Chapter Twenty-Two
It was quiet in the greenroom. Most of the actors were on stage, so for the first time that day, Penny could relax for a moment in the relative silence. There were still muttered conversations and pages being rustled where the actors were still thumbing through their scripts, but apart from that, a kind of sleepy stillness fell over Penny, only for her to be brought back to attention by a crash from inside the dressing room.
She rushed in to find Amber kneeling on the floor, the contents of her handbag strewn across the floor. She was frantically sweeping them up and returning them to the black bag. Penny bent and picked up a lipstick that had rolled to the doorway, taking a couple of steps into the room so she could hand it to Amber.
Amber, apparently startled by Penny’s appearance in the room, looked up quickly, and took the lipstick from Penny’s outstretched hand. “Thanks,” she said.
“It’s so annoying when you do stuff like that,” commented Penny affably. “But at least it forces you to clean all the crap out of your bag!”
“True,” replied Amber with a quick smile. She stood, placing the bag back on the bench. Penny smiled back at her and left the room. She still felt a bit guilty over having snapped at Amber at the bump-in. Amber had been pretty short with her since then. She really needed to clear the air with her. Not right now, though. Amber was supposed to be changing costumes, not having a heart to heart with the stage manager.
Penny grinned to herself. Previously, she would have been shaking like a leaf at the thought of having that kind of a conversation. But now? She still didn’t think it would be particularly pleasant, acknowledging her own mistakes, she was confident she would manage the conversation with no problems.
Several of the other actors came offstage and went into the dressing room. Some of the younger girls would congregate in there to gossip, and Penny knew she would have to shush them a couple of times over the next few minutes.
But their conversation, sailing over the partitions of the room, made her frown.
“Hey! What happened to my handbag?” she heard one of the girls say. “It looks like it’s been tipped upside down or something.”
Penny expected Amber to speak up, to say she had spilled it by accident, but she didn’t.
Then something odd struck Penny. Amber hadn’t corrected her when she had intimated that the handbag was hers. Surely, if it was someone else’s bag, she would want to make it clear that she had accidentally tipped it over. Why wasn’t she speaking up?
“Wait a minute! My keys are gone!”
Penny frowned and strode into the dressing room. Amber sat in a chair by the mirror, conspicuously ignoring everything that was happening. She glanced up and looked at Penny in the mirror, her eyes hard.
New, assertive Penny made her presence felt.
“Amber, that was the handbag you upset, right?”
Amber stayed silent as the others in the room turned to her, mouths agape.
“Why didn’t you mention that it wasn’t yours?”
All the pieces finally clicked into place. Cerise’s confusion when she was accused. Amber’s startled expression when Penny came into the room. Her lack of explanation now.
“You’re the thief aren’t you? It’s always been you. Why would you do that? And why would you let Cerise take the blame?” Then Penny realised. “Would you really go to those lengths to get the leading part?”
Amber’s mouth curved into a cruel smile. “Only when I’m a much better actor. And it worked didn’t it?”
“Did it?”
The other girls crowded around Amber.
“I’d like my keys back,” said the owner of the black bag, holding out her hand.
After a long, belligerent look, Amber said, “Fine,” and, pulling her backpack on to her lap, she opened it. Penny and the others gasped.
The backpack was full of stolen items - small props, costume pieces and right there on top, a set of keys. The other girl snatched them away.
“Can you empty it out, please,” said Penny. With a glare, Amber tipped the bag upside down, letting the contents fall on the floor. Right at the bottom, the lace handkerchief floated out. Amber frowned.
“I don’t remember taking that,” she said.
“But you do remember taking all the rest of it?”
“Of course I did,” Amber replied irritably. “What a stupid question.”
“You know you’re going to have to leave, right? And we’ll have to report you to the police.”
Suddenly, Amber was beside Penny, grasping her sleeve, her eyes full of contrition. “Please don’t go to the police,” she begged. “I’ll do anything.”
Penny was impressed. Amber was, indeed, a much better actor than Cerise. But she wasn’t convinced by the girl’s performance.
“We have to tell them. They have an open investigation about this.”
Amber seemed to wilt for a moment then, in a quick movement, she grabbed her empty backpack and ran to the greenroom door. Wrenching it open, she ran out into the car park.
“She’s not going to get away with it, is she?” one of the girls asked Penny anxiously.
“No,” replied Penny with a smile. “We have her name and address and contact details. She’ll be caught.”
From the stage, Penny could vaguely hear Jane shouting, “Amber! You missed your cue!” She smiled grimly.
Jane would not be happy that she had just lost another leading lady.