to see you in action,’ Kim said honestly as Victoria folded the oversize white shirt carefully and placed it at the top of the case.
‘Why?’
‘Because I needed to understand the level of influence you exert over your audience members.’
‘You don’t care if I’m genuine or not?’ Victoria asked, taking a seat and indicating for Kim to do the same.
‘It’s actually not relevant to my investigation. Only if clients believe you’re the real deal.’
‘But you watched the show?’
‘Of course,’ Kim answered, wondering what kind of validation she wanted.
‘And what’s your view now?’
‘I remain unconvinced.’
